Problem
- Research suggests that as compared with 410 million multi-dimensionally poor people resident in 26 of the poorest African countries there are as many as 421 million in just eight of the poorer Indian states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal)
- 46 per cent of the children in India are malnourished
- 10,688 lakh tonnes of foodgrains were found damaged in different FCI warehouses as on January 1, 2010
- India loses food grains worth Rs. 58,000 crore every year due to lack of storage facilities
- Food inflation has remained above the 16 per cent level for most part of the year
- India has been self sufficient in food grains since the 70s but still half of our population starve.
Reasons
- Lack of infrastructure especially inadequate storage facilities
- Public distribution system is fragmented and steeped in bureaucracy.
- Lack of a central distribution and utilisation plan.
- Movement of goods (transport through air, road, water, rail etc.) among the most inefficient in the world. 14% of our GDP is spent on logistics alone.
- Alleged existence of a private lobby that blocks PDS distribution to drive up prices
Sure, we may be
- Trying to go to the moon
- Trying for a permanent seat in the Security Council,
- A member of the “emerging countries” list
- Shipping aid to Africa and Afghanistan
- Having our own currency symbol, which some “experts” say, is a step towards becoming an important economic power
- Growing at an enviable 9%
It all just seems quite futile.
Diversity brings colors in a 'Large' democracy; Illiterate, Multilingual,Racist,Superstitious, Ever-proliferating, Self-centered democracy brings chaos, rather failure as a nation!
ReplyDelete(Fact: read in a magazine that, women in an MP village employed in cleaning the 'open-septic tank' common for the whole village earns "3 dry rotis and Rs. 5 a day"!