A deadly virus called hunger!
Prime Minister Narendra Modi keeps issuing statements that the number of poor has decreased under his rule. He seems to think that it is easy to reduce poverty by changing the parameters of identifying the poor.
Simply by applying a different set of indicators, crores of people have been kept out of the reach of BPL cards. Many have lost their BPL cards for owning a small TV. They may not be eligible for BPL cards any longer but they continue to feel hungry. There have been reports that many have died as they have been denied ration for not possessing Aadhaar cards. Supply of ration through BPL cards was stopped to people in several parts of the country including Karnataka for not possessing Aadhaar cards.It is estimated that about three crore ration cards have been suspended.
Jharkhand’s Koili Devi, a victim of this mess, knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court. Devi’s ration card was cancelled in March 2017 as she did not have Aadhaar card. The family had to live in hunger. In September 2018, her daughter died of hunger. The family did not have anything other than salt and tea powder. Even on the day the daughter died, the family could consume only salt and tea. Devi is now fighting a battle holding the government responsible for her daughter’s death.
Demonetization in 2016 significantly increased the poverty in the country. Hundreds of laborers lost their jobs and malnutrition increased. The cancellation of ration cards added to the woes of those who were already hit hard because of demonetization. The government snatched not only jobs but also ration supplies. We need to bear in mind that those who are not able to procure Aadhaar cards belong to very poor sections of the society.
The middle class struggled and managed to obtain Aadhaar cards by standing in queues and roaming different offices. But it was impossible for families that were already in the grip of hunger to go after Aadhaar cards. Similarly, adivasis and tribal people found it difficult to even submit documents to obtain Aadhar cards. The families that were not able to obtain Aadhaar cards were those who depended on ration cards. Unfortunately, the specter of Aadhaar cards snatched their rights to live.
After the lockdown, the state of the poor in the country has become more pathetic. In the three months of the period of lockdown, the media published numbers about people who died due to the Coronavirus. However, the number of people who died due to hunger never came to light because hunger does not figure in any list of diseases. But hunger is the mother of all diseases as it slowly and steadily takes away the lives of people. Hospitals do not have machines to identify hunger. No hospital writes a report that a death has occurred because of hunger. It seems that doctors have decided that hunger does not fall under their purview. If hunger were to be included in the list of diseases, the numbers would show that more people died because of hunger than those dying due to the Coronavirus. The three crore ration cards that were snatched away have also contributed to these deaths.
We should immediately stop bhajans around the Coronavirus and pay attention to the living condition of migrant laborers in both rural and urban areas. Similar to the gathering of data about the number of people infected with the Coronavirus, the government should obtain a report about the living condition of these laborers. Investigations should be conducted about the number of people who have died due to hunger. Details should be obtained about the number of laborers who are availing the facilities of the public distribution system. If it is found that these laborers do not have ration cards, efforts should be made to find out the reasons for this. India which was called a developing country is now in the list of poor countries after demonetization. The United Nations has warned that poverty will increase in the coming days. In this context, it is the government’s duty to increase the availability of food grains to the poor. If three crore ration cards are cancelled at this juncture, we perhaps have to assume that the government has designed a major programme to annihilate the poor through hunger.
Taking cognizance of this, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre and the state governments. But we cannot assume that the governments would take the notices seriously. The government that has already snatched away the cylinder subsidies seems to be considering cancelling the ration cards too. When the entire country is in the grip of hunger, industrialists like Adani and Ambani are prospering and have not been impacted by either demonetization, Coronavirus, or lockdown.
This is because the government has assumed that the country’s progress and development means the growth and development of Adani and Ambani. For the growth of these two industrialists, the government has thrown crores of people to the jaws of death. If the government’s agricultural policy is implemented, the public distribution system will slowly disappear. How can we then expect that the government will provide justice to the three-crore people whose ration cards have been cancelled.
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London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
