Government must consider population as resource
A report mentioning the spurt in the number of aged people by 2025 has been recently released. There has been a massive changeover in the ratio between young and aged people. China is now going through this phase. The main reason for this is to having clamped down ‘one child policy’. With this, the number of young people reduced in that country and the aged were in double numbers. Before the situation got out of hand, China went easy on that policy and encouraged couples to have more children.
In some sense, huge population can also be a resource for a nation in terms of surplus hands that can do various jobs. But in some ways, we do assume all those hands are directed at us, seeking jobs and other form of employment. We have turned our asset into a liability. Though we see India surging towards development and progress, a large section of population has been delinked from this growth chain and we are oblivious to this reality. Though we are blessed with massive resources, they are concentrated on only a few people. The food of 100 people is on one person’s plate and the other 99 are hungry. This is how India is, right now. Over all there is no dearth of food. Yet, there are people who are deprived of it.
We have failed in distributing it evenly to all the deserving people. We have not paid attention to dissemination of resources. Hence, the 99 people who could be assets of this country, have turned into a burden. This community which lives on lack of nutrition, falls prey to ill health. They cannot even put up a fight to access education. Since this is a large community, their situation reflects as the dominant picture of the nation. But then we try to change the perception about the country by showing the rich and mighty before the poor. This is the whole logic behind the country being perceived as poor even when we have many billionaires. Even the government does not seem to mind this imagery. It has decided to put the billionaires on front page and is trying to cover for its discrepancies. The country feels it has to be at the beck and call of the rich in order to become a rich nation.
We often speak of African poverty. But India children have even higher levels of malnutrition over African kids. Malnutrition in Africa is at 30% while it has crossed 40% in India. The nation is unable to decide whether malnutrition is the problem or the population is. But we have been making sweeping statements since decades that poverty is the reason for increased population and ill health. Many kids in our country have congenital problems. At least 80 lakh children are born annually with low birth weight. India does not pay attention to their growth. About 70% children suffer from Anaemia. Though it is said that the quality of the sapling is how the tree would turn out to be, how can we hope to see better youths when the kids are born with issues? We look for our best sportspersons in men and women who are beyond the age of 15. But a good sportsperson is not born after 15, but a healthy pregnancy assures us a child with great potential.
Pregnant women have to be cared for, with multi levels of nourishment and attention. This would assure a healthy mother and a healthy child. Mother’s health has direct impact on children. Unfortunately, only 25% children get breastfed by their mothers. The rest of them turn into a burden with every passing year. Demonetisation has increased unemployment, hunger and malnutrition in rural India. The spending on health has also decreased.Instead of focusing on this, the government is spending on religious institutions, statues, parks, museums and monuments on Shivaji or Ramayana or Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel etc.
The government is spending thousands of crores on these aspects than the ones that really need attention. As a result of this, food subsidy has reduced and the chain has been severed. The parameters of poverty have been altered and the number of poor has been fudged. This has led to increased malnutrition. With this, despite high young population, the country does not have sturdy young men and women who can win medals in Olympics or other international sports events. Unless the government invests in nourishing the youth of this country, they will appear to be a liability. The only solution to this problem is that of equated distribution of resources and focus on health. This alone can change the narrative for the government.
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BCCI announces IPL schedules for next three seasons
New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced the schedules for the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the next three seasons.
The 2025 IPL will commence on March 14 and conclude on May 25.
The 2026 season is scheduled from March 15 to May 31 while the 2027 edition will run from March 14 to May 30.
The IPL governing council has reportedly termed these tournament dates as windows, but it is likely that these will end up as the final dates for the tournament.
This early announcement reflects the IPL's rapidly growing prominence and its established window in the international cricket calendar. It allows for better planning for both franchises and players.
This announcement comes ahead of the much-awaited mega auction, slated to be held on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah. It will commence at 3:00 PM IST.
