Birthday wishes

Birthdays are beautiful. You can make as many wishes as the heart desires. As India celebrates its 79th birthday, this month, I have bountiful wishes for it. I hope we will control our population. We have the largest population in the world, at 1.46 billion. Every country has circumscribed resources of land, water, food, jobs, etc. If the population keeps growing, we will not improve the quality of life of the citizens.

We need to provide more food to all citizens. Many of the urban and rural poor live on two meals a day, instead of three meals and an evening snack. We need to ensure that people eat nutritious food. Eating wholesome food is becoming difficult, due to inflation. Whilst overall poverty is declining, there are millions yet living in destitution in the cities and villages.

They subsist on free food grains and cash transfers, bestowed by governments, as election bonanzas. Rising medical costs are distressing the lower-incomed classes. Medicines and hospitals’ prices have spiralled. A serious illness can wipe out the life-savings of a middle-class person, unless he is insured.

India needs to become investor friendly, to attract more capital in high-technology areas. To entice investment, we need to improve the urban infrastructure, so that expatriates are comfortable and enjoy life. Indians need to work together, irrespective of religion, creed or language. A country with a multitude of cultures and languages cannot fight within itself. It will fragment. The focus should be on character building, rather than aloofness.

Rajendra Aneja,

Mumbai, India