Rural India is anxiously waiting with high hopes

by confuzzled dude Tue Mar 17, 2015 3:59 pm

BHESDA KHURD, India — To begin to understand the hurdles Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces in building India into an economic powerhouse and reducing extreme poverty, the rural village of Bhesda Khurd, about 45 minutes from the western city of Udaipur, is a good place to start.

It is here where Rohit Nagda, a 29-year-old computer software engineer, lives with his wife, a would-be teacher studying for a master’s degree, and his family. Though he has a degree in computer science from a local university and spent a two-year stint as a commercial web developer that ended last year, Mr. Nagda is losing hope. He has been applying online for web jobs at companies in distant Mumbai, India’s financial center, but has yet to find work.

Seated next to him on a mat in front of the local Hindu temple was Shankar Donge, 26, who runs a small pharmacy near the Udaipur airport but would rather work for a big pharmaceutical company where the benefits are better. “To get a good job, you need to move out of the village, but it’s not talent that gets you big jobs but jack,” he says, meaning political influence or a bribe. He adds that “very often you have to pay people to make the call” just to get a job referral.

For all of India’s advancement — it has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies — fewer than 10 percent of workers have regular jobs with legal protections and social security benefits and as much as 5 percent of the population falls into poverty every year, Mr. Krishna said. Mr. Modi’s plans for economic growth rest largely on wooing foreign investment, making India a global manufacturing hub and developing a defense industry. And he has set ambitious goals, including building 40 million rural homes with toilets by 2022.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/opinion/in-rural-india-hoping-for-jobs-and-education-in-a-growing-economy.html?_r=0

by Vakavaka Pakapaka Tue Mar 17, 2015 6:54 pm

MT and the gang should go and march on rural roads demanding jobs for the villagers. They should also use the same "toilets" that the rural folks use regularly. Hopefully, MT won't eat her linguini with a lot of garlic the night before.

Rural India is anxiously waiting with high hopes

Rural India is anxiously waiting with high hopes

Re: Rural India is anxiously waiting with high hopes