Two decades of neo-liberalism has pushed the majority of poor to the brink of ill-health.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s blabber which said “ Malnutrition is national shame” is like a chronic patient in deep coma suddenly waking up to express extreme horror about his own weakness.
Just recently in the month of December 2011, the economic “stalwarts” comprising of Manmohan himself and the likes of Montek, Mukharjee, and Chidambaram had concluded to to declare that those earning above 32 rupees in urban areas and 27 rupees in rural areas of India should be considered as above poverty line and they would also form part of the “burgeoning” middle class in this country. This is nothing but a parody and exposes the class bias of these species who claim to be humans..
The recently released survey on ‘Hunger and Malnutrition’ by the ‘Citizens forum against Malnutrition’ mirrors the extreme situation of Malnutrition related deaths and especially how grievously the children are dying in hundreds and exposes the empty claims of the ruling classes who parrot the figures of GDP growth and the available Dollar reserves.
The ‘Hunger and Malnutrition’ survey which enumerated six bigger states in the country has brought out the horrifying figures of the deep rooted capitalist malady, where in more than 50% of all children above the age of six years are suffering from serious malnutrition. Though this can be termed as a sample survey, but significant numbers of 75,000 mothers, 110,000 children and hundreds of Anganawadi workers were surveyed in this important exercise.
The much touted Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) has totally failed in solving the problem of Malnutrition in the country, according to the survey report, Muslims, Women and Children belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes make up the majority of those affected.
Every third child suffering from malnutrition is an Indian, it is no wonder that Manmohan Singh who is one of those G20 leaders thinks that this is a national shame.
Prime Minister’s wailing that the “Policy Makers, Scheme Executives and agencies concerned should understand that Health, Sanitation, Drinking Water and Nutrition are integrated issues and are complimentary to each other” reminds of a scenario in which a mentally challenged person wondering how the pooh has appeared in his pants!!
The damning survey brings forth the issue of how deep is the issue of Malnutrition in India, according to the report which takes in to account 100 densely populated districts over a span of seven years, says only one out of five children has the required weight to be considered as normal and healthy. In these districts 40% of all children are alarmingly underweight , and 60% of those children are suffering from stunted growth.
In the socalled high growth state of Karnataka the malady of Malnutrition is rampant in the districts of Bijapur, Bagalkot, Raichur, Koppala and Gadag. In these districts the percentage of Malnutrition is far higher than the state’s average.
The various health related surveys indicate the deep rooted Gender disparity in the Indian society as a whole. In one of he recent surveys conducted in the month of November 2011 in Karnataka, out of 3.3 million children surveyed more than 61 thousand were found suffering from severe Malnutrition out of which more than 35 thousand were female and 27thousand were male children.
The National Family Health Survey-3 has indicted that in Karnataka more than 70% of children are severely anaemic and 50% of all children are underweight. Because of this chronic anaemia all Children Immunisation Programmes fall flat. According to the National Family Health Survey of 2005-06, Karnataka’s 50% of all adult women between the age of 15 to 45 are anaemic, this is an added factor for the alarming number of underweight children in the state.
Malnutrition is not just a medical or a clinical issue, it is related to the socio-economic and class-caste structure of the society on which Indian polity is based on. No amount of fund guzzling Schemes, Food for Work programmes can end this discrimination and disparity as long as the productive forces such as Land, Machines, Water, Energy and the wealth are under the grips of the Capitalist and Landlord class.
Malnutrition affects the vulnerable and poor Dalith communities in the country the most. It is no secret, that the ruling class have utterly failed to lift the masses from poverty and penury. Their class bias and vested interests lies only in the profit seeking capitalist growth.
This is a systemic and structurally rooted problem, the Capitalist and Petty bourgeois political parties can not find solutions to these societal and economic issues, Congress, BJP and all other parties who follow and believe in the Capitalist path of development not only have failed in solving the fundamental problems of the society, but in fact fact have pushed the masses of this vast country in to further abyss in their pursuit of profit.
“A Nation is not made of soil and the borders, a Nation is its People” said the progressive 20th century Andhra poet Gurujada Appa Rau. Only a Democratic Socialist System can make that poetic vision come true.
End the Nightmare of Capitalism
Jagadish G Chandra
Bangalore