In Part One I briefly discussed about the ruling party and the opposition. In Part Two I will discuss about inflation and reservations along with a couple of other topics.
Rising cost of living is gradually becoming a big problem. Fuel prices (petrol, diesel, LPG & kerosene) are reaching new levels every couple of months. The price of petrol is currently Rs. 70 in my region while it was Rs. 58 a year ago. Even diesel is not being spared. Similarly, LPG prices have also risen substantially over the same period. And we are all aware of the fact that a rise in price of diesel has a cascading effect on the prices of all the other goods and commodities, thus, eroding the value of money. In other words, causing inflation. The inflation rate in India as last reported was 8.72 percent in the month of May. However, what the normal level of inflation should be is a matter of debate but what is generally the acceptable level is around 4 percent.
I understand that the fuel prices depend upon the prices in the international market but what I don’t understand is why do we need to continue with the exorbitant rates of taxes and duties levied on them? The general price level in the country is already very high and the Govt. is still raising prices without reducing the taxes and duties. The share of taxes and duties in the price of petrol is approximately 58.82 percent. States like West Bengal and Haryana have taken the initiative of reducing the burden. West Bengal reduced the state cess on LPG thereby reducing its price by Rs. 16 and similarly, Haryana waived the 5 percent VAT on kerosene. So my point is, the taxes and duties can be reduced or relinquished for some time in order to lighten the burden of price rise if the willingness to do it is there.
Apart from the general rise in price, the cost of education, healthcare and utilities, specially electricity, has also risen over the last few years. In short, the cost of living is on the rise which is a frustrating thing to live with.
Another problem which our politicians don’t feel it is but it, in fact is, is Reservations (Quotas). It is one of the demons given rise to by our beloved leaders. The whole idea behind and justification given in favour of reservations is that it is an attempt ‘to increase the social diversity in campuses and workplaces by lowering the entry criteria for certain identifiable groups that are grossly under-represented in proportion to their numbers in the general population’ in order to achieve uniform socio-economic development. While the idea behind it is noble it is not the way to go. This evil of reservations has far-reaching ill-effects in the long term. India has a high number of extremely talented, super-intelligent youths who already have fewer facilities (world class institutions) and opportunities to express their talent. And when they don’t get the right kind of opportunities they migrate to places where they are assured their abilities will be acknowledged. This phenomenon as you know is called brain drain. A country which isn’t serious about recognising and fostering its peoples’ talents and competence has to face the consequence of brain drain. We have a handful of top quality institutions and add reservations to that. Reservations have only worsened the situation. Reservations not only have a particular number of seats reserved for the particular category of castes, communities or gender but they also have lower requirements as far as eligibility is concerned. Thus, doing absolute injustice to the non-reserved category and the country.
I am all for a system where meritocracy is worshipped. No matter which caste or gender you belong to you need to be the best to get the best. This way brain drain would reduce, thereby, providing the nation with the talent pool to boast of at its disposal.
Creaking infrastructure is a big cause for concern. The present state of urban infrastructure can be described as pathetic. The improvements are happening but at a snail’s pace. Infrastructure of cities like Mumbai and Bangalore is on the verge of collapse if words of some noted personalities are to be believed. Hyderabad is not far behind. But one city that takes the honours of having the best infrastructure is New Delhi. The airport, the roads, the metro have all made New Delhi a good prospect from the point of view of business and quality of living. We talk about competing with China but we cannot with such terrible state of transportation, energy, water management and communications infrastructure.
The law and order and national security are also causes for concern. The lesser we talk about it the better. We have a ratio of 200 policemen to 1,00,000 people which says it all. And also the best of them are made to guard the political leaders and ministers, thus, giving the common man a bitter deal. Also, our intelligence agencies cannot be completely trusted as shown by the recent events in Mumbai. Hence, the whole affair leaves a lot to be desired.
So what do you feel? Are we really going to the dogs? Or have we already?
