An Account of Realization

Tags

bridging the gap, poor, rich

I have a string of events and thoughts to narrate. It was satisfying, going through the experience of realization and a stroke of wisdom, and I think I am duty-bound to share my conclusion with as many people as I can. I have been privileged to attend quality private schools that arrange for trips for their students to places like Gwalior, Jhansi, Jaipur, Agra, Hyderabad, etc. So far, I have been to all the trips that my school arranged for us (one to Gwalior and another to Jaipur) after being charged around six to seven thousand rupees each time. Fortunately for me, these amounts are not sums my parents cannot cough up, so I went to both places with a light heart and a clear conscience. As of today, I have the opportunity of going on another trip with my batch of 12th graders to Hyderabad in August this year. The forms have been handed out and some have already been returned by students along with cheques of 8500 rupees.

A couple of days ago, I wasn’t sure if I should go, as not many of my friends had confirmed their attendance. Then a lot of them brought the forms with the money and I was in two minds. This is my last year of high school and I may not get to go on such a trip with these friends again. The other side of it was, does this fact make a 3-day trip to Hyderabad (a place I have already visited with family) worth eight and a half thousand rupees? I didn’t really have to worry about the money. Yet there was something else on my mind that had gradually changed my thought process.

I live in Bhandup and after my 10th grade, I joined Singhania School in Thane as it was the closest, good ISC school in the vicinity. I used to go to school by bus earlier, but recently I started traveling every morning by train to Thane station from where I take a rickshaw or a bus. Since my experiment with the suburban railway started, my journey has stunk, quite literally. Lining the train tracks are hundreds of people defecating along the drains between Nahur and Mulund stations. These people used to disgust me, at first. I used to think, “Why do they have to spoil the railway line?” I used to think of them as the worst citizens of this city, with a severe lack of civic sense. After a few days, I had the heart to look into the eyes of these faceless men. I was shocked at what I saw. They reminded me of a lonely, wounded dog who has been disowned by his pack and is limping with his head down in search for shelter. There was shame written all over their faces. Then it struck me! What was I thinking? These men were not here out of choice! They had nowhere else to go. The dignity of using a toilet is just not an option for lakhs of people in Mumbai today.

Last night I had gone to drop my sister off to the Kurla terminus for her school trip. I was thirsty, so I bought a bottle of Aquafina. I drank as much as I wanted and more than half the water was still remaining. I didn’t want to carry the bottle back home so I was planning on drinking up and throwing away the bottle. I looked around to see if there was a bin but what I saw instead was a tiring, old man in very shabby clothes limping aimlessly toward the station, probably to occupy an empty bench on the platform to spend the night. I ran up to him and offered him the water. The dying eyes started shining and he thanked me – it came from the heart. Satisfied with the good use I had made of the water, I returned home.

You would think I have strayed off the topic that I began with. But that would be an incorrect assessment. Today I am sure, that there is no way I will be taking that Duronto train to Hyderabad in August. I came to the conclusion that simply because it is within my means to spend such money on a 3-day trip, I should not do it. I realized the evidence of the existence of two distinct Indias. One is the ‘trip-going’ India and the other one, you already know. Each of these components lives life almost oblivious to each other. Although neither can exist without the other’s patronage, there is a growing sense of disownment of each other. The gap seems like it can never be bridged.

My decision not to take the trip, is based on the judgment that it is my responsibility to at least attempt to bridge the gap. Unless I do that, my conscience will not allow me to visit Hyderabad. I am going to look for ways to make better use of the money. This was just a situation that I am facing in my life today. The essence of this piece is not to comment on the trip or trip-goers or to pronounce them sinners. This is not to advise people against going for trips, because recreation, once in a while, is an important part of life. I must also add that some may not agree with me and they would be well within their rights to do so. Perhaps, I am wrong. I do not know. 

Fare hike rollback: Was it really people-friendly?

The Railway Budget and all the drama before and after it was a good indicator of things to come for India. Mr. Dinesh Trivedi, former Railway Minsiter of India (was made to resign after he announced the Rail Budget for the year 2012-2013) did something that no other man had dared to do in the populist-coalition era of Indian politics. Mr. Trivedi hiked railway fare across the board by not-marginal, yet not-too-substantial amounts. He said that it was his duty to do what was good for the country as he was a Minister first, and then his party’s (Trinamool Congress Party’s) member in the Government. He categorically said that unless the fare was hiked the Railways would soon collapse. In fact, it is believed that the Railways could go the Air India way if there isn’t a timely intervention. The Railways currently spends 95% of its revenue on normal expenditure like salaries, maintenance, etc. leaving it very little elbow room for expansion, development and improvement of services. With an alarming rate of population growth and a rise in middle class travelers, the pressure on the Railways is more than ever, today. So, isn’t what Mr. Trivedi did, the right thing to do in these circumstances? Apparently not! As soon as the Budget was announced, the Trinamool Congress members and their leader Ms Mamata Bannerjee made a big hue and cry about the fare hike. They thought that hike in AC 2-tier and 1st class was tolerable, but a hike across the board would be a strain on the common man’s pocket. 

According to a PTI report, the Railways would have raised a further Rs. 4000 crore through the hike. However, now that the new Railway Minsiter, Mukul Roy, has rolled back most of the hike, the expected revenue loss is around Rs. 3000 crore. This loss in revenue means a lot more than monetary loss to the Railways. The funds were to be used for an upheaval of Railway Security to act upon the growing number of accidents in the last few years. However, the passengers are now going to have to do without this security upgrade.

The question these unfortunate events raise in my mind is that, can this be the way forward for our country? The rail fare hike was, to my mind an absolute necessity. Some would say that the fare hike could have pinched the poorest of the society. Although it may be the sad truth, travel is and always has been a luxury, meant for the ones who can afford it. If the cost of travel has increased due to increase in the price of fuels then it has to be passed on to the traveler. Food may be subsidized by the Government, but travel deserves no such privilege. 

This debate brings up a larger question about the direction that this country is heading in. India’s political ‘leaders’ have long stopped leading by example. They have become mere ‘followers’ of public mood. A leader must have vision about the country and convince his people that the hard way is the right way. He cannot allow the people to make him choose the easier path! The lack of vision in India’s leadership is going to cost us dearly in the coming century. We will be lead into chaos and we won’t even realize it until it is too late. This is the reason I feel the time has come for young, level-headed, well-meaning individuals to lead the nation by joining the game of politics, or else live to see an uncertain India.

India’s Politics: What has gone wrong

Politics of India is an unusually complex subject to analyse. What is not very difficult to analyse is what has gone wrong with it. Today, even the average Indian would say that Indian politics is flawed. He would blame it on corruption, criminalization, etc that now characterize politics. In a way, this is a very accurate assessment of the problem. However, I think that this is the result of the problem and not the problem itself. In my opinion the problem begins at the level of political parties.

Modern Indian history of the post-Independence era accounts the formation of most of the present-day regional and national parties. The Indian National Congress was formed in 1885, with the objective of seeking representation for Indians in the British Indian legislative bodies. Of course, the Congress ended up securing freedom for the country later. The Congress party of today, though, is not the same party that won us Independence. Regardless of what most Congress members like to tom-tom about, the current Congress party is not the party of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and Kripalani. The party used to be a democratic party until 1967, when Indira Gandhi took over. She scrapped all the intra-party elections and placed her own loyalists in key posts. This is not all – she also formed a new party, the Congress (I), in which the ‘I’ stood for ‘Indira.’ Till date, there is no thriving internal democracy in the party.

The other major party, the Bharatiya Janata Party too was formed in the 1980s, as a new avatar of the Jana Sangh that was the major Right wing organization with a pro-Hindu ideology. The Jana Sangh was opposed to giving special treatment to minorities. Many other regional and national parties were born in the last century of which the table below gives a brief idea about why they were formed or what they believed in.

Party	Founded in	Objective/Belief
Shiv Sena	1966	To represent the aspirations of the Marathi-speaking population of Mumbai
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)	1949	To stand for Tamil pride and fuel secessionist demands for a South Indian Nation
Shiromani Akali Dal	1920	To unite the Sikhs of the Punjab region and to preserve Sikh ideology
Socialist Party	1948	To stand for the Socialist ideology
Communist Party of India	1921	To bring Communist rule in India and to bring reform to the old Indian agrarian system, etc along Communist lines

My point is that all these parties that were formed with an ideology – an objective in mind, are no more about that. No distinction can be made between parties on the basis of the principles, culture or belief of the organization. The truth is that parties have simply become outfits for people who want to be in power.

The BJP used to be a respected party during the Vajpayee-Advani era when the party had a set of beliefs. Unfortunately, they tilted towards a conservative or slightly orthodox approach. At least it was their own belief and they stood for it, come what may! The three Karnataka ministers who were caught watching porn in the Assembly were from the BJP. Had the party still been run on the principles of yore, these Ministers might have been suspended within a day. The same goes for Congress. The dignity of Congress party members during Prime Minister Nehru’s tenure is unmatched so far. Today, if the party leadership had any dignity it would not have allowed someone like P Chidambaram, who has so many allegations of compromising the country’s security (2G scam – spectrum re-sale to Dubai company, Etisalat) against him, to continue as Home Minister.

This is one reason that we see so many defections when an election is around. The belief of a political party is not set to much store as long as it’s giving the defector a ticket to contest. The Congress (or NCP) and the BJP (or Shiv Sena) have such diametrically different beliefs that it is funny to see someone from a saffron party to suddenly join the Congress or vice versa!

Why then are there so many parties? If there is no backbone of principle left for various outfits, wouldn’t it be convenient for them all to merge? Yes, it would. But that’s where the hunger for power in Indian politics continues to result in more and more organizations. The maximum number of divisions in political parties has been over who would become chief minister or who would get to lead the party. Hardly have parties been fractured over a disagreement over policy issues. To conclude, I would say that gone are the days for voters to pick parties. Party loyalties count for nothing as parties stand for nothing! A wise voter must choose the best candidate, whichever party he may belong to. It doesn’t matter.

Narayan Rane, switched sides from Shiv Sena to the Congress for a reason even he may not remember!

Writing for FUSE India

Hi,

I am sorry I haven’t been able to post anything for a while (although I had a lot of good ideas!) as I have been really busy studying for my Final examinations that begin this week.

The other thing I wanted to tell you guys is that I have now started writing for a Youth magazine as a Student Writer. The fortnightly is called ‘FUSE India’ and it is a new publication, about a few months old. You can check out it’s website on :

http://www.fuseindia.com

My exams end on the 24th of February and it is likely that I may not post any article till that day! Sorry!

Thanks,

Akshay Marathe.

BMC Elections: A clean option at last?

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC elections are coming up. One of the biggest cities in the world, Mumbai has a whopping 227 corporator seats. The Shiv Sena is currently in power, with its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In this election though, the Saffron combine has got a blue hue as well with a faction of the Republican Party of India (RPI) led by local Dalit leader, Ramdas Athavle joining the alliance in what is being called the ‘Mahayuti’ or ‘Great Alliance.’ The BJPs natural enemies, an alliance of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), are in the opposition.

The BMC elections are extremely important for two reasons: 1) an annual budget of Rs. 21,000 crore makes the BMC the richest municipal body in India. All parties (the local leaders) love the prospect of so much money at their disposal! 2) The polls decide who controls the capital city of Maharashtra, a very prestigious responsibility.

As is evident by the pathetic condition of Mumbai’s roads (especially in the monsoons) and the massive amount of corruption reported in the BMC, the Shiv Sena-BJP combine definitely do not seem to have done their job! So, in the ordinary (unfortunate) circumstances, the logical alternative to Mumbai’s voter would have been to get the Congress-NCP in power. However, with the Congress-NCP ruling a Centre that is said to be the most corrupt Government ever, the ‘other side’ might just prove to be worse! So, where does the voter go? Who do Mumbaikars vote for? Are there just two options: grey and black? Where is the white or at least the cream?

These questions have remained unanswered for a long time in Indian democracy. This time Mumbai does have a third option. A safe one, which could result in the removal of political control over local bodies for good! I prefer to call this option as ‘evidence’ of how the Anna Hazare campaign did, in fact strengthen our democracy. The campaign has successfully made the sad, hopeless and directionless urban middle-class citizen, suddenly, a lot more politically conscious. It is almost like the beginning of the reinvention of democracy in India. In India it began with universal franchise (an unheard-of concept in Asia at the time!) at a time when every Indian had been trained only to carry on life irrespective of who the ruler was. The ‘One Man, One Vote’ gave the average, voiceless Indian a sudden sense of importance. He felt that his vote could secure for him a better future. That faith has long disappeared in India. Nonetheless, I am positive that this self-belief is on its way back. And if it comes soon, I think we would owe it to the IAC movement.

Coming back to this third option, a citizen’s group has decided that it is time they take matters into their own hands. They have invited independent candidates who will be scrutinized by a demanding Selection Panel that includes the likes of Julio Rebeiro, Amole Gupte, etc. They call this platform, Mumbai227. Their website has details of the experts on their Advisory Board on various important issues of the city. Of course their chances of winning this election seem very limited to me, but I hope that at least it will be a start of something new. Through this blog I want to spread word about Mumbai227 as much as possible and for the same I urge you to please visit their website: http://www.mumbai227.com/ and consider voting for independent candidates rather than political parties who are bound to have vested interests!

The other option is one that is not limited to Mumbai alone – the Lok Satta Party. A result of a popular citizen movement in a South Indian city led by Dr. Jaiprakash Narayan, it entered politics in 2006 and Dr. Narayan has already been elected as MP. Their motto is ‘Aware Citizens. Clean Politics’ and believe that “there is a pressing need to demonstrate that with the people’s support, an ethical and values based politics is not only possible, but it is the best way to achieve collective and sustained prosperity.” Their webpage can be viewed on: http://www.loksatta.org/

In light of recent events, I think as responsible citizens it is our duty to help such independent, clean political movements. I sincerely hope that such organizations continue to provide Indians with an option and grow in size to replace the incumbent ‘national parties.’

2011: A Historic Year

The entire world has unanimously declared the year 2011, as a historic year, a year of Revolution. In fact, the ‘Time’ Magazine named ‘The Protester’ as the Person of the Year.  Here’s a list of some groups of protesters:

1) Arabs, sick of the tyrannical ways of the dictators.

2) Middle class Indians, sick of the overly routine and inevitable place corruption has taken in their lives.

3) Americans, sick of something (about which I know very little, so do not want to say much!).

There were definitely more groups of protesters, but, these are the ones that come to mind first, when you think of this year’s events. There is a reason I have written the three groups in this particular order. I was looking at the names of these three groups in a newspaper editorial, when a thought struck me. It might sound bizarre, but the three groups could represent a history of  the evolution of systems of human civilization in the last few centuries. The Arab Spring represents the birth of democracy, which has today, prevailed in a good part of the world. The Indian Lokpal movement, represents the beginning (I repeat, only the start) of the rise of a truly responsible, aware and proactive middle class which, I think, reflects the strengthening of democracy in a society. Lastly, the American ‘Occupy Wall Street’  protest is in my opinion, the result of the yearnings of the middle class of an old,  strongly democratic society. It almost sounds like its a story of one civilization, through its birth, formative years and reformative years – All in one year, 2011!

Coming back to Indian polity, the Indian protest movement against corruption and to bring a strong Lokpal Bill to tackle corruption might be clubbed with the other protest movements in the sense that a common ‘protester’ was involved, I think it was significantly different compared to other movements. First, our movement had a single leader who all the protesters could connect with, Anna Hazare. Second, because of a strong leadership and solid guidance, we not only knew what we were protesting against, but we were also clear that our movement was aimed at making the establishment provide us with a solution to our problem. In contrast, the other two movements were largely leaderless (especially the Egyptian revolt) and didn’t have as much clarity about exactly what they wanted. I am not, however suggesting these were drawbacks of these movements.

The most important thing to understand in all of this is that the year 2012 is not going to see an end of these movements. On the contrary, I think these movements have set precedents for all the dictatorships, corrupt societies and societies hit with glaring disparities to try and achieve what they do not have in order to attain a better future. So, anyone who has written off the Lokpal movement after seeing reduction in the crowds to support Anna Hazare should do so at their own risk as the fire has been lit and there is no dousing it until there is a tangible result.

At the end of a hectic, inspiring-for-some, disappointing-for-some 2011, I was disgusted by what happened in the Rajya Sabha. But then I saw a Cola company’s tagline – Believe in a Happier Tomorrow! That’s what I thought I should end the last post of 2011 with.

(I am not not promoting Coke, but I really like this TV commercial that they came up with to end the year in optimism!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj57ISOTFDo

Is India really a representative democracy?

Tags

congress mps, party boss, vilasrao deshmukh

I am enraged, to say the least. The Lokpal Bill is being debated at last by the Parliament in the extended Winter session in Delhi. In Mumbai, Anna Hazare is on his third fast (for the Lokpal). All around these centres of action, is speculation, cynicism, hope and attention. Throughout the year, the MPs and many other wise men reiterated the supremacy of the Parliament in legislation. All of them said with child-like innocence, ‘The Parliament’s ‘wisdom’ will be the last word, trust the Parliament, respect it!’

Whatever Team Anna may have thought, said or done about this attitude of MPs, ordinary citizens of this country silently waited for this important debate. Here is what the hopeful citizens of this country have had to see after the wait.

Congress and BJP members fought over each other’s un-noble intentions.

Important issues like the minority reservation, CBI’s independence and autonomy, inclusion of the PM and lower bureaucracy, etc. should have been debated in a business-like manner that the gravity of the situation demanded. However, BJP and Congress MPs could only shout about what the intention behind the posturing of each party was and deliver expert comments on the past performances of each party. These are turbulent and decisive times. Such occasions demand calm, seriousness and responsible behaviour.

The Parliament’s members are very wise. Or at least that is what the Government and Government supporters kept yelling at us when they repeated that the Parliament’s wisdom is the most appropriate. So, when an MP (read Vilasrao Deshmukh) sleeps through the Government’s defence of an amendment proposal and then votes in favour of the Government, is it his own wisdom or his party boss’s wisdom that has come into action?

Towards the end of the year 2011, as the questions of this year remain unanswered even as the new year approaches, I have some serious questions to ask of the readers of this blog and to every individual that the reader will forward this message to.

Is the current Parliamentary form, truly democratic in the sense we want it? Barack Obama, President of the United States of America on his visit to India had left a note in the Parliament of India: Greetings from the Oldest Democracy of the World to the Largest Democracy of the World. But are we a democracy in the American sense at all? Yes, we elect our own representatives, but, they vote (on each and every issue), as their party bosses want them to! There is no room for individual wisdom of any member. So, what is the point of making all those 543 members sit in Parliament? We should simply have one member of each party representing all the members of his party! Therefore, even in a representative system, all the decisions rest with the party top brass and not the real representatives of the people. We need serious reforms to this system.

The Parliament is a holy House, which needs to house appropriate people. Today’s House has too many troublemakers who can only shout on top of their voices and disturb the speaker. Where is the debate that is required for a good Law to be enacted? School debates are more disciplined than Parliamentary debates! So either more cultured members need to be elected to Parliament or a Code of Conduct to discipline the MPs needs to come in place. Any member must not be disrupted while delivering his speech; each point of dissent must be conveyed in civil language only with the Speaker’s permission, not in the form of heckling! Although these issues are secondary to actual legislation of the right laws and development of the country, disciplined and cultured MPs would lead the nation by example and truly build a more mature nation.

FDI in retail: The BJP Story

This year has been the most troublesome year for the UPA Government owing to massive charges of corruption, bad governance, a reluctance to bring in a strong anti-corruption Act, unwillingness to act against money launderers having fat Swiss bank accounts and other equally serious issues. This month we have also seen Dr. Manmohan Singh’s image as the man in charge suffer a severe beating, with allies preventing his master plan (FDI in retail) from being implemented. In contrast, the BJP did seem to be doing comparatively better in terms of public opinion and perception because of its clear support for Team Anna in the whole Lokpal debate. The BJP had started looking like a party who had begun to think for the nation first. For the first time in years, the BJP was looking almost as strong and positive as it was in the Vajpayee era. However, the last 10-12 days have completely reversed my slowly growing belief in the BJP’s agenda. The party has behaved in the most immature, opportunistic and selfish manner especially in the last two weeks. These are harsh words, but I do believe that they are extremely congruous in the case I am making here. A couple of days before the ongoing winter session of Parliament began, the ‘NDA’ met at New Delhi  and decided to ‘boycott’ the Home Minister, P Chidambaram in Parliament as they thought that there was a serious doubt about his integrity due to his allege involvement in the 2G scam. One would say, “Hmm, they do have a point. How can a person whose integrity is being questioned continue as the country’s Home Minister?” – Point taken.

 

The House did not function on Day 1. In a matter of 2 days, however, a confused BJP’s stand on why they were not allowing the Parliament to transact business changed to “because we want a discussion on corruption and price rise.” One would say, “Yes, they are urgent matters, too.” Then, the Government announced the policy allowing FDI in retail up to 51%. Suddenly, the BJP seemed to have forgotten corruption, price rise and P Chidambaram, and joined the Communists demanding a rollback of the policy first and then a Parliament discussion and vote on the same. Now if the Opposition is asked why they are stalling business in the House, the prompt reply is, “in protest of the FDI in retail policy.”

 

For the moment, let us forget about the validity (or invalidity) of the opposition to FDI. Is this not a clear case of opportunism and evidence of an urge to stop Parliament at any cost, and for any excuse they might find for it? Much as the Parliament can be a platform to convey opposition to certain decisions of the Government, it cannot be a forum for protest which disallows any business to take place for almost a fortnight, especially when extremely important Bills are to be tabled and passed in this short winter session. The most ironic fact in this issue is that the NDA Government had in 2003 favoured FDI in retail, but is now opposing it for various odd reasons. Also, I think that such a policy decision of the Government cannot be questioned by the Opposition in Parliament as it would mean the encroachment of the Executive’s jurisdiction by the Legislature.

 

Whether FDI in the retail sector is beneficial or not, is a question that has been answered by numerous more qualified economists. The entire world, except a few nations (mostly Communist), have allowed FDI in retail. Not just because they knew they didn’t have the money themselves, but also because in the increasingly globalized world, a certain standard of living is desired by people of all developing nations, and the FDI promised that to consumers, farmers and also small-time-job seekers. So, I do believe very strongly that this policy of the Government (if allowed to be implemented) would be a game changer for Indian shopping and agriculture.

 

 

Population control & Food Security: Can they go together?

The National Food Security Bill is getting the final touches from the National Advisory Council, headed by UPA President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. From various media reports and Government statements, I gathered that the Bill guarantees food at nominal prices to the poor. To be precise, it promises 35 kg of grains at Re 1/kg for millets, Rs 2/kg for wheat and Rs 3/kg for rice. One would say that it was high time such a law was made that is equivalent to a ‘Right to Food!’ I say this because a majority of India’s rural and urban poor get hardly enough food to remain alive. It seems odd that the world’s fourth-largest and second-fastest growing economy is still facing problems like large-scale hunger and malnourishment. India suffers a severe problem of malnutrition among children & mothers. As of today, a staggering 47% of children show signs of being undernourished. Much as we try to wish them away, these problems are set to intensify and worsen in the coming years because our population is growing as fast as ever.

The annual growth rate of population is as much as 1.3%. While this figure might appear diminutive, it actually means that about 1.61 crore people will be added to India’s population within the next year! The growth of India’s resources can never match the rate of growth of her population. In such times, I wonder, shouldn’t the emergency (pun not intended) measures involve family planning and other population control measures rather than guaranteeing that to the poor, which is going to act as catalyst to further growth of population? When you provide a forest fire with fuel wood unconditionally, it results in the complete destruction of that ecosystem. The problem at hand though is not as simple as I have put it.

The country is facing a crisis of priorities. Provide a catalyst to the growing population at the cost of India’s future development or urgently check population growth at the cost of public support? In a patriarchal society like India’s, an orthodox family’s yearning for a male child often results in more than five offsprings per family even in modern times when the norm in cities is about two children per family. Oftentimes, a child is considered to be a bonus as he may prove to be an extra hand to earn for the family. So, how, in a democracy, can even responsible Governments ask the poor to procreate less, without antagonizing a sizable population of the country? But I do not think at this stage we have any option but to do what is absolutely necessary.

The other problem I have with this Bill is that the amount of grain it promises and the price at which it is promised does not look like a sustainable option to me. For how long can Indian land produce large amounts of grain, if each year it has to feed more than a crore people more? Indian agriculture is in a mess today. Farmers in the Central India region especially, are suffering major land issues and have sunk deep in debt. Farmer suicides are rampant. Middlemen freely exploit them, buying very cheap and selling very high in the markets. In short, there is very little impetus to agricultural growth and no clear sustainable plan for growth of agricultural produce. There does not seem to be any vision on the Government’s part to conserve agricultural land and protect it from being converted to industrial and housing area. The next best option, when domestic production fails is to import the required food. But, when there is global food shortage, where will the food come from?

The National Food Security Bill is therefore, a disastrous step. I am not against feeding the poor, but it has to be done in a different way, through various non-Government channels (but through Government funding). At the same time however, the need of the hour is to expand our population control measures and not give ‘guarantees’ of food to the poor for eternity (simply, because it is not viable).

With this, I want to raise the larger question of political shortsightedness that has prevailed in this country for the second time in our independent history. The consequences of the first such wave of shortsighted political decisions were averted by the 1991 liberalisation as it brought millions of dollars of foreign investment into the country. Actions like repeated loan waivers, food security Bills and the siphoning off of billions of rupees of public money is some day going to cost us heavily. Not only am I worried because there may not be a saviour this time, but also because mass starvation and malnourishment in future seems inevitable!

Does India deserve better Ministers?

Earlier this year in April, Anna Hazare, the anti-corruption crusader went on a fast demanding a joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill. Buckling under immense public pressure, in a little over four days, the Government gave in to Mr. Hazare’s demand. The newly formed committee included five members representing the ‘Civil society’ and five Ministers representing the Government. The five Ministers were: Finance Minister – Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister – P. Chidambaram, Law Minister – Salman Khurshid, HRD and Telecom Minister – Kapil Sibal, Corporate Affairs Minister – Veerappa Moily. The ministers were and remain to be a part of the Cabinet.

How ‘elite’ is a Cabinet Minister?

The job of Parliamentarians (MPs) is, simply put, to make laws for the country. Of these 800-odd individuals (including both, Lower and Upper Houses), a few of the good and experienced ones are chosen by the Prime Minister to form the executive, the Ministers. From these few good lawmakers, the best form the Cabinet. The Cabinet ministers are therefore supposed to be India’s best lawmakers.

Let us review the outcome of this entire joint drafting exercise. Two separate Lokpal Bills emerged. The Government version (sarcastically referred to as the sarkari Lokpal, due to the corruption associated to the word sarkari, and jokingly referred to as the ‘Jokepal’) faced opposition from not only the public, but also from the various civil society members who were not essentially solid backers of Mr. Hazare’s version. The country was promised that a strong Bill would be passed in the monsoon session of Parliament. What happened instead was that a weak Bill was tabled in Parliament. Satisfied with themselves, the Ministers never thought that for the second time in a year they would have to succumb to public pressure. “People had come out to support Mr. Hazare once. Would they do it again?” was probably what they thought at the time. They took a chance. This underestimation of Mr. Hazare’s reach resulted in his supporters multiplying phenomenally in a matter of days. There was no bargaining space left for the Government and people power was victorious! After such a strong opposition, the Ministers dared not continue lobbying for their Bill. The entire country accepted that theirs was an inferior draft, the sarkari Bill was ridiculed mercilessly.

Had a Board of Directors of a company taken an equally disastrous policy decision, alarm bells would have rung, heads would have rolled and within weeks the mediocre lot would have been replaced by performers. Why did this not happen in the most important and significant ‘company’ of the country, the Government? The Indian state is suffering from lack of transparency. What is worse though is that it is suffering from a grave lack of accountability. Neither do erroneous policy makers take moral responsibility and nor is there a system to punish such acts.

If these Ministers are our best Parliamentarians, and it is a widely accepted fact that their draft was probably the worst piece of legislation ever, India is in serious trouble. Not just because of corrupt politicians, but as we have seen now, also because of mediocre legislators. In an age when Indians are scaling new heights in virtually every field on a global stage, is it not time we had better policy makers? I hear the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, repeatedly saying impressive things like, “We take our job very seriously.” During almost every TV interview, the Law Minister, Salman Khurshid uses the very same words like, “We need to follow Parliamentary procedures, trust your Parliament.”

I am sorry Mr. Khurshid and Prime Minister Singh, I see no reason why citizens of this country should trust you!