Some recent events are a matter of worry and concern. We have progressed and have become “smart”. If that was true, why should dengue be erupting in several places threatening the lives of a large section of the populationIJ The hub of mining activity called Joda has led the list of important places, where a large number of dengue patients have been identified. This by itself indicates that the health security measures are not effective. large numbers of important areas like Rourkela, Jajpur and Cuttack have been the victim of this. The upsurge of dengue is an indicator of a degenerating environ. There is a cause to worry in this regard.
The media project the state of affairs of village Nagada in the Sukinda area in Jajpur district. The mortality rate in the village is one of the highest. The nutritional level is hopelessly poor. Basic facilities like road, water supply and other civic necessities are grossly lacking. Now, the Government announced a “taskforce” to deal with the problems of Nagada. The rudimentary necessities having not been provided and malnutrition being rampant, the ground reality is one of abysmal sub-human existence of a class of people. Inquiries have been made from other districts, whether they have such a situation in any particular area. A critical minimum has to be assured to make life livable. In every district, there are more than one Nagada and these are tending to become infecting sources so far as the polity is concerned. One wonders how and why the planned investments never reached many such areas. Odisha has one of the highest rates in infant mortality and mortality in general. The principal cause has been malnutrition and poor conditions of living. Sixty-six long years after becoming a Republic, we have failed to wipe out poverty, malnutrition and illiteracy. Over this long period, there has been, as per accounts, a huge investment in infrastructure and healthcare. The impact of this is to be felt in a vast majority of areas.
Another aberration was recently played out in Kandhamal. Innocent tribals, including a child, were gunned down. The event does not speak well of the linkage between political leadership and the police leadership. Force of the State should not lead to destruction of our very foundation. Rule by might is not necessarily conducive to a harmonious social order. The Kandhamal incident demonstrates a disturbing lack of sensitivity of the authorities, who are conferred with enormous power. The greater is the power, the greater has to be the caution in exercising it. After some hue and cry, the wind will blow over as public memory is short. The image of the ruling persons should be conditioned by the manner in which the investments are implemented with the efficacy of the subsequent stages. The Kandhamal episode is crueler than the otherwise cruel episode of Kalinganagar. Use of brute force is a matter of concern when you claim that we are governed by Rule of law. Through an appropriate study of the root causes of such aberrations, appropriate remedial measures can planned out from the grassroots level.
‘Be you so high, the law is above you’ is under challenge, and there is an immediate need of remedial measures. A section of the servitors of the Shree Jagannath Temple flouted the law in the matter and took law into their own hands. They issued posters giving notice and publicity to their proposed defiant violation of law regulating the field. The poor Collector had to face un-parliamentary abuses. Nobody dared to obstruct the onward march of the servitor, who was forcibly violating the law. There is some element of desperation among some servitors to have used conventional and nonconventional methods to demonstrate that whatever they say is right and is to be followed. In the realm of religion, commerce and industry should not take any important role. Instead of Gandhigiri, we have an ample does of Dadagiri. May lord Jagannath have a peaceful life and grant peace to the rest of the world! Such events call for research into the inherent causes of the cancerous trend. The devotion and sincerity do not permit touching the body of the deity or climbing the chariot, unless you had functions to discharge on the chariot as a part of the occupational duty. It is pathetic that the rituals, which are so sacrosanct, were delayed and threats were held out to stop the Pahandi of lord Balabhadra. If that be true, one’s faith in the lord can be shaken. We should not permit that to ever happen.
With the modern style of life, dependence on doctors has increased. A WHO report discloses that in 2001 those who claimed to be allopathic doctors were in fact educated up to the secondary school level. A whopping 57 per cent of them did not have any medical qualification as per a recent WHO report. This is an alarming situation and a danger to the lives of innocent patients. In rural India, only 18.8 per cent of allopathic doctors had a medical qualification. This is an unbelievable situation. The study further reveals that the percentage of nonqualified doctors is more among men and less amongst women. To cite an example, 67 per cent of females had medical qualification compared to 38 per cent of males. A dominant section of our population faces danger to their lives because of quacks peddling themselves as doctors and treating people without proper competence. The fact that such a large number of fake doctors are treating patients is a matter of great concern. It demonstrates that our regulatory and control measures are inadequate and ineffective. When it comes to professionals, the qualification prescribed for that profession is a condition precedent for anyone having the authority or competence to be a doctor. This is in the overall interest of the society. Absence of adequate healthcare facilities at the grassroots level also contributes to the growth of quackery. Density of doctors, such as in India, is quite poor. This also contributes to the birth and growth of fraud doctors. The regulatory mechanism has to be reoriented and strengthened so as to drive out and suitably punish these dangerous bombs and, alongside, ensure that the grassroots healthcare facilities are so planned and implemented that a critical minimum of healthcare is available in a localised manner. The facts and figures given above ring an alarming bell about any so-called doctor who could be next door. When the bell tolls, one has to wake up and take immediate remedial measures.
The situations narrated above call for organised action so that rectificatory measures are not deferred leading to irreparable damage to all of us. life is short; let it not be uncivilised and shorter on account of our actions and inactions. Our youth power must take the initiative in this regard, and each member of the society has to play his or her pivotal role. And all these concern all of us!
(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former diplomat, a former editor, a former President of Orissa High Court Bar Association and a former Advocate General of Odisha. jayantdas@hotmail.com)