Tuesday, May 29, 2007

TID-3: Our Perception of Idukki: The Paradoxes and the Realities

TID-3: Our Perception of Idukki: The Paradoxes and the Realities

In the previous article, we glanced through a lot of positive things
about Idukki. Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. There are
many paradoxes that could change our perception of Idukki.

Even though Idukki is the largest district of Kerala, 97% of its area
is covered by rugged mountains and forests. 50% of Idukki is reserved
forests. Only 4.5% of the land is considered mid land (20-100m above
sea level). The terrain and weather has its own challenges for its
inhabitants.

Even though Idukki produces 66% of the power needs of Kerala, only
35.8% of the houses in Idukki have electricity.

Even though Idukki is a favorite tourist spot, it is only accessible
through roads. It does not have rail or air link. There are places in
Idukki that are not even accessible through roads. Idukki lacks the
infrastructure needed for the development of industries. These include
electricity, communications and transportation nightmares.

Majority of the people of Idukki migrated to Idukki in search of jobs
in the plantations and other construction sectors. (ex. dams) The
major cause of the backwardness results from the slowdown of the
economy due to the drop in prices of produces and commodities. This in
turn made plantations less profitable. The drop in prices of produces
resulted in the closing down of small and medium size tea factories.
The closing down of factories resulted in the lack of employment
opportunities in the plantations and its factories leaving many people
unemployed. Currently, if you travel through the terrains of Idukki,
you can see rusted and broken buildings of tea factories all along.
The big ones still survive. The owners of the small factories
abandoned their factories and have divided the tea plantations into
extremely small plots and handed over it to the workers for harvesting
the crop. They pluck these tea leaves and sell it to the other
factories. This is probably the lifeline that's keeping their kids get
their meals every day.

The limited educational opportunities, distance to these institutions
and lack of transportation add up to the long term under development
of the Idukki.

While Idukki is the perfect spot for vacations, life is a challenge
for the local people of Idukki. As factories closed and education and
employment facilities decreased, many people migrated out of Idukki.
Majority of the people who are left there are the people who are
either very well off (a very small percentage) or the people who do
not have any other place to go. And it's the state of their churches
and living realities that we read in the Orthodox Herald article
'Karuna thedunna devalayangal'.

All in all, if our perceptions are based on our few days of
vacationing in Idukki, there is a high chance that our perception
could be far different from the harsh realities. And by now we
probably have an answer to the question I had in the previous article
(How can Idukki be financially backward?).

Yes, based on all the challenges that we saw, Idukki can be a
financially backward place and the reality is that Idukki is a
financially backward place.

To be continued…

Next Article: TID-4: Idukki Diocese of IOC: The Genesis

Thanks,
Rajesh Vargheese
http://www.stgregoriosaustin.org/

Sunday, May 20, 2007

TID-2: History, Geography, Economics and our Perception of Idukki

TID-2: History, Geography, Economics and our Perception of Idukki

The first time when I heard Idukki was 'financially backward'; I
wondered how could a land so rich in natural beauty, tourism, hydro
electric power and plantations be poor.

Our perceptions of a place depend mostly on what we commonly hear and
see. The good news is that Idukki has so many positive traits (natural
beauty, vacation spots and so on) and our perception is that it is
wonderful place. The not so good news is that the positive traits mask
many of the challenges and the hardships of the people. (poverty, lack
of education and so on). We will first look at the perceptions that
give a positive impression about Idukki. Later we will look at the
paradoxes in the next article.

Even though Idukki district was only formed in 1972, the modern
history of Idukki tracks back to the late 18th century with the advent
of the European planters. Historically, people migrated from other
places of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in search of jobs in the plantation.

Geographically, Idukki is the largest district of Kerala and accounts
for 12.9% area of Kerala. Idukki shares its boundaries with developed
districts such as Kottayam and Ernakulam. Idukki is not a densely
populated district. It accounts for only 3.7 % population of Kerala.

Idukki is a district blessed with natural beauty of the high ranges,
valleys and plantations. Thekkady, Munnar, Vagamon are few among the
best tourist destinations in Kerala that is located in the Idukki
district.

Idukki is a well suited place for the agriculture of tea, cardamom,
pepper, coconut and rubber. Agriculture is the main occupation of the
people of Idukki. Famous for its tea plantations and spices, there are
many tea factories.

Idukki is known as the power house of Kerala. 66% of the power needs
of Kerala come from the eight hydroelectric power plants in Idukki.
The Idukki dam is the largest arch dam in Asia.

With all these positive traits, one would ask a question: How can
Idukki be financially poor?

To be continued…

Next Article: TID-3: Our Perception of Idukki: The Paradoxes and the Realities

Thanks,
Rajesh Vargheese
http://www.stgregoriosaustin.org/

Monday, May 14, 2007

The Idukki Diary: Understanding the Challenges of Idukki Diocese

The Idukki Diary: Understanding the Challenges of Idukki Diocese

Idukki diocese is one among the 25 dioceses of the Indian Orthodox
Church (IOC). Formed in 1982, the IOC's Idukki dream saw a great
momentum in its early days during the time of H.G. Barnabas thirumeni.
Today, even though the diocese is celebrating its 25th year of
existence, it always had the ill fame of being the 'most financially
backward diocese'. It's hard to imagine that IOC which is known for
its mission and reaching out culture would have such a diocese and 25
years of its attempts to elevate it has seen a slower than expected
success rate.

One of the main reasons of its backwardness is the lack of awareness
among the people about the challenges faced by the people of Idukki
and its diocese.

In the recent times, there have been serious efforts to bring
awareness among the people about the challenges of Idukki. This series
is indebted to the Orthodox herald (OH) and the ICON forum for
kindling our curiosity to understand the challenges of Idukki. The
Orthodox herald article 'Karuna thedunna devalayangal' was probably
the starting point of the modern media awareness of the harsh
realities of Idukki diocese. In addition to the OH initiatives, ICON
has made true strides in bringing the issues of Idukki Diocese to
light. Thanks to all the writers and readers of ICON for reaching out
to the needs of Idukki.

This series is an attempt to build on these awareness initiatives to
bring the challenges of Idukki diocese closer to us. Most of the data
is based on the information from the local people, clergy and the
metropolitan of Idukki diocese. I realize that the sample of people
interviewed for the data is extremely small, and hence if I overlook
view points or present incorrect information/comments or inferences,
please feel free to correct me (with references) as I am open to
learning the facts.

All articles will be tagged with prefix TID (The Idukki Diary). In
addition to the ICON archives, the series will be available at
http://idukkidiocese.blogspot.com/

In addition to the awareness, the prayers of many, the presence of a
strong administration under the leadership of H.G Augen Mar Dionysius
(the current metropolitan of Idukki diocese) and the helping hand of
many churches across the globe, there has been a revitalized effort by
IOC to address the challenges of Idukki diocese. While this is a great
start after a break, the momentum must continue. Our ultimate goal
must be to erase the ill fame tag of 'the most financially backward
diocese' and replace it with 'Idukki diocese: the IOC success story'.

To be continued…

Next Article: TID-2: History, Geography, Economics and our Perception of Idukki

Thanks,
Rajesh Vargheese
http://www.stgregoriosaustin.org/