They beg to differ with Govt on ‘beautiful Delhi’

HAVE-NOTS

Before the Commonwealth Games, the beggars on streets had been forcibly removed, they are back, doing what they did – begging.

Amitabh Shukla / New Delhi

Before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in October, Delhi did it best to present an “international face”. The solution, it found was banishing the beggars from the streets and uprooting the slum dwellers, forcibly putting them in designated homes or putting them in trains headed to far flung areas of the country so that the foreigners do not see the underbelly of the city.

They are back now. And back with a vengeance. All streets are full of beggars so are the markets, traffic junctions and almost all religious places of the city. Not only the beggars, the people uprooted from slums too are trying to get back in their original place only to be shooed away. It is now clearly visible that instead of long term

measures and solutions, the authorities merely undertook the short term measures and the results are there for all to see all over the national Capital.

The act of democratic India in 2010 was similar to what communist China did before the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games when it undertook several draconian measures to present an “international face”.

The Delhi government started a major cleanup operation before the Games and the plan was to rid the streets of the city of stray dogs, slum dwellers, beggars and any stray animals that are found wandering the streets. This was considered “un Commonwealth type”. Existence of more than one lakh beggars alone in the city was a problem for the government but it (un)successfully managed to “hide” them from the players, officials and a few tourists who came to the city during the October 2010 Games.

Now questions are being asked as to why these actions are taken when there is a huge event about to take place. Shouldn’t poverty reduction and cleaning up the streets be an ongoing process? The beggars too are citizens of their country and also ask for a place under the sun like their more fortunate citizens hailing from demarcations like the lower, middle or the upper class.

Why wasn’t a war on poverty launched instead of removing the beggars. Why didn’t the government launch policies to help the poor in the run-up to the Games instead of trying its best to get rid of them. The amount which was gobbled by the corrupt officials in the Games could have easily funded the rehabilitation package for 1 lakh beggars which the city has.

After the fiasco of the Games and the scams associated with it, people are genuinely questioning the relevance of holding such events now. The stadiums and venues, built with tax payer’

s money are lying unused. Soon, the new coat of paint and plasters will peel off and there would hardly be any long term legacy left for the citizens to cherish.

The Commonwealth Games was not a joy for the poor of the city. They now have a simple prayer. “For God’s sake, do not organize any such event in Delhi”.

(March 8, 2011)

Fighting hunger remains a day-dream

Central schemes flounder, need to strengthen monitoring

Sopan Correspondent / New Delhi

Some of the social schemes meant to fight hunger and malnutrition in the country are in complete shambles. This has left the intended beneficiaries fighting for their survival in some of the poorest districts in the country with no alternative except to curse their fate.
Ironically the deficiencies loom large even as crores of rupees are spent on these schemes by the Centre every year. They include schemes like the ICDS, MDM and MGREGS. The poor state of affairs exist despite a series of directives from the Supreme Court since 2001 to tighten the schemes and make them reach the intended beneficiaries.
An indication to the poor reach of these schemes was pointed out by the National Family Health Survey which revealed that only 46 per cent of infants are malnourished and 49 per cent of women are aneaemic.
The Supreme Court appointed Commissioners, who are helping the court to monitor and track the implementation of its various orders, did surveys in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. Not surprising, they found poor implementation of the central schemes.
Even the ministry of women and child development admits that only about 59 per cent of the eligible children are receiving nutrition supplements through the 11 lakh anganwadi centers across the country.
The survey of the SC Commissioners shows that in Madhya Pradesh, children were given food for just 130 days in a year, while in Bihar and Assam there were 180 feeding days on an average. Although Orissa with 240 and West Bengal with 242 were slightly better placed in this pedestal, they were still lagging in the mandatory requirement of at least 300 feeding days a year.
The SC Commissioners survey in most cases found a discrepancy between the official record of an anganwadi's operation and the villagers' testimony at the grassroots level. For instance, in Assam, the official records said the anganwadi centers functioned for 19 days per month on average, but villagers' version added up to only 12 days.
There is no dispute that food is a daily need. No one can skip nutrition for a week, fends for themselves and then resume and also be healthy. Moreover, it is universally recognized that inadequate or lack of nutrition at an early age permanently impair physical and mental capabilities, which is difficult to overcome at a later stage.
It was found that factors like shortage of staff, irregular supply of raw material, very irregular financial flows, excessive workload on the workers, insufficient funds for infrastructure, and corruption were some of the reasons for the criminal lacunae on the part of the authorities.
In Orissa, 28 per cent of the posts in the ICDS programme were found to be lying vacant while in West Bengal this was 22 per cent. Interestingly, in West Bengal, there are 12,082 anganwadis with no worker. The situation was no different in some other states.
The Targeted Public Distribution System ( TPDS) was found to be in a mess along with other schemes. In several places, the intended beneficiaries did not get any foodgrain for the entire year. As per Supreme Court orders 35kg rice per month at Rs 4.96 per kg should be provided. But the survey revealed that TPDS, the country's biggest and oldest food subsidy scheme is tottering on the ground. The survey reports from West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam and Madhya Pradesh reveal that the gigantic scheme, billed as a lifeline for India's hungry millions, is in shambles.
According to the official statistics, every month, over 4.2 million tonnes of rice and wheat are allotted by the central government for distribution through a network of nearly half a million fair price shops spread across all states and Union territories. How much reaches the beneficiaries is anybody's guess.
Making people aware about the government schemes so that they can actually take benefits from it remains one of the challenges before the NGOs and the civil society groups. This is more so as the government officials simply do not want to admit the existence of schemes as it would only entail more administrative work for them, something which they hate, having grown up on a poor work culture and lack of concern for the downtrodden.
Ironically, this happens despite that fact that both the central and state governments run a large number of schemes for social welfare, health, income generation etc. for the underprivileged. In fact, the array of schemes makes it difficult for the governments (both central and state) to keep a track of them, the deliverables and the impact.