The need for respect for the human rights of migrants from the northern States who are increasingly relocating to the more prosperous southern and western States in India in search of employment is important from the perspective of national unity (OpEd – ‘Single File’ – “The great Indian migration”, July 11). Diego Palacios’s piece also offers an implicitly tacit reflection of the uneven development that characterises our nation where the northern States trail the south and the west in both manufacturing as well as technology job-creating industries.
This disparity brings to the forefront the hitherto unaddressed burning need for the Centre and the governments of these northern States to create the necessary conditions that are conducive for entrepreneurs, both domestic and foreign, to make the kind of massive investments in these States that their counterparts in the south and the west have been doing for over a decade.
It is also odd that the Prime Minister, who promotes the ‘Make in India’ programme abroad, has never articulated solutions to this burgeoning problem of disparity in development among States — more prominently, the north and the south.
Stray incidents that uncover deep undercurrents of State regionalism such as the like the recent protests against Hindi signages in Bengaluru and Metro stations in Bangalore, and others like some States passing laws to impose their State language in schools to protect their linguistic heritage will be a natural consequence of increasing and unabated inter-State migrations if such disparities get exacerbated. These can be which can easily be addressed if these inter-State developmental imbalances are addressed.
While ‘Make in India’ will help the country, the Modi government would do well to evenly distribute this FDI among different regions of our country.
Aravind Sridhar,
Bengaluru
