In a country like India which has stark contrasts in standards  of people’s lives, fitness is deemed rather ostentatious. Yoga and spirituality are up for sale much like fitness equipment in the market. Fake babas and swamijis are much celebrated too. They are not only setting up massive business establishments, but are also making money out of the talks they deliver on psychological and physical health. With more than 50% of people suffering from malnourishment, fitness is a misnomer. Our Prime Minister Modi is busy playing the fitness game while people at the lower strata are suffering from lack of hygienic food, safe drinking water and access to health and education. Initially he posed for pictures under Swacch Bharat campaign. But after spending a few thousand crores to clean it up, he has gone totally quiet about it. All the money, a few thousand crores of rupees has gone down in the drain. The government has remained unaccounted on people’s money. Lives of paurakarmikas, cleaners and janitors has remained the same. Devotees and industrialists have been polluting the much adored river Ganga. The government feigns helplessness.

Now at such momentous times, Modi is busy playing the fitness game. He has been challenging others also to participate in this, by tagging them on his social media. Having turned foreign countries as his mainstay except for the times when any state would be preparing for elections, he is a classic example of a person who has lost his track. This fitness game seems like a small time preparation to 2019 elections. When he tagged Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy, the latter has said he is more concerned about the fitness of the state equally or over his own physical fitness. He even sought the cooperation of Modiji in this regard, conveying to him that he need not be taught a lesson or two in fitness which is not even his priority. He has in fact indirectly advised the PM to pay attention to the nation’s fitness.

This country’s fitness and Narendra Modi’s personal fantasy of fitness are not interconnected at all. A global report has challenged about the overall fitness of the youth of this nation. Instead of accepting that challenge, Modi has taken refuge in social media.

The recently published Global Poverty Index has shown India has slipped two more positions below. This means increasingly the country is going hungry. India has gone further down from 97th position to 100th one now. This would also mean India is in much worse condition compared to Nepal, Bangla etc. India was in 57thposition among 119 countries that had participated to understand their global hunger index in 2013. By 2016 India had reached 92 and now the country is at 100th position. According to Wealth Hunger Life organization Director “self sufficiency of food is also getting affected. The economic policies made by the current govt are responsible for this. This has had a direct impact on food nutrition and security” she had said. And her anticipation has a lot of truth in it. Anaemia is the biggest menace India is facing which is contributing to maternal mortality and poor health of new borns.

Hunger leaves an indelible mark on the lives of young men. Children who grow being subject to malnutrition can never accept such fitness challenge. Hunger, ill-health and illiteracy are interconnected. Hunger has a direct link to resurfacing of TB in this nation. Things have reached really difficult phase after demonentisation. People are losing jobs in small cities and semi-urban areas and new jobs are hard to come by in agrarian and small industries sector. Migrant labourers are returning to their villages owing to no jobs in the city. Modi’s economic understanding has excluded the poor from its focal area, hence this field has very limited allowance set aside for it. With this, how can the country take fitness challenge? Hence, Modi should stop spending resources on social media presence and listen to the WHO report and guidelines to eradicate the poverty totally.   

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Mumbai, May 2: The management of a reputed school in Mumbai has allegedly asked its principal to resign reportedly for liking social media posts on the issue of Palestine and the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict, her aide said on Thursday.

The aide of Parveen Shaikh, the principal of Somaiya School in the Vidyavihar area, said on April 26, she was called by the school management for a formal meeting and asked to resign allegedly over her comments and likes on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on the Hamas-Israel conflict and other issues.

"In the meeting, they (school management) said this (comments/likes) was not acceptable and asked her to resign. However, she refused to resign," the aide said.

Thereafter, for the next two days, she was pressured by the management to quit her post, according to her aide.

When contacted, Shaikh declined to comment on the issue.

The issue came to light after a web portal published a report highlighting the principal's comments/ likes on her X handle that were deemed as pro-Palestine and sympathetic towards Hamas.

The aide noted that Shaikh's work has been "exemplary" and the management should take into account the fact that the school had received several awards, including for academic excellence, under her leadership.

Shaikh has been associated with the school since the last 12 years and took charge as the principal seven years ago.

A spokesperson for the school management said, "The matter is still being investigated. As soon as they get an update, they will share it."