Chennai (Tamil Nadu):Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Monday re-imagined India for the "post-COVID world" and suggested measures across different sectors, including an "epidemic preparedness budget" for the health sector.
"While there are concerns, it's worth praising how this crisis is setting a precedent with state governments coming together and co-operating with each other as well as with the Centre. I sincerely hope this becomes a norm and help overcome perennial battles like the water crisis, pollution, migrants' woes, women's safety, communal violence, healthcare etc," Haasan said on his Twitter account.
"The last full-scale war India fought was almost half a century ago, but poor healthcare is an everyday war leading to 1.6 million deaths annually. Yet, year after year our Defence budget overshadows the healthcare budget," Haasan stated and added that it's a "pity that India continues seeing Defence as a more newsworthy proposition compared to healthcare".
He suggested that India needs to earmark an "epidemic preparedness budget with immediate effect".
"We are under threat a lot more from within than from outside our borders. Our priority towards Health needs to be reimagined with a handsome budget to match," Haasan said.
The Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) President later went on to talk about the Agriculture sector and said that India requires a 'Green Plus' revolution that firstly converts part of our agricultural land for an allied enterprise like processing, logistics, etc.
"Secondly, we need to accelerate productivity maximization on a war footing. Boosting agro-based MSMEs will help retain youth in the sector and build a sustainable and prosperous future for farming. This will also solve the problem of seasonal lack of work for farmers," Haasan said.