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India Untouched: The forgotten face of rural poverty | |
Text of speech by Dr. Abraham M. George, Honorable Union Finance Minister Sri Chidambaram, H.H. Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, dignitaries at the podium, and distinguished ladies and gentlemen, You have honored my work with your presence here today, but more importantly, we have gathered here as an expression of our joint commitment to finding solutions to one of the most important, if not the most important, human rights issue, namely, poverty, especially rural poverty. With over 2/3rd of our population – over 650 million people -- living in our villages, and with over half of them in abject poverty and social deprivation, the time has long past arrived to find effective solutions. This book, India Untouched, is an expression of my work toward this important social cause. It all began for me in earnest nearly ten years ago when I returned from the United States to start a charitable foundation to address the perennial issues of poverty and basic human needs. In some ways, it began much earlier in my army days as a young man. After graduating from the NDA at Karakvasla and IMA at Dehra Dun, I spent nearly three years of my military career as an artillery officer in the Himalayas in the then North-East Frontier, and in the Indo-Pakistan border near Jammu. What I am today is owed in great part to what I had learned from those experiences, for which I am most grateful. After over 25 years of studies and professional careers in the United States, I came to Dharmapuri District, in this great state of Tamil Nadu, to work among the poor. Our foundation, The George Foundation, embarked on several interrelated projects in education, healthcare, empowerment of women, and others affecting rural life, and on issues of environment and free press. It is my work in those projects, the issues we have faced, and the solutions we have implemented, that I talk about in India Untouched. It is not about personalities or political affiliations, but about issues and their solutions. In doing so, I have tried to illustrate the points I make with real-life examples of what we have encountered, and how we have gone about overcoming many hurdles. I hope this story will provide some of the necessary insights to others to succeed in a very difficult environment that characterizes rural life. I do not wish to take up any more of your time describing the book. But I do wish to say that the solutions needed to overcome the deplorable human conditions of rural life do not lie in minor adjustments to existing government programs targeting the poor, or in more government projects, but in better and effective governance, and bold programs that are a departure from what we have today. It is not handouts that the poor want, but an opportunity to own income generating assets and employment. It is not the goal of literacy that we should embrace, but quality education up to at least high school levels. It is not the delivery of information technology in the name of closing the digital divide that the poor need, but the availability of affordable and quality primary healthcare that would reduce their suffering. It is not more religiosity and imposter values that we must cultivate, but the reverence for good and what is ethical. The nation must commit itself to eliminating the social injustice that arises from caste and gender discrimination, and must discard policies and practices that divide us on the basis of our differences. We must offer equal justice under just laws in a timely manner, so that a civil society will have confidence in just outcomes. In doing all these and many more, we must create a dialogue among citizens, and bring about accountability through a vigorous and independent press that is prepared to seek the truth. Those of us who have the means and the power to make a positive difference to the lives of the poor must do so. In the words of our beloved founding father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, “My countrymen are my nearest neighbors. They have become so helpless, so resourceless, so inert that I must concentrate myself on serving them. If I could persuade myself that I would find God in a Himalayan cave, I would proceed there immediately. But I know that I cannot find Him apart from humanity.” To quote Cornel West, the renowned cultural critic at Princeton University, “The quest for truth, the quest for good, the quest for beautiful, all require us to examine how we live, and let suffering speak, let victims be visible, and let social misery be put on the agenda of those with power. The life of a thinking man, one with feelings and a soul, cannot be separated from the struggle of those who have been dehumanized on the margins of society.” I pray that those men and women who lead this great nation will be those who have the intellect to grasp issues, the humility to reach out and seek new ideas, the wisdom to make fair and effective decisions, and the determination to carry them out even in the face of adversity. Thank you, and happy reading. |
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