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Journalism of Courage
Migration to cities from rural areas seems to be the panacea for lifting people out of poverty as per the latest World Development Report WDR released by The World Bank in Delhi on Thursday. The new report challenges the assumption that economic activities should be spread geographically for the benefit of the poor.
The prescription for removing poverty should be densely populated cities with minimum economic distances and thin trade borders,according to World Bank economists. The crux is that density,distance and division are the three dimensions of development.
Citing the example of Mumbai,the report says that Mumbais population has more than doubled since the 1980s from 7.5 million as it served as a centre for economic growth. The report states that globally as well as nationally people move in order to improve their prospects in life. In India,in the second half of the 1990s ,about 3 million people moved from lagging states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to leading states like Maharashtra and Punjab. A case in point is Tokyo as well,which is the worlds largest city housing a quarter of Japans population.
In fact,these islands of economic activity also help to bridge consumption standards across regions. In developed countries consumption in prosperous areas is just about 25 per cent higher than households in lagging areas against 75 per cent higher consumption in prosperous areas of developing countries.
The challenge for governments is to allow unbalanced yet inclusive development,according to the WDR. This can be done by reducing the economic distance between lagging and leading areas through development of better infrastructure and transport facilities. This can be done by supporting migration and not opposing it. The government should intervene to clear slums,provide fiscal incentives to manufacturing in leading areas and allow preferential trade access to poor countries.
