Development magic

#DevelopmentMagic

When we hear the news that 22,469 enterprises and half a million jobs have been created in the last nine months, we might think that Kerala has suddenly become a mini Silicon Valley. But if one looks into the details of the figures, he will see that most of the start-ups there are thattukadas, papada stalls, dosamav shops, fish stalls, and pancharotikkal centers. When all the shops that open in the morning and close in the evening, and may not be seen tomorrow if the rent increases, are “new enterprises”, it is easy to count the job opportunities. 

If two people work in the shop on the day the shop opens, two jobs; if the shop closes the next day? That does not appear in the figures at all. This is how entrepreneurship sometimes soars in the figures and ends up by the wayside in reality. 

It is no coincidence that such news is repeated more when elections are approaching.  This is the usual practice in the script of development, with project figures on one side and salary hike announcements on the other. The announcement is grand, but the question of where and how the money will be provided is unanswered. Sometimes it seems that the intention is to let the next government, once it assumes power, be burdened by these announcements. It is a kind of political strategy to make promises without the money to implement them and say, “We announced them, they did not implement them.” 

Thus, when the ruling party plays a comedy during the election season by combining figures and announcements, the public is confused whether to applaud or cry

But it is more likely that the people will directly question the truth of the script behind the scenes during the election.

-K. A. Solaman