Letters: Villages as a priority

With reference to Barun Roy's column, "It's time for smart villages" (February 24), the majority of India's population lives in the villages. If we can make our villages smart by providing good sanitation, infrastructure and roads and by generating employment, we can solve the problem of migration to crowded cities.

As unemployment is a pressing problem, the government's first task should be to create job opportunities for the village youth. Investments in infrastructure projects - especially for the improvement of roads - and labour-intensive industries and encouragement of small-scale and cottage industries in rural and semi-urban areas will go a long way in facilitating employment opportunities. As the tourism industry is doing quite well, villages should be well-connected with nearby tourist spots so that the rural folk can sell their handicrafts and other wares at these spots. This will boost their livelihood.

Building toilets should be accorded top priority while setting up smart villages. For this, the government should engage corporate houses and public sector undertakings through their corporate social responsibility schemes. Non-governmental organisations working for the uplift of the underprivileged should be given wholehearted support to build toilets and educate people on hygiene.

Veena Shenoy, Thane (West)

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