Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Empower communities to administer their economies: Bahuguna

Staff Reporter

Suggests adoption of tree farming to protect land from sea erosion

MADURAI: Noted environmentalist and leader of Chipko Movement Sundarlal Bahuguna has emphasised the need to empower communities to administer their economies and manage resources independently.

"The Government has little or insignificant role to play in this regard because the onus of development on the principle of self-reliance, insisted by the Mahatma, rested upon the people. The latter should unite to conserve the ecology for posterity," Mr. Bahuguna said.

He was delivering a lecture on `Ecological problems of India' held under the aegis of the Tamil Nadu Gandhi Smark Nidhi at the Gandhi Museum here on Wednesday evening.

Mr. Bahuguna said there was an increasing need to evolve a system of administration, involving women, to plan and manage local resources. "Unless cudgels were taken against the modern system of development which commercialises natural resources, things would head towards total degradation," he said.

As a precursor to heralding effective governance hinging upon the principles of self- reliance and rural development, it was imperative to change the definition of modern concepts of development. This was so because, "possessing many things has become a sign of development in the modern world. But equating development with appearances will not stand to benefit mankind as Mother Nature possessed limited resources," he remarked.

Secondly, there was a need to centralise the production system with regard to utilisation of land and revert back to making villages, which are the backbone for sustaining the economy, self-reliant in all aspects.

Get rid of liquor shops

Getting rid of liquor shops and giving up use of chemical fertilizers would go a long way in alleviating the conditions of people.

He suggested the adoption of tree farming to protect land from sea erosion, as a source for providing fodder and as a means to generate food for the masses.

He wanted the pace of urbanisation retarded and exhorted the people to resist the temptation of falling prey to concretisation of villages and tribal habitations in the name of development or urbanisation. "We have become too dependent on Government for everything and in the process lost our self-confidence. As a result, the Government too looked towards foreign countries for aid and interventional initiatives," he said.

He appealed to the younger generation to be self-reliant in all aspects. They should join hands in protecting natural resources and rein in forces bent upon turning Mother Nature into chaos.

"Real development springs from enhancing the basic capital of Mother Nature which were Her resources. But chocking up rivers and destroying forests will only tantamount to eating up the basic capital of coming generations," he said.

The chairman, Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai, M. Mariappan, presided. K. M. Natarajan, chairman, Tamil Nadu Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, spoke.

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