“Our Republic must not kill its own Children” was the main headline of The Hindu on 15th January 2011. The court was asking the government to remember the fact that its duty is to protect people and not killing them. Duties and responsibilities of a republic should be always towards the people in large. But, the doings of this government proves that they going away from its commitments to the common people. In the last two months, inflation on edible goods is shooting up and there is no proper measure to contain it from the government’s side. ‘Let the market decide’ –approach of the government will end up in both economic and political chaos in the country. People will be ready to forget about the corruption stories on tele-scam and CWG scams but won’t keep quiet with the price increase which directly hit on their belly.
Next day of the Supreme Court observation, the petroleum ministry decided to increase the price of petrol by Rs. 2. 52 per litre. This is another way of killing own people, one can say –slow poisoning. Inactive government represents vested interests than the feeling of its own people. Here, the question on role of the government comes more relevant. For whom the government is stands for? In the last one month span, the petrol price has gone up more than Rs. 5 per litre. Argument is we can’t allow the petroleum companies to run on loss. Because of the increase in international crude oil price, the petroleum companies are forced to compensate their losses by increasing the price on petrol. Government argues that the Diesel price is not increased, so it won’t affect the commodity market which is completely depend on transportation industry. Does anyone think that the transport industry will accept this logic and won’t ask for price hike? Informally they will increase and it will reflect in the market as increase in the price of common goods.
Everyone knows the impact of petrol price increase and how it will reflect on common people. It has spiral effect and will allow all commodities to up its price. This is not first time the international crude price is going up and earlier it reached a record of US $ 147 per barrel. That time, government acted differently and did not allow the companies to increase the price on their products and supported them through cross subsidies. Why this is not happening now? The government, in fact, opted to support the companies who are listed in the international stoke markets. Anything economically goes against these flagship companies will effect badly on stoke market and will send wrong messages. In this way, the government is more conscious about the economic health of the companies rather than the health of common people of this country.
The agriculture minister washed his hands off from the price increase on vegetables and other edible items. According to him, it is not his or his ministries responsibility to defend the inflation on food articles and the main cause of the price increase was crop failure due to extra rains in September – October months. We too agree with the fact that the natural fluctuations will affect the crops and cause price increase. But are ways to overcome it and there are precautionary measure to arrest the un-natural price increase. Here, the government functionaries failed too badly. There is a market intelligence system working with the government to analyse the supply and demand of food articles in the market and to inform the government to take pre-emptive measures to avoid breakdowns in market pricing system.
When vested interests controls the most important decision making positions in the country and use the opportunity to decide everything favourable for them, the end result will the failure of whole system. An agriculture minister who is also the leader of Sugar cooperatives, wine industry and so on, and above all, he is the leader of a fraction of ruling coalition, then how the common man can expect justice from his position? When the minister of oil and natural gas is the darling of the most powerful corporate house in India who has major stake in his portfolio, how we can expect a relief or support for the common people from him? When the ministers and the elite decision making powers are lobbing for their own interests and hang around the magnets like Radias’, how the common man will expect any favourable consideration from them?
Remember, there was a minister, who was also a qualified doctor, took decision to close down all factories which produces lifesaving vaccines. When the health sector got a person from the same segment, the people thought he will do something for better but he proved his real colour by taking such decision. He also messed up one of the most important institute in the country All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) during his five year term. So, decisions of government can kill the people –may be slowly.
Common people look up to the Supreme Court as the last asylum or as a saviour. When judges too have shares and stakes in the corporate industries, and show it in declaration of assets and ask permission for removal of their names from conducting trials of particular cases.... how long we will believe in such judicial system. In a neo-liberal economy, everything is closely connected with the network of money and nobody is beyond its reach. This network includes all institutions as well as opposition parties in the parliament, whom should suppose to be in the front to mark their protest against the government and speak for the common man. When the government and its institutions taking care of the economy in its smooth flow, we can’t expect that they will consider the feelings of common man. In such system, the priority will be to support the industrial giants and the banking sector rather than taking care of the majority, the helpless citizen.
Now, I wonder how the court can make an observation mentioned in the beginning. Yes, the government is, till now, against in killing its own children by using arms but the indecisiveness of the government will produce more harmful results than direct killing.
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