An informed Public is very essential to a healthy Democracy. Debate and discussions on matters of Governance and policy help us make right electoral choices.

     Forum of IT Professionals firmly believes in importance of this and it is endeavour to organize discussion on matters that matter .As the General elections are fast approaching, we are organizing a seminar on Gujarat Model of Development and how it matters to all of us.

     H.I Bhatt, reknowned Political Analyst from Gujarat will speak on the model of development followed in Gujarat and it's pros and cons and it's significane to the national policy.
In this age of information over-kill, it's very important to separate wheat from chaff. It is with this intention, Forum of IT Professionals organized seminar on Gujarat Model of development. Mr. H.I. Bhatt, socio-political analyst was the speaker at the event. Mr. Bhatt writes extensively on the economic challenges and issues faced by several sections of employees. The seminar was presided over by Y. Kiran Chandra, General Secretary of FSMI.  Besides, IT professionals, students, academicians and bloggers have attended the seminar.

                    
Mr. Bhatt has presented the reality of Gujarat to the audience. From various statistics released by NSSO, UNICEF, UNDP and Gujarat government itself, he has offered an insight into the Gujarat development model and the truth behind the hype.

Employment situation:

In Gujarat, whose Government and its CM are touted as tech-savvy, techies working for Information Technology firms run by the Gujarat government are being paid a meagre monthly salary of less than Rs. 10,000. Despite huge concessions given to big corporations the employment growth in the last decade has almost been zero. Gujarat government has taken about two lakh people on a contract basis for a period of five years. Some of them include teachers who earn between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 4,000 per month. Sub-Inspectors taken under this contract system are not earning more than Rs. 5,000 per month, he said. Very few campus placements were taking place and many graduates were jobless even after spending lakhs in the form of donations

Economic situation:

Contrary to the claims of the Gujarat government, Gujarat’s economic situation has worsened in certain areas. In 2001, the debt of the Gujarat government was Rs 20,000 crore, it had risen to Rs 1,76,000 crore in 2012. The much-hyped “Vibrant Gujarat” summits bring investments only on paper and do not materialize on the ground. The promised investments in 2011 were over Rs.20 lakh crore, but only about Rs.29,813 crore was actually invested. In the same year, out of more than 8,300 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed, only about 250 became a reality. Gujarat has one of the high tax rates.  The state stands 5th in FDI, with a meagre Rs.36,913 crores, while Maharastra received Rs.2,54,624 crores between 2010-12 as per the RBI statistics.

Living Standards :

Mr. Bhatt noted that high GDP growth rate has not translated into improvement of living conditions for the majority of Gujaratis. Despite high taxes, the state has failed to provide basic essentials such as drinking water and toilets. According to Census 2011, 43 per cent of the rural households in Gujarat get water supply on their premises and 16.7 per cent get treated water from a common tap. 67 per cent of rural households in the State have no access to toilets and members of more than 65 per cent of the households defecate in the open, very often polluting common water sources. Human Development Report 2011 said around half of Gujarat’s children were malnourished. UNICEF said in its 2012 report that almost every second child in Gujarat under the age of five years is undernourished and three out of four are anemic. Child sex –ratio in the state is very dismal too. There are only 866 girl children to every 1000 boys.

Corruption:

Gujarat government has given huge tracts of land to big corporates at a throw away price. Gujarat government allotted 3,76,561 square metre of land to real estate developer K Raheja at Rs470 per square metre, while the South-West Air Command (SWAC) was asked to pay Rs1100 per square metre for 4,04,700 square metre land. There are at least 17 scams in the last few years itself. Why Gujarat government which boasts of clean and transparent administration diluted the Lokayukta bill? As per the new act, the Gujarat government reject the findings of Lokayukta thus evading accountability.  BJP posing as a proponent of strong Lokpal at the center but diluting the Lokayukta speaks of its hypocrisy and corrupt mindset.

The Hype :

Many students wondered why the under-side of Gujarat’s development model is never reported in electronic media or majority of the press. Praveen Chandrahas, freelancer replied to the question : “ Gujarat government pays 10s billions of APCO, a PR firm, which worked for the infamous Dow Chemicals (Union Carbide that caused Bhopal Gas disaster ) and many dictators. It creates illusions about Gujarat by organizing an orchestrated PR campaign. Y. Kiran Chandra said : “Modi has done so many favors by allotting thousands of acres of land and precious resources to several corporate houses such as Adani, Tata and Ambani, that explains the silence of mainstream media which is controlled by the big corporate houses. He also remarked that Modi has never talked about the Coal scam only to appease India Inc. If the Gujarat model is emulated it national level it would cause loot of India’s wealth and benefit a few super rich at the expense of the majority of Indians.

Awareness is key:

Congress and BJP are no different when it comes to the economic policies. Both the parties are pro-rich and anti-people in their policies. With Modi, the big and corrupt corporate houses would have a free-run for all the natural wealth of this nation. Kiran Chandra urged the audience not to be fooled by the manipulation in Media and social media. He said, as concerned citizens, it’s imperative to study the reality carefully and evaluate the performance and policies of political parties rationally and make the right electoral choices based on the policies. We need an alternative that provides pro-people policies and governance that benefits the common man.