Why are villages important?

What is one major problem which India has herself got into? Extending Reservations beyond agreed time period. For what joy? Not for Tinder Joy, Not for mockingJay! Its for Votes. What did it lead to? First phase of Massive Brain Drain. Its one part if people left the country for better jobs or for better living conditions, but, people also left us for availing of good education! Does the name 'Nalanda' reverberate in the background?

Now, if you step back a little and observe, we are staring at the Second phase of Brain Drain coupled with Grain Drain. This however is internal, Sociologists term it Urbanisation. For a country which has a rich heritage and has its roots buried deep into villages, the following statistics may sound alarming: By the beginning of the 20th Century, 11% of India was residing in Urban areas, where as by the beginning of 21st Century the percentage clocked at 31% and is rapidly increasing. Cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad have witnessed close to 100% population growth rate in the last 10 years! Its one part if people migrate to cities which are equipped and ready to handle such huge inflow but its entirely a different story line if they are migrating to cities which are half crippled themselves! All the knowledge which dwells in the villages will slowly lose its way in the mazes of the Urban jungles and will never be found again. This will be a double whammy!

The problem is primarily two fold: 1. Dwindling Arable land and 2. Migration

Fortunately or unfortunately India is an Agrarian based economy. We should strengthen and always guard our foundations. Sadly, every year 30,000 Hectares (74,131 acres) of arable land is turned into non arable land. What's the opportunity cost? Even if we assume that per acre production of Cereals in India is 2,953 Kg per acre (avg production of last 4 years. Source: Worldbank); it translates to 21,89,08,843 kgs of grains! If an average person consumes 8 Kgs of grains per month, 21.89 Crore kg grains could be used to feed 22.8 Lakh people per year. 

Grain down the drain not an uncommon sight

Adding to reducing arable land woes are the storage facilities. It is not an uncommon sight in India to see the produce being dumped at Market yards for the lack of support through Minimum Price or over produce.

Thanks to various conditions, Tropical unfavourable climate, Internal government inefficiencies, Globalisation etc., India is losing 2,000 farmers every day. That is not a great news for a Country whose Glorious Past, Magnificent Present and Stupendous Future depends on its villages, for you save villages India will be saved.

Imagine a body builder with thick muscles, if we puncture him with a needle, won't he feel the pain? He certainly does. However hard you may work to strengthen your outer muscles, your core remains soft. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that we stay in the global competition by looking at the country from a Macro-Economic perspective. The growth should radiate from with in by strengthening the domestic demand, financial inclusion and building necessary infrastructure.

For the staunch believers of John F Kennedy's quote, let's see if there are some ways, how you can build Rural India.

Sources:

http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/with-population-on-the-rise-and-agricultural-land-shrinking-india-might-become-food-deficient-254964.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cultivable-land-continues-to-shrink/articleshow/21852689.cms

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Agriculture/Cereal-yield/Kg-per-hectare

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.YLD.CREL.KG

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/GzUIDPQXzktVDBEiE2ZPfI/Per-capita-nutrition-supply-in-India-among-the-lowest-in-the.html

http://worldfood.apionet.or.jp/alias.pdf

http://cpsindia.org/index.php/art/123-articles-by-jk-bajaj-and-md-srinivas/food-consumption-in-india-and-the-world

http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0172e/x0172e04.htm

http://mospi.nic.in/mospi_new/upload/nsso/63R_1.0.pdf

http://in.reuters.com/article/india-wheat-food-malnutrition-crops-idINDEE86101620120702

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2400-MT-wheat-rotting-in-govt-granaries-for-past-2-years/articleshow/19924192.cms

image: https://www.yahoo.com/news/indian-wheat-rots-open-bumper-harvest-082549835--finance.html

Assumptions: The figures mentioned in the post are taken from various publicly available materials and assumed correct.