The Bread Basket Of India Going Through Exciting Change

I have been visiting Punjab fairly regularlyfor the past few years. As a result, Ihave noticed a number of changes takingplace in this bread basket of India. Theadvances in farming have made life a biteasier for farmers. For example, thesedays acres upon acres of wheat croparound the province look quite promisingfor the farming community. As a matterof fact, thousands of hectares offlowing fields of wheat are a great creditto this province. In order to help thefarmers, the provincial government istrying to minimize the role of middlemen which should help the farmers.From my previous visits I vividly rememberthe shortage of electricity. Therewere so many cuts that everything had tobe planned well in advance. Now the cutsare rather minimal. Even if the powergoes out it is for very short periods oftime. Similarly, there seems to be moreawareness about the environment.Though pollution is still a major issue yetthere are some signs of improvement .Some species of birds such as sparrows,doves and peacocks etc. which wererarely seen before, are quite visible inmany area of the province.A relative of mine, a scientist, is keen ontree planting and is urging his relatives,friends and colleagues to spearhead treeplanting initiatives. The government’sstick and carrot approach also seems tohelp in this regard. The combination ofincentives/subsidies and enforcementseems to make a big difference .Regardless, a lot more still needs to bedone to preserve and protect the environmentin this province.The mobile(cell ) phones are aplenty. Asa matter of fact, nearly everyone here hasa cell phone. It has been reported thatindia has the largest number of cellphones than any other country. Also, ithas the lowest call rates.This has made cell phones accessibleeven to the poor.The overall standard of living seems tobe slightly better. Certainly there are stillsome extremely poor people. However,on the whole, the living conditions of thegeneral public seem to be better. Thevariety and number of expensive cars onthe roads also reflect this. Of course, therole of NRIs in this regard can’t be overlooked.In every village, town and city,the NRI influence and impact is clearlyvisible. Such progress has come at aprice.India is considered to be the youngestcountry in the world with 50%of its populationunder 25 years.Moreover, one fifth of the total electorateof 725 million is reported to bebetween ages18 and 23 years. Despitethis, a lot of young people find itextremely difficult in finding suitableemployment. Consequently, there is a lotof frustration amongst the youth. Punjabis no exception. A large number ofPunjabi youth is yearning to go abroad.In this process they fall victims tounscrupulous travel agents. The governmenthas taken a number of measures tostop this exploitation. Hopefully, the situationwill improve over time. The drugmenace amongst young people continuesto wreck families. The drug addictionleads further to crime, thefts and robberies.Then there is the curse of sickness anddiseases like cancer. According to somereports in the media ,there are more than12,000 patients in Punjab on the cancerregistry. This is a very worrisome situationnot only for the government but alsofor the public.Certainly, a lot of progress has beenmade in the Punjab during the past fewyears. However, both the state governmentand the people of Punjab still facea lot of formidable challenges. Punjabisare well known as hard working andresilient people. There is very little doubtthat as on previous occasions, they willbe successful in meeting these challengeshead on.Link columnist Balwant Sanghera, a retiredSchool Psychologist and Community Activist , ison a visit to India.