Opportunities for Productive Work
Presented by S. N. Goel
Kamla Nagar Hospital, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

1. The People: Whatever the country, nationality, religion, caste, creed or culture, there are only two classes in this world. One is, what is commonly known as the privileged class and the other is the unprivileged class or the down trodden class. Floating in between them is the middle class. Nucleus of the privileged class is built round those people, who, and whose forebearers have been men of initiative and drive. They picked up all types of opportunities for work and advancement in life as and when they got them and in the process, they undertook all the risks involved in completing difficult and painstaking jobs. Everybody belonging to the privileged class may not be equally energetic and innovative and may not have that dash and initiative, but they sail through with their mentors and continue to bask in the glow of their achievements. Bulk of the people belonging to the unprivileged class are those, who lack opportunities for work and advancement in life for reasons embedded in the history and geography of their caste, creed, race, culture and religion. The greatest wonder is that they have survived and continue to survive inspite of all the odds. In the middle class, some people with initiative and drive pick up opportunities for work and advancement in life and gradually move up the ladder to the privileged class. Whereas, those who lack initiative and drive and miss the opportunities available to them, gradually slide down to the ranks of unprivileged class. The pattern is the same throughout the world. The difference is only in the scale. In the affluent countries social security nets are available to mitigate the hardship of the unprivileged class and to enable them to live a reasonably satisfied and peaceful life. In less affluent and poor countries, the unprivileged class does not have anything to protect them and the consequent result is malnutrition and hunger, ultimately leading to social unrest, stunted growth and deteriorating law and order problems.

2. Countries: The world is divided into so called developed countries, developing countries and undeveloped countries. Developed countries have been lands of opportunities. For centuries, they have served as strong magnets for the collection of best human material and physical resources of the world. People from the undeveloped and developing countries have been making a bee line to the developed countries for education, trade, business and settlement. The flow has always been unending and overflowing. USA the most developed of all the developed countries is a land of immigrants. It is a living example of what the human material and human endeavour can achieve, from almost a scratch. USA has been able to build up a strong infra-structure and all the affluence and sophistication, which has provided a helping hand for the economic development and prosperity of almost all countries of the world. Consequently, a number of countries in Asia and Pacific rim have gradually developed large opportunities for productive work, leading to a reverse flow of wealth, industries and talent from developed countries in the west to the developing countries in the east.

3. Opportunities for work: Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Khadi was to provide opportunities for work to the unprivileged masses without disturbing their place of residence and their normal daily routine. The unlimited opportunities of work at their own door and their chosen hour provided hope and a feeling of confidence to the common people. Food, nutrition, health and education followed for pushing the sights up. In the present context, Khadi should not be restricted to mean, the spinning of yarn by a Charkha and weaving of coarse cloth on a loom. Even when Mahatma Gandhi was living, he had moved on from a single spindle Charka to six to eight spindle Amber Charka from considerations of better productivity. As such, the spirit of Khadi represents the development of all types of opportunities for productive work for the masses in conformity with their skills, daily routine and life style. Mahatma Gandhi was able to provide relief to millions of people during the thirties with the help of this rudimentary tool. However, even after seventy to eighty years, development of substantial opportunities for productive work on a mass scale, continues to remain the pressing need of all countries of the world. To-day, we have all the know-how, we have all the resources, we have all the management and training skills and capability and therefore, there is no reason that if we can pool our talent and resources, we should not be able to put opportunities for productive work within easy grasp of the hands of of billions of people scattered all over of the world. People do not want aid or doles. People need opportunities for fruitful work for a modest living, for boosting up their self-esteem and for looking up to the future with a sense of hope and pride.