Starvation

Minor girls aged 2, 4, & 8 died of starvation in India's Delhi on July 24, 2018.

The right to life enshrined in the constitution has failed to protect these minors, namely Paro (2), Shikha (4), and Mansi (8). There was no trace of fats on their bodies.

Take a moment and think how such minors could die from the pangs of starvation in peace time that too in the country's capital.

According to the story, their father, who's a migrant worker, has left the kids with their mentally challenged mother. What's worth mentioning and startling about the story is, the nearest Angawadi center (type of rural mother and child care centre started in 1985 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services program to combat child hunger and malnutrition) is located less than a kilometer away from where they starved to death.

Amita Saxena, who's a medical professional at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, told NDTV, a news channel, that there was not a speck found in the stomach, bladder and rectum of the children. “It looked like they had not eaten since eight-nine days,” Saxena said.

Government official and landlord however claimed on the contrary. They said that the children died from infection and not from starvation. Their version is not supported by the post mortem report that put the cause of death as malnutrition and starvation.

What happened to food security system?

India's food security system is conditional upon people's ability to show identity proof or residence proof, Aadhaar number (12-digit biometrics-based identification number), etc. The system will put you through a strict verification process as if you're asking them for a king's ransom. This violates the right to life guaranteed by the constitution. If children could starve to death in the country's capital, think of the situations of those in the remotest parts of the country.

Conclusion

In ancient India, people died in the midst of plenty. In modern India, kids starved to death in the national capital, where people have so much in terms of wealth, money and availability of resources. Where's the difference?

References

India: Three children starve to death in New Delhi