POVERTY IS A BLOT ON ANY CIVILIZED SOCIETY - SHRI SHEKHAWAT Vice President of India, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat has said that poverty is a blot on any civilized society. Our Supreme Court has expanded the content and contour of the expression of ‘life’ in our Constitution and ruled that the right to life implies right to live with human dignity. It encompasses within its ambit not only the bare necessities of life that is health and sanitation, clothing and shelter but also protection and preservation of environment free from pollution of air and water. Indeed, the State has the obligation to provide a decent standard of living to the indigent and downtrodden segments of our society.
Shri Shekhawat while releasing the book
“Poverty and Hunger: Causes and Consequences” by Dr. Ratan Das, an eminent Gandhian and Sarvodaya leader said that success of any programme of poverty alleviation is intimately interlinked with the quality of public governance. Needs and aspirations of the poor and the deprived can be met only when the public administration becomes people-oriented, with a focus on the welfare of the common man. Reforms in public governance are fundamental to any strategy towards alleviation of poverty. He said that the efficacy index of our policies for development should be measured by the success achieved in alleviation of poverty and in increasing the access of the poor to basic education, healthcare and secured employment. That alone would usher in a just socio-economic order that brings cheer to the poor and the deprived.
Shri Shekhawat said that he has always held that the poor should have the first claim on the treasury of the State. Eliminating the scourge of poverty and deprivation is the sacred duty of the government. He mentioned about the success of pioneering initiative of Antyodaya during his Chief Ministership in Rajasthan in 1977. He emphasised that this concept of Antyodaya needs to be built into all our public programmes meant for the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden.
Shri Shekhawat said that there is a wide-spread feeling that globalisation has not brought about intended economic benefits to the people. He said that the real content and elements of growth have to be inclusive of increase in employment opportunities and economic uplift of all sections of society. He stressed that growth does not just mean the percentage increase in GDP. We need growth that promotes development and brings down disparities by bridging the gap and divide between the rich and the poor.
Shri Shekhawat complimented Dr. Das for writing this exhaustive and analytical book on poverty and hoped that it will generate a constructive debate on various issues related to poverty and hunger. Dr. Ratan Das, the author of the book and Shri B. K. Deo (Member of Parliament) also spoke on the occasion.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=26375 Poverty and Hunger : Causes and Consequences/Ratan Das"Even a God-fearing man like Mahatma Gandhi was so much depressed to observe the poverty-stricken world that he said:
God can never appear before the starving man except in shape of bread. The statement clarifies that for a hungry man no sermon, no ideology, no prophecy could work.
Hunger and poverty are both sides of a coin. They are synonymous. It is difficult to enumerate who stands first between the two. Whether poverty first or hunger first. Eradication of hunger goes neck and neck with eradication of poverty. Author has pointed out in this book about the plight of some of hungry zones of the world with an objective to create 'human consciousness' against hunger and poverty.
The poor cannot get access to food simply through stabilized economy or through market economy at the national level. It could be achieved through balanced increase of food production, equitable distribution of food and ownership rights of the poor over the instruments of production. These important aspects of economy should be inducted to the economic science which only can uphold the right for food for the hungry." (jacket)
https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no48715.htm 
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