The Hindu : Poverty's icy grip

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 30, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Poverty's icy grip

Sir, — This is with reference to the news analysis "It is poverty, not cold" by V. Krishna Ananth (Jan. 25). It reminds one of what John Ruskin said: "as long as there is cold and nakedness around you, so long there can be no question at all that splendour of dress is a crime... as long as there are any who have no blankets for their beds and no rugs for their bodies, so long it is blanket-making and tailoring we must set people to work at - not lace". Unless our planners and political masters set their priorities right, poverty alleviation will be a mere statistical jugglery. We seem to have bid farewell to the concept of the welfare state. Social goals set out by our founding fathers are being forgotten. The state is abdicating its responsibilities in the name of liberalisation, privatisation, free market economy and mega-level projects.

K.V. Subrahmanyam,

Hyderabad

* * *

Sir, — It is unfortunate that besides starvation deaths, deaths due to cold have also become an annual phenomenon in our country. As Mr. Krishna Ananth says, there are many countries in Europe and North America where temperatures often go below the freezing point, but still cause less damage to the lives of the people. Again, as he has rightly mentioned, the right to live, envisaged under Article 21 of the Constitution, does not mean a mere animal existence. It is the responsibility of the Government to see that the people are given protection from natural phenomena (such as cold, storms and cyclones).

N. Ashok Babu,

Hyderabad

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