look news india
Some pictures/videos do not let you sleep peacefully. A two and a half minute video clip from Gadchadoli village in Maharashtra has shaken every sensitive person. Young husband and wife reach their village by walking fifteen kilometers carrying the bones of their small children on their shoulders. Both the dead children were less than ten years old.
The village demi-doctors worsened the temperature of the children and the poor parents took them to the government hospital. The hospital was also running on trust. Due to lack of timely and proper treatment, the children died. The victim's parents applied to the hospital administration for an ambulance. The hospital administration did not pay any heed. Defeated, the helpless parents left the village carrying both the children on their shoulders. The parents were passing through a muddy road. A passerby made a video of the victim's parents screaming and made it viral. After reading this news, the eyes of the anchors of electronic media became moist. Headlines like 'Children's funeral on the shoulders of parents', 'A disgusting picture of the death of humanity' were touching the hearts of the viewers. Truly, it seemed like the last rites of humanity.
When a father shoulders the ashes of his child, it is considered the heaviest object in the world. Not just the father, the mother was also carrying such a burden that the world saw. The sad news of the death of an infant is heart-breaking. Children who die at a young age are wrapped in a dushaala like a flower. Their cremation rituals are different from those of the elderly. Disabled children did not get such a farewell. The pieces of poverty were wrapped in a sheet and carried on the shoulders. The children had seen the world fair by climbing on these shoulders. Ceremonies are organized to honor the deceased Jews after death. Indians have believed since the beginning that death is not the end of the life-flow but a stop. The afterlife is a replica of this world. The path from the world to the afterlife is considered to be almsgiving. The main purpose of rituals and ceremonies is to make the next life of reformed beings comfortable in the afterlife. If the above incident is read from this point of view, then the mental state of the victim's parents can be easily understood. Maharashtra is a developed state. Mumbai is considered as the dream city of the country as well as the economic capital of the country. Its other cities Thane, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik are also among the big and developed cities of the world. It is beyond comprehension that such a tragic incident can be seen in this state which cherishes the rich heritage of the Marathas.
Such incidents are also seen in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and many backward states. In the Indian Constitution, basic health facilities are the right of every citizen. This right is specially mentioned in Articles 42 and 47. Providing basic health facilities is the primary duty of the state governments which is often neglected. According to an estimate, more than 27 percent of deaths in the country occur due to lack of timely treatment. Anyway, the presence of one doctor behind an average of sixteen-seventeen hundred presents a bad picture of the whole incident. According to the standards of the World Health Organization, it is necessary to have at least one ambulance per one lakh population. In urban areas, if needed, the ambulance should arrive within twenty minutes. In small towns and villages, this interval should be 25 and 35 minutes respectively. If we look around, it becomes clear that providing such facilities in our country is still a distant dream.
In terms of human rights, we are far behind the West and other developed countries. Reforming the system is like facing a mountain. Dashrath Manjhi (14 January 1934-17 August 2007), a native of Bihar, bowed down to the mountain when his wife died due to lack of timely treatment. Manjhi was cutting wood in the forest when his wife, who was bringing the allowance, slipped on a mountain rock and got seriously injured. His village Gahlaur is situated on a high hill near Bodh Gaya. He picked up his injured wife and reached the government hospital 55 kilometers away, but she had already died. If there was no mountain on the way, the distance to the hospital would have been 15 kilometers. This incident is of 1959. Manjhi was a 25-year-old youth at that time and loved his wife from the bottom of his heart. Manjhi got angry at the mountain. He swore that he would cut the mountain and make a straight path. He said to himself, this would be the true tribute to a wife. Manjhi picked up the hammer and started breaking the mountain. People started calling him mad. He was a man of his mind. He kept challenging the mountain, “Jab tak ladhenge na, tab tak ladhenge nahin.” People did not listen to him. A reporter from a small newspaper published a story about his passion and talent and it caught people's attention. Manjhi thanked him and asked why he did not publish a newspaper himself? The journalist said, do you know how difficult it is to publish a newspaper? Manjhi smiled and said, 'More than breaking a mountain?' This continued for 22 years. Manjhi created history. It took 21 years to build the Taj Mahal, which involved thousands of workers.
Later, the masons' hands were chopped off so that they could not make any more crowns. Dashrath Manjhi himself was worth Rs. 5.5 lakhs. Jaan had single-handedly built a path 110 metres long, 9 metres wide and 8 metres deep. The then government woke up from its slumber and issued a postage stamp in the name of Dashrath Manjhi. He was honoured with major awards. Do governments still want a mother to be born in every village, town and city and that people should be provided with facilities in the presence of democracy? A caravan cannot be made alone. Nowadays everyone is attached to his own selfish interests. There is only a rare person who is selfless and helps others. Leaders take votes and forget the public. Then they spend five years waiting for another Dashrath Manjhi. The slogans of 'Raj nahi seva' prove to be hollow. Common people keep wandering from time to time for the sake of their sinful stomach. Then how can everyone become Dashrath Manjhi?