Structural problems/solutions of/for Indian development

[Vishy_mulay]

As per recommendation of Suraj starting this new thread for posting articles which discuss social, economical and health related structural problems in India.

[Vishy_mulay]

Continuing from the economy thread regarding Iron deficiency anemia in India.
http://www.ijppediatricsindia.org/artic ... kin;type=0

[Vishy_mulay]

Interesting article about household wealth distribution in world. Some good observations about India. Since I know next to nothing about economics, gurus in the field can dissect it and make it palatable for us ignorant janata.
http://www.wider.unu.edu/research/2006- ... 2-2006.pdf

[Vishy_mulay]

Incidence of childhood malnutrition is falling in India but we can do much better. http://www.empowerpoor.com/relatednews.asp?report=288
PS I started this thread not to whine but i genuinely want to discuss ideas and solutions for structural problems in India. I think unless we truly understand the nature of the problem, we will never be able to find solutions. I for once don't believe in socialistic economy as the dictum says you cant distribute cake without baking one. I don't want other jingo's to think that this thread was created to put India down. Peace

[Vishy_mulay]

Some good work done to reduce the childhood malnutrition in India. http://www.synergos.org/partnership/about/pcn.pdf

[Vishy_mulay]

The other spectrum of nutrition problems in India
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7388/515/a
Another big problem of the futurehttp://www.who.int/diabetes/facts/en/diabcare0504.pdf

[shyamd]

Re posting Kakkaji's post.
Growth, minus women & kids

New Delhi, Feb. 13: The economy is growing, the country is producing more, but women have not gained from this season of relative affluence.

Nor has the nation’s future — its children.

The latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) shows that the benefits of growth are not reaching, not even trickling down to women and children in urban or rural India.

In fact, the survey has again warned that malnutrition is thriving and that more and more children are becoming anaemic even before they are learning to walk.

The survey has brought home the fact that the gender divide remains entrenched, with boys having more access to education and food and more exposure to the world. For women and children, they are where they were, if not worse.

Even an affluent state like Gujarat is guilty of neglecting its women and children. While 55.5 per cent women were anaemic last year, up from 46.3 per cent in 1999, anaemia among children has gone up from 74.5 per cent in 1999 to 80.1 per cent in 2006.

In Left-ruled Bengal, the picture is no different. Sixty-nine per cent of children and over 62 per cent of pregnant women are anaemic.

Madhya Pradesh tops the malnourishment list with 60 per cent. In fact, malnutrition — the health survey says —has gone up by 6.3 per cent.

It is also ironic that obesity and malnutrition are going hand in hand.

The NFHS survey shows 28.1 per cent of women are obese — most of them in urban areas. Obesity among men is lower at 12.1 per cent. The NFHS has noted that obesity is prevalent among the rich and the middle classes.

Last year, the Congress-led central coalition adopted a plan of action to reduce malnourishment among children and record all births. But the Census office says almost 40 per cent of births are not registered.

The NFHS report shows that special attention to boys and neglect of girls continue despite a flurry of schemes announced by the United Progressive Alliance government. The anaemia percentage for married men and women illustrate the point. While 24.3 per cent of married men are anaemic, the figure for women is 56.2 per cent.

Similarly, the awareness of HIV/AIDS among men and women shows the persisting educational difference between boys and girls.

Reports from both government and non-government sources show a far larger number of girls are dropping out of school.

What is the answer to this widespread prevalence of anemia among Indians? And what is the solution?

Changes in diet etc may take a long time to take effect. Are iron tablets very expensive? Can they not be distributed nationwide by the Govt? That would be a good use of tax money.[/quote]

[Suraj]

The purpose of this thread is the pursuit of developmental goals. Here's something about how much money is currently allocated, so we can then discuss
* Is it enough ?
* How well is it being used ?
* How to use it better

Here is the plan outlay document from the 2006-07 union budget released last February.
Social Development
* National Rural Health Mission (NRHM): Rs. 9065 crore
- National Disease Control Programme: 823.00 cr
- AYUSH : 64.00 cr
- Family Welfare: 8177.00 cr
* Women and Child Development: Rs.4795.85 crores
* Rural Water Supply: Rs.5200.00 crore
* Rural Housing: Rs. 2920 crore
* Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: Rs.1750 crore
* Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Rs.5348 crore
* Elementary Education: Rs.17128 crore
- SSA: Rs. 11000 crore
* Secondary and Higher Secondary Education: Rs.3617.50 crore
* Technical Education: Rs.930 crore
* Arts and Culture: Rs. 470 crore
* Sports & Youth Services: Rs.600 crore
Infrastructure
* Power & Energy: Rs. 31370.32 crore
- Rural Electrification: Rs.3000 cr
- Nuclear Power: Rs.3897.10 crore.
- Non-Conventional Sources of Energy: 600 crore
* Irrigation and Floos Control: Rs. 111.52 crore
* Petroleum: Rs. 36003.33 crore
* Mining: 883.69 crore
* Railways: Rs. 23,475 crore
* Roads:
- National Road Fund: Rs 12550 crore
- Roads and Bridges: Rs.19714.71 crore
* Shipping: Rs.3263.19 crore
* Civil Aviation: 3046.93 crore
* Telecommunications: Rs. 19509.31 crore
* Post: Rs. 419 crore

This is an incomplete list. Several things strike me as flexible. GoI ought not to be committing so much to items like civil aviation and telecommunications, both of which are at the forefront of market driven growth, where effective legislation can minimize govt involvement further. Committing 80% of the funds in these two sectors elsewhere would free up Rs.18050 crores, more than the entire existing allocation for elementary education, for example.

[Vishy_mulay]

Shyamd, I posted two links about fortifying common salt with Iron or few modifications with local recipes to reduce the iron deficiency anemia in India. I think iodine fortification was promoted by Indian Government don't know why iron fortification is not promoted. A big drawback for iron supplement tables is that they do have side effects (constipation, stomach cramps and heart burns) leading to less palatability.

[Vishy_mulay]

Suraj thanks for the link. You are spot on. Indian government should get out of the non essential services such as aviation, telecommunication and concentrate more on the health care and education. It is a well establish fact that poor nutrition and health leads to poor brain development. For better future we need good health and eduction for all Indians and we need to invest a lot more in these 2 sectors. I will need time to digest the data you posted Thanks.

[Suraj]

Politically sensitive headline, but it gives a status report:
NDA-ruled states do better for rural uplift
[quote]According to the report, the performance of the 20-point programme during April-November, 2006, has been “very goodâ€

[Vishy_mulay]

Bit dated but shed light on the severity of the malnutrition problem
http://www2.eastwestcenter.org/pop/misc/subj-14.pdf
Good efforts to address the malnutrition problem but as usual UP and Bihar which needs the maximum attention are doing bad
http://nac.nic.in/communication/meal.pdf
Suraj I still don't know why Indian government spends 500 C IRs on media? I think media should not have government involvement. Add those 500C to your tally.

for the Information and Broadcasting Sector is Rs.538 crore.
The allocation of Rs.84.08 crore provided for Media units in the
information and films sector includes allocation for Press
Information Bureau, Indian Institute of Mass Communication,
Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, Publications
Division, Directorate of Field Publicity, Song and Drama Division,
Photo Division, Registrar of Newspapers for India, Research,
Reference and Training Division and Training for Human
Resource Development. Allocations have also been made for
Film Divisions, National Film Archive of India, Children Films
Society of India, Film and Television Institute of India, Pune,
Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute of India, Directorate of
Film Festivals, Central Board of Films Certifications, participation
in Film Market in India and abroad. This includes provision in
respect of Central Monitoring Services (now Electronic Media
Monitoring Centre) and Private FM Radio (Phase -2). The
allocation for the Broadcasting Sector is Rs. 343.92 crore it
includes Rs.45.71 crore. Prasar Bharati

Am i missing something? why not to use this additional 500 C for national health plan?

[Vivek K]

If we want to take India to the next level then we need to bite the bullet and jump-start manufacturing. Some hard decisions will need to be taken and sacrifices made. Some of the points that come to mind include -
a) Modern Labor laws that free industry from unproductive labor.
b) Modern Port infrastrucure with 'real administration' and regulation of entry and exit of goods (Will tell a real story later).
c) Modern power distribution infrastructure and policies ensuring "hassle free" power supply (can tell you a story or two about this too). Industries to be given (actually given) capital subsidies for self power generation.
d) Disbanding of the current customs and tax setup - instead of licensed thieves, we need a group of dedicated, well paid individuals to administer the country's industrial development.
e) Modern highway system so that industries far from ports can efficiently and in-time export and import goods.

State of India's ports (story from 1999) - I met with dealers of fine chemicals in Chennai and Hyderabad. I tried hard to pursue them to be dealers of my firm. Both were masters of the trade. They had similar stories and laughed at what we offered them. They retorted - we import the product, get the mafia to steal and bring it to our godowns and then claim insurance for the value of the goods. They would deal with me if I sold the product to them for free.

So I met with Ports regulation authorities and requested help - three guesses for the help I got - winner gets a cruise to hell!

State of HSEB power distribution - Employees of HSEB work as pvt contractors and use/steal material from HSEB store for pvt work. XENs only work to harass industry as they have to collect money to recover their "investment" and to send it to higher ups. As a fresh grad, I went to one such XEN in Sohna, Haryana in 1993 and asked for the formalities for getting a power connection for my company (in construction). The XEN laughed at me and said, we have no spare capacity in our transformer. Come back in 2 years. We have put in an application for extra capacity. If that is approved, we can give you power. Then with a twinkle in his eye he said - however with extra charges ........... ( 3 guesses to what he said)!

[Vishy_mulay]

The more I read about it the more it appears to be a good tool to tackle malnutrition problem in India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... 223406.cms
http://www.gainhealth.org/gain/ch/en-en ... tion_works

[Vishy_mulay]

Don't know whether it was posted here. Water is the essence of life and without water security we don't have future. I personally think one of the most important factor for strong American economy and prosperity is per capita availability of fresh water. Does any jingo's have information about river linking project cost benefit analysis which i can get hand on.
http://www.terradaily.com/news/water-earth-05ze.html
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0 ... map_4.html

[neel]

Don't know whether it was posted here. Water is the essence of life and without water security we don't have future. I personally think one of the most important factor for strong American economy and prosperity is per capita availability of fresh water. Does any jingo's have information about river linking project cost benefit analysis which i can get hand on.
http://www.terradaily.com/news/water-earth-05ze.html
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0 ... map_4.html

Much of the disparity between countries vis-a-vis water storage capacity has to do w/population density. The US has ~5000 m^3 per capita, however, they have 10x more land per capita on which storage capacity may be constructed, and their potential water resource is ~10000m^3 per capita*.

India currently has 225bn m^3 storage capacity (~200m^3 per capita), but even with the same concentration of storage capacity as the US, that would only be ~500bn m^3 (450 m^3 per capita). Plus, India only has ~1800m^3 per capita* of potential water resources, so at the same utilisation rate as the US, the expectation should be eventually building up to 1000bn m^3, (i.e. 4.5x the current level). On that front there is good news here.

*According to the UN FAO

[shyamd]

National Rural Health Mission Newsletter December 2006

Includes problems, details of how they are going to be solved.

[Kakkaji]

Good idea, but I doubt if a Sarkari solution will work. Churches/ Convents often offer similar options. More faith-based and secular NGOs need to offer this service:

Govt plans to raise abandoned girls to curb abortions

PTI/AP | New Delhi

The Centre has planed to set up a series of orphanages to raise unwanted baby girls in a bid to halt the widespread practice of aborting female foetuses.

Dubbed the 'cradle scheme', the Government's plan is an attempt to slow the practice that has killed more than 10 million female foetuses in the last two decades:eek: , leading to an alarming imbalance in the ratio between males and females in India.

Speaking to PTI, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury said, "What we are saying to the people is have your children, don't kill them. And if you don't want a girl child, leave her to us," adding that the Government planned to set up a centre in each district.

"We will bring up the children. But don't kill them because there really is a crisis situation," she was quoted as saying. Many districts in the country routinely report only 800 girls born for every 1,000 boys. According to the latest Indian census, the number of girls per 1,000 boys fell from 945 to 927 between 1991 and 2001. Asked if the scheme would not encourage parents to abandon female infants, Chowdhury said: "It doesn't matter. It is better than killing them."

Discrimination against girls stems from the low value attached to females in Indian society.

Girls are seen as a burden on the family, requiring a huge dowry that many poor families can ill afford. They are generally the last to be educated or to get medical treatment.

Prenatal sex-determination tests are outlawed in India and the Government says it is clamping down on doctors flouting the law. But social activists say there were many loopholes that allow those who provide tests to remain free.

Since the law was enacted, only one doctor has been convicted of illegally aborting female fetuses.

Chowdhury said emergency measures were necessary as evidence indicated that the practice of aborting or killing female children was spreading.

Chowdhury did not say how much the scheme would cost but said money had been allocated in the next Budget for it. Officials in her office could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday.

The Minister said she also hoped that the cradle centres would provide an opportunity for parents who had a change of heart to reclaim their children.

"It is a matter of international and national shame for us that India with an (economic) growth of 9 per cent still kills its daughters," she said.

Without strong oversight, these orphanages will become centers of child abuse. IMHO only reputed NGOs can run these properly.

[Vishy_mulay]

http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/aug102004/277.pdf
It is a nice paper about river linking project. I dont know the author and his knowledge about hydrology but this paper does make strong argument in favor of river linking.
More details about the river linking project
http://nrlp.iwmi.org/main/maps.asp

[Kakkaji]

Job & equity

Videocon, which has proposed four special economic zones in Bengal, has promised to provide jobs to one member of each landloser family and expressed the desire to discuss with displaced farmers their possible equity participation in the projects.

[shyamd]

16% of health care in India is provided by Public sector.

Apparently some of our health illness rates are now rivaling Sub Saharan Africa.

Apparently more middle class people are feeling the pinch of rising costs and have started using public healthcare according to NDTV.

[shaardula]

while public health has it's share of problems, lack of regulatory strictures on private health seems to have created a whole another monster - increased number c-section births is but one indicator of this. i have other personal horror stories, half there, middle class, folks with a pretention of insurance seem to be bearing the brunt of this scandal.

[Rahul Mehta]

The printing press of RBI is another structural problem IMO.

http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/Wss/PDFs/75960.pdf

RBI-Governor, of course with implicit approval of PM and FinMin, printed Rs 74000cr of currency notes in past 52 weeks. Thats about 17.5% of volume 1 year ago.

As a result of this currency printing, M3 increased by Rs 540,000 cr in past 52 weeks. Thats 21% of volume a year ago.

Many consider this a structural feature of RBI rather than structural problem. But I differ. I consider this out of control printing press as a Himalayan structural problem, which fortunately has a trivial solution.

I request those who consider this press as problem to write the solution they propose.

(I have written the solution I propose 10s of time, and given the Admins' fetish of deleting 10-page long thread, all my posts died. I no longer have strength of posting the same solution again, and then wait to see when it gets deleted when thread goes 10 page long).

[Tilak]

I request those who consider this press as problem to write the solution they propose.

(I have written the solution I propose 10s of time, and given the Admins' fetish of deleting 10-page long thread, all my posts died. I no longer have strength of posting the same solution again, and then wait to see when it gets deleted when thread goes 10 page long).

It's Friday here RM, good to see you back!!

[Kakkaji]

(I have written the solution I propose 10s of time, and given the Admins' fetish of deleting 10-page long thread, all my posts died. I no longer have strength of posting the same solution again, and then wait to see when it gets deleted when thread goes 10 page long).

Can't RM be allowed to create a sticky thread called 'Problems and Solutions as per RM'?

[shyamd]

Poverty

10.6 Planning Commission, as the
Government’s nodal agency, estimates the
incidence of poverty at the national and state
levels, on the basis of large sample survey
on household consumer expenditure
conducted by the National Sample Survey
(NSS) Organisation approximately every five
years. The provisional data of the latest NSS
61st Round for the year 2004-05 indicate that,
the poverty ratio at the national level was 27.8
per cent if the Uniform Recall Period (URP, in
which the consumer expenditure data for all
the items are collected from a 30-day recall
period) is used, and about 22 per cent if the
Mixed Recall Period (MRP, in which the
consumer expenditure data for five non-food
items, namely, clothing, footwear, durable
goods, education and institutional medical
expenses, are collected from a 365-day recall
period, and the consumption data for the
remaining items are collected from a 30-day
recall period) is used. The corresponding
URP-based poverty estimate for 1993-94 was
36.0 per cent. The MRP-based poverty
estimate of about 22 per cent in 2004-05 is
roughly but not strictly comparable with the
poverty estimates of 26.1 per cent in 1999-
2000.

10.31 The well-known ‘demographic
dividend’ will manifest in the proportion of
population in the working age group of 15-64
years increasing steadily from 62.9 per cent
in 2006 to 68.4 per cent in 2026. The actual
tapping of this demographic dividend will,
however, depend a lot on ensuring proper
healthcare and other human resource
development such as education.
10.32 Healthcare is important not only for
reaping the demographic dividend, having a
healthy productive workforce and general
welfare, but also for attaining the goal of
population stabilization. Population
stabilization is proposed to be achieved by
addressing issues like child survival, safe
motherhood and contraception. There has
been some improvement in the quality of
health care over the years (Table 10., but
wide inter-State, male-female and rural-urban
disparities in outcomes and impacts continue
to persist. While population stabilization is in
the Concurrent List, health is a State subject.
The reproductive and child health services
reach community and household levels
through the primary health care infrastructure.
Inadequacies in the existing health
infrastructure have led to gaps in coverage
and outreach services in rural areas.
Empirical studies suggest that education,
income and the overall quality of the State
administration are often more important than
specific public health interventions in
explaining the differences in demographic and
health indicators.
10.33 India’s position on health parameters
compared even to some of its neighbours
continues to be unsatisfactory. India
compares poorly not only with China and
Sri Lanka, but also Bangladesh and Nepal
with respect to some indicators (Table 10.9).

[shyamd]

ICDS scheme is becoming a hit, as recent research shows that ICDS scheme child is achieving same attainment levels as non ICDS child. GOI launching 173 new ICDS scheme's.

However, while migrants from places like Bihar traveliing to Gujarat for jobs are not entitled to the scheme! Policies need to be amended to allow all kids to go to the anganwadi's.

We need to make this push so that growth reaches more people.

GOI has introduced some good policies for some upcoming industries.

[Rahul Mehta]

.. It's Friday here RM, good to see you back!!

I have always been around. Just of fatigued from typing, and then seeing posts getting trashed just because thread went 10 pages long.

Can't RM be allowed to create a sticky thread called 'Problems and Solutions as per RM'?

I dont need a sticky thread, or even a thread with my name. If admins stop trashing threads which grow 10 pages, I and many postors will save time retyping same things over and over again.

.

[shyamd]

2005-2006
National Family Health Survey
(NFHS-3) for India as a whole

Population and Household Profile
Total Urban Rural
Population age 6+ that is literate (%) 67.6 81.0 61.3
Households by residence (%) 100.0 32.6 67.4
Mean household size 4.8 4.6 4.9
Percentage of households that:
Have electricity 67.9 93.1 55.7
Use piped drinking water 42.0 71.0 27.9
Have access to a toilet facility 44.5 83.1 25.9
Live in a pucca house 41.4 74.1 25.5
Have a motorized vehicle 18.6 31.9 12.1
Have a television 44.2 73.2 30.1
Own agricultural land 45.6 19.0 58.5

It is interesting to note that Children under 3 years who are stunted is 38%.
19% are wasted(too
thin for height) which is an increase from 16% in the last survey.

Children age 6-35 months who are anaemic (%) 79.2

Go to the link for more facts and figures.

Details of each state

[svinayak]

http://www.jago.in/index.php

[Vishy_mulay]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... ndia&hl=en

Scary documentary about chemical toxic poisoning happening in India.

[shyamd]

Village health panels planned: Anbumani

Staff Reporter

NAGERCOIL: The Government has decided to form `village health committees' to create awareness among villagers of the medical facilities provided in primary health centres and taluk hospitals, according to Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Anbumani Ramadoss.

Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, he said panchayat presidents would lead the committees that would have self-help group representatives, village health nurses and anganwadi employees as members.

These committees formed in northern States had gone down well, he said. Steps had been taken to provide ambulances, equipped with modern facilities, to all panchayat unions in the State.

Census of

cancer patients

The Minister directed the officials to take a census of cancer patients in Kanyakumari district and submit a report.

Earlier addressing a conference of the Pattali Makkal Katchi youth wing at Marthandam, Mr. Anbumani said the PMK decided to hold conferences throughout the State to help the youth — a large number of them being addicts — a better life.

He appealed to the youth to donate eyes.

[Lkawamoto]

regarding drinking water and pollution:

I see this as more of a awareness issue than a development issue:

anyone who checks the drinking water quality in indian restaurants in bay area can notice that:

- indian restaurants do not provide filtered water
- indian restaurants do not manage good hygiene
- indian restaurants dishes and glasses are not as clean
- indian restaurant management do not understand the standard by which to serve

so it can be deduced that indians are not aware of which standard to live by as far as water quality, once the awareness is established, its not a difficult problem to solve (to provide clean drinking water in villages) - this certainly does not require UN study, its too basic and therefore its being ignored (with dire consequences)

[Sanjay M]

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070514/ ... 514-1.html

[Anamika]

"In the world's most populous region the biggest problem facing employers is a shortage of people!"

The Economist warns about Asia's predicted skill shortage (India and China). An excerpt:

"Technical skills, particularly in information technology, are lacking in many parts of the region, even India. One of the main concerns is that there are not enough skilled graduates to fill all the jobs being created in a vibrant sector. Nasscom, which represents India's software companies, has estimated that there could be a shortfall of 500,000 IT professionals by 2010."

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.c ... id=9645045

[Rahul Mehta]

regarding drinking water and pollution:

I see this as more of a awareness issue than a development issue:

anyone who checks the drinking water quality in indian restaurants in bay area can notice that:

- indian restaurants do not provide filtered water
- indian restaurants do not manage good hygiene
- indian restaurants dishes and glasses are not as clean
- indian restaurant management do not understand the standard by which to serve

so it can be deduced that indians are not aware of which standard to live by as far as water quality, once the awareness is established, its not a difficult problem to solve (to provide clean drinking water in villages) - this certainly does not require UN study, its too basic and therefore its being ignored (with dire consequences)

Wrong deduction.

The restaurants dont use filtered water as courts dont punish them for using dirty water. In Ahmedabad, the municipal dept has standards about what sort of water should be served in restaurants. And how do Municipal babus enforce this standard? By ensuring that the hotel owners send regular hafta to his office.

So now why should the restaurant owner now bother to purify water?

---

There are NO awareness issues. Awareness in India on ANY issue in common as well as Nbjprie is at par with West.

.

[Vidyarthi]

Here is an example of ground reality:

http://www.hindu.com/op/2007/09/02/stor ... 021400.htm

Dark patches in the fabric of shining India

SANDEEP KRISHAN

On August 15, I left for the city 45 km away from my village to get the special Independence Day issue along with old copies of The Hindu which I get on a weekly basis.

I had to take the same private mini bus back to the village for there is no other means of transport to my village except these mini buses which run thrice a day.

Luckily I got back to the bus stand in time and got room on the roof of the bus. The guys sitting next to me were also from my village. I asked them why they had come to the city when their colleges were closed. They reluctantly told me they had come to buy the seesis (the bottles of cough syrup used as cheap drug).

Their faces were a mirror of the plight the border villages of Punjab are going through. Marred by a high rate of unemployment, village boys are caught in a drug net spread in border areas. The narcotics smuggled from West Asian nations via Pakistan are sent to Indian markets through the unemployed youth of villages. As the population is rising, land sharing among the villagers is decreasing. As their main employment being lost, the youth have turned to drug smuggling.

The newspapers which come to the village seem to have forgotten us. They keep on teasing us through Bollywood stories and the economic boom of shining India when we are in a state of jeopardy.

We as a nation we take pride in the Kargil war. But the deadlock created at that time ravaged the conditions in villages on the border with Pakistan. We were the ones who were asked to leave our land and migrate to safer places along with our cattle. We had to leave our belongings and green crops under no one’s custody.

Government compensation was always like a distant dream. When it reached us, it could not recreate the opportunities lost by that generation. While the shining nation celebrates in big cities the 60th anniversary of Independence, we the forgotten child, the border villages, still are the dark nation.

We still lack basic amenities necessary for survival along with education, healthcare, transportation, farm credit. We still suffer under debts, casteism, racial discrimination, thanks to illiteracy prevailing among us. What kind of the global village is this when a villager has to travel 90 km every week to a city to get a copy of a national newspaper?

(The writer is from village Khippanwali, Abohar, Punjab. He can be reached at sandeep_krishan29@yahoo.com)

[ramana]

UP!

[Sanjay M]

I liked this article:

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6209791.html

I liked it, because not only did it talk about new technical improvements for solar power, but it also talked about new financing solutions.

India needs these types of creative solutions.

[ramana]

I think we might need to revive the Blots on Indian development thread for these kind of structural problems.

1M children die in first month - Google cache