'The number of economic refugees is growing. Urbanisation is not development,' Ela Bhatt asserted at the Global Meet of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York on Sunday.
“The number of economic refugees is growing. Urbanisation is not development,” Ela Bhatt asserted at the Global Meet of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York on Sunday.
The lady with the slight frame, who famously founded the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in Ahmedabad decades ago, addressed several heads of countries on “inclusive, equitable growth, and people, poverty and development”.
“Before we rush ahead to modernize and urbanize our world, armed with technology and capital, we must pause and look more closely at the economic and social structures that are collapsing, or are being dismantled in the name of development. Urbanization is not development. Technology, if it creates imbalances, is not a solution,” she said.
For the second time at this forum after September 2008, Bhatt spoke to an eminent audience. The Global Meet aims to make UN’s work more inclusive and growth more equitable. This is to move closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. “Is industrial agriculture with its economies of scale really the answer? The developed world is beginning to question today’s industrial food system, which it recognizes is unsustainable in the long run. The industry is besieged by issues of pollution and pesticides, overproduction and waste, large-scale crop failures and unrealistic commodity prices. Science and technology are solving one problem and, in the process, creating another.
I strongly believe that the greatest source of imbalance is the distance between producers and consumers. Village economy is the key to nation building," she reiterated, recalling how Mahatma Gandhi had recognised this and worked towards bridging the distance between producers and consumers. "After all, ceasefire is just the end of war; it is work, food, and shelter that are the true beginning of Peace," she concluded. Bhatt shared the dais with UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon. Addressing the UNDP is a rare honour for an individual, as it is generally reserved for heads of state and the UN system.
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