Rupee Wins, Indians Lose
By The
good news is that our Indian National Rupee got a symbol of its own, becoming
only the fifth currency in the world to have an official symbol. Time to
celebrate, but still there is a doubt in the back of mind about us Indians, in
any way, being ready to celebrate this feat. Sadly, it doesn’t seem so. The
common man is still struggling to find ways to make both ends meet in the face
of ever rising rates of goods and commodities. He doesn’t have time to even
think about anything other than his personal sorry state of affairs. He has got
so many things on his mind. Things like food inflation being constantly in
double digits for the last few months. Things like the recurring increase in fuel
prices which once again have a spiralling affect on the prices of goods. Things
like vegetable prices soaring high. Things that in some other conditions might
have bothered the government of a developing nation like ours. But the
government seems unperturbed. They are apparently lacking will power or
positive motivation to curb inflation that is causing even otherwise well-off
households to go weak in their knees when it comes to spending under a budget.
Sometimes it seems that the government doesn’t want to check inflation. They
are content, happy even, that the people are being ground by the price rise to
an extent that they do not have time to think or talk about issues other than
inflation. Issues regarding development, corruption, unemployment, incompetency
of the system et al have taken a back seat. ‘Let people be so occupied with
their daily bread that they can’t even think about more vital issues, let alone
raise their voices against the system’ seems to be the functional policy right
now. How else could we explain that all this is happening even when the premier
of the country is a world renowned economist? Why is he seemingly unable to
apply his theories for the good of the people of his country, is a really good
question to ponder upon.
Adding
to the woes of the people is the fact that people sitting in positions of
authorities either do not have any clear idea of what is going on, or they just
keep on ignoring things for reasons that are beyond our understanding. Not long
ago, when the prices of sugar were sky-rocketing, people started questioning if
the Ministry of Agriculture was doing anything about the issue. Whenever asked,
the Honourable Minister of Agriculture always gave statements that instead of
soothing the people felt more like salt being rubbed on their wounds. Sometimes
he became an astrologer giving a particular date till which the prices would
come down, which they did not as we have seen. Asked about the spiralling sugar
prices when the prices were at all time high,he said upward spiral
would soon be over and prices would soon start plummeting. He said not only
would the prices come down; there would be so much sugar that the government
would not know where to store the product. We have
been waiting since then for that to happen But once again, he made a statement that before falling down in
near future, the prices of sugar may continue to rise. Experts see it as
calculated creation of artificial scarcity of food products. Sometimes
he has stated things that made it very clear that he was having no touch with
ground realities. Some had also questioned at that time whether he deserves to
hold this office given that he was diverting all his efforts and time towards the
ICC of which he is the Chairman.
The
most recent incident highlighting the indifference of the government towards
the general good has come to light in the form of an anguished slamming from
the Supreme Court on the casual response of the food and agriculture ministry
to reports of millions of tons of food grain rotting in the open and people
dying from hunger. This actually shows how serious these people are towards the
common man’s problem. The Supreme Court had ordered the centre to distribute the
rotting food grain among the poor for free. They had actually asked the government
what was better – to let food grains go waste or give it to the poor and hungry
for free. Our dear minister audaciously responded that the “suggestion” of the
apex court was impossible to implement. The Supreme Court then reminded him that
it was not a suggestion but an order and it must be carried out.
The
impression this sends out is that this whole government is not willing to bail
people out from their troubled state. They are very busy keeping their own
interests on top of their priorities and having no concern whatsoever about the
condition of people in general.
We
can only hope that the people who are responsible for the betterment of the
country and its citizens realise that they have huge responsibilities resting
on their shoulders and act now so as to make sure that the problems the people
are facing are at least reduced. Also, if they would work towards the cause
sincerely and get results for us to see, the people will at least feel that
they are not alone in this and there are people who are concerned about them
and are working towards their betterment.
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