Stray dog culling – Good judgment

The Bombay High Court ruled in a majority verdict that stray dogs which creates public nuisance can be killed. Good move indeed. The public was waiting eagerly for the judgment. Every nook and corner of Mumbai is infested by the stray dogs and because of the pending judgment (since 1999) nothing could be done. Only pets with proper licenses should be permitted in the city.

Millions of Rupees can be saved by stopping the “so-called” sterilization programs for the dogs by some NGOs. Now, the government need not spend another few millions in building Dog Shelters. The money can be spent on building kindergartens or schools for children and ensure quality healthcare for the rural population.

As per a 2008 census carried out by the BMC and the State Government (as reported in the press), there are 70,182 stray dogs in the Mumbai city and roughly 45,000 incidents of dog bites are reported each year! It is shocking.

If one can export meat (of goat, sheep and other animals) to other countries, why not export dog meat to some countries (where dog meat is a delicacy) and get some revenues?

Security for VIPs/VVIPS

Common man in India is always under threat, either due to terrorists from out-side the country or political terrorists from inside the country. No security is provided for him, even if it is there, it is only on paper. The so-called VIPs or VVIPs s are: politicians, their relatives, film personalities, “goonda” elements, senior cops, judges, etc, etc. The security cover is given based on threat perception. The risk perception is decided by some “well-planned” threatening email or phone call or pre-fabricated attacks. There are different category types, X, Y and Z. Everyone is trying to get the Z or Zplus category, the highest type, where the VIP is protected by 55-250 security personnel! It has become a status symbol! At whose cost? Crores and Crores of tax payer’s money is spent on these fellows. One can watch politicians of the type Mayawati surrounded by an entourage of gun-wielding commandos.

There is an urgent need to review the necessity of the cover and the type. Only the minimum type of cover should be provided, that too with only lathis or condemned guns used by the policemen in Mumbai during the terror attacks. Anyway, the politicians are not seen around during the crisis of the kind witnessed recently in Mumbai. So what is need of providing them security cover? Only, the national leaders like Prime Minister and President should be made eligible for Zplus. Where ever possible, the protected should be made to pay, fully or partly, for the expenses incurred. The laws applicable to the terrorists should be made applicable to the political terrorism also. No security cover should be provided by the government for persons involved in political terrorism. Citizens need commandos to protect national properties and the common man.

Health care – pathetic in India

The Indian Health Minister is doing all things except those which are directly related to his ministry, such as ban on smoking, and now try to stop consumption of alcohol. It is true that the tobacco smoke and alcohol are proved carcinogenic substances. For that matter, the exhaust of automobiles contains many carcinogenic organic compounds in it. The environmental concentrations of such chemicals in Indian cities are generally higher than the standards prescribed by environmental safety regulators. Cancer is poised to become the leading cause of death world-wide by 2010 as per the report by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Caner (IARC).

Health care statistics in India is reported to be pathetic. It is strongly felt that the minister should concentrate on health care centers in rural areas so that the medical care is available to the rural population, particularly women and children. There are acute shortage of health care centers, life-saving medicines, vaccines and even the doctors. Instead of concentrating on public image-building issues, the minister should improve the rural health situation and concentrate on health awareness programs.

Local politicians should be pressurized by the public to build hospitals instead of temples or mosques.

Life insurance coverage for deaths in clinical trials

India is a booming market for Clinical trials by Pharmaceutical companies. Many potential drugs and vaccines are tried on infants and on the poor population. The population in general is not aware of the provisions and the regulatory aspects of the clinical trials. Who regulates the clinical trials in India? Drug Controller General of India? Recently, there were several deaths of infants due to faulty clinical trials. The corporate world and other concerned (?) authorities are insensitive to such tragic incidents. Medical ethics is totally missing in this highly lucrative business of clinical trials.

What we need today is transparency in the clinical trial business. The results and the contact details of the investigators should be properly and adequately documented for verification. What about the insurance cover for such clinical trial deaths or disabilities? There are many questions which need answers from the companies and the national regulators. There is an urgent need for building up public confidence.