Punjabis are known for their love for food. But a Punjab Cabinet Minister believed that it is their obsession to stay fit that’s playing havoc with the State’s health ranking.
Brushing aside the rankings in Niti Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) India Index wherein Punjab slipped by two points to the 12th rank out of 36 States and Union Territories in India, State Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Friday blamed the “health freaks” who go without food to ‘reduce weight’.
Just like his Cabinet colleague, State’s Forest and Social Welfare Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot too made an inconsiderate statement asking if the people could not even cook rotis for themselves as the State Government was already providing them with atta and dal. At the same time, he advised the people to earn a living for ending starvation.
Both Ministers dismissed Niti Aayog’s report and “insensitively” claimed that nobody is starving in the State.
Notably, Punjab, which is known for its high consumption of ghee, recorded a drop by two notch on the SDG India Index and was placed at the 12th rank in 2019 out of 36 States and Union Territories.
In 2018, Punjab was positioned at tenth place by Niti Ayog in its SDG Index report and had a composite SDG figure of 71 points.
In 2018-19 report, Punjab was in the category named ‘Frontrunner’ in Goal 2 which is the ‘Zero Hunger Goal’, and now it has slipped to a lower group called ‘Performer’.
In 2019, the composite SDG figures declined to 61 and the state did not find a place among the top three States on any of the 17 parameters used for examining the States and Union Territories. Goal 2 is closely related to other goals and affects the State’s performance in those areas.
Asked about the state’s performance, Dharamsot asserted, “Punjab has never suffered from any sort of hunger crisis. Our gurus never let anyone suffer even at the time when the crops weren’t yielding enough.”
“And as far as starvation is concerned, I believe that an employed person will never suffer….Everyone should work…A person who works can never die of starvation in Punjab…These are wrong figures…If a person who is working, and dies of starvation, you can hold me accountable for it,” said Dharamsot.
In an insensitive statement, Dharamsot asserted, “We give atta (flour) and dal (cereals) free, a person can’t even make roti?”
Reacting to the drop in SDG ranking, Health Minister Sidhu completely denied that there is hunger in Punjab. “I don’t think there is anyone in Punjab who sleeps without food…Anyone who does is probably doing it to reduce weight. We, in Punjab, have such a healthy and rich diet, there is no question of anyone sleeping hungry,” he stated.