World Jain Conference 1995 6th Conference

Author(s): Satish Jain
Publisher: Ahimsa International

Page 138

During 2nd world war between 1941 and 1945 millions of troops from Australia and Newzealand were camping in India. Our cows were slaughtered to feed them. Our first President Shri Rajendra Prasad had lamented later on with tears in his eyes that thousands of our young and healthy cows and 36000 calves were slaughtered everyday during that period and we could not stop it because we were slaves then.
However, even after independence, when Shri Rajendra Babu first became the food Minister, and then occupied the highest office of President of India, to the gravest misfortune of the country and for reasons not known, he not only could not stop the slaughter, he could not even prevent it from becoming a part of the five year plans. As a result, today the people have to pay Rs. 6/- to Rs. 8/- per litre for stale, stinking and synthetic milk from the daities, Rs. 60/- per kg for synthetic ghee and Rs. 90/- to Rs. 100/- per kg. for the so called pure but in effect adulterated and hydrogenated ghee.
The availability of fresh milk and pure ghee had started dwindling since 1925. Lest this becomes a cause of discontent amongst the people, concept of vitamins was introduced and popularised. Massive publicity was resorted to divert the attention of people from milk and ghee to vitamins. Vitamins are contained in milk as well as in food-grains too but in the name of vitamins people were to be weaned away from milk to vegetables. Hence the insistence on eating more vegetables increased. Earlier, people used to feel proud in consuming more milk, and today's generation feels proud in consuming tomatoes, cabbage and other vegetables.
After independence, the publicity of vitamins relegated and vitamins became base for injections only. Prominence was now given to protien in place of vitamins. Protien is contained in the food-grains and cereals that we eat everyday. Still under the guise of providing cheaper source of protien to the poor population through eggs, meat and fisn, schemes for production of these three unhygienic things were implemented with the help of foreign debt.
It is that for remaining healthy only protien is needed? Is it that for malnutrition related diseases the only cause is deficiency of Protien?
These questions have been answered at the Govt. level itself. In the official report on the study of public health and in the report on the Sixth Five Year Plant it is revealed that the main causes of malnutrition related diseases ar: calories deficiency, insufficient food and jron deficiency. i) What is the calory content of these unhygienic and disease causing substances promoted in the name of protiens? It is
173 Units per 100 grams in eggs 194 units per 100 grams in meat
091 units per 100 grams in fish As against this, the food grains and cereals that we eat normally contain 335 to 360 units of calory per 100 grams. Then what should be consumed for calories? Eggs, meat, fish or Food-grains and cereals? Are eggs etc. complete food? Do they contain sufficient nutrients? Substances which give strength to the body are calories, carbohydrates and fats. We have seen above, how meagre is the calory content in eggs etc. compared to food- grains and cereals. Do they then contain more of carbohydrates and fats? Are they more nutritious? The following table clarifies that;