Rural Indians content with their simple lot despite creeping corruption

By Sadhavi Chauhan Source:Global Times Published: 2013-2-3 18:13:01

They say ignorance is bliss. India, the world's largest democracy, proves this statement's validity.

A recent happiness survey by one of India's national dailies, Hindustan Times, has revealed that citizens living in smaller cities are happier than those living in metropolises.

While the survey remains incomplete in that it does not measure the happiness of India's rural population, it establishes that in a developing country with limited resources, excessive knowledge becomes a source of discontent for individuals, and eventually society at large.

Consequently, major cities like Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai, which are most open to modernization and its supplements like consumerism, political freedom, and political accountability, record lower levels of happiness than smaller cities like Indore, Patna and Ahmedabad.

The major reason, according to the survey, is that residents of these small cities are more satisfied with their healthcare, financial status, and sex life. 

In contrast, the increasing competitiveness within the big cities has left residents always striving for better and more. This has made the task of assuring their happiness all the more challenging.

Therefore, India's categorization as a "happy country" may owe much to its 70 percent rural population. The lower the knowledge of the available options, the lower the expectations, and the easier it becomes for people to be happy with their persisting condition.

This is not to say that India is proud of its slow paced development. To the contrary, recent policy decisions by the Indian government show that the relatively slow growth rate of India's GDP has emerged as a major irritant.

However, the weak implementation of policy decisions emanating from New Delhi ensures that the happiness of the country's billion plus population remains unaffected.

Therefore, while India's parliamentarians are busy trying to push for a law that will allow FDI to foster modernization of the agricultural sector, the major concern of small farmers is to assure proper meals for their families.

A major chunk of the blame for the disconnect between New Delhi and the rural majority goes to the high levels of corruption in the Indian political system.

Transparency International ranked India 94th of 176 nations, with 1 being the least corrupt country, in the Corruption Perception Index of 2012. With crony capitalism coming to dominate India in current times, it is a well-known fact that any major fiscal decision by the central government is more likely to benefit business tycoons than the poor farmers who constitute a majority of the country's population.

As unfortunate as this current state of affairs might sound, it comes as a blessing in disguise for the country's measures of happiness. Excessively low expectations of the government have made it possible for 70 percent of the country's population to find happiness in even unsatisfactory conditions.

The help working in my house told me, "My sister was supposed to get scholarship in the village school, but it got cancelled when a new scheme of awarding money to the Muslim students was introduced. We don't complain. These Muslim students are getting only a quarter of the amount that the scheme promises. Instead of getting jealous, we are sympathetic toward them."

Undoubtedly, such acceptance and a silent compliance to the existing system are bound to surprise people in today's age of revolutions and change.

However, we need to understand that even today around 830 million Indians live in the countryside, devoid of modern technology, with uncertain primary education and lack of easy access to the central government. For this section of the population, happiness is not linked to their wealth and health conditions.

For them happiness comes in the form of a son, in the form of three normal meals and in the form of a cordial communal life. As Indian author Shobhaa De has stated, "The trouble is Indians aren't used to being prosperous. We are more comfortable dealing with poverty - after all, poverty has been the staple here for many centuries."

The author is an associate fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn



Posted in: Asian Beat, Viewpoint

blog comments powered by Disqus