Keeping poverty at bay

Poverty is a problem as much as a risk. It is a problem for those countries which still have to fight widespread poverty or pockets of poverty.

It is a risk in places where poverty has been eradicated but where people who have been uplifted from it or others could sometimes be vulnerable to factors which could plunge them into it. Poverty itself is one such risk factor for well-off people.

It is against this backdrop that we should interpret the presence of Vice-President Joseph Belmont at the anti-poverty summit held recently in Mauritius. Not many years ago there were children suffering from malnutrition, alms-begging elderlies and families who struggled to make ends meet in our country.

Through a comprehensive development strategy we have succeeded in eliminating poverty in our country. Yet, we should not rest on our laurels.

Poverty is not just the ability but also the willingness of someone to satisfy his or her basics human needs, which include food, clothing and shelter. This definition should also encompass the needs of the dependents (children) which should not be provided for by them but by the ones on whom they depend (their parents or guardians).

Seen through this prism the incidence of poverty should not only be measured by the income level of someone but also by the effective use of this income. If a father decides to drink all his income or spend it on drugs, he is effectively plunging his family into poverty because he is not providing for their needs.

So, poverty should not only be fought with macro-policies unfurled by the government but also the micro-behaviours of people whose responsibility it is to make use of the macro-policies for their benefit as well as that of their children.

Do not let irresponsibility, drugs and alcohol bring back a scourge which we eliminated through political will and the noble attitudes such as hard work and responsibility.

The concept of state facilitator should not be confined to the economic sphere but it should also be extended to the social field as it implies personal responsibility