So, we had this dinner meeting in the GRT star hotels; We all met to discuss the cancer screening project which is being piloted by us along with another department in some interior villages of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh.
And with a beer in his hand, the sponsor who had funded this project, hailing from a western country asks this question; "What do you think about the modern developed India?"
Modern Developed India? I looked at him. An old man! Should be in his 60s. A nice man. He means good for the country of India; He means good for the human race;
Am I not used to this word by now? Still, coming from a foreigner it took me by surprise.
So, sir, how do we define development, I shot back? So all these big IT companies, the big industrial estates, the bridges in the cities, and the roads in the towns are all the development we are talking about! Isn't it sir? I asked. Ya, I know, there is poverty but still....he lingered on. I know, what he was driving unto.
I am suddenly realising how a farce image of this development is being throttled in to our throats. Any country for it to be developed, should give education(Atleast till the school level) and health care to every single citizen of it, without any money or with money which is affordable to every single one of them. And India, has not even started that process. Without, giving health care and education, every other development for me is farce!
Tax me all you can. Every where you can. But give me good quality, honest, education and health care, at affordable cost without any delay, I consider that development.
And for all of you who rave about Indian development in the modern era, twenty years from now, we cannot trust any private health care professional in this country for the simple reason, we won't know where did he do his degree. And ten years from now, we will be paying our blood for our children's education just because, our government's educational machinery has failed and the private players are going to rip you to the barest bone.
I don't mind driving along a bad road to drop my kid to a good quality government school or to take my parents to a hospital whom I can trust and whom I can afford; I would prefer that any day than to drive in a four lane expressway to a school who will fleece me, or to a hospital whom I cannot trust.
Don't get me wrong. Not that I don't want the economic development and the good roads and the newly developed cities. Just that I would prefer we also think of the educational and the health sector when it comes to development.
I know my voice is shrill and frail in this constant bombardment of the word development by the newly elected government. I understand the world looks at development very differently than how I look at it. But still, this is my idea of development. And I truly believe without this, we have no hope for development.
And after this discussion, we went back to our goal of preventing cancer in the interior villages of MP and Chattisgarh. And that is the irony of our development.
And with a beer in his hand, the sponsor who had funded this project, hailing from a western country asks this question; "What do you think about the modern developed India?"
Modern Developed India? I looked at him. An old man! Should be in his 60s. A nice man. He means good for the country of India; He means good for the human race;
Am I not used to this word by now? Still, coming from a foreigner it took me by surprise.
So, sir, how do we define development, I shot back? So all these big IT companies, the big industrial estates, the bridges in the cities, and the roads in the towns are all the development we are talking about! Isn't it sir? I asked. Ya, I know, there is poverty but still....he lingered on. I know, what he was driving unto.
I am suddenly realising how a farce image of this development is being throttled in to our throats. Any country for it to be developed, should give education(Atleast till the school level) and health care to every single citizen of it, without any money or with money which is affordable to every single one of them. And India, has not even started that process. Without, giving health care and education, every other development for me is farce!
Tax me all you can. Every where you can. But give me good quality, honest, education and health care, at affordable cost without any delay, I consider that development.
And for all of you who rave about Indian development in the modern era, twenty years from now, we cannot trust any private health care professional in this country for the simple reason, we won't know where did he do his degree. And ten years from now, we will be paying our blood for our children's education just because, our government's educational machinery has failed and the private players are going to rip you to the barest bone.
I don't mind driving along a bad road to drop my kid to a good quality government school or to take my parents to a hospital whom I can trust and whom I can afford; I would prefer that any day than to drive in a four lane expressway to a school who will fleece me, or to a hospital whom I cannot trust.
Don't get me wrong. Not that I don't want the economic development and the good roads and the newly developed cities. Just that I would prefer we also think of the educational and the health sector when it comes to development.
I know my voice is shrill and frail in this constant bombardment of the word development by the newly elected government. I understand the world looks at development very differently than how I look at it. But still, this is my idea of development. And I truly believe without this, we have no hope for development.
And after this discussion, we went back to our goal of preventing cancer in the interior villages of MP and Chattisgarh. And that is the irony of our development.
2 comments:
I don't know about other states, but in TN, health care is given free of cost at a good quality in all the government hospitals. You can't expect AC rooms and hi-fi facilities, but quality is not bad.. Regarding education, education in govt schools is very affordable and even in govt medical and engineering colleges, the fees is very less, but the quality of education is good. There are many sponsorships for many communities and even hostel and food is provided at an affordable rate. Yes, UK and US might be more sophisticated, but my country doesn't go and kill innocent people for oil and use that money for welfare. If we are not proud of our system, then who else will ? Comparing my country with my sub continent, being literally sucked out of our blood for more than a century by the Western powers, we have done a great deal in every field from agriculture to space science in leading the world today. I will never criticize my family in front of another person, neither my district in front of a person from another district, nor my state in front of a person from different state.I will never and ever criticize my country in front of a foreigner. Yes, there are lots of room for improvement. But we can see improvement each and every day from laying of roads, providing electricity, Street lights, drinking water, opening govt schools in interior villages, opening rural PHC s, MNREGS, basic amenities like in ration shops, even sanitary napkins through the health department, I am proud my country has grown a lot in these 60 years and will grow at a very rapid space in the next 50 years. Jai Hind !!
I think he is just opening our mind to other aspects of development. And by the way, have you gone to any govt hospital in tn or for that matter in India? Pts there are treated with respect even dogs will not be happy of( of course with exceptions) and that is why our mission hospitals and Pvt hospitals are still getting patients, otherwise why will ppl want to pay and get cared for when they get the same care for free.... And I have two brothers who had studied in govt school, one till class 3 and other till class 8 in tn and both of them don't know to read any English or Tamil and don't know 1+1=2. And I'm the writer's own brother.
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