The news “Poverty declined to 32% in 2009-10: Plan panel” (April 20) provides much food for thought in faraway places like Washington DC. I do not want to be alarmist or pessimistic but I would like to pose some questions about the goal and achievements of the “fight against poverty” agenda of international agencies, like the United Nations and the World Bank.
Does this goal need to be changed or dropped altogether? There are quite a few professionals in these institutions who are wasting their time on this agenda and the same professionals could reallocate their brainpower and energy to working on such alternative goals as economic growth and mitigation efforts for facing disasters caused by natural, political and social calamities.
It is not a very pleasant experience when such professionals, year after year, find that they cannot reach the goal of a “world without poverty”. The cost of pursuing a wrong goal is much more than the cost of the failure of a right goal. And let us not forget that these agencies depend on the tax payers and bond holders’ faith, which is slowly but surely going down the tubes.
Chandrashekhar G Ranade, Washington DC
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