They: Our
lords, inheriting the power corridors of Delhi and the Indian states
Us: The
subjects, always taken for granted, and so treaded and trampled at will
All in this Theatre of the Absurd – a half-baked
democracy and an Indian polity in oblivion
THEATRE
1:
They: Varsha,
Parnakuti, Shivgiri, and many more – good names for houses, isn’t it? –
Especially, when they suck in great count of green papers.
Maharashtra ministers
have spent around Rs 13 crore for renovation of their official bungalows in the
last two years. Big names of Maharashtra politics like Prithviraj Chavan,
Harshavardhan Patil, Narayan Rane, Dilip Walse Patil, Sunil Tatkare, Suresh
Shetty, alone count for over Rs. 6 crore of the booty.
An RTI
query reveals Mayawati spent over Rs. 86 crore on renovating her bungalow which
she is still occupying as the former chief minister. It is said some windows of
the Mall Avenue address in Lucknow cost as much as Rs. 15 Lakh.
Us: Home
to almost 80 million homeless people and over 65 per cent of the below-the-poverty
line population; we make ‘the India’ that our lords so
comfortably trample.
India’s
reducing count of the rural population is not the Arabian Nights tale of
systematic, planned migration. Every major city in India has seen
increase in slum population in the last decade. There is no land available in
the urban metro India. Even if it is available with the cardboard houses, one
needs to pay an astronomical sum.
We live
in the absolute comfort of counting every penny every day, every month to
meet that ever increasing electricity or fuel cost or the monstrous monthly
rentals of India’s metros while our lords are stoically busy in mocking
us. Like Prithviraj Chavan said it was just a routine renovation. Like our
beloved Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Rs. 35 Lakh toilets, said that it was just
routine.
THEATRE
2:
They: An
RTI response obtained by the activist Chetan Kothari revealed that 59 official
cars of the Union Ministers generated fuel bill of Rs. 3.76 crore between 2009
and 2011. This was when these cars mapped the Delhi roads only. It
followed the 2009 austerity drive announced by the Congress party.
According
to a set of data as displayed on the Transparency Portal of the
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, our lords and industrialists are getting
one LPG cylinder every fourth day for their Delhi houses. It ranges from the
high of 369 refills for Navin Jindal to the 26 refills for Oil Minister
Jaipal Reddy in the year to May 31 as a report on the website of Business
Standard says.
Now it
cannot be for their individual families. But if the arguments behind such high
numbers are referring to the high number of visitors, then, Netas should be
made to pay the commercial prices and not the domestic unit LPG prices they are
availing.
Us: Government
is reeling hard under the pressure and everyone, from our economist prime
minister to his coterie of advisors to industrial proponents, is advising to
cut the subsidies further.
After
petrol, the major targets on demand now are diesel and LPG.
Manmohan
Singh said that India needed to tighten its belts and needed to take
corrective domestic measures while returning from Brazil after
attending the Rio+20 Summit. Now don’t expect anything miraculous/dramatic.
Be prepared to make your wallet even lighter.
Anyway,
the discrimination has always been aesthetically skewed.
While
our lords consume 369 LPG cylinders a year, we cannot get the next one booked
before 21 days.
Diesel
and LPG may go the petrol way soon. It is just matter of days.
Government
is almost certain to cap the subsidized LPG cylinders for us. The rumour mill
says we cannot have more than eight LPG cylinders per year at subsidized rates
in coming days.
Here we
are not talking about Kerosene, still the backbone of cooking in large swathes
of small town and rural India. Kerosene, too, is high on price
deregulation radar.
THEATRE
3:
They: Bungalows
and flats of Maharashtra’s ministers are defaulting on payment of dues. A
recent RTI report reveals a sum of Rs. 1.2 Crore is due on our Maharashtra lords
in the name of electricity bills. While the outstanding is Rs. 1.1 Crore, the
rest is the usage bill amount for May 2012. Official addresses of Governor and
20 other ministers are sitting on unpaid water bills of Rs. 30 Lakh accumulated
over two years.
Yet,
there is no disconnection.
A
recent RTI by Subhash Agrawal reveals that our parliamentarians enjoy immunity
from disconnection of their telephone lines even if the bill runs in tens of
thousands of Rupees. You know these parliamentarians have a cap of 1.5 Lakh
free calls per year. Even then the MTNL outstanding due on present and former
parliamentarians is astounding Rs. 7 Crore.
Imagine
the multiples of 1.5 Lakh free calls per month!
Our
lords are so comfortably free of the highs and lows (at taxpayers’ cost only) that every rising and lowering commodity
price tag brings to our lives every passing day.
Us: As
Delhi’s chief minister Sheila Dikshit recently said, Delhiites are to pay
almost 25 per cent more for their monthly electricity usage. We are again
slated to be the scapegoat as Delhiites would end up paying higher for the
fault of the distribution companies. Also, a section of reports say the loss-incurring
claims the distribution companies are doubtful and the companies are, in fact,
making profits.
Many
parts of India including the ‘Shanghai contender Delhi’ and India’s
most populous state Uttar Pradesh are crushing their citizens against irregular
or non-existent electricity and water supply.
The
basic amenities, like electricity, water, sanitation, transportation, that
consume the lifetime of the common man with all the possible permutations and
combinations exhausted in paying and repaying the bills, are nothing but blank
figures for our lords as they don’t have to pay for their king-size lifestyles.
The
common men, the taxpayers, pay for the ultra-luxurious living standards of
their lords while counting the every passing moment of their less-than-ordinary
lives.
And
they, the lords, from those plush power corridors, frame policies for us.
Don’t
pay your electricity bill or the phone bill on time and feel the pinch. Now,
even they don’t inform and just disconnect the line. To avail the services
again, make rounds to the offices. Pay under-the-table convenience fee and pay
reconnection fee.
THEATRE
4:
They: Indian
states come with ministry portfolios like Homoeopathy, Ayurveda, Cattle and
Livestock, Statistics, Potable Water, Irrigation Water and so on that will
spontaneously bring a satirist smile to any face but our lords are so high and
mighty that they don’t even put an ear to it.
In
order to accommodate as many of the coalition partners as ministers as
possible, foolish-sounding ministry-portfolios are created and taxpayers’ money
is shamelessly wasted.
Us: One
of the measures of the austerity drives announced by our beloved next First
Citizen of India was freeze on government recruitments. Now, cursed of the
coalition politics compulsion and greed of being glued to the chair of power at
any cost, they cannot downsize the number of ministries even though some of
them are absolutely rubbish.
This
sort of window austerity by our lords is just to tell the subject, the common
man, that he needs to be ready to pay more for our his lords . The common man
is the victim in the finality. It is he who applies for such government
openings looking for that elusive government job.
A typical
class-I government employee takes home an annual sum of Rs. 5-6 Lakh when he
begins his career. And our lords spend crores in fuel bills annually. Their
phone bills run so many hours that even any die-hard love-bird can’t possibly
think of.
And the
common man pays for that.
THEATRE
5:
They: Due
to some reasons only they know, members of the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Agriculture decided to examine the farming sector of the
region around Chandigarh. Now North India is reeling under the
heat. So the folks, 23 members of the committee, headed by CPM’s Basudeb
Acharia, decided to land in a five-star hotel, to deliberate and discuss.
To help
them accommodate better, some of them checked-in two days in advance. To feel
at home, some even brought their wives and other companions to the place. They
chose deluxe rooms of the hotel that cost Rs. 15,000 a day. It excluded other
costs like transportation and meals.
The
five-day June 15-20 ‘summer tour’ had sessions and visits to different cities.
Our lords designed to extend the experience of pleasure by choosing Shimla as
the destination for study tour.
The
summer adventure cost Rs. 5 Lakh a day and was paid from the taxpayers’ money.
There
are many parliamentary standing committees to help the parliament steer clear
of the bumpy roads the complex work nature of the Indian Parliament provides.
Seriousness in the tone the way these standing committees are defined becomes
even more imperative after the fact that the Parliament has virtually ceased to
work wasting majority of the working hours. Google for it and find volumes of
analyses written on it.
So
ample room for our lords to maneuver on travel and leisure front while window
shopping in the name of the real job!
The Chandigarh exotica
for our dear lords came within a month of the austerity measures announced by
the Finance Ministry that put a total ban on meetings and conferences in
five-star hotels.
There
are good and secure guest houses in Chandigarh but probably the
office memorandum of the Finance Ministry didn’t reach this group of the lords.
They: This
early June, the Human Resources Development Ministry had two event lined up,
Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) meet and the State Education
Ministers conference. As usual with practices by our lords, a five-star hotel,
Ashoka, was chosen as the venue.
This
event, too, was held just within days of the UPA government announcing the
austerity measures.
Us: Apart
from the ministries and related affiliates, the Finance Ministry note covers
all other institutions run or funded by the government. I have not come across
any report saying any ‘you and me’ violating
these measures.
Our
lords gave logics of earlier approval
and ‘arrangements already made’ when
it came to their sleeves. They said five-stars were chosen for security
reasons. They said it would be too difficult to alter the arrangements as
invitations were already dispatched.
Government
of India is commemorating 150th anniversary year of
Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is heading the
committee constituted for it. Last year, on birthday of the Mahamana on
December 25, a function was to be held at Vigyan Bhawan and was to be attended
by Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Kapil Sibal and others. Everything was done,
cards were sent. And two days before the December 25 event, I received (and so
others) another letter saying the programme was altered and the event would now
be held on December 27.
I don’t
mean to critically analyze here the dull event and how it was watered down but
if this event involving the most elitist band of the ruling coalition could be
altered, then why not these much smaller and scaled down five-star events. When
events involving such high-profile designations can be held at government
auditoriums, then why not routine ministry specific meets and conferences.
All the
events and programmes mentioned above had limited number of participants with
no public interaction at the venue. Government can more efficiently provide
security to such small group events at venues owned and operated by its
different wings.
Summers
are tough for many parts of India due to severe power crisis. Uttar
Pradesh has been the perennial rough patch irrespective of who rules. This
year, the government came with a bizarre solution - closing down malls and
shops by 7 PM to save electricity and to reduce almost 15-18 hours of domestic
power outage roster.
It was
ridiculous and stupid. After hue and cry, the newly appointed chief minister
decided for a rollback.
It is
no hidden fact that areas of influential politicians in Uttar Pradesh are
getting electricity 24/7 while the common man is forced to sweat out the most
hours of his day.
THEATRE
6:
They: The
toilet saga doesn’t end at Montek’s Loonomics. The report of CPWD bungling into
the billed amount of Rs. 35 Lakh for the Planning Commission toilets doesn’t
absolve him. 60 smart cards were issued and access system was installed
that cost around Rs. 10 Lakh. After the controversy, use of the access system
through these smart cards was scrapped. Now who is answerable for this 10 Lakh?
Also, reports say there were plans to install CCTV cameras to check pilferage
in the Planning Commission toilets. Can you believe it?
Another
brilliant example has been set by the former chief minister of Goa, Digambar
Kamat. He got a single public toilet built in his constituency Margao. He
emphatically used the chief minister’s seal to clear Rs. 20 Lakh for this
‘air-conditioned’ public toilet with sensor-operated air-conditioners.
It was
his constituency’s public park and our lord did what pleased him. No questions
taken!
Us: To
promote hygiene and sanitary practices across the length and breadth of India,
the government provides a sum of Rs. 2,200 to every needy household to build a
toilet. Now that much can’t even fetch 500 bricks if we count the numbers by
the prevailing market rate. In a country where 65 per cent of the population is
living below the poverty line, it is nothing but a cruel joke.
And it
seems cruel jokes sound like pleasure nodes to our lords as they keep on throwing
more and more of them.
After
much criticism, the government is considering to increase the amount to Rs.
9,900 per household. By this new benchmark, the Margao public toilet could have
helped the government build toilets in 200 needy households and Montek could
have helped the country with another 350 toilets.
A
recent joint monitoring report of WHO-UNICEF for the Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) tells 60 per cent of world’s open defecators are in India and the
pace with which India is working on the problem it will not be before 2054 that
India specific MDG sanitation goals are achieved.
Gosh!
The
situation is rightly reflected in comments of one of the lords (Jairam Ramesh)
- "It is more important than the launch of Agni missiles. If there
are no toilets then Agni is of no use" he said while launching
bio-toilets produced by DRDO.
Spilling
over, isn’t it?
Hail
austerity!
According
to a report published in daily Pioneer, none of the austerity drives announced
in India have been officially withdrawn yet. But then they typically operate in
the typical Indian way – the way our lords devise, based on their comfort
level.
Austerity
elsewhere – large scale cuts are announced – both at public and
government level – it gives rise to mass protests, sometimes turning violent
like it has been happening recently in Greece – it brings about structural
reforms like happening in Eurozone crisis countries – it brings down the
governmentS like Sarkozy lost for being an austerity advocate
Austerity
in India – At best a lip-service – do lip syncing to look sounding
sincere – announcing silly measures like the current 10 per cent cut in the
non-plan expenditure and keep that, too, discretionary in nature – the cut
announced by the finance ministry in this case excludes almost 72 per cent of
India’s non-plan expenditure - so anyway such austerity measures don’t
leave any groundbreaking impact on the economy or on fiscal deficit of US$ 91
Billion than being silly overtures of looking sincere
And
they proudly continue with their tradition.
THEATRE
7:
They: Now
we know how rotten has become the state of affairs at Air India and the Civil
Aviation ministry. Air India has consistently been in bad news, be it financial
bankruptcy, or employees strikes or management mismanagement or government
botch-up. These folks really need the austerity measures what Angela Merkel is
demanding for Eurozone crisis countries. But they have the Manmohan wisdom.
So
midst the financial gloom, the strike-doom and the austerity specter, they have
decided to launch an elaborate campaign to promote the retiring Civil Aviation
Secretary Nasim Zaidi for his bid to the Presidency of the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO). Zaidi is not the first case and this tradition of
gifting senior most bureaucrats with post-retirement engagements is probably
unique to India.
The
polling is scheduled for November 2013 and the 16-month long campaign is
designed to tour 36 member countries of ICAO along with holding many small and
large receptions in Montreal, the head-quarters of ICAO.
The
expenditure is expected to run into millions (the taxpayers’ money) for
a position that a Times of India report says is largely nominal.
Us: With
Air India and Kingfisher Airlines crises becoming chronic financial illness,
the common passenger is being duped like anything. Airfares remain astronomically
high on domestic as well as international routes. Thousands of seats are gone.
Experts say even the lean season of July to September is slated to see
unusually higher airfares. May-June saw airlines charging 20-30 per cent higher
and it excludes the unbelievably high rush-hour charges. I ended up paying over Rs. 20,000 for a one-way Bangalore flight.
The
fleecing airlines are beyond control. Apart from charging sky-high ticket
prices, they have refused to pass-on the benefits of reduced air turbine fuel
prices to the passenger. Where is DGCA?
And our
lords have made the aviation sector of the country a bitter battle ground of
personal egos and financial manipulations. The aviation minister has hardened
his stands. Pilots are on indefinite hunger strike. Aviation sector is bleeding
and passengers are oozing blood while parliamentarians are busy in passing laws
that entitle them to get preferential king-size treatment in Air India flights.
Uninterrupted
drama in the theatre of the absurd!
If we
go with the Pioneer report that no austerity drive has been officially
withdrawn yet, then who decides, if at all the austerity measures are followed,
that it is the time to overrule?
The
sham attitude has been the common among all the political parties of India but
the Pioneer report presents one interesting observation about the present
government.
When
the UPA government came to power in 2004, it mocked the predecessor NDA
government for wasteful expenditure especially on two counts. First was the purchase
decision of Embraer Executive class jets from Brazil for PM and other senior
government dignitaries and the second was induction of bulletproof BMWs in PM’s
convoy. The UPA government rejected these initially and tried to score brownie
points by giving verbose public statements. Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee
led the charge.
Now if
we go by the Pioneer report, we find that the government is comfortably using
both, the Embraer jets and BMW cars, as decided by the NDA government.
Funny
and ridiculous!
The
austerity of ultra-rich buccaneer elites is overflowing and the public stands
mesmerized enough to react on the ostentatious display.
Heil
Austerectomy!
The
spill-over is all so pervasive.