When I encounter beggars in the traffic signal, I politely refuse by raising window glasses of my car. But doing so, I feel extremely guilty and shameful. I don’t know, if our politicians feel the same way..
I knw, I m nobody to advocate this, but as a commoner, I ve rights to question, if not to solve..
We have heard a lot of buzz on food security bill and its direct impact on the poor and needy and as a socialist, I wd be always grateful to the ruling party for enforcing such a pro poor bill. But the timing of the bill is a concern, as it seems more of a populist measure to garner vote bank than to honestly serve the poor.
The food security bill promises to cover 800 million people or 80% of our entire population. It’s good that at least poor will not starve. But does it guarantee me that I will never confront with the beggars in the traffic signals and public places anymore. Will the food security bill forbid the beggars from begging? Will it alleviate beggars to givers? Will it bring prosperity to the poor; or will it just feed the hunger and make them lazy.
The problem in our country is, we love to sympathize. When Japan was bombed in WW II, it dint sympathize its ppl, rather it made them tough and industrious. Norway taxes more than 50% of personal income to bridge the gap between its rich and poor. At any given point, the richest is only 12 times richer than the poorest. What I want to articulate is, there is a huge societal imbalance getting supported by an unrealistic approach. Sooner, this concept of aiding the poor will become suicidal to the entire nation. If we really want to alleviate poverty, we all ve to take the brunt equally. Let’s address every problem with a sense of urgency with the same level of eagerness and accountability. We need to focus on nation building, build robust social infrastructure to help create more jobs for the poor. Employment will give them more satisfaction and gratitude than having free food.Apart from food, the poor need potable water and electricity, education,connectivity, decent health services and sanitation, jobs and security of life.
For a nation, nothing is small or too big. If there is political will, anything is possible. We need to rise above our vested interests.
At the moment, the country is plagued by series of scams and corruption which our politicians outrightly deny. Be it bribery, nepotism, graft, embezzlement, lobbying, extortions, everything is happening without any fear of the law. If the law enforcers get mangled in corruption, how can they confront the criminals and promise fair justice.
Commoners like me are used to bribing for passport, ration card, Gas connection, Property registration, birth cerification, death certification. The list goes on and on. Wherever the final authority is government, there is corruption.Every government office thrives with corruption, but no action is ever taken.
I feel there are greater issues in our nation than the food security bill. It’s something like a fish pond being plagued by weeds. There is no measure to clear the weed for the fish to survive, but just feeding the fish will not help. We need to clean the pond for the fish to survive and multiply. Corruption is like a weed in our nation, which has been growing at a rapid speed. The urge and demand has grown manifolds and is eating up a major share of the economic pie.Food security bill also will fill the hunger of many law enforcers, who wd make sure that substantial funds gets routed to their personal accounts in the name of poor.
I frequently find police patrol vans collecting daily hafta from street vendors, biryani from local restuarants.Majority of the accidents take place in the highways, but the fine is collected in the city limit for not wearing the seat belt. I wish, we had the roads to flaunt our love for speed. I wonder, if we ever need the use of a seat belt in cities like Bangalore, where traffic jams are 24/7 and where 70% of roads are potholed.
I just feel that the ruling party has been gimmicking for last 60 years and it has given enough assurances with no results. It has failed to meet the aspirations of millions. Its action reminds me of Fair N lovely which promises to make us fair in 7 days. The party has taken 60 years, but still it keeps promising to making each one of us fairer.The poor in our country are the most powerful in the time of election and the most forgotten after that. They are just a means for rich political aspirations and dividends. If there was no poverty in India, we wouldn’t ve heard hour long speeches from our politicians as the poverty is a topic of debate rather than a challenge.
I feel, there are bigger issues in our nation which needs to be addressed and prioritized and the highest priority is dignity of its citizen. Begging diminishes our moral value as a humanitarian nation. As a common man, I don’t want to see beggars anymore in our streets. And I strongly feel, as a nation none of us wd ever want to see them either. Let’s work on a Job Security Bill, which will make working compulsory for an adult and forbid scrupulous activities like begging, sex and child trafficking and will have a greater impact on society than the Food Security Bill..
I knw, I m nobody to advocate this, but as a commoner, I ve rights to question, if not to solve..
We have heard a lot of buzz on food security bill and its direct impact on the poor and needy and as a socialist, I wd be always grateful to the ruling party for enforcing such a pro poor bill. But the timing of the bill is a concern, as it seems more of a populist measure to garner vote bank than to honestly serve the poor.
The food security bill promises to cover 800 million people or 80% of our entire population. It’s good that at least poor will not starve. But does it guarantee me that I will never confront with the beggars in the traffic signals and public places anymore. Will the food security bill forbid the beggars from begging? Will it alleviate beggars to givers? Will it bring prosperity to the poor; or will it just feed the hunger and make them lazy.
The problem in our country is, we love to sympathize. When Japan was bombed in WW II, it dint sympathize its ppl, rather it made them tough and industrious. Norway taxes more than 50% of personal income to bridge the gap between its rich and poor. At any given point, the richest is only 12 times richer than the poorest. What I want to articulate is, there is a huge societal imbalance getting supported by an unrealistic approach. Sooner, this concept of aiding the poor will become suicidal to the entire nation. If we really want to alleviate poverty, we all ve to take the brunt equally. Let’s address every problem with a sense of urgency with the same level of eagerness and accountability. We need to focus on nation building, build robust social infrastructure to help create more jobs for the poor. Employment will give them more satisfaction and gratitude than having free food.Apart from food, the poor need potable water and electricity, education,connectivity, decent health services and sanitation, jobs and security of life.
For a nation, nothing is small or too big. If there is political will, anything is possible. We need to rise above our vested interests.
At the moment, the country is plagued by series of scams and corruption which our politicians outrightly deny. Be it bribery, nepotism, graft, embezzlement, lobbying, extortions, everything is happening without any fear of the law. If the law enforcers get mangled in corruption, how can they confront the criminals and promise fair justice.
Commoners like me are used to bribing for passport, ration card, Gas connection, Property registration, birth cerification, death certification. The list goes on and on. Wherever the final authority is government, there is corruption.Every government office thrives with corruption, but no action is ever taken.
I feel there are greater issues in our nation than the food security bill. It’s something like a fish pond being plagued by weeds. There is no measure to clear the weed for the fish to survive, but just feeding the fish will not help. We need to clean the pond for the fish to survive and multiply. Corruption is like a weed in our nation, which has been growing at a rapid speed. The urge and demand has grown manifolds and is eating up a major share of the economic pie.Food security bill also will fill the hunger of many law enforcers, who wd make sure that substantial funds gets routed to their personal accounts in the name of poor.
I frequently find police patrol vans collecting daily hafta from street vendors, biryani from local restuarants.Majority of the accidents take place in the highways, but the fine is collected in the city limit for not wearing the seat belt. I wish, we had the roads to flaunt our love for speed. I wonder, if we ever need the use of a seat belt in cities like Bangalore, where traffic jams are 24/7 and where 70% of roads are potholed.
I just feel that the ruling party has been gimmicking for last 60 years and it has given enough assurances with no results. It has failed to meet the aspirations of millions. Its action reminds me of Fair N lovely which promises to make us fair in 7 days. The party has taken 60 years, but still it keeps promising to making each one of us fairer.The poor in our country are the most powerful in the time of election and the most forgotten after that. They are just a means for rich political aspirations and dividends. If there was no poverty in India, we wouldn’t ve heard hour long speeches from our politicians as the poverty is a topic of debate rather than a challenge.
I feel, there are bigger issues in our nation which needs to be addressed and prioritized and the highest priority is dignity of its citizen. Begging diminishes our moral value as a humanitarian nation. As a common man, I don’t want to see beggars anymore in our streets. And I strongly feel, as a nation none of us wd ever want to see them either. Let’s work on a Job Security Bill, which will make working compulsory for an adult and forbid scrupulous activities like begging, sex and child trafficking and will have a greater impact on society than the Food Security Bill..
No comments:
Post a Comment