Despite it's growth, Surat is still semi-feudal: expert

Surat, Dec 18 (UNI) Surat may be one of the fastest growing cities in the country, but its social structure is still semi-feudal in nature and not fully developed like Ahmedabad and Vadodara, a reputed urban sociologist in India said here.

Prof Suguna Pathy, Head of the Sociology department in Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU) here, told UNI that unlike Ahmedabad and Vadodara, the two industrial cities in Gujarat, Surat was not a fully-developed capital city.

''It was in the 1980s that Surat's industrial growth began. The city was the base of British colonialism and had a long history of textile and diamond industries. But Surat, as we see it now, has begun to develop only after the 1980s.'' ''After 1991, two things accelerated the city's growth. First, the new economic policies initiated at that time along with the fast changes in the international market. Second, the construction of Hazira bridge, which led to a quantum leap into the expansion of the city,'' she said.

''It was not just a matter of infrastructure development. Even the business relations of almost all the classes in Surat is that of a semi-feudal charecter,'' Ms Pathy said.

She cited an example of angadias or local courier service fellow, saying ''do you know that crores of rupees are being transacted daily through these angadias. The modern technologies like online banking has not made any change in the Surti's business norms.'' Most of the Surti businessmen do not sign a written contract while transacting their business, instead they conduct it verbally, she pointed out.

Prof Pathy said despite flourishing industry and market, the gap between haves and have nots is widening in Surat. The lopsided development has deteriorated the health condition of the citizens.

She said 50 per cent of Surat's population is migrant labourers.

Most of the people come to the diamond city seeking job because it offers immense opportunities to earn money. But most of the workers are hired on contract. As a result, workers always live in a state of insecurity, without ever developing an attachment for the city.

''It is a fact that Surat is an emerging metropolis and expansion of the city will add to its economic development. But sadly, its full development into a modern capitalist city with a state-of-the-art infrastructure is hindered somewhere,'' concluded Prof Pathy.

UNI MS/VNB SHB DS1401