Join us in Eradicating Hunger

March 14, 2010

Hunger has no religion. Be it a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian – hunger is being experienced by every human being. Hunger or thirst is the occasion inviting immediate attention of all concerned. Society is duty bound to quickly attend to the need of hungry man. It looks very simple to feed the hungry person at a time. But when a society as a whole realizes its importance, no one will be seen starving. Nay, poverty and starvation will cease to be a haunting problem then.

Friends! When you step out of your houses you become a witness to the well designed buildings, residential arcades, well furnished flats and villas with the state of the art amenities stretched out on either side of our highways. Everything looks rosy here. If any foreign reporter comes to assess the starvation condition of our country he will certainly remark, “There are no poor people in this country!” But across the road behind those beautiful flats the India of hunger is lurking….. Huts, dilapidated houses, leaking houses with bamboo roofs….. Innumerable slums are seen. Yet, this pathetic scene of the life of poverty stricken people does not seem to appeal the conscience of our administrators. Official statistics reveal that the earning of 70% of our population is less than a Rs. 20/- a day. Will it be possible to support a family out of this meager income?

Just imagine their fate in the present day situation of spiraling prices.

We have a system of distributing the food grains to the needy people (through the Public Distribution System) at low prices in ration shops. Different kinds of ration cards are issued. People are classified as below poverty line, average and high income groups. The Central Government after buying food grains from farmers used to distribute them through Public Distribution System at subsidised prices. People, to certain extent, enjoyed the benefit of such a system. It has, in turn, fairly helped the farmers too. Drastic changes were effected after 1991, the year of globalization. The government, then, went on raising the prices of food grains distributed to the ration card holders through Public Distribution System. Simultaneously the number of beneficiaries (BPL families) was drastically reduced to make us believe that all such families have become rich over night. At the same time tens of thousands of ration cards were declared ineligible. The number of ration card holders which was 75 lakhs in the year 2003-04 was minimized to 35 lakhs within 2 years… Thanks to the Ration Card Revision Drive resorted to in this period. As such 61 million tonnes of food grains lying undistributed in the godowns got rottened and were thrown out in this period. A number of starvation deaths were reported from different parts of the country and this trend continues even today. Attempts are also made to eradicate poverty by converting BPL card holders to APL card holders. These developments are actually the outcome of our silent agreement to the policy of economic liberalization.

We are not advocating a conflict between the rich and the poor. Such an imagination by itself is ferocious. People did not beg for starvation on their own. Likewise wealth and prosperity is not the result of one’s efforts only. One has to remember that affluence is not only a grace of Lord but also a tool of test. Though eradication of poverty is the responsibility of the government, rich people too have to play their part in this regard. It is only humans who come to the rescue of starving neighbours. If a rich person remains indifferent towards his starving neighbour he can only be compared to the beast. Here, some are blessed with the all sorts of luxury and blessings whereas the others are even deprived of their minimum necessities. Haves will have to serve the have-nots.

“Rush to help the poor people and make them happy “, is the commandment of the Holy Quran. Weaker sections of society who are unable to earn their livelihood or does not have the means of sustenance should be adequately supported by the affluent, thus barring them from committing suicide or resorting to beggary. Feeding the hungry is the best way of offering thanks to the Lord.

Referring the God fearing devotees who are destined to enjoy the pleasures of Paradise, in one place, Holy Quran after greeting such persons, says- They feed the downtrodden, orphans and prisoners out of their love to thy Lord. They say,” we feed you only for the sake of Lord. For this we do not expect any kind of return or reward from you. We only fear the Lord for the Day of his Judgment. “Feeding a hungry man is the noblest of all the deeds”. “Feed the hungry, convey salaam to the familiar as well as the stranger”, said the Prophet (pbuh).

Therefore, to strive to eradicate starvation is considered as the service to the Lord Himself. It’s pathetic to imagine the plight of our neighbours and their children going to bed without food when we fill our bellies to the maximum. In this connection right from the Gram Panchayat Member up to the Member of Parliament, we should impress upon obliterating this tyranny of human shortsightedness. This should be an attention- drawing topic in our social discourses. It is our incumbent duty to console those who are in difficulty. So, let us resolve to help a bit. Let us resolve to drive away the hunger once for all!

The Youth wing of JIH commits to donate Rs.1000-00 each of food rations to One hundred deserving poor families during every month in commemoration of Towards Hunger Free Society Campaign. You are invited to join in this social endeavour. Contact us for details.

hungr

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.