is it just me?

[haveabeer]

Am i being cynical but on the news tonight India have launched a satellite to mars and UK tax payers are pumping millions of
pounds into helping fight poverty i feel i am being mugged
Or am i missing something?

[ChesterfieldJohn]

Agree completely.

I think our aid is stopping in 2015 though.

John

[Delboy]

This question was raised on another forum I visit, and this is a reply from somebody in India and I quote


"
Abhishek, India

India's mars mission is not paid by British Foreign aid.The govt of UK has made it clear that it does not pay any aid to the Indian govt, rather to the various NGO's all over the country. Besides India never asked for aid.

Secondly to feed the people you need money and money comes from industrialization,investment and trade and India's space program is a part of india's industrialization process whereby hundreds of thousands are directly and indirectly employed. Besides India spends only 0.3% of it's annual budget on space program which is a very insignificant amount. India's space program benefits the society visa vie weather forecasting,urban planning,security,agriculture,forestry,education,t v broadcasting,mobile & internet communication.

India earns a lot of money by sending foreign satellites to space. Sending a satellite to mars is a very difficult and complicated task and mastering that technology would immensely benefit the Indian space program in remaining competitive in space technology sector.

Solving many social issues in india is not an easy thing considering india gigantic size & population.India is spending close 70-80 billion $ each year on solving socio economic issues and only 1 billion $ on the space program and of that 1 billion $ 80% is used for various social causes and less than 10% is used for space science.India runs the worlds largest feeding program which ensures cheap food to 80% of it's population and free mid day meals to it's children.

India is only a 60 year old country which has just recently opened up it's economy.Thus it will take some time for the country to become prosperous.

India is in no race with china.Had that been the case we would have invested 5-6 billion $ for the manned space program.Another thing to note is that China started it's space program when 90% of it's people were living on less than 1$ a day and millions were dying from famine and starvation but look where it is now.

Science & Technology is a very critical sector which you cannot ignore.Investing in science & Technology is as critical is investing in poverty reduction as is it holds the key to future security and space science is the pinnacle of technology and by not investing in it india would be cutting it's legs.

Unfortunately to a layman spending money on space program seems obscene because most don't understand space technology or it's benefits.Frankly this debate of "poverty vs space" has been going on since the time first rocket was launched and it will continue to go on for foreseen future.

Investing in space program is like investing in an industrial project whereby huge number of people get employment directly and indirectly.The end products benefits each and every citizen and hence helps in all round growth and development of the society.

Henceforth the space program is an asset and not a drain to a country's resources.

Feeding the poor directly never works as you can see in Africa where despite trillions of dollars in foreign aid no dent has been made in poverty reduction.According to recent WB and IMF reports the poverty in Africa has actually risen.

The only way to reduce poverty is by providing the poor with sustainable employment which is only possible through industrialization and market reforms as seen in China.

As far as child mortality in india is concerned it's not because of money or resource constraint rather due to mediocre governance and improper management of the program.More concentrated efforts are needed to tackle such issues. "

[Lincoln18]

Visited India on numerous occasions. Disagree with them sending a satellite to Mars.

[haveabeer]

Sorry Dellboy
Maybe in a generation it might help solve there poverty problems I am sure the kids that scrounge for food from the local tip will be pleased to know that

[mavismumakrill]

The fact that the aid to India is due to finish in 2015 means almost another 2 years of money that could be used here in our own country, especially as the person from India stated that 'India didn't ask for aid'. How is that for gratitude????

Mavis x

[Kendhni]

It doesn't seem right but sometimes it is a case of you have to spend money to make money ... naturally we would all prefer to see such money going towards feeding some of the poorest in the world today, but then, arguably, all that does is maintain the status quo .. maybe India is thinking that if it can get to the forefront of this technology then it will reap the largest rewards ... doesn't help those today, but may be a better long term solution.

Personally speaking though, if you can afford the luxuries in life then you should not be receiving charity.

[haveabeer]

I agree Ken but I am sure that they could have used the money to better effect with providing jobs building places for people to live and work that would help to grow the economy instead of blasting millions into the sky and that there is no guarantee it will complete its mission
I hope that it works for them I hate seeing humans suffer especially kids

[Boris+]

Is the thing about ending poverty in India in anyway linked to this trip to Mars? If so, it's a bit of a non-starter really! I mean - if there are no roads on Mars there are therefore no corners - and no corner shops either.

Em

[Kaziebelle]

Am i being cynical but on the news tonight India have launched a satellite to mars and UK tax payers are pumping millions of
pounds into helping fight poverty i feel i am being mugged
Or am i missing something?

No you're not missing anything at all,we have been well and truly mugged by the mugs in parliament who allow it to happen

[Mervyn and Trish]

Giving the money to NGOs rather than the government is no answer at all. The Indian government should be looking after its people instead of wasting money on space programmes, then the NGOs wouldn't have to do it. If the response is that big projects provide empolyment etc, then building schools, hospitals, water supplies etc would provide the same or more employment and be of more benefit to the people than landing on Mars. If India doesn't want it, and we don't want to send it, (by we I mean the majority of people not the government or the politically correct mafia) the aid should stop tomorrow, not in 2015. Foreign aid should be targetted at disasters such as the Phillipines, not governments who fritter it away.

[haveabeer]

Giving the money to NGOs rather than the government is no answer at all. The Indian government should be looking after its people instead of wasting money on space programmes, then the NGOs wouldn't have to do it. If the response is that big projects provide empolyment etc, then building schools, hospitals, water supplies etc would provide the same or more employment and be of more benefit to the people than landing on Mars. If India doesn't want it, and we don't want to send it, (by we I mean the majority of people not the government or the politically correct mafia) the aid should stop tomorrow, not in 2015. Foreign aid should be targetted at disasters such as the Phillipines, not governments who fritter it away.

Agree completely the rest of the money should be diverted to the Philippines i am sure they could make better use of it