Like medical experts, farmers too saved our country amid pandemic: Gopalkrishna Gandhi

Gandhi was the chief guest on the 101st foundation day virtual celebration of Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by Mahatma Gandhi on October 18, 1920.

The biggest problem today is the increasing migration from villages to cities that has augmented the Covid pandemic, said Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi was the chief guest on the 101st foundation day virtual celebration of Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by Mahatma Gandhi on October 18, 1920.

“Though the medical experts are doing their best but as a society we should ask ourselves if we are doing enough. I have noticed that the PLLs (Padhe Likhe Log), whose population is high in urban areas where the effect of pandemic is highest, are very callous towards Covid guidelines,” Gandhi said.

“With urbanisation, the urban population is constantly increasing and farmer population is declining. This imbalance and increase in urban population is augmenting the pandemic. We should accept the faults in our economic policies as we have flouted this proportion and need to bring in necessary reforms in our economic policies. We are responsible for farmers shifting to cities from agriculture.”

“We have negated the rural and urban balance. While on one hand doctors, nurses and sanitary staff saved our country, on the other hand the same was done by the farmers. The difficulty with which they have provided us between Rabi and Kharif season when the pandemic was at its peak, reminds us that the pandemic might go away or reduce but this disproportion, or the imbalance will continue,” he added.

The university’s chancellor Elaben Bhatt said that she expected Gujarat Vidyapith to become ‘rotipith’ and ‘urjapith’ in the coming future. She also hinted at reforming the curriculum to imbibe these changes in the post Covid times.

“It is worrisome that in the country exporting grains, people are starving to death. The answer to this is local and not global. It is not restricted to self reliance and food safety, but a synergy of employment generation, promoting local thus reducing transportation costs and carbon footprints, decentralisation and sustainable,” she said.

Similarly, talking about ‘urjapith’, the Chancellor said that in coming days, it is Gujarat Vidyapith’s responsibility to institutionalise all the steps towards energy conservation.

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