Target 3 Billion offers, as its strapline says, innovative solutions towards sustainable development. The book presents Kalam's vision for the empowerment of the 3 billion people who live in rural areas of the underdeveloped, developing and poorer parts of the developed world. Target 3 billion by billion by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh; Penguin Books; Rs.299.
This half of humanity, he reminds us, lives in a condition of under-utilisation of talent and resources and chronic deprivation, with the global model of development failing to lift their lives out of the morass of poverty. The central thesis on which the book is based can't be faulted. What goes by the name of progress has eluded large sections of humanity. The widening gap between th e rich and poor has been accompanied by a large scale migration of people from rural areas to the cities. But such migration in search of livelihoods fails to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. However, this wou ld become unnecessary if rural areas could be developed in a sustainable way. The authors highlight that even though 750 million Indians live in the country's 600,000 villages, these are a picture of neglect. The model they propose aims to provide urban amenities in rural areas (PURA) by putting in place an environment-friendly system in small clusters of villages. The PURA model has a holistic vision that seeks change through community participation. Against the culture of freebies doled out by our governments, this model seeks to empower people by making them stakeholders in a sustainable development process, with the benchmark for success including social indicators such as health and educational status. The book has heart-warming examples to cite f rom around the country, as also different parts of th e world, of rural people taking huge strides by making the most of the core competencies of their region and integrating with markets outside. Whether it is Warana (Maharashtra), Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh) or Periyar PURA (Tamil Nadu), initiatives by enlightened individuals, universities and other stakeholders have ushered in remarkable change in the lives of thousands of rural people on both economic and social fronts. Such examples illustrate that what Kalam proposes is possib le, but a sceptic will be forgiven for wondering if a handful of examples are adequate for a template for changing half of the world. What can be theoretically done by people is not the on ly thing to bear in mind here. Perhaps it is as important to consider what is likely to be done on a large scale by the people given their limitations, as also those imposed by the environment. As it is, the authors have cast th e net too wide. It would h ave been nicer if instead of the 3 billion people worldwide they had limited themselves to the 750 million Indians who live in rural areas. Those po ssessed with the zeal for change can sometimes become overambitious and this is clearly the case with Kalam. There has always been something of the evangelist in him and this is visible from the book. This may be the reason to take his contention that the PURA model will work everywhere with a small pinch of salt. Parts of the book can also p ut off the lay reader because of their overemphasis on theoretical jargons. The work is full of flow charts and diagrams which would only appeal to a bunch of management professionals. However, the lay reader can hardly be expected to have much patience with theory and suchlike. One also gets the feeling that the authors' prescriptions are far too neat to be credible. It is a book that those who take the challenge of development seriously should go through fo r the ideas it proffers and the alternatives it offers on the growth path. But if Kalam wants to be taken truly seriously, seriously, he must use his considerable clout to help set up a good number of PURAs all over th e country to demonstrate their viability. The proof of the pudding is in its eating.
The authors have presented a very lively and practical view on a long term basis for a sustainable development on a global basis. When the half of the world's population (3 billion) is below poverty line and more than 70 percent of world's poor live in rural areas, Dr.kalam and his co-author srijan pal singh have tried to eradicate poverty by a sustainable and inclusive development called PURA-Providing urban Amenities in Rural areas. The book has many citations on practical basis which has been implemented on local village basis projects that the author has said can be implemented on large scale basis. The author have also discussed various methods of how the Government, The private sector and the community can work together towards a socio-economic development.
Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam, former president of India is basically a scientist. But, like an other famous scientist Albert Einstein, Kalam, has also compassion for the under privileged and desires eradication of poverty universally. While Einstein was a committed Socilist, Kalam is apolitical. Kalam has been advocating his vision 2020 to eradicate poverty in india by adopting the PURA Scheme -Providing urban Amenities to rural Areas. These PURA schemes are varied technological innovations applicable for the sustained development o f rural areas meant to improve the economic condition as well as the li ving standards of the rural masses . In this book,certain area specific successful achievements are cited. For example,Bihar Paliganj where application of technology brought out high production of Paddyand Wheat: Precision drip irrigation in dharmapuri in Tamilnadu,: A reknowned Nuclear Scientist of Los Alomos giving up his job and return to his native PEDA AmIram to transform the Village and it's folk; etc. The question that arises in mind whether thy could be made universal and PURA as such does not follow any principles of political economy and appears to be simplistic in it' approach. PURA is said to be New Gandhian experiment.I am not Sure how it will hit the TARGET 3 Billion. No Doubt, Dr Kalam is sincere and he has assembled lot of data to put forth his point of view, His s tyle of writing is also good. As usual Penguin has maintained it' standards of book production/
