Starvation deaths just not acceptable
Death by starvation(भुखमरी/अनशन) of three sisters aged eight, four and two years in India’s national capital is tragic(दुखद,/भयंकर), unacceptable(अस्वीकार्य/अग्राह्य) and calls for immediate(तुरंत/तत्काल) remedial(उपचारात्मक) action. It betrays(प्रकट करना/शर्त) lack of social cohesion( एकता) and neighbourly empathy(सहानुभूति/हमदर्दी), apart from fatal(घातक/प्राणनाशक) gaps in the institutional(संस्थागत) mechanism to deliver on the Right to Food. Food security is a justiciable(न्यायोचित/तर्कसंगत) right: every citizen is supposed to have adequate(पर्याप्त/उचित), sufficient and safe food that will enable a healthy life. The problem is not in budgetary provisioning(प्रावधानीकरण) but in the administrative(प्रशासनिक/प्रशासकीय) machinery. Those entrusted(सौंपा गया/न्यासित) with running official schemes meant to address hunger — the Antyodaya Yojana, Integrated(एकीकृत) Child Development Services and Mid-day Meals Scheme — should have identified these children with a deranged(अपमानित/विक्षिप्त) mother and an absconding(फरार) drunkard(शराबी) for afather, taken them into foster care, apart from feeding them.
India ranks poorly in the Global Hunger Index. And despite(बावजूद/विरोध से) economic growth, the country is home to millions of undernourished(कुपोषित) people, many of them young and growing children, causing(कारण/पहुंचाना) serious loss of vital(महत्वपूर्ण /जीवनीक) human potential. Malnutrition(कुपोषण/अपुष्ट-भोजन) is a problem that is ignoredmore than acted on. These children also suffer(भुगतना /पीड़ित होना)from iron and protein deficiency(कमी/अभाव). The focus must be to improve the health of under-five population for a country that wants to reap its demographic(जनसांख्यिकीय ) dividend(विभाजन).Malnutrition in infancy(बचपन) affects physical and mental(मानसिक ) growth of a child, and fighting it is a prerequisite(शर्त/आधार) for building human capital. Children cannot be left to die.
Cities need social security mechanisms that work. All of it need not even be paid for by the government. Volunteers(स्वयंसेवक)can be found aplenty(कसरत से।). But they must be organised into a system that keeps tabs on every vulnerable(आलोचनीय)individual, for physical and mental well-being. This calls for political leadership and administrative accountability(जवाबदेही).
Important Vocabulary
1.Unacceptable(अस्वीकार्य/अग्राह्य)
Synonyms: distasteful, improper, inadmissible, objectionable, offensive
Antonyms: acceptable, agreeable, appropriate, good, nice
2.Empathy(सहानुभूति/हमदर्दी)
Synonyms: affinity, appreciation, compassion, insight, pity
Antonyms: disdain, hatred, indifference, mercilessness, disagreement
3.Adequate(पर्याप्त/उचित)
Synonyms: acceptable, capable, competent, decent, fair
Antonyms: inadequate, inappropriate, incapable, incompetent, inept
4.Absconding(फरार)
Synonyms: bolt, break, decamp, disappear, escape
Antonyms: appear, arrive, come, continue, face
5.Deranged(अपमानित/विक्षिप्त)
Synonyms: crazed, demented, distracted, irrational, maniacal
Antonyms:balanced, rational, reasonable, sane, sensible
6.Fatal(घातक/प्राणनाशक)
Synonyms: calamitous, cataclysmic, catastrophic, destructive, disastrous
Antonyms: assisting, blessed, fortunate, harmless, healthy
7.Suffer(भुगतना /पीड़ित होना)
Synonyms: deteriorate, endure, experience, get, go through
Antonyms: calm, please, soothe, surrender, yield, assuage
8.Prerequisite(शर्त/आधार)
Synonyms: essential, expedient, imperative, mandatory, requisite
Antonyms: inessential, optional
secondary, unnecessary, voluntary
9.Volunteers(स्वयंसेवक)
Synonyms:come forward, enlist, sign up, step forward, suggest
Antonyms: take back, compel, force, obligate
