Shame on us bloggers !
When Mumbai's Leopold Cafe faces Terror attacks we hold candle light vigils . When Barkha Dutt sues a fellow Blogger , we are angry and all over the place. But where were we when those innocent children lost the opportunity to see the world simply because they were born in a Government Hospital in Punjab that displayed indifference to safety precautions ? I just searched for the number of blogger entries on this incident and couldnt find many. But search for Barkha Dutt and look at the number of entries ! Its staggering !
This is not the first time things like this are happening in Government Hospitals in India. Numerous incidents have occured . Ministers have resigned. Enquiries Ordered . FIRs filed . Cases investigated and then closed. So what was the outcome ? Nothing ! The conditions are just the same as they have been eons ago.
Did you know that India spends 5% of its GDP on health care ? Did you also know that only 0.5% of this 5% is actually spent by the Government on health care ? The remaining 4.5% comes from private spending ? Did you know that health spending is the largest cause of rural indebtedness !
Alas ! Why would we strive to know ? We aren't bothered ! If the same incident had occured at probably Apollo Hospitals , I am sure the reaction would have been very different . You know why ? Cause that hits us right at our heads . It is our symbol of health care . Not that of the aam Aadmi of India.
Shekhar Gupta , the senior editor of the Indian Express was so right after all ! When he wrote that the Mumbai public reacted the way in which they reacted only because the terrorists chose the very symbols of luxury , of the upper class , of Mumbai ! He was heavily criticized for his comments in the editorial of the Indian Express. But , I think what he says is true. We are so selfish we are not bothered until we feel the pinch of the problem !
And you talk about Freedom of Press ?? Where is the Right to Life , my friends ??
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3 comments:
thanks for sharing this with us - optimistic indian. it would be very useful if you could provide more background about the actual incident and/or provide some links about the same..
The news item can be found here
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/5_infants_perish_in_Punjab_hospital_incubator_fire/articleshow/4056402.cms
It speaks for itself ! :-(
It is saddening I agree. I dont want to be pointing fingers here. But dont you think responsible journalism is important too.
And the reason i vehemently opposed Barkha dutt's actions is Freedom of Speech. yes and its closely tied to these other issues.
What would happen if tomorrow there is a health care issue and the press is not allowed to write about it because the hospital owner is an influential guy or if they make bloggers retract their views.
It is sad that this news article did not get the required attention, but I do no think it was wrong to blame the blogger outcry on NDTV. what they did was bad and they deserved the outcry. Hypocrisy in journalism is the worse kind.
Moving ahead, i think its an important issue to address. Health care. Its high time the voting public takes in to account such information. We need debates, we need to know what they parties promise, we need to keep a promise meter to see how well they are delivering.
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