The HBS Guy
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MPs want Obama-type session to discuss poverty
Bangalore: A group of MPs has written to the Prime Minister, Vice President, and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha requesting for a special 3-5 day special session of Parliament to discuss a topic more important than what US President Barack Obama had to say -- the growing shadow of poverty across India.
Rajeev Chandrashekar, MP, has pointed out that if the Parliament can be convened to hear Obama, surely it could be convened to `hear' a more pressing problem like poverty which is gnawing the conscience of most sections of the people of the country. The MP wants the session to be without disruptions or walkouts.
"Given that there is very little discussion on issues like this in Parliament or in the media, one of the suggestions that a group of Parliamentarians including me have made to the Speaker and Vice President - is to have Special sessions of Parliaments of 3-5 days, which will only discuss National Priority issues - with no disruptions', No partisanship. Such a session will also serve to get the attention of 'heavily distracted media' to focus the nation on the real challenges facing us. If the Parliament can be convened specially to hear President Obama of America, surely we can also convene a special session to discuss national priority issues like poverty," he said in his blog.
"My attention was drawn to a UNDP Human Development Report that report that mentioned acute poverty prevails in eight states in India and number of people in poverty in these states outnumbers the poor in 26 sub Saharan African countries. While the prevalence of poverty in India itself has not come as a surprise, what shocked me was the sheer number - 421 million fellow Indians are living in abject conditions. This is almost one third of our country," said Rajeev.
This gigantic embarrassment did not quite find enough mention in the media that was busy debating if India can continue to grow at 8.5% growth rates and gleefully reported how private wealth of 49 Indians on Forbes list is nearly 31% of India's GDP.
More shock was in store, as it was revealed that India ranked 134 in the UN Human Development Index and India has been in that position since 1994! Incidentally, during these 15 years of remaining in the bottom, the budgetary allocation for poverty and social sectors witnessed an increase of 15 times.
So, where is the money going? Why are we so complacent about people's lives? Why is there no debate or Bharat Bundh over misuse or abuse of funds and sheer poverty of such gigantic proportions? Mahatma Gandhi said India lives in its villages and poverty is the worst form of violence. This violence continues today to be inflicted on millions, he said.
"I accept that there's much to be proud of in terms of India's development over the last decade or so. However the progress hides the continuing failure of the state to deliver on real outcomes on the pressing problems of Poverty and destitution. The gap of inequalities of income and resources in India are widening everyday and no concrete efforts are made to address this alarming - and dangerous - divide." He said
"Even today, apart from the occasional blue sky claim from the Planning commission, the country has no clue about a predictable and definite timetable to eradicate poverty! Given that we seem to be a nation where geniuses abound as Economists, Media and Business visionaries - why are we not able to plan a clear Timebound path to a Poverty free India? A decade or 2 decades - whatever the case may be, but we should be able to have a national Plan," he says in his blog Rajeev's blog | An Insider's View of Indian Democracy
MPs want Obama-type session to discuss poverty - 1 - National News ? News ? MSN India
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India''s growth fails to translate in poverty alleviation: HDR
D Ravi Kanth
Geneva, Nov 4 (PTI) India has failed to make any significant improvement in its poverty figures, with over 400 million -- more than the total in the poorest African nations -- still struck in poverty, the Human Development Report 2010 said today, listing India at the 119th position on the Human Development Index.
Though India has jumped one position during the last five years, it continues to have high absolute poverty of people living below USD 1.25 per day along with high incidence of multidimensional poverty which is characterised by lack of access to health, education and living standards.
"Eight indicant states with poverty as acute as the 26 poorest African countries, are home to 421 million multidimensionally poor people, more than the 410 million people living in those African countries combined," says the Report issued by the UN Development Program, highlighting the magnitude of people subjected to "widespread deprivations".
"That success doesn''t mean fast growth but how it shapes overall access to essential necessities like health, education, and living standards," says Emma Samman, who is a consultant to the research team that prepared the report.
At present, about 1.75 billion people live in multidimensional poverty and 1.44 people live below absolute poverty in the world.
While Norway, Australia, and New Zealand lead the world in HDI achievement, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe figure at the bottom of the pile among 169 countries in HDI which is a composite national measure for health, education, and income.
In sharp contrast, China moved up the HDI ladder by eight positions to occupy the 89th rank in the world during the last five years.
China is now estimated to have 16 per cent of its population living below USD 1.25 a day and 12 per cent of people caught in multidimensional poverty.
Since its inception in 1990, the UNDP''s Human Development Report has become a barometer to judge how countries are performing in improving the social, economic, and political wellbeing of their population.
"The past 20 years have seen substantial progress in many aspects of human development," says the report.
"Yet not all sides of the story are positive," it argues, pointing that "these years have also seen increasing inequality -- both within and across countries -- as well as production and consumption patterns that have increasingly been revealed as unsustainable".
Along with the poorest countries -- Niger, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Mauritania -- that suffer from multidimensional poverty, India also figures prominently in having 55 per cent of its population affected by "widespread deprivations".
India''s growth fails to translate in poverty alleviation: HDR - International News ? News ? MSN India
