Inflation has surged and threatening the ‘feel good’ factor that the Manmohan Singh government promised before the elections. You might be wondering that how come I’m hoping that Indian government would fulfill promises. I know promises are meant to be broken but still the hope is that the government is going to take some steps to help the economy grow in this recession period. Just trying to be lil optimistic. Now, just when the buildup for the new government is beginning, the inflation nightmare is back in flying colors, with the potential to undermine Congress’s agenda. While the poor — an influential category that Congress successfully wooed during the elections with its “aam aadmi plank”, are the worst sufferers.
I remember reading as a child that once upon a time India was known as "sone ki chidiya (golden bird)". But now in 21st century it re-christened itself to land of scams. We all know about the famous Bofors scam, Telgi, Fodder (Chara), Shares and the recent Stayam Corporate scam. But I guess what tops all is “The Great Indian Dal Scam” which got uncovered as a result of the skyrocketed prices of pulses in Indian market. Government has imported a variety of pulses from the world market and stored it in various ports to be distributed in the local market in controlled prices to curb the inflation. The dal that was said to be imported for the aam aadmi didn’t reach the aam aadmi rather it went down the drains due to sheer negligence of the spineless government whose motive was to make money out of the basic human needs. The agricultural minister Sharad Pawar doesn’t have any answer to the carelessness and no one is there to take the onus for the 15-lakh tonnes of rotten pulses across various ports of India which amounts to 300 crores from our pockets paid as taxes. These pulses were not released to the local markets, as the ministers were more involved in plotting how to make money spent recently for their victory in the recent elections.
Prices of pulses have risen to such an extent that some harried families even find meat a cheaper option. Not just exotic broccoli and mushrooms but the relatively affordable tomatoes, onions and potatoes - basic ingredients in most Indian meals - are moving away from the common man's reach as prices continue to soar because of our so called incompetent government. The daily used tur dal, which used to be 36-38 per KG, is now available at 5-star rates of 96-98 per KG. NDTV’s special report about the day-to-day life, infact hand-to-mouth living of the common man (like me) directly takes us to the dismay of downhearted common man who is directly and mostly affected with the soaring prices of his basic needs - Dal, rice and vegetables. Many households have entered the uncomfortable zone with each tick marked before rising prices - balancing the checkbooks. These are all essential items in an Indian household and the government is not doing anything to help us out of this crisis. Expenditure is unmanageable in the festive season and now ordinary living is also a hassle. To manage the home budget for a common man is getting more difficult with each passing day. Rising prices have hurt the living style of those who live on modest incomes. In the last one year India has noticed an abrupt rise of 10 to 60 per cent in pulse rates, making it quite testing for the poor to find the money for even basic nutrients and now our lower strata even will have to survive without protein-rich pulses.
Even as city dwellers are worried about the price rise, suppliers and traders on the other hand are hoarding essential commodities to create artificial crisis. It is time for the Government authorities to instigate action against such suppliers and bring in relief from the increase in prices. However, this is the time when the opposition party would launch a nationwide stir against the Congress government for its failure to arrest rising prices instead of joining hands in coming up with some solution. These are one of those testing times when the government has to come up with something brilliant to prove their competency. Till then I am keeping my fingers crossed.Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Great Indian "DAL" Scam
Inflation has surged and threatening the ‘feel good’ factor that the Manmohan Singh government promised before the elections. You might be wondering that how come I’m hoping that Indian government would fulfill promises. I know promises are meant to be broken but still the hope is that the government is going to take some steps to help the economy grow in this recession period. Just trying to be lil optimistic. Now, just when the buildup for the new government is beginning, the inflation nightmare is back in flying colors, with the potential to undermine Congress’s agenda. While the poor — an influential category that Congress successfully wooed during the elections with its “aam aadmi plank”, are the worst sufferers.
I remember reading as a child that once upon a time India was known as "sone ki chidiya (golden bird)". But now in 21st century it re-christened itself to land of scams. We all know about the famous Bofors scam, Telgi, Fodder (Chara), Shares and the recent Stayam Corporate scam. But I guess what tops all is “The Great Indian Dal Scam” which got uncovered as a result of the skyrocketed prices of pulses in Indian market. Government has imported a variety of pulses from the world market and stored it in various ports to be distributed in the local market in controlled prices to curb the inflation. The dal that was said to be imported for the aam aadmi didn’t reach the aam aadmi rather it went down the drains due to sheer negligence of the spineless government whose motive was to make money out of the basic human needs. The agricultural minister Sharad Pawar doesn’t have any answer to the carelessness and no one is there to take the onus for the 15-lakh tonnes of rotten pulses across various ports of India which amounts to 300 crores from our pockets paid as taxes. These pulses were not released to the local markets, as the ministers were more involved in plotting how to make money spent recently for their victory in the recent elections.
Prices of pulses have risen to such an extent that some harried families even find meat a cheaper option. Not just exotic broccoli and mushrooms but the relatively affordable tomatoes, onions and potatoes - basic ingredients in most Indian meals - are moving away from the common man's reach as prices continue to soar because of our so called incompetent government. The daily used tur dal, which used to be 36-38 per KG, is now available at 5-star rates of 96-98 per KG. NDTV’s special report about the day-to-day life, infact hand-to-mouth living of the common man (like me) directly takes us to the dismay of downhearted common man who is directly and mostly affected with the soaring prices of his basic needs - Dal, rice and vegetables. Many households have entered the uncomfortable zone with each tick marked before rising prices - balancing the checkbooks. These are all essential items in an Indian household and the government is not doing anything to help us out of this crisis. Expenditure is unmanageable in the festive season and now ordinary living is also a hassle. To manage the home budget for a common man is getting more difficult with each passing day. Rising prices have hurt the living style of those who live on modest incomes. In the last one year India has noticed an abrupt rise of 10 to 60 per cent in pulse rates, making it quite testing for the poor to find the money for even basic nutrients and now our lower strata even will have to survive without protein-rich pulses.
Even as city dwellers are worried about the price rise, suppliers and traders on the other hand are hoarding essential commodities to create artificial crisis. It is time for the Government authorities to instigate action against such suppliers and bring in relief from the increase in prices. However, this is the time when the opposition party would launch a nationwide stir against the Congress government for its failure to arrest rising prices instead of joining hands in coming up with some solution. These are one of those testing times when the government has to come up with something brilliant to prove their competency. Till then I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Namma ooru- Bangalooru
Bangalore - a city known for its lush green gardens, scenic beauty and great weather all year round. Bangaloreans claim that the city is an Indian metropolis with a modern outlook. It is supposed to be the heart of the booming Indian software and electronics industry.
Sure, the illusion lasts for a week or a month. But let me tell you what Bangalore is really like when the smokescreen clears. For the metropolitan city that it is embracing people from all over the country, how about having a street sign in English or Hindi, for God’s sake! All road signs are in the local language, Kannada. Even the public transportation has signs in Kannada alone. I thought Chennai was bad when they insisted on putting up anti-Hindi protests everywhere. But at least they compensate for it by writing the bus destinations in English as well as Tamil!
Now to the root cause of the problem, the people of Bangalore. The state has been aptly named "Kar-natak" (make a scene). Sometime back they have imposed a seven-week moratorium on all non-Kannada movies here, meaning that movies in all other languages will be released only seven weeks after they have released in the rest of the country. This is supposed to uplift the sagging Kannada film industry, since nobody, not even a kannadiga, watches their lousy movies otherwise. Has anybody heard of anything more preposterous than this? Maybe Thackeray’s plan of driving all non-Maharashtrians out of Mumbai came close.
Even with the "modern and broad" outlook the Bangaloreans have, companies still prefer to recruit only from local colleges, preferably kannada speaking populace. During official meetings, lunch or any other team gatherings, they speak almost exclusively in Kannada, so a non-speaker (like me) is absolutely flabbergasted in all weekly meetings and conferences. And to think that the French are snobbish!!
Public transport: Autos: another big pain the ass. The drivers are rude and are very choosy as in which route passenger they would take. Aren’t they supposed to take any fare as per law? Thanks to our disfunctional police staff who are more engrossed in making money out of the thelawalas and roadside chaiwalas. The auto drivers have very outrageously lamest possible excuses for not taking a particular fare. Some samples when asked for a ride- Its too far (why the hell would I take a ride if its close by?). Its too close (really? I think I should walk instead), There is lot of traffic (and you do not want to contribute to the traffic?) I wont get a return customer from there (how about I drop you back here?) and and the list goes on. Another problem, if you don’t have change you are screwed. Fisrtly the meter runs faster than the olympic winner and on top of that you end up paying extra bucks as they would never have change. I mean common guyz you are working stop begging for heavens sake. $#@&^%.
Nightlife: A typical Cosmopolitan city like bangalore which has a sizeable section of youth, business travelers, tourists and even local citizens, is devoid of night life. Bangaloreans, who work late into the evening and need some time for relaxation and recreation cannot do anything after 11:30 pm. Its sad that the Sillicon Valley of India is forcefully slipped into sleep before cindrella hours while the other countrymen in different cities have good time till late hours. The reason offered out for such rule is to control crime rate and safeguard the citizens from the mishaps at belated hours. Many big cities of the world allow an active nightlife but are by no means unsafe. Moreover, this shows sheer incompetancy of the local “4 kilo tond waale so called policemen”.
Still, one learns to get around. For all the deriding remarks I made about the people here, I must say this: there are some who are very helpful in every way possible. Some of them even go out of their normal routine to help a stranger out, which is unheard of elsewhere in the country. They are also very conscious of their image and communicate very well beyond the language barriers that exist. Even though Bangalore is a sleepy little town, people sure are active during the hours that the city is awake. Not too many lazing around, it’s a nice thing to see. Take in the good and filter out the bad, that’s what I am here to do. While in Bangalore… "Namma ooru, Bangalooru!"
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