SPENDING FORTUNES ON “NON-LIVING”-ARE THE STRING OF STATUES PROJECTS IN INDIA WORTH IT?
On 31st October 2018, on the 143rd birth anniversary of one of the India’s greatest leader and an eccentric personality sardar vallabh bhai patel, was inaugurated statue of unity, a colossal and hulk sized statue of the minister. Mr. Patel was the first deputy prime minister and home minister of the free India, and is highly respected in the country for his contributions to the country such as uniting 552 princely states of India to form one united India. The giant structure that is world’s tallest statue, standing 183 meters on Sardar Sarovar Dam, situated 100 km from Vadodara, a city in the state of Gujarat. The expenditure on the statue was approx 3000 crore that is a huge amount, which if spend on needful things could have educated thousands of kids etc.
Similarly many more statues in several states of India are in the plans causing debates across India about the use of public money on building statues instead of using them for useful purposes. Statues that are in the plans are Statue of Chatrapathi Shivaji in Maharashtra (Project cost-Rs. 2800 crore), Ram statue in Ayodhya, UP (Project cost-Rs. 330 crore), Mother Cauvery statue near Cauvery river in Karnataka, Buddha statue in Gujarat.
Are these projects worth the time and money put into them, won’t it be much beneficial to the country if the funds injected into these projects would have been used for social or economically purpose which can lift up the country in some or the other ways.
Why building statues is favored?
- With statues, we can make future generations understand about the contributions made by the leaders and the importance of historical places, which these days is gone missing, Indian is known for its rich culture and heritage, and statues can be a great way of bringing our upcoming generation to notice to our heritage.
- India’s tourism sector needs to be improved a lot. These statues will help in achieving it, India has a lot more scope for attracting more and more tourist, and this humongous structure can be proved as a catalyst in bringing that attraction to the nation.
- In the long run, these statues can become revenue generating sources, initially there is huge funds invested in making of the statues but if we look ahead in time, we can see to start making good money out of it.
- It will also help in creating employment opportunities such as engineers, designers, caretakers, electrician, and many types of other job opportunities too.
- If we go for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, private companies will take care of the investment and will put effort to get returns on the investment.
Why building statues is Un-favored?
- India has a lot of issues to deal with such as poverty, farmer suicides, lack of infrastructure etc. We need to priorities well when we spend public money. As a developing country, it will be a wise choice to spend the money to solve the issues rather than spending them on making statues.
- India is taking huge loans from World Bank. So, it will be very foolish to spend crore of rupees on building statues when we have loan on our heads.
- Even the developed countries are not building this kind of money draining statues.
- There is no guarantee that the tall statues will attract tourists. Natural things should be improved to attract tourists. It’s better to go for eco-friendly and cheap options to improve tourism. Moreover, tourism constitutes only 9% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). So, it’s not wise to spend crore of rupees for tourism.
- Public opinion wasn’t taken before starting these projects, and hence the move is undemocratic.
- There are several issues with the proposed statues such as – Chatrapathi Shivaji statue will disturb the ecosystem of the Arabian sea, Cauvery statue will affect the brindavan gardens, which is one of the biggest tourist spots of Karnataka & Ram statue in Ayodhya will make minorities insecure – India is a secular country and so the government should stay away from religious sentiments.
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Source - Edumyra
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