Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore (MB)

Mangalore, Mar 26: "India still remains a developing country even after a half century since its independance. It constitues almost half of the developing world by the aggregate population below the poverty line.On account of this India is the natural leader of developing nations. Thus it attracts the lion's share of official development assistance given by the World Bank, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and other official international financial agencies and bilateral aid programmes. It amounts to a massive flow of funds nearing 45 per cent of all the global official concessional development aid. However, these funds have not helped commensurately the country's economic growth," says Kulamarva Balakrishna, a senior journalist from undivided South Kanara currently based in Vienna, Austria, who is also the director of the International Centre for Social and Environmental Engineering at Taravadu, Bengre, Padubidri in Udupi district.

Why?

"If the question needs to be answered we have to study the country's as well as the other developing countries' sociopolitical, conditions and identify points of diversions, leaks, lethargies, that cause the waste of scarce resources. It has been the demand of the developing world, that industrial countries transfer at least one per cent of their gross national product (GNP) as capital inflow to the devloping nations. Continued discussions in the international flora has persuaded the industrial nations in principle to agree to provide at least 0.7percent of their GNP. But in actual terms the inflow remains just around 0.3percent. Even this inflow makes an astronomical figure in aggregate and the eradiication of hunger in the world remains pipe dream. Reason: Deliberate misuse by dictators and feudal leadership on one side and grass root level ignorance and superstition on the other side," observes Balakrishna, known as Bala to many of his close friends.

Identify

"On both sides of the divide a number of practical problem areas need to be identified for developing suitable policies and their implementation. We need to focus on the problem areas in order to generate public awareness.A participatory movement of intellectuals world should help. They should meet annually for about a week and exchange information and express views in public. Just as the Davos (Switzerland) World Economic Forum brings the government and industry leaders world wide together for helping multionationals (MNC) cause, the peoples' (beneficiaries) cause should be addressed by the intellectuals and international aid agency officials like the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), World Food Programme, Food and Agricultural Organization, Officials providing logistics to the development, relief programmes," says he with a keen social concern. 

Address

"It is to address these issues we need to establish a Deveoping World Forum in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in Karnataka. This would help us attract tourists with higher spending capacity, allow our people greater exposure to the outside world, generally helping the enhancement of quality of life in the region giving greater opportunity for economic activities in the services sector for the local people.The International Centre for Social and Environmental Engineering is willing to be one of the sponsors of the Forum providing know how input and marketting services if the Rotary Clubs of the region could lead mobilization of the regional service industries, like hospitality, tour operatives, social, cutltural and environmental groups, as well as higher educational professionals. This would involve a) by listing varified top, medium and budget level accommodation providers with cost estimates per day, a student level accommodation providers like homestay paying guest accommodation facilitating social interaction, b) listing quality performing troupes and artistes, c) listing seasonal (second part of December every year) d) identifying and listing academics involved in socio-economic and policy study areas, like Prof.Amartya Sen and at lower end of Dalit torch bearers like Prof.Kancha Illaih, activist groups, etc. e) by identifying and mobilising financial supporters by way of 1) donations, 2) advertisements, 3) concessional accomodation, 4) conference facilities 5) transport facilities etc. 6) creating and attending printed and eletronical media cell," he adds.

Implementation

A few persons of the International Centre for Social and Environmental Engineering, (Balakrishna, Rotarian K Shetty, ADB Tours CEO V H N Bhat and Gururaj will sit together on Monday March 27 at 5 pm in Bhat's office, Hotel Panchamahal, Mangalore, for initial discussions.

Later they will set a time-table and and assign committees with different responsibilities, to chalk out a time-frame for implementation, to set a target of national and international participants, to assess reception capabilities required and to take steps to create them.

Draft outline of the programmes under the conference:

Points: Bases for Economic Development in our context North (Bombay- and Hyderabad) Karnataka)

Themes of the week-long main conference.

Sectoral seminars: 1.infrastructure 2. public awareness,discipline and particpation 3.monitoring implementation,
4. involving higher institutions of teaching/human resources development 5. transparency and accountability 6. corrective agencies and public co-operation 7.debate on inclusion or exclusion of madrasas, mathas and nangasadhus (Gulzari Lal Nanda's followers now following Uma Bharti) and their pariwars or dals 8.law and order 9.public role in safety and security 10.public a polity's eyes and years.

Inaugural presentation by convening committee chairperson;
President of the main conference, speakers introducing each sectoral seminar theme; fourth afternoon sum up of the sectoral seminars fifth day whole concluding session of the conference.

Five cultural evenings: Organizing committees for each cultural evening .Yakshagana, 2.glimpse of kolas 3.presentation on naga (serpent) worship 4.presentation on Koti Chennaya brothers 5. Presentation Bharatesh Vaibhava Programme booklet with details and form for registration acommodation

categories, details rates, adverisement rates in booklet 7500 copies for worldwide distribtion in English (preferred advertisers banks, tour operaors, hotels and others of service sector) invitation/registration format and other issues.