Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Rural-urban divide

This refers to Dr. Singh’s remark, in the context of migration from villages to cities, that instead of people migrating to places where jobs exist, the country should move to a situation “where jobs migrate to where people live.”

Due to woefully inadequate infrastructure such as roads and transport, the chances of industries coming up in the rural areas are dim. It is here that public-private partnership can help to pool in men, material, machinery, management and money and develop infrastructure in the rural areas which can attract investment.

S. Ramakrishnasayee,

Ranipet

The rural-urban divide is the result of the policies and programmes of the Centre and the State governments. When we talk of infrastructure, we only mean urban infrastructure such as roads, airports, and flyovers.

Villages need educational infrastructure. Due to lack of schools and dedicated teaching staff, and the inability of children to go to nearby town for studies, the dropout rate in rural areas is alarming. This problem has been compounded by the agrarian crisis. The yield and remuneration have not kept pace with the inflationary pressure. This scenario forces more members of the family to go to work either in the field or urban centres as labour. The country needs visionary thinking at the highest level.

S.S. Krishna Kumar,

Hosur

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