27th April 2010, in one way is symbolic of Indian politics. The ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was challenged in the parliament with a “Cut Motion” put forth by the opposing Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Left Parties. The cut motion was targeted towards the proposals to hike prices of fuel and fertilisers. The cut motion moved by Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj was defeated after a voice vote, 289 MPs voted against the motion, and 201 voted in its favour. The reason for the defeat of the motion was that leaders of 3 political parties, who coincidentally are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), magically decided not to support the “Cut Motion”.
What surprises me is not the fact that UPA once again survived a loss of confidence motion, but the fact that for the nth time in Indian Politics did politician disregards the larger good of Indian Citizens to save their criminal records from being exposed. I have always been a believer that anyone is innocent until proven guilty, but, I must confess by behaving the way they have Mayawati, Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh admitted guilt. It is a representation of the immature democracy that India is. Well we all can fill books writing about corruption in India and Indian Politics but this blog is focussed on something that in my view is more serious.
India has witnessed unprecedented inflation for some time now, what is hurting India Citizens now is the food prices. The food price index rose 17.65% and the fuel price index rose 12.45 % in the 12 months to April 10 2010. In terms of earning brackets this does not affect the upper middle class IT crowd or Media House News writers as much as it affects the lower middle class and those earning daily wages by doing some kind of blue collar job. The only issue being that India has a larger population of citizens working in low middle class and even lower earning brackets. Price rise unlike government policies of reservations doesn’t change as per caste or class. It is a uniform increase all around the country.
Let’s have a closer look at the increase in prices of some commodities. Sugar was selling at Rs 45 per kg in Jan 2010, this was twice the price of sugar in Jan 2009 i.e. 100 % increase. The price rise of some other essential food items over the 52-week period, ending Jan 2010 was Potatoes (44.91 %), Pulses (44.43 %), Cereals (13.37 %), Rice (10.96 %), Milk (13.95 %), Wheat (15.96 %), Vegetables (13.02 %) and Fruits (6.54 %). The price rise would have been manageable if the salary increase was comparable however that’s not the case. The 2009 salary hikes were on an average 8.2% in 2010 it is expected to be 10.6%. In my view the 2009 figures are more relevant because salary hike happens once a year and so the inflation has affected people whose salaries increased by 8.2%. It is important to note that salary hike is in most cases deals with white collar jobs and they might not be spending major part of the salary on food and fuel but for those employed in blue collar jobs well it’s a different story.
I think by any standards considered acceptable by sensible people this is high, well for the people who sit in the parliament probably it isn’t. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for one subscribes to the easiest theory he believes that international conditions are responsible for the price rise. I agree only partially with him, India is now an open economy and so as a country are affected by global changes. However, what Mr. Prime Minister is missing is the fact that the Agricultural output is reducing because of what is done in India not what happens in the world. The sugar scam, farmer suicide’s everything related to agriculture and the distribution of the same is due to policies and corruption and he cannot blame global conditions. Another major argument against the current government is that it was at the centre from the year 2004 and should have planned the things better. The prices are high because the UPA government failed to regulate and control the prices. To add to these issues the government rather shamelessly and irresponsibly proposed another round of fuel price rise.
I disagree with the proposal that in current situation change in fuel prices is sensible. Yes, Indian government subsidises fuel prices. There might be some economic advantage, but, more importantly it doesn’t make any sense on humanitarian grounds. India has a large population base and majority population is poor and by poor I mean people who spend major part of their salaries on Food, Clothing and Shelter. Increasing fuel prices in such a situation is similar to pushing these people over the edge of a cliff, its unimaginable the suffering it will cause.
I think it was for similar reasons that the main opposition Bharatya Janta Party (BJP) and Left Parties pushed for a “Cut Motion”. Which they lost, but, what is painful is the fact that they lost it not because they were wrong but because politicians like Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh decided to abstain from voting while Mayawati decided to support the government on its policies. It is unimaginable why any politicians will abstain from voting is such on such a critical issue, the rather shocking U-turn by Mayawati puts her leadership credentials in serious doubt. However, nothing comes close to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha who claim their party voted for against the “Cut Motion” by mistake. Anyways, if there is a back door deal to ease the pressure from ongoing CBI enquiries then is it very selfish and rather irresponsible for so called public representatives, but, then they are politicians not leaders aren’t they.
