Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Everyone must get their basic rights' that was published in Newsband

Everyone must get their basic rights

What are basic rights? How are they different from other fundamental rights? Basic rights flow from basic needs such as physical security or subsistence. Needs are different from wants. Their non-fulfilment can cause great harm, even kill.

Needs depend on the way human bodies are constituted. For us, nothing can take the place of water, food and air. Basic needs are not what we live for. They don’t make our life worth living. But anything really worth pursuing depends on the satisfaction of basic needs. People suffer if basic needs are met inadequately or with delay. They are then denied a minimally decent life.

A right is something that is owed to us; it is not a favour. So, rights help the recognition of anything that satisfies basic needs as an entitlement. These rights are basic also because many intrinsically valuable rights can be enjoyed only once these rights are secured.

The right to minimum economic security and subsistence includes clean air, uncontaminated water, nutritious food, clothing and shelter.
The right to primary health care is also an integral part of the right to subsistence.

 Credible threats to these rights can be reduced by the government by establishing institutions and practices that assist the vulnerable. When a government fails to provide primary health care to those who can’t afford it, it violates their basic rights.

It follows that governments must make arrangements for people to demand that their basic rights be satisfied, to complain when these demands are not met, to report lapses and omissions on the part of governments, point fingers at apathetic government officials, criticise the government for its failures and to do so without fear. Anything short of a minimally decent life is simply not acceptable.

Everyone talks about what the government should do, but no one demands that the citizens also do their duties. Should a poor couple who can barely look after themselves be allowed to have a child year after year- maybe 10 more children total - and expect the government to give them all a life of dignity and free from basic needs? Impossible!

Basic rights and basic needs are within the tenets our Constitution and no one should be denied.

It seems allocating budget for technology and other things will help in better growth and development but we don't want to invest more in basic rights of food, shelter, uncontaminated water, Education and physical security. Who will use these better growth and progressive development if the life of future citizens are at stake and who will be help in this so called development? It feels that our forefathers were much happier with less development and more fulfillment of basic needs from the nature.