Skip to main content

Using Statue of Unity "appeal": Top academic proposes to involve tribals, Amul


Counterview Desk
At a time when controversy around the Statue of Unity is running high, Prof Anil Gupta, visiting faculty at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), has insisted that there is an urgent need to turn the Statue, which is supposed to be a “tribute” to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, into an opportunity for the Adivasis living in the region. Built in the downstream of the Narmada river, the statue, which is one-and-a-times higher than one of the tallest dams of the world, Sardar Sarovar, can be help not just ignite values of unity, diversity, integrity, but also development of the region, he argues.
Writing on his Facebook wall, Prof Gupta, who is known for his Honey Bee Network, which seeks to propagate and provide pride of place to the traditional knowledge holders and grassroots innovators, believes that the Amul milk cooperative union, operating from Central Gujarat, can play a crucial role in this, thus “sustaining Sardar’s legacy”.

Prof Gupta’s proposal:

There has been a lot of controversy on the Statue of Unity and tribal rights. I want to put forward proposals which can use the statue’s appeal to attract tourists to expand opportunities for tribal development in an unprecedented manner. Whether state and civil society will work together with local tribal communities to make this dream come true or not, time will tell. But let me still propose these ways of pursuing ideals for which Sardar Patel was always known for. Sustaining Sardar’s legacy will require a bias for urgent action.
First time when Sardar was elected to the sanitation committee of Ahmedabad municipality, he used to joke about the Gandhian approach and its ability to bring about change in the governance of India. But after Champaran Satyagrah, Sardar was deeply influenced by the bias of Gandhi for action and resolute action. When Kheda faced a crisis of disease and other stresses, Patel led the movement to bring order and succor. He is highly respected by civil service for the way in which he wanted them to work for the development of India with integrity, unity and maintaining diversity.
Can we bring about the same bias for action in dealing with the opportunities generated by the Statue of Unity? It was reported recently that, on weekend, more than 27,000 people visited the statue to pay their homage to the great son of India.
Can these visitors create opportunities for the tribal by just spending their money judiciously and he government facilitating the process? Amul dairy is owned by farmers but run so ably by the dedicated managers with great integrity and service orientation.
Can we ask Amul to organize the tribals around the statue in say 100-200 villages to begin with and later up to 1,000 villages at least? All the vending, services, food joints, craft goods, organic food, forest produce, value-added products based on minor- forest products etc., will be owned by tribals and only tribals.
Bandh in tribal area when Statue of Unity was inaugurated on Oct 31
 There will also be stay homes and trekking routes for those who wish to stay longer, understand local socio-ecological and cultural systems and contribute thus to their own learning but also to the local economy. Cooperatives of tribal will own the structures, shops, services, and entire system of management.
Amul will guide them, build their capacity and other NGOs like Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Argumentation Networks (GIAN), Gandhi Ashram, Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), etc., will work together with Gujarat government, tribal, tourism, culture, forest, food, agriculture, Industry and other related departments to create an agro-industrial revolution in the region. Goal is to remove complete poverty in five years through mobilization of tourism and other related interventions around the Statue of Unity.
Can we transform the region and its destiny through this statue? Will we be forgiven if we did not do it? Will we fail in respecting the spirit of Sardar who united the whole country, gave us the civil service structure and practiced extreme frugality. His children or grandchildren did not benefit from any thing he did. Can we rise to the occasion and the speed with which we built the magnificent statue, we can build the road to prosperity for lakhs of tribals in the region.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.