The Great Indian Poll Tamasha: Is India in safe hands?

Every five years, the great Indian democracy girds up its loins to prepare itself for what could be termed as a months long mudslinging, expensive, ludicrous activity called general elections, where a handful of self-appointed leaders with loads of spare money come together to woo the hapless people of India.

For some people, it is just any other day and for some, it adds one more holiday to their thank-god-it-happened list of holidays. Many of us consider it as an utter waste of time and money. Many of us ask why not leave the things as they are? What difference is the new government going to make? Why waste so much money on such a futile exercise?

Now this begs the question, why have we grown so disenchanted with elections? What has made general elections lose their importance in the eyes of Indian people?

Since 1952, we have gone through 15 such elections with the level of dirty politics and expenditure going up with each one of them, and the age-old issues remaining as is. We still seem to be grappling with poverty, unemployment, corruption, illiteracy to name a few. The very purpose of elections gets defeated when we see people with tainted records and little education come to power. It just gives them one another avenue to amass unprecedented wealth, which is nothing but the taxpayer’s money.

It is a general feeling among the masses that aspiring politicians show up at their doors only when campaigning for election, asking or rather begging for votes, after which they could only be seen in flashy government vehicles carrying the coveted red lights with hordes of other vehicles. All the promises and assurances are put on the backburner and all they are really concerned about then is amassing wealth.

After elections are announced and before the model code of conduct comes into play, electoral candidates set out in their vehicles carrying flashy slogans to prey i.e. to woo people. Many of them will carry hordes of loudspeakers playing long-forgotten patriotic songs in a bid to blackmail us emotionally. This has to be the only time, besides 15 August and 26 January, when we get to hear them. They will speak about the martyrs and freedom fighters as if they were their ancestors.

The other reason we see such a lackluster response to polling is the lack of choices. Most of the time, it is choosing between the devil and the deep sea. A lot of them are under the impression that to be a politician and to win election, all they need is money and political affiliation of some sort, which is true to a certain extent given the kind of people we see at the helms. Education, character, morality is the least considered attributes. The fact that people like these come to power bears a testimony to the fact that money can buy everything.

Many a times, one comes across politicians who are accused of crimes as severe as rape and murder, but remain unscathed because the law of India considers a person innocent until he is proven guilty by the court of law. Now, given the pace at which Indian judiciary works, they can be rest assured that they will never face conviction in their lifetime.

If this all was not enough, they indulge in all kinds of illegal and prohibited activities during polling to get the mandate. Poll rigging, neutral or negative voting, money induced voting are some of the ways they employ to get their goals met.

Education still remains to be an attribute which is not given due importance. With the world fast becoming a global village, politics and administration is not confined to running a country, but to make it strong enough, internally and externally, to keep up with the changing world order. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that people’s representative are educated and possess specialized knowledge, which seems to be a fairly uncommon thing with politicians, especially at the state and local levels.

So why is it that even after knowing all this, we are so indifferent? But, what else can we do? It is an irony that we get to elect people but do not get to choose who stands in the elections. The day we are endued with this power, we will have better politicians, better government, and a stronger country. Electoral reforms are long overdue in the state of India, and a major overhaul of the election process is called for. Until then, we will see the same apathy and the same state of things going on.

India unscathed from recession: reality or myth?

Indian government seems to be patting itself on the back for the nice work they think they have done by maneuvering the Indian economy out of recession. The general mood seems to be positive, rate of GDP growth still remains positive despite of increasing pressures, job cuts have remained well under control, lending activity has resumed, there is enough liquidity in the market. Everything appears to be rosy.

However, if we just stop appraising these macro level indicators for a minute, and look deeper into the micro ones, we see that the picture does not appear to be as rosy as it seems. Despite of a not-so-significant effect on the economy at large, the recent economic recession has left millions of people poor, jobless and in a much dire situation than they were in before.

It has been a long-standing tactic for economists and officials to juggle with numbers and downplay the effect of any phenomenon. We also get misguided by all this number crunching and do not look beyond the obvious. Time and again, we hear economists say that only 2% of the population has been affected by recession. Now, 2% might sound meager, but if we look at the bigger picture, 2% of Indian population could mean 20 million people. That is a huge number. It should ring alarm bells in the ears of any concerned government.

According to a report, in 2009, 14 million people became poor because of the dip in the GDP growth rate. This translates into more unemployment, less production, more crimes and the list goes on. Moreover, it does not stop there, the spiraling effect continues with no signs of stopping within the next year or so.

Exports, which form a small percentage of GDP, were badly hit by economic recession. In fact, export and financial sector (read NBFCs) were the most badly hit sectors, and had to be helped out by providing economic stimulus.

Had it not been for the defacto conservative polices of Indian banks not to have too much financial exposure to global finance, India could have suffered drastically. It is only for the Indian public sector banks, who have had a cautious policy towards exposing themselves to global finance that our industries and corporates are getting their short term financial needs met.

Besides job losses, a major repercussion of the economic downturn has been rising inflation and food prices which is still continuing and the government is having a tough time reining it. The common man has been badly hit by rising food prices. Many a people who were not fired were switched to a lower profile with lower wages, and had to make do with it given the dismal job market. So it proved to be a double whammy for them, rising pricing coupled with lower wages.

People lost a lot of money in stock markets after the sub prime crisis hit. And much to the mutual fund companies’ chagrin, investors started pulling out money in what could be called a panic attack, which again exacerbated the already debilitating effect of the crisis. Also adding to it was the massive pull out of FII funds from the Indian stock markets.

It will certainly take time for us to get back on the growth trajectory. Also, government should not lose sight of its vision of all inclusive growth and should focus on areas which have been long neglected like agriculture and manufacturing.

India is still a service economy, which is largely dependent on offshore activities. Until we reduce this dependency, we will be always at risk of upheavals that could be caused by a crisis like this one. We have our lessons learned from the recession and repeating mistakes could be fatal.

MNS: Vote bank politics or fanatism?

Raj Thackeray, the name could bring an expression of contempt for several and a sense of pride for others. So what has Raj actually done to invite the wrath of so many people across the nation on one hand, and to become a hero in the eyes of several Mumbaikars on the other?

Raj, firebrand leader of Maharashtra NavNirman Sene, has a political ideology that is considered extremist by many people across the nation. His recent outburst against North Indians has evoked strong reactions from political leaders, parties, and media. He lays great emphasis on the interests of the Marathi Manus. According to him, Marathi Manus is a person living in the state and born to Marathi parents, though of a different linguistic origin, born in Maharashtra, who speaks Marathi and loves Maharashtra. And MNS will strive hard to make Maharashtra a glorious state with the upliftment of the Marathi Manus.

Seems to be a nice objective. Nobody should have any problems with it. Nevertheless, the ways adopted by MNS to achieve this objective are far from commendable. Rather than engaging into constructive work for people in general, MNS targeted North Indians, or Uttar Bhartiya as they call them, and waged a battle against them. The rationale of MNS behind this diatribe against North Indian people working in Maharashtra is that they are snatching jobs away from the native Maharashtrians and are crowding Mumbai.

To a certain extent, the second part is true, not the cause, but the effect. There is no denying to the fact that Mumbai has become over-crowded. However, it is not only because of the influx of people from North India, but also from other parts of the country such as the states in south and central India. Together they form 40% of the population of Mumbai. MNS and other political outfits seem to be fighting the effect and not the cause.

One needs to ask questions as to why Mumbai has become over-crowded. Why do people come here to seek job?

Mumbai has been a hub of economic and commercial activity for a long, long time. There are two or three particular industries that are native to Mumbai, namely Bollywood and Stock Market (Bombay Stock Exchange). In addition, Mumbai is a port, which makes it accessible to other centers of world through shipping and airways. Also adding to the mix is the development-driven policies of the Maharashtra government, which focus on Mumbai, as it provides huge amounts of taxes to it, making it one of the richest states.

So would not the dilution of the concentration of this huge economic activity in Mumbai loosen the tightening grip of excessive population concentration in Mumbai? However, one does not intend to say that all the economic activity should be made to come to a standstill. Rather, if we could make one city in every state like Mumbai, would it not solve this problem to a certain extent? Every state can have its own hub of commercial activity. This will not only solve the problem of unrestrained migration of people in Mumbai from other states, but also will prove to be a driver for economic development and upliftment in each state.

Now this is not incumbent only upon the Central Government, but the responsibility also lies with the state government as well to take initiative and start working towards it. Time and again, government has taken steps like creating SEZs, EOUs and STPI Parks, which have lost their sheen in the long run.

Central and State governments need to take proactive steps and work in tandem if they have to find a solution to this issue. A separate committee should be formed to identify such centers across different states, which would then devise a plan for the strategic makeover of these centers within a stipulated time.

Tax benefits and relief should be given to companies and factories, which are willing to relocate their operations to these centers. The major hindrance that stops from companies from coming to these centers is infrastructure. Strong emphasis should be put and proactive measures should be taken by the state governments to improve the infrastructure and make it more appealing.

By adopting these measures, we can ensure the overall development and can also address the issue of economic concentration in some particular parts of the country.

Pune Blast: How safe are we?

The blast which took place on the 13th of Feb in Pune yet again shook the foundations of Indian intelligence and security. The wounds of the Mumbai blasts which had yet not healed were again exacerbated by this seemingly shameless brazen act. This is the second time that foreigners were targeted by the terrorists, which definitely is a cause of concern for us. 

The notion of "Atithi Devo Bhava”, which is strongly imbued into Indian culture and tradition has yet again been shattered by some fanatics. This definitely will have some far-reaching impacts not only on the influx of foreign visitors in the country but also India’s image as a safe haven for tourists.

The valley of Kashmir, which was once the most favored and sought after destination for tourists has already turned into a no man’s land, thanks to the continuous infiltration and military activity going on in the valley. This also should ring alarm bells for the Ministry of Tourism, as it’s their job to ensure that tourists have a comfortable stay in the country.

With the world fast becoming a global village, national boundaries have blurred to promote cultural and knowledge exchange. Incidents like this definitely will prove to be a setback for India in its quest to play a critical and active part in this exchange.

Again, this poses the same commonplace questions i.e how safe are we in our own country? What these people are going to get by shedding innocent blood? Should we accept it that this is going to continue and sit quietly? Is there anything we can do about it?

What makes people commit such heinous crimes? People who commit such offenses in the name of God do not understand that God Himself doesn’t approve of this. Its heart wrenching to imagine what the families of those innocent people who have been killed in these blasts and similar other such blasts must have gone through. 

We cannot allow such things to happen to us. If America can wage a war against terrorism after a single incident, then why can’t we. Given the fact that India is fast becoming a super power, thanks to its hard working and diligent population, is it not the duty of its government to protect us and take stern action against the people responsible. People who have been caught in similar incidents have yet to be punished thanks to the snail-paced Indian judiciary system. What precedent are we going to set if we let this happen?

This calls for action on the part of the Indian government rather than musing over the how, what and when.