Theme :-
- ‘Statue of unity‘ is statue of the great freedom fighter, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It was launched on 31st October 2018 & it is the present World’s tallest statue with a height of 182 meters. It was praised and also faced so much criticism.
In Favor :-
- It’s because of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, many small kingdoms joined India at the time of independence leading to the formation of the present India. So, a statue to honour him is a good idea. The statue ensures he will be remembered by the future generations also.
- There will be a return of investment because it is developed as a tourist spot. It will be a plus to tourism industry of India, and hence will be a plus for the economy too.
- Many people are criticising the move because of its cost. But the fact is that the total expenditure was not given by Indian government. Only Rs. 200 crores was spent by Indian government and the rest of the amount was given by corporate sector under Public Private Partnership (PPP).
- Iron used for this statue is collected from farmers of approx 5 lakh villages. This promotes unity of India.
- Statue of unity created employment opportunities. And as it is expected that the number of tourists will increase, it has the potential to generate more employment opportunities in the future.
- All the huge statues of the world have a wide base, but for statue of unity, there is a gap between two feet of the statue and that resulted in a narrow base. It’s not an easy task to build such a huge statue on such a narrow base. So, statue of unity is a great example of India’s engineering skills.
Against :-
- India is still a developing country and has a lot of problems that need immediate attention such as poverty, agricultural crisis etc. It’s all about priorities. Instead of spending the amount for the problems India is facing, building a statue worth Rs. 2500 crores seems to be a foolish decision.
- Environmentalists are opposing the statue of unity since the beginning because this project is a threat to the ecologically sensitive area.
- It’s very important the Sardar Patel need to be honored and remembered. But the way to do it matters a lot.
- Sardar Patel was cremated as an ordinary person according to his wish. He is a simple person and wouldn’t appreciate the move if he is alive today.
- There are many more freedom fighters who did not get enough recognition. Indian government should have spent this money on making statues for all the main freedom fighters with that amount.
- If hospitals and schools in his name were built to honor him, the investment would have helped in the development of India, and future generations will know the legacy of Sardar Patel ji for sure. Both the goals would have been achieved.
- There is no guarantee that it will become one of the best tourist places.
Conclusion :-
It’s all about priorities. At present India needs to invest in human development, poverty alleviation, improvement of agriculture before spending that much amount in honouring our leaders. Developed countries followed this principle. But it was already built. So, it’s better to put an effort to make it as one of the best tourist spots in the world to at least get return of investment.
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Your Turn…
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