Our generous and large-hearted Prime Minister gifted 200 cows in a symbolic gesture to the villagers in Rwanda’s Rweru model village under the Rwandan government’s Girinka Programme. India extended $200 million lines of credit also to them. PM Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the East African country, announced that India would soon open its mission in Rwanda. Meanwhile, Rwandan livestock farmers, public and private economic cluster and government officials have committed themselves to increase beef exports.
The locally sourced cows are distributed under Girinka in which the poorest get cows from the government and gift the first female calf to a neighbouring country to promote brotherhood. The exercise also enables the poorest in Rwanda to have a livelihood. The Rwandan President personally initiated the national social protection scheme. But the people here like cow meat more than milk, ultimately the fate of the cattle lands in the meat market. Rwanda livestock production is sufficient to cater to the meat production. They are looking out for different avenues in cattle export. The meat industry was expected to be producing meat for Rwanda domestic market as well as export. The reality today is, despite the country having largely achieved the target of livestock production, the meat industry has not lived up to the expectations. Export data from Rwanda livestock markets shows that, every month DRC receives more than 30,000 cows, yet, available abattoirs’ installed capacity is sufficient to slaughter all cows being exported.
Per every 1Kg of meat exported, the country would gain $7 more compared to the livestock export. Here, Indian people are lynched to death if the rumours of beef reach so-called cow vigilant gangs. They are self-declared custodians.
Lynching is the worst form of atrocity against humanity. It is a total breakdown of law and order situation and state of anarchism. Whoever supports this form of inhuman behaviour should be condemned and punished by the law. India is witnessing this type of lawlessness very frequently over the last four years. The pettiest part of it is, the ruling government is least bothered about this ugly anarchism. What if the cows donated to Rwanda reaches meat market once these animals stop producing milk? So, are we not silently promoting beef eating or killings of Cow?
The PM is planning to donate crores to Rwanda, while our farmers are dying with loans of Rs 5,000 – Rs 10,000. Perhaps, PM Modi knows that in 2019 he will not come to power; hence he is making maximum trips to quench his touring thirst and extending cooperation to another country’s agriculture department. But he has no time to implement the same policy here in India. Maharashtra farmers are having an issue with milk prices and Indian farmers across the nation are having an issue with MSP. The government has reduced budget allocation for research funding in IIT, slashed healthcare expenditure. The entire nation is miffed with widespread religious polarisation and rising petrol prices. Businessmen like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, and Lalit Modi left the country looting almost every bank, history syllabus of NCERT books was twisted and changed, students were crushed down and sent behind the bars on charges of sedition, killing of rationalists, intellectuals, writers, journalists are frequent. Bringing back black money from Swiss banks was another eyewash.
Modi government did not come to the rescue of the farmers who had suffered huge losses due to crop failure. They did not waive off crop loan.
If the lessons of the last four years could be extracted into a single sentence, Modi government has been undeniably and gravely harmful to our nation’s health. On every conceivable metric, it has failed and every single citizen has had to pay a heavy price for the Modi brand of misgovernance. Modi has lumbered on from one ill-advised and poorly thought out decision to another. The ridiculous execution of demonetisation cost us Rs 3 lakh crore in the GDP growth and wiped out over 25 lakh jobs, while a hastily implemented GST penalised entrepreneurship. The banking system, which was hailed for its resilience in the face of the 2008 global financial crisis, has been a victim of feeble oversight and poor policy planning. The results for the last quarter indicate a net loss of over Rs 44,000 crore, the highest in recorded history for our banks. This is a direct consequence of the numerous economic offenders who have fled with impunity on BJP’s watch with over one lakh crore of public money. The government has done precious little to affix accountability and course correct institutional framework.
The Modi government could have invested some money in science and technology, specifically for health sciences without splurging money on distant Rwanda! $200 million would have gone a long way in the development of education and health sector in our own nation. The PM instead of wasting funds from India on other countries should first concentrate on the development of his own country. This fund could usefully be invested in creating reservoirs to store water in the states where the water shortage exists. Many Indians don’t get a single meal in a day. India’s trade and investment with Africa is plummeting, whereas China’s trade and business are skyrocketing. The Prime Minister needs to address these issues.
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