Mahesh Tiwari
Once upon a time, eradicating poverty was the only goal in front of India, but today there is a need to fight not only poverty but also the inaction of public representatives. Now those seventeen goals have to be fulfilled along with unemployment, for which we have fixed the deadline of 2030. But the question is how these goals will be met, because we are constantly moving away from these sustainable development goals.
Development is the first requirement of any democratic system. Without it, the fulfillment of basic needs would not be possible. Till then neither democracy will be able to become strong nor society will be able to move towards betterment. Under Article 21 of the Constitution, people have got the freedom to lead a free and dignified life, but how can this dignified life be possible without some basic facilities? Even today, poverty remains a big problem in the country, but the governments consider it their duty to provide few kilograms of food grains to the poor.
Unfortunately, see that one section of the country is living in the rich, while the other large section has to feed with government food grains. However, this game of rich and poor is not of today. But the question is whether the duty of the governments is only that they consider providing food grains as development. Once a person becomes MP-Minister in our country, then he will continue to get pension for life, but till date, only election rewari or few kilos of food grains has been coming in the share of the people.
The slogan of poverty hatao was given by Indira Gandhi decades ago, but even today most of the population of the country is dependent on government food only. This clearly shows that the slogan of poverty hatao has been reduced to distribute food and rule. Somewhere, due to this government failure and laxity in policies, we are constantly falling behind in the goals of sustainable development.
Recently, the country’s Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said that ‘Child malnutrition, gender inequality, lack of equal access to clean water and environmental pollution are some of the factors which are hindering India’s progress.’ Not only this, he said during this time that the country needs to make a lot of efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. In such a situation, it can be understood that how much difference is there between government development and the actual situation. Anyway, nowadays winning elections in a democracy has become the sole objective of democratic parties, the result of which is zero for the people after the election.
To say that we may flaunt democracy and live in the dreams of a growing India of the twenty first century, but there are some things without which we cannot reach the stage of real development without finding answers. Recently, a report came, in which it has been said that the poison of pollution is dissolving in the breath of the people of India. Now just think that if the constitution gives us the freedom to live an uninterrupted life, then the poison dissolved in the breath is not affecting our life? If doing so, then where are we as individuals able to imagine a free and uninterrupted free life? That is one thing.
Apart from this, there are many such issues, the non-fulfillment of which are playing with the freedom to live life. But where does any of these things matter? Even though democracy is the rule of the people by the people for the people, but a common man remains common even before he becomes a public representative. After that he becomes special and public issues become secondary to him. This is a major cause for concern.
Once upon a time, eradicating poverty was the only goal in front of India, but today there is a need to fight not only poverty but also the inaction of public representatives. Now those seventeen goals have to be fulfilled along with unemployment, for which we have fixed the deadline of 2030. But the question is how these goals will be met, because we are constantly moving away from these sustainable development goals. Perhaps for this reason the Vice President had expressed concern about this in the past.
According to a report, India lags behind all South Asian countries in achieving the goals of sustainable development. In this list, Bhutan is at seventy-five, Sri Lanka at eighty-seventh, Nepal at ninety-six and Bangladesh at one hundred and ninth position. Now you think that if the situation is so bad, then by showing what beautiful picture we are being misled. India’s overall Sustainable Development Goals score is sixty-six out of a hundred.
In such a situation, in order to achieve the goal of sustainable development by the year 2030, the Government of India has to remove poverty, hunger, malnutrition, gender inequality, illiteracy and improve the environment, healthy environment and accountable administrative system and social justice. Will have to act seriously and fast. Time is too short. But a new tradition has started in our country, in which the situation of confrontation is seen every day between the Center and the states. In such a situation, when the people will be taken care of, the question automatically arises.
It is noteworthy that according to India’s Environment Report-2022, the main reasons for the decline in the ranking of the country’s Sustainable Development Goals are the challenges of hunger, good health, well-being and gender equality. But no better efforts are being made in this direction in the near future, which is a matter of concern. Even after the completion of six years of SDGs from 2015 till now, India is far behind in this matter.
Somewhere there is a democratic system responsible for this. The SDGs aim to eliminate all forms of poverty from the world and establish social justice and complete equality in all societies. The government is patting its back on the fact that it has provided wheat and rice to a large section, but the question is natural whether a few kilos of food grains will end poverty permanently?
The Seventeen Goals of Sustainable Development include eradicating poverty, ending hunger, food security, better nutrition and sustainable agriculture, quality education for all, health for all, access to clean drinking water, sanitation, gender equality, universal access, affordable, sustainable, clean and reliable Energy, Green environment to combat the effects of climate change, Inclusive economic growth, Humane working environment, Exploitation free labor system, Inclusive infrastructure, Promoting sustainable industrialization and innovation, Reduction of all inequalities, Safe cities, villages and human settlements Sustainable development, production and consumption according to need, clean living under water, healthy land, safe and happy life, protection of land, water and forests, strong systems of peace and justice, and participation and sharing of all.
Not only this, the core mantra of the Global Agenda for 2030 is the principle of universality that ‘no one is left behind’. In such a situation, there is a need for the policy-makers of our country to take a comprehensive initiative for this and for this, if all the politicians have to rise above the party politics, then efforts should also be made for this. But the efforts of the present central government are fulfilling the proverb of cumin in the mouth of a camel. In such a situation, if the goals of sustainable development are to be really achieved, then something big has to be done and this work will not be done by any one. This requires collective effort.