Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Indexing inhumanity

This refers to the article ‘Indexing inhumanity, Indian style’ (Oct. 26). For progress to reach the people in the villages, where a large chunk of our population lives, the agriculture sector must grow. While the policies relating to the industrial and service sectors have undergone major changes and are relevant to the times, those on agricultural research and development are more in tune with the 1960s. If India is to walk out of the hunger trap and if our villages are to shine, agricultural productivity must register rapid growth. For this, major reforms in agricultural research are needed.

S. Ganesan,

Hyderabad

The article has highlighted the glaring inequitable manner in which issues are prioritised in our country. It is a fact that less than three per cent of the population take part directly as retail investors in the stock market. But the Sensex is accorded so much importance from our ruling elite that it rushes to take remedial measures every time the index falls. Such alacrity, alas, is not bestowed on bettering the socio-economic living conditions of crores of Indians. It is equally condemnable that the media deem it unworthy to focus on such vital issues. Thanks for such a forceful article.

N. Sekar,

Salem

Whenever feeble attempts are made by governments to address issues such as land distribution or the employment guarantee scheme, they are viewed with derision as populist giveaways by influential sections of our society. But tax reductions and other giveaways to the elite sections are termed incentives. Why? Should efforts to awaken the polity from the comforts of such slumber be trivialised as moral exhortations or complemented with more coordinated vigour?

Kasim Sait,

Chennai

It is a paradox that the policies of the UPA government, which never stops harping about its all-inclusive growth, have almost always excluded the poor. It is sad that Ethiopia, with a lower GDP, ranks above us in the Global Hunger Index. Experts should be consulted on the subject of health indexing.

Raj Kishore,

New Delhi

The revelations in the article are spine-chilling. Are we helping perpetuate poverty, illiteracy, and infant mortality in various forms in the name of development? What do we actually intend telling the world? All right-minded citizens must strive unitedly for “real development.”

G. Ramesh,

Chennai

Adequate food supply to the masses, at an affordable cost, is the first duty of any government. To achieve this, agriculture — the least talked about sector in our economic policy discussions — should be given top priority. Increased food production is the only alternative.

Thadigiri Potha Raju,

Karimnagar

It is high time India took the ever-growing hunger phenomenon seriously and worked out short-tern and long-term strategies for alleviating hunger. We can never boast that “India is shining, as long as someone somewhere in the country is hungry. All the new economic polices favour the rich and hurt the poor, This should change. In fact, if the situation continues, there could be social unrest all over the country.

A. Irudayaraj,

Nagapattinam

The article is distressing. The fact that those groups powerful to do something for the starving multitudes are not bothered is worrying. Even human rights groups only take up the cause of “selective groups” — those that can bring them into the limelight. Quality leadership is lacking in political, social, and many other fields and this is telling on the country’s overall health.

K.T. Krishnaswami,

Singaperumal Koil

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