Mera India Bridge the Gap
India has always been looked up as the country full of different colors and cultures. People come here all around the world for a true experience of their life, however what they read and have seen about India isn’t what exactly what they find. I read this blog entry by a lady who was from America and was visiting India to see its true colors. Her post did tell that India is a beautiful place to live in; however India didn’t turn out to be what she was expecting. She felt bad after watching the slums around Mumbai Airport. She wrote “Mumbai (or Bombay according to her) was one of the cities she was waiting for long to see and roam around, however what she saw there made her feel that she would have taken a guide who would have shown her the only the good places around.” The slums, poverty, illiteracy and other different things she saw which shattered the image what she carried from her home. She especially mentioned that she didn’t regret coming to India and was quite content to come back, however next time she’ll go to the recommended places only so that the picture she weaved about India remains the same.
And it’s not only about people visiting India and the same with people living in India. I lived and was brought up in a neighborhood where people are well educated. They represent different strata of our society. I didn’t believe our society still had issues like Dowry, preferring the boy child etc until I saw that happening around me. If, I ever hear anything about these issues on news channels or read it in newspaper, I always thought what kind of people are they? And always felt like, it doesn’t matter to me. When I used to hear news where people were dying because of poverty or hunger, questions were raised in my mind. Can it be true? People can die because of poverty. I could easily feel the chill in my stomach after reading that news.
Yes, every country has its issues like it’s been said earlier in an Indian movie “No country in the world is perfect, their people make it perfect.” India too have its issues however we need to work together to eradicate them. Nothing is going to happen on its own. We, THE PEOPLE, have to work for it.
Yes, India has pledged to achieve some important milestones by 2015, which will be for the best of the people. Following are the goals India has pledged and I'm supporting this cause. This is the first time, I think, I’m doing something substantial for the country and I’m kind of feeling proud of it right now. There are many, however, I’m raising a few issues in this post.
* Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
There are still people dying around different states of India because they can’t afford a meal. This season because of late monsoon and less rain, many districts around Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh were called Drought affected. At this point of time, when the technology has advanced so much, we are still facing the issues like Drought’s. Yes, I know that this is a problem which can’t be fixed in a day and also I don’t know how the system works but when there are people dying because of it, then I feel it doesn’t matter how you do it?
Suggestions: - To workaround issues like poverty and hunger, the elected representatives needs to play the biggest part. They need to make policies so that people can earn money. Start different projects around the states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan which I believe are states that are require special attention regarding this issue. Government officials, Educationists, Health personnel comes are the second most important people because they need to carry out and execute the plans and policies in the correct manner so that maximum people get the benefit. Celebrities and Youth can play a vital role too. They can attract funds from the whole country to help the needy. Thus every strata of the society need to contribute to cause may it be media, corporate leaders, NGO’s etc.
* Achieve universal primary education
Really really important. We need to achieve universal primary education if we want to grow as a country. Providing free primary education around India was a great step by our government. One thing I can say about the education policy of India is that I’m content with what different things Indian government has done to bring kids to school. I liked their approach Mid-day meals, Aanganbadi’s, admissions into private school, cheap education in government schools. This is one issue I think we are progressing pretty well.
Suggestions: - The only suggestion I would like to make is to reach the masses with what different free facilities government is providing. People need to be told that government is trying to help them however they have to send their child to the school. Celebrities, youth, NGO’s, Government officials, Government officials, Educationists, Health personnel all play pivotal role in uproot illiteracy.
* Promote gender equality and women’s empowerment by eliminating gender disparity in schools
We always boast about women reaching and working at different places and post which were always said to be a men’s place. And then we feel that the there is gender equality because some women have made it big. But still we have to make changes so that women don’t have to struggle to get what are their fundamental rights. We should feel that if some women have been successful in their respective field so we are not gender biased. We need to make changes, so the male ego doesn’t come in between of any woman’s success.
Suggestions: - Gender biasing is all a state of mind; even the educated people do the same. We need to change the mentality of the society. We need to reach the schools and start it at the basic level. Spreading awareness among the kids. Celebrities, NGO’s can play a major role in this cause.
* Reduce the child mortality rate
Yes, people are still relying to local, unhygienic ways to delivering a child. Also being no hospital close to the villages, the delivery of child becomes a major issue. Also we need to educate people to get their child antibiotic injection so that their kids can be safe from different lethal diseases like hepatitis, polio etc. We have been very successful in uprooting POLIO out of our country. A successful campaign by the government of distributing the POLIO vaccine free came really handy. NGO, Celebrities and the youth helped a lot for this cause. However, still POLIO is not the only disease we need to uproot. There are many more.
Suggestions: - Doing similar thing done to eradicate the polio issue to uproot the other diseases too. Celebrities, government, NGO’s, Media, health personals, Educationists, government officials and youth all can help to this cause.
* Reduce the maternal mortality rate
Many women die in India while giving birth to a new life. The reasons for this, people still stick to their local and homely procedures of delivering a child and not going into a hospital to deliver a child. Delivering a child in unhygienic condition is fatal to both- the mother and the child. However, lack of knowledge leads to this kind of decisions.
Suggestions: - Celebrities and Media can help to take the awareness to the masses. NGO’s and Youth of India can reach the masses and educate them about the security of delivering in a hospital. Government officials can make policies so that people who can’t afford expensive treatment can be helped. Health personals play the pivotal role here. The entire government employed doctors should work in villages for atleast 2-3 years.
* Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
India is one of the leading countries where maximum people die of HIV/AIDS. Awareness is what required throughout the society. Government have done many things like educating people about the causes and reasons, free condoms, awareness through radio and television and reaching people too. Celebrities came up in support of uprooting AIDS from the country. NGO’s did their bit by reaching the villages and the individual. Government is trying hard to fight against the different diseases by providing the free vaccines and free treatments too. However, the plans are not been executed well enough.
Suggestions: - The whole system should be transparent. People should know why the help given by the government isn’t reaching them? Also the government official, health personals and elected representatives are important while executing the government’s plan. Celebrities and media need to spread the awareness regarding the reasons and causes.
* Ensure environment sustainability
Saving the environment should also be on top of our list. The whole world is suffering from major environment changes like global warming, ozone layer and global meltdown. I believe the people who can be responsible for these are educated and aware of what their actions is leading the world into however they still don’t work against it. Many developed countries are over using their resources and creating a lot of waste.
Suggestions: - People should be made aware of what affects their action will make to the world. We need to make a healthy world for our coming generation. Banning plastic bags and limiting the industrial waste which damages the environment. Government should take some serious and strong measures against the causes before it’s too late.
* Develop global partnership for developmen
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Development isn’t just a word; it includes a lot of things like employment, sound education system, healthy society, healthy economy etc. As no country in world can be independent, everybody is dependent on someone else for some resource. That’s why a global partnership is what required to make India grow and develop as a nation.
Suggestions: - Celebrities can make important contribution towards this cause. They represent India globally and Government can take help of their popularity to spread awareness about INDIA across the world. Media is also equally important.
One last thing I hope is that we just don’t write about it, we should also work for it.
Jai Hind.
