RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Sunday flagged concerns over “poverty, unemployment and rising inequality in the country”, the very issues that have repeatedly been raised by the Opposition parties to attack the Central Government.
Speaking at a webinar organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch on the theme of ‘Self-reliance — Svavlamban ka Shankhnad’, Hosabale pointed out that the “demon of poverty” was staring people hard in the face saying, “Twenty crore people are still below the poverty line.”
Last week, Hosabale also released a book ‘Snakes in Ganga: Breaking India 2.0’, which slammed the NITI Aayog for allegedly sharing data with the Davos-based World Economic Forum (WEF) and “undermining “ India’s economic interests.
Interestingly, while speaking at a programme organised by Bharat Vikas Parishad, an RSS-inspired organisation, Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, too, spoke in the same vein four days ago. The unambiguous mention of “rising inequality” in the country by the top RSS leader has come at a time when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during his ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ across the country, has repeatedly highlighted the same issues.
“Poverty is standing like a demon in front of us. It is important that we slay this demon. That 20 crore people are still below the poverty line should make us very sad. As many as 23 crore people have less than `375 income per day. There are four crore unemployed people in the country”, said the RSS leader.
“A large part of the country still does not have access to clean water and nutritious food. Civil strife and a poor level of education is also a reason for poverty. That is why a New Education Policy has been ushered in. Even climate change is a reason for poverty. And at places the inefficiency of the Government is a reason for poverty”, he said quoting figures provided by the United Nations.
According to Hosabale, the idea that only urban spaces will have jobs has emptied villages and turned urban lives into hell. Hosabale further said, “During the Covid-19, we learned that there is a possibility of generating jobs at the rural level according to local needs and using local talent. That is why the Swavalambi Bharat Abhiyan was launched.
“We do not need just all-India schemes, but also local schemes. It can be done in the field of agriculture, skill development, marketing etc. We can revive cottage industries. Similarly, in the field of medicine, a lot of Ayurvedic medicines can be manufactured at the local level. We need to find people interested in self-employment and entrepreneurship.”
Hosabale said it was important to rejuvenate local talent, which he said the nation was losing because of “modern” economic policies. He stressed that skill training could not be merely urban-centric and tech-based. “We need to create an environment for entrepreneurship. The society also needs to understand that all work is important and must get equal respect. If a gardener is not getting respect for his work, nobody will want to do that work. We need to change mindsets,” he said while referring to the need for creating more jobs.
The RSS leader specifically focused on what he called "rising inequality" in the country.
“One figure says that India is among the top six economies of the world. But is this a good situation? The top one percent of India’s population has one-fifth (20 percent) of the nation’s income. At the same time, the country’s 50 percent population has only 13 percent of the country’s income,” he said.
Raising the same issue, Gadkari recently said, “We are the fastest-growing economy in the world and are the fifth largest economy. We are a rich nation with a poor population. Our country is rich, but the population is poor facing starvation, unemployment, poverty, inflation, casteism, untouchability, and other factors that are not good for the progress of the society."
Last week, Hosabale also released a book 'Snakes in Ganga: Breaking India 2.0" which slammed the NITI Ayog for allegedly sharing data with the Davos-based World Economic Forum (WEF) and "undermining " India's economic interests