Of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) universally acknowledged and designed to deliver human security, the prime mover is SDG-1, No Poverty. Poverty has been the curse of humans and humanity has now geared to banish extreme poverty in another 8 years with bell book and candle. No, Big No to Poverty.
Poverty
What is poverty? Those who have experienced it, know it far above poignant words.. Poverty is about just having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. The World Bank Organization describes poverty in this way: “Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. It is the ultimate degradation of human condition. Humans, one hundred watt thermal machines, are unable to feed energy for their very survival. This existential condition is poverty. It signifies Maslow’s package of physiological needs, Roti, Kapda and Makkan.
Poverty strikes society brutally. Jawaharlal Nehru referred to poverty in the Discovery of India thus: “There was lack of food, of clothing, of housing and of every other essential requirement of human existence… the development policy objective should be to get rid of the appalling poverty of the people. Poverty stunts society at all levels. Studies show that children from poor families have smaller brains and lower cognitive abilities.
Poverty Line
Economics, a ‘dismal science’ deals with wealth and lack of it in equal measure. There are haves and have nots. Yet a simple redistribution is no panacea for sustained economic growth. Bernard Shaw humorously referred to his luxuriant beard and bald head probably signifying that averaging would not work out.
Figuratively we have a line, connection between two points. It is known as the poverty line. The international poverty line, which is currently $1.90 a day, is the threshold that determines whether someone is living in poverty. The line is based on the value of goods needed to sustain one adult. This does not take into account access to sanitation, water, and electricity and what effect that has on their quality of life. Yet it is a reasonably good measure of the pathos of poverty.
In our country, poverty has two gruesome faces, one in our villages and the other in our towns and cities. In urban areas, it is 1,286 Rupees, and in rural areas, it is 1059 Rupees per month. It is painful to note that the number of the poor in our country has more than doubled from 60 million to 134 million in just a year because of the pandemic-induced recession. This means we have returned to a sad situation where ours is called a “country of mass poverty” after 45 years. This is in striking contrast to our spectacular success stories of Green and White Revolutions. We now need a revolution within revolution to liquidate poverty in all its ugly forms.
Poverty: Effects
Poverty is linked with negative conditions such as substandard housing, utter homelessness, inadequate nutrition and food insecurity, inadequate child care, lack of access to health care, unsafe neighbourhoods, and under-resourced schools which adversely impact our children. It is a baggage of ugly and dirty facts staring at us straight in our face. The tentacles of poverty suck verdour out of our body social and leave it emasculated
Poverty: Causes
We are victims of the population explosion and have multiplied maddeningly. We have the staggering number of 1.3 billions and are still breeding. During the past 45 years, our population has shot up at a rate of 2.2% per year, which means, on average, about 17 million people are added each year, so many mouths to feed. This increases the demand for consumption of goods tremendously.
Our agricultural productivity is abysmally low owing to multiple factors. Fragmented and subdivided landholdings, lack of capital, illiteracy about new farming technologies, traditional methods of cultivation and wastage during storage are prominent among them. Unemployment and underemployment are tragically ingrained in the farm sector as also in other sectors. The shortage of capital and entrepreneurship is making it harder to increase production. There are also political and social factors relentlessly operating adding to our vulnerability.
Nuclear Option
Solutions to the problem of poverty have to be sought in several domains concurrently and coherently. Technology is patently a single critical variable. Nuclear science and engineering have a lot to offer to alleviate poverty. Electricity generation helps reduce poverty and stimulates economic growth. Nuclear generation provides affordable and reliable electricity supplies without greenhouse gas emissions or air pollution. Investment in nuclear energy boosts economies and provides employment. A brave new world with SDG-1 fully realized is within our reach if we have a clear nuclear vision.
Globally, over 700 million people do not have access to electricity. Billions more have unreliable supplies. A reliable, clean and affordable electricity supply is essential to enable people to rise out of poverty and improve their quality of life. Nuclear generation costs are much less susceptible to fuel price volatility than fossil fuel generation costs. This can help mitigate the impacts of fossil fuel price spikes on energy prices, which disproportionately affect poorer households. Strategies to decarbonize electricity supplies should also take account of the potential impacts of higher generation costs on those least able to pay. Extending the operation of existing nuclear reactors is one of the lowest-cost ways of producing low-carbon electricity as we have done at our Tarapur Power Station.
Realizing the critical role of electricity in developmental economics, Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha famously said, “ No power is costlier than no power”
Nuclear Agriculture.
Nuclear applications in agriculture rely on the use of isotopes and radiation techniques to combat pests and diseases, increase crop production, protect land and water resources, ensure food safety and authenticity, and increase livestock production.
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has developed high yielding seed varieties by inducing mutations using Gamma radiation. Gamma radiation only accelerates the mutations which otherwise occurs naturally over a much longer periods of time. About 50 seed varieties are in the field as part of commercial exploitation. Mutations can be in such a way that the crops mature early, to withstand biotic and abiotic stresses and to obtain better nutritional quality. Biotechnology offers infinite solution potential.
Food Security
Food security, a sure antidote for poverty, for the expanding population can be had by the application of nuclear techniques which help maintain healthy soil and water.
Another interesting story is that of the nuclear-derived sterile insect technique which involves mass-rearing and sterilizing male insects before releasing them over pest-infested areas. The technique suppresses and gradually eliminates already established pests or prevents the introduction of invasive species – and is safer for the environment and human health than conventional toxic pesticides.
Food safety and quality control systems need to be robust at national level to facilitate the trade of safe food and to combat food fraud, which costs the food industry up to USD 15 billion annually. Nuclear techniques help improve food safety by addressing the problem of harmful residues and contaminants in food products and to improve their traceability systems. The agricultural sector uses nuclear technologies to adapt to climate change by increasing resource-use efficiency and productivity in a sustainable way. Sustainability science is built into nuclear applications.
–Dr.A.P.Jayaraman
Chairman, NCSC, Mumbai
