With a few days left for the first phase of Parliamentaryelections, the campaign is all set to hot up as India prepares to elect a new set of parliament members who will rule over our destinies. As we set out again for that trip to the polling booth, we will have to remember that our vote will make all the difference.
We deserve the best for we are still a nation where a large segment of the population grapples with poverty, inequality, hunger and unemployment. Unless policies are made which will safeguard their interests, how can we call ourselves a developed nation?
Imran Mohammed
Bengaluru, Karnataka
Kudos to ECI quiz Chennai India
Kudos to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for organising voter awareness quizzes. The questions were not only informative but also engaging. With the forthcoming general elections, such initiatives are crucial in encouraging citizens to actively participate in the democratic process. The quiz has succeeded in raising awareness about the importance of voting and being well-informed about the candidates and their manifestos. They have shown the common man “The ballot is more powerful than bullet.”
TS Karthik
Halls Road, Kilpauk, Chennai
Educated unemployed in dire straits
The report which says that Indians are 8 times more likely to be jobless as graduates than illiterates, made for interesting reading. It goes to show that the government has been unable to generate jobs in the industrial or services sector, leaving countless young and educated Indians frustrated and desperate.
What is the point in having a graduate or post-graduate qualification if one is unable to secure a job after toiling away during those school and college years? Job generation for the educated unemployed should be the top priority of the government even if it entails massive investment.
Umar Shaikh
Secunderabad, Telangana
The Lancet data highlights lack of health data transparency
The latest issue of the medical journal The Lancet, published online, has written that the lack of health data transparency is a major obstacle that India faces. The systematic attempt to obscure through the lack of data means that the Indian people are not being fully informed, warned the Lancet editorial,“India’s elections: why data and transparency matter”.
The Lancet editorial also highlights the declining government spending on health, delay in conducting the 2021 census and the Sample Registration System survey report for 2021 and not releasing in the public domain completed poverty surveys.
The editorial states that the 2021 census was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and for the first time in 150 years, a whole decade has gone by with no official comprehensive data on India or its people.It added that no reason has been given for why the Sample Registration System survey report for 2021, which is India’s most reliable source of data on births and deaths, is delayed, or for why completed poverty surveys are not in the public domain. The editorial casts doubts on the Narendra Modi government’s claim that only 4.8 lakh individuals died due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The editorial also underlines the fact that accurate and current data are crucial for health policy, planning, and management.
The Lancet’s highlighting of the shortcomings in the healthcare ecosystem of the country is a matter of concern, especially at a time when the country is all set to go for the Parliamentary elections.
Shan Mohammad
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh