Thursday, 17 September 2009
Austerity measures in India
The 'austerity drive' in India has gained momentum ever since the Finance Minister asked his colleagues belonging to his Congress Party to go easy on flamboyance, extravagence or any other term that befits. Since then, the media has been ga-ga over what the Congress Minister's and leaders have been upto. They found that the Foreign Minister and his Deputy had been staying in 5 star hotels for 3 months as their official residences were being renovated. A big issue was made out of it even though both the Ministers paid for the bills out of their pockets, but the next question was how can they afford it. We must not forget that there are many in the Congress who have taken Shashi's candidature to Parliament with a pinch of salt. The average politician who is busy schemeing or dilly dallying on petty issues has no clue about what Shashi is made of. Comon we are talking about a man who spent money out of his pocket and won the election. There are far more pressing issues that the Government needs to look into rather than this. Look at the amount of money that is spent on each leader in the name of security? The train that Rahul Gandhi took was stoned. He is not only putting his life on the line but also others on that train. Now that the train is damaged, money has to be spent get it back into shape. All of this on the tax payers account. At the end of the day, more money will be spent on austerity than you will save. A small portion of the money that is wasted is sufficient to feed the needy, improve infrastructure etc. Long way to go for India if it wishes to be called a Super power.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My Family
I completely agree to you, atleast now the spendings of our politicians is in the picture. thats a positive thing.
ReplyDelete1)You have to take three flights before you land in Kochi. But you can always avoid coming through the Middle East.Ofcourse we would always like to meet you.
ReplyDelete2) Austerity measures cannot be challenged. From all what you have written on September 18th, I only agree with first part of your sentence i.e."Controversies never seem to end in a country like India". This is because people are not fully employed. Typical case of Kerala too, where there are so many bandhs and hartals.
3) There should not be any discussion on austerity measures as long as one pays for it himself. Like you pay for Business Class from your pockets - this is perfectly fine. You could even choose to use a private jet for yourself to avoid the three hops before you land in Kochi.
4) This is not the same discussion when government servants start travelling in Business Class. Nobody really cares who Shashi Taroor is in his personal capacity. What matters here is that as an MP he is supposed to follow the dictum of his party whip or the measures agreed by the Cabinet. As an MP he is also supposed to be a person of the people,by the people and for the people. So the there is nothing wrong even if he has to travel by bullock cart. A true leader in India also has to be a person of the masses.
5. Rahul Gandhi travelling by train is a welcome move. I wish all leaders only travelled by train, except in case of emergencies. My reasoning is as follows. Why should the train be stoned? If the train in which he is travelling can be stoned then what is the security for the common man. Did the government manage to book the people who were responsible for stoning the train? Can we avoid such situations in future? Can the Indian government deal with MOBOCRACY? If more politicians travelled by train, our Railways would improve significantly, and probably become more hygenic in all the sense.
Your friend,
Johnson J. Puthanangady
Your comments are welcome. I have been part of the KSU which is an extension of the Congress at the height of the faction wars of Cong I and Cong A. I have had the oppurtunity to closely interact with some of the top leaders of Congress, some are central ministers now and some are big leaders in Kerala. Personally I know how and who are serious abt austerity in the party.I too have enjoyed part of the perks that these leaders, elected representative have had since I knew them and stayed with them.Once you get used to the perks,its difficult to mend ways. Like there is a saying in malayalam,'Once you know the pleasure of putting your hand into a jar of jaggery, you can never get rid of it'.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot change people. What is important is that the austerity measures are justified and a Government Servant like Mr.Shashi Taroor has no right to insult anybody.
ReplyDelete