Integrating Fundamentals

In my last article I touched upon health and education sector , how these two can make all the difference in the growth journey of any society and nation. Education and Health are scaffolding through which a country can climb then building of development. All visible and pompous development is valueless and unsustainable with the true , all inclusive development of health and education.

I have been staying at farm spending substantial time in the rural area. Please note that the farm is not in remote , its in capital district of the state , only 20km from the heart of the Bhopal city. The village is called Kharpa and the tehsil is Huzur. The municipal limits end just around 10 km before the farm. The point I am stressing is that, its very close to the power hub of MP , I mean the capital where all powerful are placed.

Road to the farm , just excellent! Bhopal to Ratibad ; four lane and Ratibad to Khapra PM road but bump-less. Super job done by the authorities. Electricity , dangerously transmitted and distributed. Operation and maintenance is achilles hill. Most houses have direct connections , wooden pole , trees being used as pole , cable standards poor and safety completely compromised. A lot needs to be done on this basic and fundamental subject. The limited light for the agri purpose is also marred by challenges. Old DP , low hanging HT lines , poles gasping for support? and on top of all this a thin outsourced staff. The departments line man is 55 years plus and is left with very less agility and current. Some thing quick, fundamental and safe is the urgent need of the house. I wish the government electricity companies are listening to help.

Lets look at schools , where the future gets groomed and created. The two villages close by ; Kharpa and Kharpi , both have primary as well as middle school. Once I happened to be in one of these schools and was pained to see the dilapidated infra. No playing area , unhygienic water drinking facility , washrooms dirty and then rooms inside have floor fractured and walls damp. I see the buses of many private schools in 10 km radius plying to the villages. This means , movement of students to outside village for better education. Some of these private schools are good - Sagar group? runs Vidhya Niketan for BPL kids and are doing fantabulous job at Sikandrabad Village , but many need right teachers and right values. Schools again can be profitably purpose driven. I do understand the systemic limiting factors and cosmetic decisions with side effects but no one can undervalue the value of education.? There are five colleges in the three kilometre radius , I have never seen students there but the data tells a different story. Getting an MBA degree without even a single day presence, whom are we fooling! Its one again pure business.

No doctor in any of these villages and the panacea for all ills is a dextrose bottle. A bottle and one or two injection and the villages think they are treated the best.The closest private clinic with a doctor whose credentials are less known is the first hope. Move another km or two and similar set of doctors , who are flourishing on referral economics. The Aganwadi in the village is desperately seeking a facelift and the purpose looks less attained. Talk to people and the buck stops at system and the helplessness on being able to influence the system.

The roads with in the village are unsafe , unhygienic and unevenly laid . Some influential people have managed a cement road up to their house while the village in general is struggling. Road , electricity, health and education ; four building blocks stuttering on a weak edifice. We need to know it , relate with it , understand it , raise it , address it and finish it.

Corporates can play an important role here , further I? think its time we have a ministry of systems and wholeness which works on integrating the systems , avoiding fragmentation , directly under the chief minister of the state.

Finland’s success story on education is worth reflecting model, most talented become teacher and the teachers are the most paid.

Jai Ho !