Various studies done my research, scientists and scholars over a period of time have revealed that poverty remains the most common reason for suicides in the country. As per a report tabled by NCRB in 2015, India reported 5,650 farmer suicides, whereas the highest number of farmer suicides were recorded in 2004 when 18,241 farmers committed suicide as per official figures. In view of these statistics, it becomes clear what havoc skyrocketing prices would have played in the lives of not only farmers but all those who had already been struggling each day to make both ends meet, those who are being pushed to the edge each day because they have hardly any means to live.
In addition to this, increase in prices of fuel, essential commodities, and a steep hike in the cost of food grains and vegetables, have made living conditions for the common man unbearable, making him pay through the nose. In a crisis situation like this, which has outlived the public’s patience span, morality is the first casualty. Ascending prices are always complemented with a sharp decline in the morality levels of the citizens and a surge in the crime graph of the country. As always, it is the poor, the weak and the marginalised sections, including the women and senior citizens, who become soft targets of crime.
When taxes are increased, it is a fixed income group which bears most of the brunt. In such a situation, the bulk of the population is sandwiched between too little income and too many payments. And seeing the rich get away easy, morality to them becomes nothing more than a burden to be shed. It is another thing that there always have been some people who want to take short cuts or bypass the law to make a quick buck, but many are forced into unethical practices by the unaffordable cost of living. Hence, the policymakers and the movers and shakers of the country’s economy, who dream of making India a global power in the 21st century should very well remember this that great nations are built on foundations of a strong character.
So, if we still continue to ignore the social and ethical consequences of our policies in order to achieve quick economic growth we may end up turning the country into a glitzy and alluring moral wasteland where some people have more wealth but nobody has any contentment, security, peace of mind or true and lasting happiness.
— Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji
