What
Mr Modi can do to make life better for Indians
Modi should stop thinking
of his country as a superpower, like the US. PHOTO: REUTERS
After the recent attack on the Uri
military base, Mr Modi said that Pakistan and India
should focus on the development of their own people. So I thought about what
India could do to improve the lot of its citizens.
Even after almost 70 years as an independent country, India is
still an undeveloped nation. Estimates vary, but it can safely be assumed that
at least 40%
of Indians go to bed hungry every night.That’s about half a
billion people who need a dollar a day to survive, which translates into
roughly $180 billion per year. This is something that should seriously worry
the Indian government.
So why does India have to spend over $50 billion on its defence, considering
that it is a nuclear power and no country would dare invade it? And why should
it give a billion dollars every year to Afghanistan, unless it is to
destabilise Pakistan?
Of course, we always knew this and it has been
proved by Afghanistan virtually declaring itself a colony of India by refusing to attend the
forthcoming SAARC summit.
If India’s aim is to help the poor and hungry,
why not do it in India itself? As they say, “charity begins at home.”
But what should worry the Indian prime minister
the most is the lack of toilet training amongst most Indians – 720 million of
whom don’t or can’t use toilets. According to foreigners, a stinking smell
assails their nostrils whenever they step out of airplanes into any Indian
city, particularly Mumbai. They call it “Bombay perfume.”
It seems that most Indians don’t have toilets in their homes. In fact when
the government gave them free commodes, they refused to use them, preferring to
relieve themselves in the wide open spaces where they could empty their bowels and at
the same time think deeply on what can be done to improve their lifestyles.
In fact, Mr Modi would be interested to know that an entire apartment
complex was built without
any toilets recently.
All passengers would certainly be shocked if any Indian suddenly
squatted in the aisle of an airplane and did what should be done in the
bathroom!
So what should Mr Modi do to
make life easier for Indians?
First of all, he should stop thinking of his
country as a superpower, like the US. Secondly, he should reduce defence
spending considerably – most of it goes into buying junk equipment and
increasing the wealth of corrupt Indians anyway.
He should go all out to provide food for those
Indians who do not earn enough to feed themselves.
And finally, he should make sure that every
Indian house has a toilet. In fact, that should
be his top priority, as it will make people of other countries feel better when
visiting India or interacting
with Indians.
Engineer, teacher, industrialist, associated with
petroleum/chemical industries for many years. Loves writing, and (in the
opinion of most of those who know him), mentally unbalanced. He tweets
@shakirlakhani (twitter.com/shakirlakhani)
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/41093/what-mr-modi-can-do-to-make-life-better-for-indians/
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