Political Diary

New Delhi, 6 March 2010

Potato Rs.30/-, Sugar, Rs.53/- Daal Rs.100/-

AAMDANI ATHANNI, KHARCHA RUPAIYA…..

By Poonam I Kaushish

Aamdani athanni, kharchaa ruaiya…baaki jo bachaa who mahengai maar gayee! This, my dear readers sums up the tragic reality of the aam aadmi under UPA II. Crippled by soaring prices, still higher inflation and rocketing oil. Forget eradicating garibi and chua-chut, providing equal opportunity to all et al, there is no sight even of the much promised roti, cheeni, chawal and dal. Our netagan’s remedy? Consume less sugar it leads to diabetes. Bluntly, stop whining and swallow the bitter pill. Mera Bharat is indeed Mahan!

Making plain once again that politics is like an onion. Wherein after peeling layer after layer one is left with nothing at the end. This was the sum total of the eagerly awaited debate on price rise and fuel hike in both Houses of Parliament last week. Like all debates it transcended into a tu-tu-mein-mein between the Opposition and Treasury benches. The BJP accused the Congress of four ghotalas in sugar, wheat, rice and pulses as the raison d atre’ for mouning prices and the Congress retaliated by finger-pointing of the many scams during the NDA rule. Sic.

Noting that his Government has been concerned over high food prices over the last one year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Finance Minister cooed, don’t worry and lose sleep, we too are equally concerned over the "behaviour of food prices" over the last one year. “All practical measures” would be taken to provide relief given that food inflation has touched a decade high of 17-19% in the recent weeks.

Really, how? Will ending the financial year with GDP growth of 7.2-7.5% and achieving 8% in 2010-11 alleviate the misery of the aam aadmi, crippled by the onslaught of rising prices and sky-rocketing inflation? Importantly, will it put an end to the miseries of 762.9 million people earning less than Rs 20 a day who satiate their starving bellies by longing looking at the  neon signs of sumptuous pizzas and burgers? Or for that matter, the 74 million ‘Nowhere Children” who are neither enrolled in schools nor accounted in the labour force or the 44 million children aged between 5-14 years engaged in economic activities and domestic and non-remunerative work?

Also, do the PM’s practical measures include putting a stop to the un-ending free lunches in Government? Of cost over-runs, increased salaries for a highly bloated bureaucracy and ministerial excess baggage Think. Over 70% of India’s oil consumption is by the Central Government and its counterpart in the States. Ministers both at the Centre and States get many cars allotted to them with unlimited petrol. An example: A Central Minister used to drive to his residence every time he wanted to go to the toilet as the washroom in his Ministry was not up to the standard!

The MPS and MLAs are not far behind. They get various Public Sector Undertakings to assign cars to them. Not to forget the babudam. The Joint Secretary and above at the Centre are entitled to an official car round the clock. Used to ferry their wives to her kitty party and shopping and drop-pick up the children from school. Unlike in the past when even ICS Secretaries used to drive to work in their personal cars and used official vehicles only for office work. Before telling the consumer to curb oil consumption, the Government should first strictly ration its own consumption.

Worse, the Central Government’s hare-brained measures to curb inflation by shoring up supplies have come to naught as States refused to lift the d 4 lakh tonnes of subsidized imported pulses and 10 lakh tonnes of subsidized rice at Rs 10 per kg as they were economically unviable --- the prices of grains and pulses to be lifted from four ports where they landed from Myanmar and Australia were more than the prevailing market prices. “In Assam and Bihar yellow peas is selling at Rs 27 but would have cost upwards of Rs 40 under the Centre’s scheme,” said an official of Assam’s civil supplies department.

Bringing to mind Betrand Russell. Asked the philosopher-writer: If one man offers you democracy and another a bag of grain, at what stage of starvation will you prefer the bag of grain. See how our erudite Finance Minister is robbing Peter to pay Paul. By reducing the income tax slabs he has increased the people’s spending power and simultaneously increased the custom and excise duties on consumer goods. Arguably, can poverty be fought with deficit financing? Can it be counted upon to keep the total deficit in check? Or eradicated by increasing subsidies and providing rural sops?  

True, the Government has tried to rationalize even the irrational. But its arguments do not ut much ice. Despite the statistics, the neatly doctored figures of easy virtue, it reels off in support. Interestingly, the shooting prices and fuel price hike is wholly against the spirit of the Congress commitment, hamara haath aam aadmi ke saath.

Sadly, no one has bothered to study the end result of the fuel hike.  An increase will not only make life difficult for the aam janata  but also trigger off a cost-push spiral. The price of coal, power and public works will also go up. Common sense dictates that any attempt to control deficit financing through increase in prices of essential commodities is at once dangerous and suicidal, both economically and politically.

The price hike would also raise the inflation rate. In real terms, this means that the purchasing power of the rupee would decrease and the interest rate would have to be increased. This would curb growth rate and lead to a fall in the demand for manufactured goods. All the Government is doing is changing the gears of tokenism.

Needless to say the economic policies of UPA II, far from being able to address the central problems of inflation, agrarian crisis (agriculture production has dropped) and rising unemployment are adding new ones for the Indian economy. Disillusionment and discontent among the aam aadmi is spiraling. Borne out by rising farmers suicides, despite doles by the Prime Minister, chakka jams and bandhs. New Delhi came to a grinding halt when angry kisans blocked all main arterial roads leading to Parliament House. What to speak of the much-touted National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which is mired in corruption wherein the benefits are not accruing to the end user.

The harsh truth is that sound economics adds up to bad politics and deficit populism. Over the years, our netagan have turned this dictum on its head and converted populist politics into economic nonsense. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Government is no different from that of its predecessors.

So where does the buck stop? At the neta’s doorstep. The time has come for the Government to stop making a mickey of the aam aadmi. It is imperative that it needs to work on a war-footing to arrest galloping inflation and hurtling prices.Time to draw a lakshman rekha on populist measures.They need to beware: agar pyaz se aam aadmi ke aankhon mein aansu aate gain, toh din dur nahin hain jab netaoan ke chakchhakkey choot jay! ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)