Bangladesh or West Bengal Exports Beggars too
Posted : September 17, 2005 at 10:03 pm [IST]
Every day when I move around Noida I find the increasing number of men and women speaking Bangla doing all types of menial jobs. Most of the women are maidservants, perhaps 50% of the total in Noida. Similarly, persons speaking Bangla have reduced the monopoly of Bihari riksa-pullers from the flood prone poor districts of northern Bihar. You hardly find maids from Bihar. Bihari women hardly do any menial work these days even in villages outside their own household ones. Do these Noida maidservants and riksha-pullers come from West Bengal or are they Bangladeshi? I have heard many saying they are all Bangladeshi. It is very difficult to distinguish the women at least. With vermilion on their foreheads they look perfect Bengali housewives all right.
I shall be very happy if they are from West Bengal, as they are working really hard to earn their living. Today a single hard working woman or man engaged in professions mentioned can earn more than $2 a day and thus can be out of ‘below poverty line’ category defined by the world body. But how should we take it if they are Bangladeshis? Should we be generous, show our magnanimity, and allow them to carry on without bothering about?
By exporting these poor people from there, Bangladesh will have a better economic growth and per capita earning. As such also Bangladesh is doing much better of in many areas. There are many things that Indians can learn from the success story from Bangladesh. Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and its micro-financing success is one. Bangladesh is doing much better in textile apparel business and even exports of vegetables and fruits. Its jute industry is better off. West Bengal can learn some lessons from their brothers there.
Sometimes, we hear about some mischievous Bangladeshi from media reports, but that can be true for any nationality. When Americans and US can live with influx of Mexicans, as they can’t do their own menial jobs, why can’t India and Indians? Unfortunately, it is not the same case in India. India is still having huge population ready to do anything and it doesn’t require the Bangladesh manpower still.
I got a shock of the day one day near the Shakti Temple in the nearby sector where I go for my morning walk. I found some Bengali old women have appeared there as beggars and there was a fight going on between the local and the aliens. No one will like that to happen. I will certainly not like this import of beggars. Indians trying to clear off all their sins by giving some small charity encourage and allure the lazy in the society to beg. I think there should be a complete ban on this at least or our middle class religious ones appreciate this.
The celebrity chief minister of West Bengal must do something about these people from his state or from Bangladesh. If at all we want to be that generous, let us make it official. We start giving all the Bangladeshi immigrants an ID with RFID technology so that they can be traced if required and their actual number is known. After all, we have now the right of information.Will the government do something?
- Indra
Category: Government Policy/Administration |
Leave a Comment