“Common sense is so uncommon” and our official machinery proves this axiom right time and again. Latest in the series of tomfoolery is the decision of forest department to conduct a seminar on poverty eradication in tribal belts. The subject event will be held in the costliest five star hotel at Udaipur where many rooms have been booked and lavish arrangements are made for the delegates by an event management firm. The distressing part is that money spent will be from 400 million rupee aid received for the proposed poverty eradication program.
A British tabloid once called India a ‘poor country of rich people’ where beds are more fertile than the land. It definitely sounds an overstatement considering the progress we have made especially in service sector. Global perception about the country has definitely altered but not a lot has changed for a poor man in the country. A couple of steps ahead of polished uptown locale are bound to bring you face to face with pathetic scenes of the human life vegetating in slums. We talk about being an IT superpower and still a portion of the population is forced to sleep hungry .India truly is kaleidoscope of extremities.
The poverty can be reduced not by doing charity to poor but by giving them work near their place of habitation. Strengthening of infrastructure, apt conversion of population into human resource and a thorough check on corruption are the only ways we can reduce poverty. It sure cannot be done in this extravagant get-togethers of elites who still cater to the misbelieve that poverty can be reduced by floating another scheme , setting another committee and by demanding another allocation .
I was truly not able to come to terms with logic of our education minister and his brigade of supporters who think that exam and education are the only reason for stress in students. Now this news of planned poverty eradication program in this extravagant manner makes me understand whose poverty and whose stress they want to reduce…
