Is India really a land of "HUNGRY" people?

According to a recent report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), India has been ranked below China and even Pakistan in the hunger index. The index, released today , rated 84 countries on the basis of three leading indicators -prevalence of child malnutrition, rate of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient. China is at the 9th place while Pak being on 52nd. Not only that, it also tells that 42% of the world's underweight children live in India. These figures are contrasting to the fact that India now is the second fastest growing economy in the world.

Almost 47% of Indian children under 5 years of age are underweight.This high percentage matches with that of the nations like Nepal, Srilanka, Bangladesh and even African countries.These are really alarming numbers and need to be addressed more seriously by the government and the common people.

The primary reasons according to me are (I) The population (II) The level of education and awareness (III) The state of women (IV) Gender bias (V) Poverty (VI) Infectious diseases.

The huge population of course plays a vital role in this regard.Population is a subject of which the perception varies with the viewpoint of the observer. To the demographer it is an exercise in statistics, to the politician a matter of votes, to the economist it is dissipation of wealth, to the bureaucrat a problem of feeding, clothing, educating and housing the masses and to the industrialist a source of labour.

Read more at: http://doctor.ndtv.com/storypage/ndtv/id/3703/type/feature/The_population_problem_in_India.html?cp

As we have limited resources and a large number of people to exploit that , not everyone gets equal and required amount of calories intake. This leads to some (actually most) of them undernourished. Such undernourished parents give birth to children who are underweight.

The literacy rate of India is just 68% (even after 63 years of independence). This is when a literate in India is one who knows how to write his/her name!!! Education plays a very important role in the state in which a family member will be, specially their children. People are not educated and hence not aware about the developments in the world around them which leads to negligence towards certain basic things, one of them being proper care and facilities to the children .

The head of a family is the mother (at least for the internal matters of the home). If she is well educated or at least, aware about the proper methods to take care of their children from the time of their birth, the present situation can be tackled effectively. But, today we don't see such condition in every part of the country. Due to a tradition of following the set customs and traditions tend them to ignore proper care for their and their children's health.

Gender bias here refers to the state where a male is given more preference than a female in our Indian society. Generally, we consider a woman to be more responsible (and it is true too) than a male. But, that freedom is not given to the women in our society which creates a lacunae in the health care of the family and ultimately leads to underweight children.

Poverty in India is widespread over all the states. As of 2010, more than 37% of India’s population of 1.35 billion still lives below the poverty line. More than 22% of the entire rural population and 15% of the urban population of India exists in this difficult physical and financial predicament. Rural Indians depend on unpredictable agriculture incomes, while urban Indians rely on jobs that are, at best, scarce. Most families in the villages, far away from the cities are deprived of basic facilities because of lack means and money. They are not capable of getting two meals a day. We have families in some part of the country who live for 3-4 days on just water. When they have nothing other than water to survive how will they take care of their children.

Lack of awareness about the basic health care facilities available also adds to the cause of so many undernourished children in India. Sometimes of a disease leaves its effect for a long time, which leaves its effect for along. There have been several such diseases which have and still continuing to effect the children of India.

These all reasons, cause and its effects must be taken care off so that our economical growth must go hand in hand with a growth in all other fields. Hoping for the best in the coming future.

Indian soldiers.

Yesterday, I read somewhere about the death of a British Lieutenant Colonel in Afghanistan. I came to know that some of them carry a video camera on the top of their head to record the proceedings of the war. It was because of this camera that the killing of that Colonel was recorded and was made public afterwards. It showed that he was hiding himself somewhere. He tried to contact some other soldier through his radio, but couldn't find good signal. So, he had to come out from the hiding place. Doing this he was seen by the Taliban and was shot.One of his artery was severely damaged.

Other soldiers, when they saw it, called for help. They asked for a helicopter to take the Colonel to the hospital. Due to some unknown reasons the helicopter took almost an hour to reach the place.He was then immediately taken to the nearest hospital. But, even three hours of intensive medical treatment by the doctors couldn't save him.

The story doesn't end here. Questions were raised by the media and the public for the lack of facilities which ultimately led to the Colonel's demise. Even the Prime Minister had to answer the public. Though the explanations by the Army and the PM were not satisfactory, the whole incident reveals the fact that the death of one Colonel can be such big event in Britain.

I was trying to relate the same situation in India. Think of a news on the fifth page of a national daily which shows a picture where an old lady is crying in front of a dead body wrapped in a white cloth. This has been a common sight so we tend to ignore it. But don't we have the responsibility to think about them and pray for their soul. After all they have given up their life so that we could live in peace. They are not given such facilities which the soldiers of other countries get. They can't even think that a helicopter will come to rescue them in need. The situation in which the soldier has died would never be made public. Even it gets public, an Indian can't question the Army or the PM for the death of a soldier anywhere. We must be proud of our soldiers who don't think of themselves when are on duty of saving the live of the people of India.
We don't see such feelings in the soldiers of other countries even when they are given so much facilities.

When I think of the Police forces of India then also I tend to feel that they are being neglected. I have read that they are given just Rs. 300 for their dress in an year for the last 20 or 30 years. We can imagine when some of them are paid Rs 4000 as salary how they can manage the difference for their dress from their income. There have instances where a police had to wake up at 3 in the morning to go for duty in an election because they had just 1 bathroom to share among 17 policemen. Then they had to do their duty for the whole day without them being given time for the lunch as that constituency came under the list of sensitive constituencies. There are several other instance like this where the people who care for us are neglected.

We must pay attention towards them otherwise they too will loose their commitment and ultimately we would have to suffer. At least we must do it for ourselves.

V V S Laxman, Really very special

The pic shown here has been a common sight when Laxman plays against Australia. Once again in this test match, he has proved his name which people generally call him "Very Very Special Laxman".

Remember he came to bat 9th down in the first inning because of the injury. Still in the second inning when India needed him he delivered with his full potential.

Along with this we must not forget the contributions of Ishant and Pragyan who stood there with Laxman.

Once again India proved that a test cricket can be won by a team effort which it has been showing for the last few years. Jay Ho.....