Theatre personality Prasanna, who is leading the Rashtriya Gramodyoga Andolana, has stressed the need for urban, well-educated people to join hands with rural people to improve the rural economy.
“Urban people living with comforts have to return to villages and make efforts to liberate the people there from the clutches of caste, class and poverty,” Prasanna said at a programme held at Kasturba ashram near here on Sunday.
Educated youths, particularly those belonging to the Backward Classes, were not interested in returning to villages as caste-based hierarchy still prevailed there, he said.
“There is a need to bring a change in villages by promoting equality, principles of cooperation and that is the objective of Rashtriya Gramodyoga Andoala,” he added.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar gave a call for annihilation of caste and Mahatma Gandhi stressed the need for strengthening rural industries.
“We have to put an end to caste system and strengthen rural industries for the welfare of the coming generations. The governments look for instant relief for farm suicides. But it does not help. We need sustainable development,” Prasanna said.
G.S. Jayadev, leader of the movement, said that at least 300 million in India were addicted to the corporate-style of living while the rest struggle to find a meal a day.
“We are making efforts to bring in changes in the lives of both these sections of people. Mahatma Gandhi had visited Banavalu in Chamarajanagar district, which was the centre for Khadi weaving in pre-independent era and it had a huge network all over old Mysore. Now all such centres have been closed. We need to open them and provide jobs,” he said.
Socialist P. Mallesh, who heads a fact-finding committee constituted to identify rural industries that need to be strengthened, said that the objective of Gramodyoga Andolana was to bring in drastic change in rural life.
“The movement aims at creating villages where caste and exploitation do not exist. The people should have minimum transaction of money and take up income generating activities like processing of agro-produces, weaving clothes, preparing medicines and setting up environment-friendly minor industries,” he said.
Maruthi Manpade, president of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, Ho. Srinivasaiah, president of Gandhi Bhavan, and others participated in the programme.
