FARCE OF FREE POLL

This is my impassioned plea to get the electoral arena free from the taint of inducement so that voters exercise their franchise with due regard to the values of democracy and not the valuables dangled momentarily!i

FARCE OF FREE POLL

                                                            G.Srinivasan                                                                         

Few things afford better diversion in the otherwise insipid life of the ordinary people than the spectacle of the elections in a noisy democracy like ours. It is the time for the popular vox populi to be heard loud and clear above the din and dust of the cacophonous electioneering by the political parties. As if the sound decibel is not suffice to offer tamasha from the dreariness of mundane life, parties in the fray promise freebies and goodies as if resources to fund them can be easily raised once one group or a congeries of a few parties assumed office to milk the system. This is the classic case of one-shot and short gain for the long-term pain and penance of the voters.   

With the State Assembly polls to four States and the Union Territory of Puducherry under way, the  stakeholders have lost little time in springing into action for a grim fight to the finish. Indubitably, open inducements abound to voters not only through the election manifestoes and plenty of pre-poll promises  by the major players, over and above the freebies they would be flooded with if voted to power!  

A senior citizen accustomed to watching the country’s electoral battles, both national and State-level, over the decades the  electioneering of the past pales into vacuous insignificance ever since the representatives of the people started spending money like water to cajole the voters assumed awful and traumatic dimensions of the recent past. In a State like Tamil Nadu, the high-faulting campaigns aside, what makes one really disturbed is the blooming gift culture openly resorted to by all the combatants in   the poll battle! 

The vicious sway of money power begins when the big parties take the like-minded ones in their alliance and not worry over spending money for  the alliance candidates too lest what should count is only the triumph and trouncing of the opponents by hook or crook and by deploying both with unconcealed glee!  This is in spite of the model code of conduct being enforced by the watchdog Election Commission. No doubt, the EC is on the alert and is acting with alacrity by checking vehicular movements across the State and does not desist from deploying its flying squad inspection to ferret out unexplained cache of cash, gifts or any other items like inner vests (banyans) with politicos personality splashed on it.  

Reports are rife in the vernacular media that the regional parties keep purveying gift items like saree, dhoti, computer, silver utensils to the villages across the State in a smartly packaged slick bags with their respective leaders’ and bygone legend face to remind the voters that on the day they go to vote they should not be oblivious to the gifts that came their ways unsought! 

In TN politics, widely cited in the media, about electoral inducements to voters are many and novel that   are inconceivable to imagine! They include, among others, the Thirumangalam formula, the RK Puram formula or the one that is in the name of the leader of the ruling party. While the former refers to cash neatly put in an envelope before the day of the polling to be distributed to individual households, regardless of their status in life, other than the fact that they are eligible voters whose vote should not be lost, the second one is more ingenious in that in the by-poll to the RK Puram constituency a few years ago, the leader of the Sasikala faction Dinarkaran was alleged to have given a token to the household to collect the cash later on. No wonder he trounced formidable rivals and emerged victorious. Votes for notes are the egregious methods to cherish the democratic principles and sooner this practice is stamped out the better for the fair name of democracy.   The third one is giving gifts on occasions like Pongal (harvest festival) to every ration card holder a cash of two thousand rupees..

As if enough is not enough, in its pre-poll promise the DMK offers one thousand rupees every month to housewife for doing household chores, while the Pattali  Makkal Katchi (PMK) promises to fund the education of all wards from nursery to 10 plus 2 free even in private schools as it would fund that too if voted to power!

 State governments offering free cycles, computers, free trinkets or knick-knacks in the run-up to elections as one-time expenditure but to have the gifts to be a lasting draft on the paltry resources base of the State is poignant. Institution tasked with conducting the elections must perforce have to take due and deserved cognizance of how the meagre resources meant for development are misspent in winning elections to the eternal detriment of the self-esteem of the vulnerable and the willing and in most earnest cases the reluctant individual as voters. No note for vote, no gift for exercising ballot or any tall and impractical promises to hoodwink the masses in the interests of the health of democracy as India is set to celebrate 75^th year of Independence.  

The moving finger….

The moving finger…..

The moving finger….

As one sets one’s thought process abuzz, the finger moves on with equal celerity to chronicle happenings that one sees around. It is indeed a matter of regret that a country of continental size like India does not appear to be seriously bothered about the widening inequality that is manifest today. The glitzy malls one sees in the backdrop of rancid ambiance is but a sheer paradox and nobody appears to be concerned over the plight of numerous small vendors who eke out their sparse existence. No doubt, the malls present a contrast by purveying things in an alluring package and at a cheaper rate but hidden in such glossy servings are the tricks of the bulk volume business which no ordinary purchaser would be able to see through. While the goods sold by the petty shop keepers or vegetable/fruit vendors may not be so efficiently delivered, they are nonetheless giving the customers the customary bonhomie and warmth of the seller which is absolutely found wanting in big stores. Here the people move in a mechanical manner with trolley in tow with least courtesy even if they happen to bump into each other. Against this stony setting that presents a beauty appearance,  in a small roadside shop or street-corner stores one can look around to savor the place and the persons who visit there to feel that the differences among us are not much!! I am recently relieved to note that in the Financial Times (London) FT correspondent Mr. Harry Eyres presented a monograph titled “How to defy the supermarket Gods?” (March 16) which bewails the craze for splendid shopping arcades which lamentably lack the aroma and simple styles of  any ordinary small shops.  Being modern does not mean that one can be impervious to the ills plaguing the society and it would be nothing short of putting the cart before the horse if we do not pay sufficient heed to take care of the small retail merchants by intensifying the spread of mall culture in our midst!  G.Srinivasan, Journalist, New Delhi, Inde

India’s Economy: Stamina Is The Name Of The Game

India’s Economy: Stamina Is The Name Of The Game.

Government shows girth and depth in aligning diesel price to the market

The decision by the Indian Government on January 17, 2013 to let oil marketing companies regularly jack up the price of diesel in line with the global price gyrations is a step in the right direction. Not only this would help reduce the huge oil subsidy bill the government had been running, but would greatly help people to be conscious of the cost of the fuel to adapt conservation, besides preventing adulteration of diesel with kerosene (another  highly subsidized fuel purported for the vulnerable sections) to run the cross-country truck business. It is time that the government began vacating its vice-like grip on the proper use of scarce national resources such as fuel so that the process of price recovery by market forces of demand and supply could be smoothly ensured. Of course, this might cause miseries to millions of poor people but in a country where entitlement schemes are permanent works in progress, the hardships could be borne with stoicism. Those who had bought diesel-driven auto fleet including costly Sports Utility Vehicles and other gas-guzzlers should stand to feel the pinch as this segment need not be unduly patronized by the authorities. As the nation is not endowed with enough energy particularly fossil fuels such as oil and gas, let it be clear by the  delayed but deserved action of the authorities that they no longer would remain a mute spectator to the profligate consumption of costly fuels by elements that do not believe in conservation culture and the value of nothing. Probably the market-aligned diesel price by degrees would help many a person to know the real value of the fuel they had been feasting on for far too long with no compunction!  Knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing is not the way to go if the nation is to  be built on sustainable model of development for the larger benefits of all its denizens. Jai Hind.  G.Srinivasan, Journalist, New Delhi, Inde

Rambling thoughts….

In a pluralistic society like India, the government of the day has a greater responsibility in avoiding disarray in governance. But this is precisely what the UPA  government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh is fostering by its considerable actions of commission and omission, both literally and metaphorically. It appears that the people of India are not fed up with media highlighting all burlesque happenings of politicians, civil societies and cricketers in a country where the game has a greater following. Some times it looks as if these diversionary focus is what keep the poor and middle class people entertained and oblivious to the stark reality that life on the ground is grinding to a halt. The role of governing class as also the media is rather quite unfortunate as both of them are not doing what is proper to inculcate the eternal values of life so that fripperies and frivolities that feed the frailties are not pandered to. It is time level-headed people realized the directionless and rudderless manner the country is ambling on, though it is touted to be an emerging economy with demographic dividend to take care of its fortunes in the years ahead. If right measures are not put in place before long, the prospects of the country and its potentials would remain left unaddressed and un-redressed to the detriment of its million people.   

India’s recent move to slap savage hike in petrol price

   That the Indian government gathered spunk to slap the steepest increase in petrol prices after a protracted phase of reform-fatigue had not surprised many because talks of ‘tough decision’ or ‘biting the bullet’ were heard prior to this punitive measure. But what left many flummoxed is the severity of the hike particularly on one fuel, leaving the bloating subsidy on diesel or cooking gas(liquefied natural gas) largely intact. It is widely known that diesel is being adulterated with kerosene (also a highly subsidized fuel for the vulnerable sections) and most of the heavy-duty trucks that criss-cross the country belch smokes use this merrily and extensively. Of late India’s booming affluent class also prefers to use diesel-driven high-end auto fleet and the subsidy on diesel borne by the tax payers money is a mockery of concerns for the underprivileged. It is time the authorities showed mettle in promoting conservation or moderation in consumption by effecting increase in the prices of diesel or cooking gas, mostly consumed by the affordable sections of society. For farm purposes diesel price can be given at a concessional rate so that farmers do not suffer on this score. It is one thing to preach austerity but it requires immense foresight and wisdom to put it into practice by taking incremental moves towards recovering cost of products sold or services rendered without savagely hurting people where it hurts them heavily.

Travesty of Democracy

 The unwritten understanding between civil society members and parliamentarians appears to have been jettisoned with the leader of Opposition in the lower house launching a tirade against the civil society on cleaning up the political system led by Anna Hazare. In a country where illiteracy is still predominant among millions, democracy has survived precisely on the strength of the political sagacity of the so-called poor masses who had not refused in the past to throw undeserving leaders out of power. It is time that people who cry coarse from the roof top to cleanse the system out of corrupt politicians did some soul-searching to set apart their devotion to developmental issues to make a qualitative difference to the environment in which legions of people live rather deplorably. Politicians of India know that when it comes to throwing them out for actions of omissions and commissions, both literally and figuratively, people across this diverse country had seldom hesitated to do so as their political instinct is too sharp to ignore only by some stubborn moron in the political landscape. So instead of forcing political parties to turn them against, civil society leaders should find a convincing route to help remove pettifogging players in society– both in politics and in administration so that the end result would be beneficial to all people.