No developed country is struggling with any street dog or stray cattle problem, and India can't aspire to be a global power when the huge health and safety issue remains unsolved, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram told NDTV on Wednesday.
He called for implementing a national policy to solve the problem of stray dogs roaming freely on the streets.
"This is not a laughing matter. This is a very serious issue. It's a real issue which is occurring every single day in every nook and corner of India, not just in urban India, but also in rural India. The number of stray dogs in our streets is increasing, you know, disproportionately. And we have no policy, neither do we have the resources or the wherewithal to deal with this. I mean, local bodies are supposed to deal with it and local bodies in most cases do not have the funds and don't have the expertise to deal with it," the MP from Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga told NDTV.
His comments came a day after the Supreme Court slammed a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Noida - who alleged harassment while feeding stray dogs - and ordered her to do so in her own house.
Recent cases of attacks by stray dogs on both adults and children across the country have raised huge concerns over the problem.
"We can't aspire to be one of the top economies in the world. We can't aspire to command respect in the world. And we can't aspire to have a great number of tourists coming to the country when we have a stray dog problem," Mr Chidambaram said.
He said the number of people getting bitten by stray dogs every single day is staggering.
"India has the highest number of rabies deaths. So, what we really need to sort this out is not localised solutions because the local bodies won't come up with any solution. They are completely short of funds.
"We need a national policy, an ethical policy and humane policy by which we need to build dog shelters, which has to be funded either through whichever branch of the government. And dogs must be removed from the streets and sent to these centres. They must be housed there. Then they must be neutered and sterilized there. And if people feel strongly for them, they should adopt them. Dogs are not meant to roam," he said.
He indicated leaders do not take this matter seriously. It is one of those 'ease of living in urban areas' issues, which nobody highlights, Mr Chidambaram added.
"I like to take up issues which do not necessarily constitute a vote bank. That is why I speak about gig workers, online education, gold loans, KYC (know your customer). That is why I speak about street dogs. Because I tend to pick on issues which affect the common people, but who don't constitute a group... I like to speak for a large number of people who are not organised vote banks," he said.
The Congress MP said many people also do not talk about India's huge stray dog problem because it is only the people who walk who get bitten or attacked, not those sitting inside cars.
"We don't take it seriously at all because the people who are affected are the people who walk, who walk to work, who walk from school and not the people in cars, not people who live in gated communities with high security walls. It's the people on the streets, in villages, in towns and in the narrow streets of our country. That's where they're affected the most," Mr Chidambaram said.
The Congress MP raised concerns over a lack of rabies vaccine. Some public health centres keep expired rabies vaccines.
"We are the largest importer of rabies vaccines in the world. We have the maximum number of rabies deaths," he said.
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