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.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar, four others killed in plane crash
Baramati (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other persons on board an aircraft were killed after it crashed near the Baramati airport in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old leader’s death has not only left a vacuum in the BJP-led state coalition government, but also cast a shadow on the future of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which he headed.
His uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar said the plane crash was an accident which shouldn't be politicised.
The "black box" (comprising the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder) from the aircraft, will be analysed after recovery to determine the cause of the accident, an official said.
Ajit Pawar had taken off from Mumbai in the morning to address four rallies in the day in Pune district for the February 5 zilla parishad elections.
The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak with 1,500 hours of flying, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali.
The government released a statement detailing the sequence of events that led to the crash and Pawar's death.
The aircraft, a Learjet, was cleared for landing in Baramati on Wednesday morning after a go-around due to poor visibility, but having finally received a clearance it did not give any read-back' to the ATC, and moments later burst into flames on the edge of the runway.
In aviation parlance, a go-around is a standard procedure where a pilot discontinues a landing attempt and initiates a climb to fly another approach. It is used when a landing cannot be completed safely due to factors like poor weather, an unstable approach, or traffic on the runway. It is a proactive safety measure rather than an emergency.
A readback is a crucial safety procedure where a pilot repeats back the essential parts of a message or instruction received from Air Traffic Control (ATC). It acts as a "closed-loop" communication system, ensuring that the controller's instructions were heard and understood correctly by the flight crew.
The 16-year-old chartered aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, crashed while attempting a second landing approach at Baramati airport which is an uncontrolled airfield where traffic information is typically provided by instructors and pilots from local flying training organisations.
V K Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, said the pilot apparently could not see the runway and carried out a "missed approach", a standardised procedure in such cases.
Terrifying eyewitness accounts have emerged from the site of the aircraft crash as residents near the Baramati airport described a scene of chaos as the plane appeared to lose control before erupting into a series of big explosions.
An eyewitness described watching the aircraft circle the airport, noting it appeared 'a bit unstable' before its final approach. According to her, the plane 'hit the ground hard and exploded' upon impact, with the blast being heard in homes throughout the area.
Later, the Civil Aviation Ministry, quoting the person manning the Air Traffic Control at Baramati, issued a statement about the sequence of events indicating that the flight encountered visibility issues during its landing attempt despite reports of calm weather.
The statement said that at 8.18 am, the aircraft first established contact with Baramati air traffic control after being released by the Pune approach at 30 nautical miles (around 55 km) inbound to Baramati.
The crew was advised to descend at their discretion under Visual Meteorological conditions and were also informed that winds were calm and visibility was approximately 3,000 metres.
Upon reaching the final approach for the runway, the crew reported that the runway was not in sight and initiated a go-around to reposition for a second attempt on the runway.
After initially stating the runway was still not visible, the crew reported "runway in sight" just seconds later and the ATC cleared the aircraft to land at 8.43 am.
However, the crew did not provide the mandatory readback of this final clearance and at 8.44 am, exactly one minute after the last communication, ATC personnel observed flames erupting near the threshold of the runway.
Emergency services reached the scene immediately following the explosion and the wreckage was located on the left side of the runway.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is currently analysing why the crew struggled to maintain visual contact with the runway despite the reported 3,000-metre visibility.
According to eyewitnesses, the force of the explosion was so great that parts of the aircraft were hurled through the air, landing near residential structures. "The plane tilted before coming down. We saw the explosion and it was frightening," an eyewitness said.
Another eyewitness reported that the aircraft appeared to be losing control from an altitude of approximately 100 feet above the runway.
"The way the plane was coming down, we felt it was going to crash... As we rushed towards it, we saw flames, followed by four to five consecutive blasts, which prevented us from going anywhere near the aircraft".
Pramod Madurikar, a witness at the scene, said the victims were identified shortly after the crash and were shifted to ambulances. Fire brigade personnel reached the spot shortly.
The aircraft was trying to land amid poor visibility, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told reporters in Pune.
VSR Ventures’ fleet includes seven Learjet 45 aircraft (including the one involved in the crash), five Embraer 135BJ aircraft, four King Air B200 aircraft and one Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, the statement said.
Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, said that after the crash, there was a fire. "People onboard were immediately taken to the hospital," he said.
Ajit Pawar is survived by wife Sunetra, a member of the Rajya Sabha and two sons, Parth and Jay.
His Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had contested the recent municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in alliance with his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP).
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders expressed grief over Pawar's demise.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who reached Baramati and met Ajit Pawar’s family members, described the NCP leader’s tragic death as unbelievable, and said he had lost a good friend.
Maharashtra government declared a three-day state mourning till January 30, during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings.
Ajit Pawar’s last rites will be held with full state honours on Thursday in Baramati.
Modi and Shah are expected to attend the funeral, which will be held at Vidya Pratishthan ground at 11 am, the Nationalist Congress Party said.
