Poverty – Curse or Blessings for India!!!

Let’s not discuss about the statistics of poverty in India b’coz even today the government does not have a factual count of people living below poverty line and these statistics are being manipulated at the convenience of the political parties during elections. Though, poverty had been one of the most significant issues of India since independence and it’s eradication has been one of common agendas for all the political parties in every elections, but the fact still remains that perpetuating poverty is a lucrative business for all the politicians.
We talk high about India’s economic growth and also India gradually becoming the super power, if not on the international stage but at least in the South east region, but still the poverty remains as a black spot on the face. I truly see this as an irony that in spite of all the promises and assurances the party when comes in power do work on the poverty issue but certainly the priority focus changes like more importance are given to other issues. For instance, you must have noticed that the whole nation was taken by the storm by the differences in the Ambani brothers and even the Prime minister did not hesitate to interfere to gap the difference, but how much personal interest does he takes to gap the rich and the poor of the nation. Hardly… And this is due to the fact that the Ambani brothers joining hands will make a major difference to the GDP of the nation.
Corruption is another major roadblock for eradication of poverty. Guess where will the soft loans, donations etc from the International organizations like IMF, World Bank which comes in the name of poverty come? And we all know how these donations are filtered and then reach the hands of which it is actually meant for. In plain words if poverty is removed how will the money meant for poor be diverted to other pockets. So, poverty is curse for the poor and blessings for the politicians. Actually we should have special department to monitor the money utilization but the problem remains the same, how to trust those department’s integrity?
Again one cannot forget the role of population in creating the poverty at the first place. Initially government did focus on this aspect but it was forgotten with the time. Also, the illegal migrants from Bangladesh and other neighboring countries need to be checked as they are not only responsible for the population increase but also sharing the employment opportunities that are not sufficient even for our own citizens. We are gaga with the pride that Indians are making entry in the list of riches but at the same platform we also need to address the gap between the haves and haves not. To me, that will be the real yardstick to measure the economic prosperity of India.
Now let’s assume that the government has the will to remove the poverty then this should be taken as a project. For instance, take one slum and start working for the betterment of them, like give basic facilities, provide free vocational training to the youth, reserve some quota in the local industrial organization for placement of deserving candidate etc and then proceed to the next slum. Who doesn’t want a better standard of living? So I am sure it’s going to work. Again we need to emphasis on the traditional industry which is mainly labor intensive. Hence, the wealth generation and employment opportunities should go parallel so that the actual result can be achieved.
Lastly, all of us blame the government, advice some measures, write columns on that and then close our PC and feel free from our responsibility. Is there we can do something more to it. I know few people who are silently working on these issue, we should identify them and extend our hand towards them to contribute something to the society. Not just a section of people but, the day when the majority of us can feel the pain of the starving death, we will be able to conquer this menace.
So let’s cut the ice together…