A person dying due to lack of food; death due to hunger is probably the most shameful thing for any nation. In our 63 years of independence we haven't even been able to provide food to our countrymen. The country's stats look pathetic in terms of Human Development Index. We might be 11th nation in terms of GDP but in terms of HDI we are at an absolute dismal 119, one of the worst, and some states doing even worse than African states which have been regarded as "failed state". Doesn't that mean we have failed in providing people with basics of life and yet we boast of 8.5% growth rates.
The fact is that although we are growing at phenomenal rates but we have over 1 billion people to feed. This we haven't been able to achieve. The talk of the time is India Inc.- India Inclusive, but the growth has been anything but inclusive. 54% of our population is rural and they suffer from droughts, floods and depend largely on monsoons. It seems as if we have left it to the Gods to feed the nation.
The proposed Food Security Bill, which has already been boasted of so many times is yet again delayed. It proposes to provide 25 kgs of food grain for Rs.3 to the BPL families. So you would need a number and a government document to prove that you are hungry and need food. A son might not be eligible to this scheme even if his father is. How could the government draw a line to distinguish between who is poor or not. Whenever it's implemented then too it would be implemented in some districts to start of. For the government there is segregation of poor.
The Public Distribution System(PDS) has always been in place, but has that been properly implemented is the question. There are corrupt bureaucrats, politicians, middlemen all waiting to turn the scheme for their personal benefits. The Government has lost so much money over the years, providing tax exemptions to the rich, there has been so many scams, and about half a trillion has been lost over the years in Black Money, and then the government says that its not possible for the exchequer to provide food security to all.
Had the father of our nation and other people behind a free India, been alive today, they would have been very disappointed with how we have grown over the years. They set certain basic principles. The principles of equality, inclusiveness, and a sense of giving. We have instead got obsessed with our own little worlds ignoring the larger population suffering out there.
"It's the lack of will that causes a lack of action."
The fact is that although we are growing at phenomenal rates but we have over 1 billion people to feed. This we haven't been able to achieve. The talk of the time is India Inc.- India Inclusive, but the growth has been anything but inclusive. 54% of our population is rural and they suffer from droughts, floods and depend largely on monsoons. It seems as if we have left it to the Gods to feed the nation.
The proposed Food Security Bill, which has already been boasted of so many times is yet again delayed. It proposes to provide 25 kgs of food grain for Rs.3 to the BPL families. So you would need a number and a government document to prove that you are hungry and need food. A son might not be eligible to this scheme even if his father is. How could the government draw a line to distinguish between who is poor or not. Whenever it's implemented then too it would be implemented in some districts to start of. For the government there is segregation of poor.
The Public Distribution System(PDS) has always been in place, but has that been properly implemented is the question. There are corrupt bureaucrats, politicians, middlemen all waiting to turn the scheme for their personal benefits. The Government has lost so much money over the years, providing tax exemptions to the rich, there has been so many scams, and about half a trillion has been lost over the years in Black Money, and then the government says that its not possible for the exchequer to provide food security to all.
Had the father of our nation and other people behind a free India, been alive today, they would have been very disappointed with how we have grown over the years. They set certain basic principles. The principles of equality, inclusiveness, and a sense of giving. We have instead got obsessed with our own little worlds ignoring the larger population suffering out there.
"It's the lack of will that causes a lack of action."
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