Plan Your Family ! Get sterilized ! Win a car !

This is the story of a small town, Jhunjhunu ( Rajasthan, India ), as reported in Times of India / 30, June,2011 :

Problem  ?

• No of sterilization cases dropped from 13,265 in 2003 / 04  to 10,465 in 2009 / 10 ( - a drop in rank from 1 to 27  )

Solution  ?

• Dr. Sitaram Sharma, Chief Medical and Health Officer announced an incentive scheme for controlling births.

• Residents getting sterilized between July 1 and September 30 , will get coupons

• A draw of lots will be conducted and winners will take away :

            #     A  Nano car

            #     5,  Motor cycles

            #     5,  21” Color TV

            #     7,   Mixer-Grinders

Obviously, a win-win situation.

But even this may not stop India from overtaking China’s population of 1.3 billion by 2025 !

With regards

Hemen  Parekh

Children dying

In Sept 21, 2011 issue, DNA presents following depressing facts :

Ø  55 % of Indian children [ under 2 years ], do not receive basic comprehensive immunization

Ø  2.7 million children [ under 5 years ], receive no treatment for diarrhoea

Ø  900,000 new-born die in India annually [ 102 every hour ! ]

Ø  2.6 million is the number of health-workers India needs to meet WHO standards

Ø  1.04 % of GDP is what India spends on health

How many millions of lives can we save , if all the black money stashed abroad [ and within the country ], including monies pocketed by the “ Corrupt “, thru 2G scam / Air India scam / NRHM scam / PSU scam / illegal mining scam etc. were available and spent on health-care of the poor ?

And do not single out West Bengal. Situation is the same everywhere !

With regards

hemen  parekh

IT PAYS TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR

Especially if you don’t have a college degree

If you have any doubt , just look at the following “Resume / Bio data“:

>  Name   :       Mrs. Ramilaben Patel

>  Age      :       43

>  Edu      :       Schooling

>  City      :       Pentarpura / Sabarkantha / Gujarat

>  Business  :    Jai Ranchhod Dudh Utpadan Kendra ( Dairy  Farm )

>  Launched :    2000 ( 12 years ago )

>  Capital     :    Bank loan for buying 5 cows

>  Current  Status

• No of Cattle………………….    280 ( in 5 acre farm )

• No of Workers……………      40

• Production………………..       5.55 lakh litres of milk / year

• Net Profit ( 2011-2012 )    Rs. 1,10,17,675

• Machinery………………………   4 automatic milking machines

                                          Fodder Chaffing Machines

                                          Cooling System

• Future plans

                                     #   Rotary Milking Machines

                                     #   Fat content indicator

                                     #   Calf rearing Farm

• Future Investment……….   Rs 1,00,00,000

Ramilaben seems to be telling 40 Million unemployed Indian Youth :

“ When you become self-employed , you can never lose your job “

[ Source : Times of India / 07, July 2012 ]

Hemen  Parekh

Consumption Power

As per 66^th round of survey of National Sample Survey Office of India ( NSSO ), consumption power of Indians is growing.

The survey found that the per capita consumption grew as follows :

Ø  In rural India

·        From 1.2 % in 2004/05 to 6 % in 2009/10

·        Still, half the rural households can afford to spend, no more than Rs. 30 / day ( approx.$ 0.66 / day )

Ø  In urban India

·        From 2.9 % in 2004/05 to 6.8 % in 2009/10

·        Still, half the urban  households can afford to spend, no more than Rs. 50 / day ( approx. $ 1.1 / day )

But still that is progress.

So what, if it is only at snail’s pace !

With regards

Hemen  Parekh

Born to be Dead

This is the title of an article by Pooja Kashyap ( Times of India / 17 July, 2011 ).

Here are some highlights of this article :

Ø   Every year, nearly 1.2 million newborns die in India, most of them within the first few days after birth

Ø   India accounts for 30 % of neo-natal deaths worldwide ( out of 3.9 million )

Ø   Infants dieing during neo-natal period :

·        within first 7 days  ………….  45 %

·        within 7 – 28 days  …………   20 %

Ø   In the state of Uttar Pradesh, as many as 71 % neo-natal deaths occur during the first week itself

Ø   According to NGO – Save the Children -, over 400,000 newborns die annually in India, within the first 24 hours of birth – the highest in the world !

Ø   The single largest contributor to neo-natal deaths is the highest numbers of births in home settings, under the supervision of untrained attendants

My observation :

           If India could bring down its birth-rate from 2.1 % to 1.7 % during last decade, why can it not bring down its infant mortality rate from 5 % to 1 % ?

With regards

Hemen  Parekh