They: Our lords, inheriting the power corridors of Delhi
Us: The subjects, always taken for granted, and so treaded and trampled at will
Take 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 employee 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 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). This tradition of gifting senior most bureaucrats
with post-retirement engagement 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 unbelievable 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
purchase decision of Embraer Executive class jets from Brazil for PM and other
senior government dignitaries and the second was induction of bullet-proof 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.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
