AUSTERITY HO! HEIL AUSTERECTOMY
Arunachal Pradesh to enforce austerity drive
Govt austerity, AI woes force Balmer Lawrie to start
travel portal
Austerity steps to pinch PGI doctors – Chandigarh
DUSU poll contenders in no mood for austerity
Govt may tighten purse strings further – (subsidy and
fiscal deficit)
'Austere' UPA's 3rd anniversary bash cost Rs 7,700
per head
Twelve-fold blow to UPA government's austerity plan as
globetrotting ministers blow Rs 678 crore of taxpayers' money
UPA's Rs 100 crore ad blitzkrieg amid talks of austerity
Two different set of headlines above, filtered out of the
Google search engine after hitting it with the ‘UPA Austerity’ and ‘India
Everyone is pointing fingers at him for ‘governance
mismanagement’ and ‘bad governance of Economy’. He is trying hard but is not
able to go beyond his dull, routine, toothless explanation. He then tries to
evade direct answers as far as possible.
Completing 8 years in office - he probably sees some solace
in at-least this symbolic positive at this difficult time. So he decides to go
unrestrained once more, the way he and his colleagues have been doing, defying
the austerity measures ‘defined’ by them only. Now see this.
Rs. 11.34 Lakh: Catering charges for the party
Rs. 14.42 Lakh: Tent
Rs. 2.92 Lakh: Electricity
Rs 24,444: Flowers
Total expenses on the party thrown by the PMO: Rs 28,95,503
(All figures courtesy the Times of India - 'Austere' UPA's
3rd anniversary bash cost Rs 7,700 per head / September 28, 2012 – which in
turn is based on an RTI reply by one Ramesh Verma from Hisar)
The Ministry of External Affairs took care of the catering
and tent charges while the PWD was pitched in for the electricity and flower
arrangements.
Now tell me do you remember the last time when did you
have a Rs. 7,700 dinner?
This is the same government that expects us to survive on
Rs. 30 or so a day (Rs. 32 in urban areas; Rs. 26 in rural areas – a gem of
Montekonomics).
It tears into the doublespeak of our selectively numb
economist prime minister; it rams into the double standard of our political
class.
Preaching for us to follow austerity, advising us to be
ready for tough economic measures and reduced government spending and subsidies,
they spend the fund lavishly that is supposed to be used for Manmonan’s ‘aam
aadmi’.
What Manmohan said on the same day he splurged bares what
the current political class is made of (and read it with the rider that
Manmohan was seen as the person of integrity). He said (I quote from a PTI
report dated May 22, 2012), “Difficult decisions have to be taken on both
spending and revenue mobilisation. I recognize that we face pressure on our
balance of payments and that the fiscal situation needs careful management.”
Now isn’t it a known fact that the subject of such
difficult decisions is the Manmohan’s ‘aam aadmi’ only and not Manmohan and his
political class? Yes, probably Manmohan and his political class use every such
occasion to reiterate the class divide that the political class is creating in India
It is not that this over Rs. 28 Lakh extravaganza is going
to take India
They propose. We cry hoarse. They enjoy. They continue
with their splurging. They continue to be parasitic on public’s fund.
The list is long. The list is getting longer. The
headlines in the second lot mentioned in the beginning of this write-up tell
about the most recent additions.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
