See also a recent op-ed by Amrit Dhillon... http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/why-india-is-not-a-superpower-20120314-1v3b1.html ... The poor still do not have homes, basic sanitation, decent schools or nutritious food. As a young girl in American author Katherine Boo's much-acclaimed new book Behind the Beautiful Forevers, about life in a Mumbai slum, says: "We try so many things but the world doesn't move in our favour." Middle-class Indians need to read Boo's book about life in a rat-infested hovel, near a sewage lake, with rampant dengue fever, malaria and tuberculosis, with scraps for meals, a single toilet for 100 families and then try claiming that India is becoming a superpower. There are many criteria for defining a superpower, but for India an extra one should be added. Let no one utter the world ''superpower'' till every Indian family has a toilet in their home.
From: Melvyn Fernandes <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Sent: Friday, 16 March 2012 7:12 PM >Subject: [Goanet] Talking of toilets (by Rose Fernandes) > >Dear goanet readers > >The following article was published on the BBC News website yesterday: > >Quote: >Nearly half of India's 1.2 billion people have no toilet at home, but more >people own a mobile phone, according to the >latest census data. > >Only 46.9% of the 246.6 million households have lavatories while 49.8% >defecate in the open. The remaining 3.2% use >public toilets. > >Census 2011 data on houses, household amenities and assets reveal that 63.2% >of homes have a telephone. > >Analysts say the data show the complex contradictions of the Indian system. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
