Is our country really progressing?

What is progress? What are the basic needs of a common man? Their need is a roof, two meals, employment and the basic education, so that, they can earn their own living. Does every Indian, today, avail these simple bare necessities?.WHAT IS progress? What are the basic needs of a common man? They want a roof, two meals, employment and the basic education, so that, they can earn their own living. Does every Indian, today, avail these simple bare necessities? We consider India to be a developing nation or an almost developed nation. But is it so? There are so many obstacles that none of us wish to alleviate because we don’t want to get into a fight with the government.
Three years ago, the July 26 floods, which almost drowned the entire Mumbai, took so many lives, destroyed houses and left indelible scars in the minds and hearts of the people. The Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC), promised that history would not repeat itself, but looking at the current condition of the roads, I daresay, we Mumbaikars, have to brace ourselves for another showdown this monsoon. A common man just wants to drive back home peacefully, after a tiring day at work without having to endure an Essel world roller coaster ride. But due to the poor condition of the roads, they have to face a lot of problems on their way. Recently, 1500 manhole covers were stolen overnight in Mumbai.
Poverty is still so rampant in the society. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening day after day. We see a number of small children working hard all day to earn a meagre amount. But, how many of us are willing to work for the welfare of such children? Think about these poor children and the children from the well-to-do families. There is a vast gap between the two. Why can’t both enjoy the same privileges? It is a big question that prevails in our society. No doubt, that some of us even shed tears for them, but, when it comes to doing something for them, we always put our needs, wants and desires first.
The caste system still prevails in our society, so does the dowry system. Though, none of us are willing to admit it, yet at some point of time in our lives, we have been a part of these malpractices.
The seven explosions in Mumbai, in 2006, that took place within a span of 11 minutes,tore through packed commuter trains between 6.24 pm and 6.35 pm. The blasts killed more than two hundred people and left hundreds of people severely injured. This shows that terrorism is still keeping our country in its grip. Another example, is of the blasts, that took place in Jaipur, early this year. The bombs went off in the main bazaar during the evening. But till date, the government has done nothing noticeable in the eyes of the public. Those families, who lost their loved ones and were promised compensation are still waiting for it.
There are so many cases waiting to be filed in our courts, but no one seems to be interested enough to do the necessary work. And, finally, when the time comes for the hearing of the case, it is found that the person seeking justice is either financially incapable to fight or is dead.
The government recently allotted Rs 2,500 crores for Agni V. Agni V is a nuclear- capable missile, which in layman’s term, is a nuclear weapon, capable of causing destruction within a radius of 5,000 kms. This same money, if used for public welfare, would have been of much more use. When the government feels that it will profit from any investment, it goes ahead with it immediately. Investing in public welfare doesn’t even come in their dictionary. We have mobile phones, broadband Internet Wi-Fi and other technologies in our cities, but what is the use of these for a common man, who can’t even provide two meals a day to his family? We are trying to make India a billion-dollar industry by getting foreign investors, but how can a common man think of investing in the share market.
We say, India is changing, but unfortunately, the real India is still the same. We still place our needs and wants before the progress of the nation. We realise the bigger problems, totally ignoring the smaller ones. What we don’t realise is that, somewhere down the line, it is the small problems that matter the most. Cities are not clean because we make them dirty. Corruption is still prevalent, because we are ready to grease the palms of the officials in order to get our work done more easily. Employees demand wage increase which in turn is passed onto the consumers in the form of price increase, thus leading to inflation.
I guess its time for us to change our outlook and our thinking process. First of all we need to change ourselves, only then we can help in the growth of our nation. Come, let’s join hands together to tackle the problems and let’s work for a bright future of our country, so that, someday, we can proudly say, “We are progressing.”