One year on, no lessons learnt? – Vikalp Sangam

A very good critique of “development” in India

This is a Longer version of the recently published article Are we listening to the lessons taught in the first year of Covid-19?

Local self-reliance for basic needs, and localized exchanges of products and services, are far more effective in securing people’s lives than are long-distance markets and employment opportunities. In the nearly 75 years since Independence, we could have geared economic policies that facilitated and encouraged such self-reliance. Rather than incentivize big industry to take over most production, virtually all household goods and needs – soaps, footwear, furniture, utensils, clothes, energy, even housing, and of course food and drinks – could have been produced in a decentralized manner by thousands of communities.

https://vikalpsangam.org/article/one-year-on-no-lessons-learnt/