JOIN US'Hunger, a cause for concern in country'
Former minister B K Chandrashekar on Friday said that hunger still remains a cause for concern in urban India.
He was speaking after inaugurating a seminar on ‘India and its goal for development for the millenium’ at SBRR Mahajana first grade college in the city.
Chandrashekar termed the very situation as shameful and it’s the cause of death in most of the places. Apart from hunger, the nation is plagued by unemployment, poverty and also illiteracy. The irony here is hunger still remains an issue to be addressed even in the developed states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. In Madhya Pradesh alone the number of people below poverty line is high and the government in Odisha has failed to arrest the same.
Quoting a report in ‘Prajavani’ on children suffering due to malnutrition, Chandrashekar said the situation at Raichur, Devadurga is serious. Owing to inadequate measures to supply foodgrains to the needy, it is leading to violation of human rights. Progress in economy cannot help mitigate hunger, he said.
Lauding Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Chandrashekar said he (Nitish Kumar) is facing the very situation with all capability, while the government in other states have failed.
Leave alone dealing with the issues, those States lack proper plans towards progress.
However, Chandrashekar was happy to note that there is considerable improvement in the admission of children to schools. On the flip side, it has become a tough nut to prevent school dropouts below 14 years age group. It has led to fall in quality of education too.
Dr Francis Cheru Neelam from Cochin University said still 21 per cent of the population is below poverty line.
President of Mahajana Education Society R Vasudevamurthy, vice-president Prabhushankar, secretary G S Subramanyam, principal K V Prabhakar and others were present.