More than a billion dollars is being spent on giant statues of a nationa-list leader, a former king and a Hindu deity in three Indian states where pov-erty is widespread.
All of the states involved are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which uses jingo-ism and triumphalism to swing votes their way.
Pravin Mishra, a civil rights activist, said the phenomenon neglected practical needs of ordinary people such as improving health and education services. In Gujarat, a 213-meter statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a prominent leader of India’s freedom struggle and a native of the state, is under construction at an estimated cost of US$470 million.
In neighboring Maha-rashtra, a 61-meter statue of Shivaji, a 17th century Maratha king, is being built for US$300 million.
In India’s most popu-lous State, Uttar Pradesh, US$300 million has been allocated for a 91-meter statue of Hindu lord Ram.
Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 200 million, had the highest proportion of homeless people in India (18.56%) followed by Maharashtra (11.9%) and Rajasthan (10.24%).
Mishra notes that the International Food Policy Research Institute recently ranked India at 100th out of 119 countries on its global hunger index, behind North Korea, Bangladesh and Iraq.
