Saturday 13 July 2013

Desperate times, desperate measures.

 "The elections are a few months from now. Our government is being dressed down by everybody, everywhere - the opposition, the media, the rich and the poor alike. Our scams are surfacing left, right and center. Above all, threatening our safety on the one hand is the Mango Man with his thought-provoking posters pasted all over auto-rickshaws, and on the other, the Rambo, of whom the lesser said the better. Yikes, we're so screwed. What do we do, what do we do? Oh, wait, I know! *Eureka moment* Let's pass an ordinance! Let's give the people another law, another legal right to something that is already rightfully theirs. Poor people are fools, they'll be satisfied with the mere promise of food security and will bring us back to unchallenged power. Yes, that's the solution. Let's do it!"
And so they did. You see, it is actually that simple for some people to make decisions. It isn't their money, so it isn't their responsibility. All that is ever thought of is power. Whether their policies and schemes actually serve any real purpose or are just another wastage of lakhs of crores of public funds, is a thing best left for hapless media-persons and the intelligentsia to ponder and shout over. The three honorable people currently heading our country are least bothered, as are their petty minions.

The controversial and highly opposed Food Security Bill was lying in the pipeline for four long years. And then, out of the blue, it comes into the limelight and in the face of strong opposition from many quarters, it is hastily passed in the form of an emergency ordinance towards the end of the government's 5-year tenure. Now I will not overtly criticize the provisions or the intentions of the bill ordinance as I am too small a fish. But some questions need indeed be asked. Why was it not brought into focus earlier? What was the rationale behind the unnecessary dilly-dallying of the issue for so long, even when there was no internal resistance against it all throughout? Why did it suddenly get all that important to enforce the law, even if at the cost of it being passed as an ordinance? An archetypal case of a political gimmick in a hurry, I hear you say.

The government's commitment to the real cause of food security is unclear. The Public Distribution System is already in place in the country and millions of tonnes of food grains are in stocks. If the government is so concerned about the cause, why not try to revamp the existing system and put it to good use, instead of passing another food security law? The PDS, however, itself is characterized by high levels of corruption, leakage and siphoning off of food grains, lack of storage capacities, black marketing and what not. It is surprising then to see that the new scheme relies on the PDS for its implementation. What's the rationale behind the promulgation of a new law at all? If it is not merely a political move, I fail to understand the logic behind it.


There is presently a moral urgency of helping the poor and hungry, which is being greatly twisted and taken advantage of by the current government to stay in power. Supporters say UPA has a vision. How far a vision is adequate in filling the stomachs of the poor, creating employment, reducing poverty and eliminating corruption has been seen over the last few years. The economic situation of the country is dire. Our fiscal deficit and inflation are mounting. The Rupee is consistently plummeting. Our sky-high current account deficits are being financed by short-term foreign capital inflows, which might even have started to flow out of the country now. Some estimates say that the bill ordinance, so far the largest of its kind in the world, will cost 3% (or 0.3% or 2% - estimates vary) of India's GDP in its very first year if implemented honestly. Is our country really in a position - economically or structurally - to implement such a scheme?

It remains to be seen what unfolds in the months to come. Mayhem has only just begun.

Tuesday 2 July 2013

We, the Hoi Polloi.

There was, once, the Bourgeoisie. They had all the money and all the lands.

And then there was the Proletariat. They had nothing but strength in their arms and a dogged willpower.

The bourgeoisie held all the means of production. They made all the rules; they hoarded all the capital and shelled out as little as they could.

The proletariat were nothing but hapless laborers, forced into menial labor to earn the petty wages that filled their bellies. They had little rights; no voice.

And then revolution happened, and the tables were turned.

But did the revolution take shape overnight? Did the people just wake up one fine day from a deep slumber, and rebel against decades and centuries of oppression? There's much more to every revolution than just that.

[Jump back to the present]

What kind of a world do we live in today? Does democracy, in its true essence, really exist or are we just being sold on the myth of the Indian democracy?

Isn't it more of a dynastic democratic government that is ruling us, siphoning off our hard-earned money, selling us peanuts in the form of over-hyped achievements and periodic reassurances? Who are we if not the proletariat, the Hoi Polloi of Indian society - the ones who have to choose between the corrupt and the more corrupt, the arrogant radicals and the ruling dynasty?

Revolution isn't just about gathering numbers, staging protests, fasting or showing might. It never has been and perhaps never shall be. Revolution stems from ideas - strong but informed opinions. Unless we ponder, unless we hold an informed opinion - who are we but the proletariat, a herd of animals driven by the herders according to their own sweet will?

Indian society is awakening. Slowly, but for sure, change is creeping in. We, the common people, the Hoi Polloi, need to jump in and give ourselves to the movement. We need to let our opinions be known; we need to make them count. It is after all we, who make them, and not the other way round.

Let the proletariat speak up.