Our aim is to assess where gaps and challenges in achieving the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) lie and then tell how India can achieve these goals.
Well, to begin with, it seems quite a simple and a straight-forward topic, eight goals - all of them had been hammered into our minds right from the early school days and we all know about them, though not as MDGs but as ways to curb the problems which India is facing - but still the fact that these eight 'simple' goals have not yet been achieved calls for our attention. There is an evident gap, which needs to be analyzed and some firm solutions are needed to subdue this gap.
Before analyzing, a particular question needs to be answered i.e. 'Why are the MDGs so different?' The answer to which may seem quite logical - these goals are people-centered, measurable, they are based on global partnership, they have unprecedented global partnership or they are time-bound but the real answer inevitably is that they are achievable. Yes, they are.
India is a developing country and that too with an ever-booming population. This makes things a bit unmanageable and poverty emerges out as one of the biggest bottlenecks in the progress of this nation. Poverty comes as a big divide - a big gap - in one of the world's fastest growing economy i.e. India by limiting the access to not only the basic necessities of food, shelter and clothes but also it acts like the root of all the adversities that the nation is facing today, with its off-shoots being a latent reason of the high child and maternal mortality rate, ever-growing pollution, struggling primary education and erratic health services.
Where does the gap lie? The gap lies in the policies which are made and their inefficient execution on the grass-root level. Factors are many - we can blame it upon poverty, corruption, illiteracy, economic disparity, lack of ample technical skills and a good infrastructure, unawareness or any other such things; but until and unless, we as not-just-literate-rather-educated citizens of India take part in building this nation and bridging this gap, then only can these MDGs can be efficiently achieved. Unless, we consider our India as 'ours'(Mera India), then only can we bridge the gap.
Then there are issues like AIDS/HIV which have struck the nation with great force in the last few decades. Its a painful fact that two-thirds of HIV /AIDS infections in Asia occur in India only, with an estimated 5.7 million infections (estimated 3.4-9.4 million) (0.9% of population), surpassing South Africa's estimated 5.5 million infections, making India the country with the highest number of HIV+ people in the world. One study predicts that if the AIDS epidemic is not contained, up to 16 million people could be infected by 2016. This would slow the rate of economic growth by up to one percentage point every year. The question here is not where the gap lies because it's something that can't be completely eradicated nor can be cured; instead the question of the hour is - 'how we can check this phenomenon?'
As regular bread-earning citizens of this country, we seldom consider ourselves insufficient to contribute to the development of this big nation. But, we forgot that almost all of 'us' - the common man - have got a simple weapon which has got immense potential to bridge the gap. The weapon is called, in layman's terms as 'education'. Yes, education - it is one such thing that can revolutionize the whole development process - it can create phenomenal change in a short time. You might be thinking how can education help? It can, in a very subtle way. It gives you several tools to contribute - it enables you to read, in a way giving you an opportunity to get yourself aware about almost everything that you need to know about; it enables you to write and express your thoughts, in a way giving you an opportunity to flush out the ignorance/misinformation of others about various important issues like HIV+/AIDS or climate-change; it also enables you to impart your education to the deprived few, after all what it takes to take out just two hours every weekend to go and introduce the destitute to the world of numbers, words and language. There are several NGOs running quite successfully across the country which make it much easier for a common man to count himself in the 'contributors' category. Several AIDS awareness campaigns by common people and NGOs are often seen around the cities and campuses of colleges, which is a healthy sign about people feeling responsible to the society. However, what is required in the present scenario is mass participation from people of all ages.
Amongst other solutions, one key issue which comes is that the Indian education system is making people literate but very few of the literates can be called as 'educated'. India needs great educationists, to have a pool of visionaries who shape the future of country. The best way this can be achieved is by increasing the salaries of the building block of education i.e. teachers. Good teachers ensure good thinking of the coming generation. More salary means teaching becomes a lucrative career line, which attracts talented young men and women towards it, which in turn will groom the coming generations by making them aware, efficient and responsible towards our nation.
Coming to the current situation, with the dark cloud of poverty overshadowing every initiative taken by the government, some new ideas are needed to alleviate this stumbling block. One such idea is helping the farmers financially. India, being an agrarian country, to feed its entire population needs to ensure that the demands of farmers are well taken care of. The shortage of lands, lack of irrigation, insufficient fertilizers and manures should be the priority of the government in its every endeavour. Despite the improvement in these facilities, cheap loans and Gramin Vikas Yojanas running, the government is still running far behind its target with one-fourth of the population which sleeps empty-stomach at nights. Instead of splurging large sums of money in unnecessary political campaigns, if that money is used to uplift the masses, it could create a difference.
Proposed solutions are many, but in the end, the ones which can really solve the problems will be considered as sound ones. But, at least, we should try our best to be a part of the solutions because if we are not a part of the solution, then we are the problem. After all, 'we' need to be the bridge to bridge the gap!
Harsh Snehanshu
P.S. I hate writing essays
Well, to begin with, it seems quite a simple and a straight-forward topic, eight goals - all of them had been hammered into our minds right from the early school days and we all know about them, though not as MDGs but as ways to curb the problems which India is facing - but still the fact that these eight 'simple' goals have not yet been achieved calls for our attention. There is an evident gap, which needs to be analyzed and some firm solutions are needed to subdue this gap.
Before analyzing, a particular question needs to be answered i.e. 'Why are the MDGs so different?' The answer to which may seem quite logical - these goals are people-centered, measurable, they are based on global partnership, they have unprecedented global partnership or they are time-bound but the real answer inevitably is that they are achievable. Yes, they are.
India is a developing country and that too with an ever-booming population. This makes things a bit unmanageable and poverty emerges out as one of the biggest bottlenecks in the progress of this nation. Poverty comes as a big divide - a big gap - in one of the world's fastest growing economy i.e. India by limiting the access to not only the basic necessities of food, shelter and clothes but also it acts like the root of all the adversities that the nation is facing today, with its off-shoots being a latent reason of the high child and maternal mortality rate, ever-growing pollution, struggling primary education and erratic health services.
Where does the gap lie? The gap lies in the policies which are made and their inefficient execution on the grass-root level. Factors are many - we can blame it upon poverty, corruption, illiteracy, economic disparity, lack of ample technical skills and a good infrastructure, unawareness or any other such things; but until and unless, we as not-just-literate-rather-educated citizens of India take part in building this nation and bridging this gap, then only can these MDGs can be efficiently achieved. Unless, we consider our India as 'ours'(Mera India), then only can we bridge the gap.
Then there are issues like AIDS/HIV which have struck the nation with great force in the last few decades. Its a painful fact that two-thirds of HIV /AIDS infections in Asia occur in India only, with an estimated 5.7 million infections (estimated 3.4-9.4 million) (0.9% of population), surpassing South Africa's estimated 5.5 million infections, making India the country with the highest number of HIV+ people in the world. One study predicts that if the AIDS epidemic is not contained, up to 16 million people could be infected by 2016. This would slow the rate of economic growth by up to one percentage point every year. The question here is not where the gap lies because it's something that can't be completely eradicated nor can be cured; instead the question of the hour is - 'how we can check this phenomenon?'
As regular bread-earning citizens of this country, we seldom consider ourselves insufficient to contribute to the development of this big nation. But, we forgot that almost all of 'us' - the common man - have got a simple weapon which has got immense potential to bridge the gap. The weapon is called, in layman's terms as 'education'. Yes, education - it is one such thing that can revolutionize the whole development process - it can create phenomenal change in a short time. You might be thinking how can education help? It can, in a very subtle way. It gives you several tools to contribute - it enables you to read, in a way giving you an opportunity to get yourself aware about almost everything that you need to know about; it enables you to write and express your thoughts, in a way giving you an opportunity to flush out the ignorance/misinformation of others about various important issues like HIV+/AIDS or climate-change; it also enables you to impart your education to the deprived few, after all what it takes to take out just two hours every weekend to go and introduce the destitute to the world of numbers, words and language. There are several NGOs running quite successfully across the country which make it much easier for a common man to count himself in the 'contributors' category. Several AIDS awareness campaigns by common people and NGOs are often seen around the cities and campuses of colleges, which is a healthy sign about people feeling responsible to the society. However, what is required in the present scenario is mass participation from people of all ages.
Amongst other solutions, one key issue which comes is that the Indian education system is making people literate but very few of the literates can be called as 'educated'. India needs great educationists, to have a pool of visionaries who shape the future of country. The best way this can be achieved is by increasing the salaries of the building block of education i.e. teachers. Good teachers ensure good thinking of the coming generation. More salary means teaching becomes a lucrative career line, which attracts talented young men and women towards it, which in turn will groom the coming generations by making them aware, efficient and responsible towards our nation.
Coming to the current situation, with the dark cloud of poverty overshadowing every initiative taken by the government, some new ideas are needed to alleviate this stumbling block. One such idea is helping the farmers financially. India, being an agrarian country, to feed its entire population needs to ensure that the demands of farmers are well taken care of. The shortage of lands, lack of irrigation, insufficient fertilizers and manures should be the priority of the government in its every endeavour. Despite the improvement in these facilities, cheap loans and Gramin Vikas Yojanas running, the government is still running far behind its target with one-fourth of the population which sleeps empty-stomach at nights. Instead of splurging large sums of money in unnecessary political campaigns, if that money is used to uplift the masses, it could create a difference.
Proposed solutions are many, but in the end, the ones which can really solve the problems will be considered as sound ones. But, at least, we should try our best to be a part of the solutions because if we are not a part of the solution, then we are the problem. After all, 'we' need to be the bridge to bridge the gap!
Harsh Snehanshu
P.S. I hate writing essays
