MAHATMA Gandhi scribbled a short piece of advice in 1948 about ethical decision-making for those in public service.

“Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self will melt away.”

A young journalist put out a video clip last week that should have impressed Gandhiji. Some of the poorest men, women and children have been sleeping in the freezing Delhi winter, covered only with plastic sheets and gunny bags, outside AIIMS, India’s premier hospital. The people include very ill or old patients who have travelled for treatment from Bihar and Uttar.

It’s not that there is no night shelter outside the hospital, but it still leaves around 100 miserable people in the cold while they await their turn to see the doctor or be called for a procedure that could take days or even weeks to begin.

Reports from abroad are equally dismaying. India has never been humiliated like this. Donald Trump is misbehaving with everyone. Everyone is standing up to him, even Europe, but not India. All BRICS countries censured Trump for the military assault on Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president.........

© Dawn