Hunger India

Two year old Ramsu is a young life ebbing away, thanks to insensitivity of the government. Two out of three children are mal-nourished in the country. In certain areas, as many as 50% infants die of hunger which is usually disguised by the more decent word "malnutrition". One out of every four mothers dying of hunger in the world is an Indian - a record which puts to shame the distinction of being one of the highest food producers. Food, which we Netizens take for granted, is an alien word for a sizeable Indian underclass.

Selling of children in return for 300 rupees is not uncommon in parts of India. That at least keeps the hearth warm for the remaining. Thousands of women are pushed into prostitution by the need to keep the wolf from the door. Humans compete against dogs and stray cows for their share of food found in the heaps of garbage. Imagine your own siblings or children in their place and you will only just begin to confront the reality.

Green revolution (food) and white revolution (milk) may have given the government an 'achievement' to pull in votes with, but an average Indian is entitled to only one cup of milk every three days, an egg every five, a banana or a coconut once in 10 days. Thus he would manage to stave off malnutrition, to the enormous relief of the government which can then safely go back to counting the poor. Or the deaths of poor due to 'diseases' which we all know is another word for 'hunger'. Rotting of millions of tonnes of foodgrain is just another statistics for the politicians - an achievement in fact for them to brag about the self-sufficiency in food production.