Hosabale says, “Poverty in the country is standing like a demon in front of us and 20 crore people are still below the poverty line”
New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday highlighted issues of poverty, unemployment, and rising inequality in the country. RSS also argued over the creation of an atmosphere that is so good for entrepreneurship that job seekers become job providers.
“The poverty in the country 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 is a figure that should make us very sad. As many as 23 crore people have less than Rs 375 income per day. There are four crore unemployed people in the country. The labor force survey says we have an unemployment rate of 7.6%,” RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said.
He made this statement while he was addressing a webinar organized by RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch as part of its Swawalambi Bharat Abhiyan.
This Abhiyan by RSS is underway over the past one year. It is an attempt by the RSS to promote entrepreneurship and self-employment by boosting local and rural economies. In this context, RSS passed a resolution that called the labor-intensive “Bharatiya Economic Model” during its Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha meeting.
According to Indian Expresses sources, this initiative has been activated in 700 districts. Six RSS-affiliated organizations, including the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, are involved in this initiative.
At the webinar, he also highlighted rising economic inequality turning out to be a major issue. “One figure says that India is among the top six economies of the world. But is this a good situation? The top 1% of India’s population has one-fifth (20%) of the nation’s income. At the same time, 50% of the country’s population has only 13% of the country’s income,” he said.
Quoting UN observations on poverty and development, Hosabale said: “A large part of the country still does not have access to clean water and nutritious food. Civil strife and the poor level of education are 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.”
According to him, the idea of only urban places having jobs has emptied villages and turned urban lives into hell.
He said that during Covid they learnt that jobs can be generated on the rural level as well by using the talents of locals staying there. He said, “During Covid, we learnt 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 don’t just need all-India level schemes, but also local schemes. It can be done in the field of agriculture, skill development, marketing, etc. We can revive the cottage industry. 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.”
He appeals to groups to make this initiative a successful one. He said that this can be a success by researching what can be achieved at the local level, he said.
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He added, “Then it is important to support and rejuvenate local talent which, the nation was losing due to modern economic policies. Skill training could not be only urban-centric and tech-based.”
Highlighting the need of building the business sector at the rural level, Hosabale said: “If students keep looking at jobs after college… so many jobs just cannot be created. So job seekers need to be encouraged to become job providers. 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.”
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