Thursday, January 17, 2008

The Nano Effect & The Rice Defect

The year 2008 enters with strong buzz in its first month with Tata's world's cheapest car 'Nano', which unwillingly created a race for its viewers during the Delhi Car Expo, resulting in lathi charge by police. The dream car with a price tag of Rs 1 lakh seems to have fulfilled the Indian dream (much similar to that American dream) to have owned a car by each middle class family. Thus, India enters into new era, the era of Nano.
Also, the tiny of state of Chattisgarh comes into light of sight with the Govt's politically ambitious announcement of offering rice to its poor people at the cost of Rs 3 per kg. The inauguration was done in style, attended by many VIPs, & road blocks. Thanks to the Govt for two reasons - to bringing into attention to Delhites of this tiny state & moreover for the remembrance of its poor people albeit after four years. The state assembly election standing at the corner of this year explains all the ethics behind this. Whats never been mentioned in this program was the question 'why not four years earlier'. Retrospectively glanced, the much debated anti naxal 'Salwa Judum' movement was also initiated in the same style by the same Govt. some three years back. The consequence was the amount of innocent deaths in three years surpassing the figures of last twenty years.
Putting into Putin's bifurcation of weak & strong Govt, it seems an obvious inquiry that is this Govt really able to handle such programs which eventually leads the people of state into more chaos.
Corrupted to its roots, the state public distribution system will be responsible for the distribution of Rs 3 per kg rice to its rightful but I suppose this is not going to happen even if we have lived in the age of Ramayana. The ration shops are the center of black marketing, sparing not even the kerosene oil (although they undergo some chemical process of changing the oil color from blue to white) & the sugar which yields much profit in the open market. Within the hands of these ration shops, the rice is gold at the price of Rs 3 per kg, paving way for black marketeers to earn profit in millions while the people for whom rice is meant will have to wait in just another queue. Their disappointment will be added in tonnes.

The gap between Rs 1 lakh & Rs 3 is mathematically great but it isn't when comes to common human desires. Nano means dream come true while Rice at Rs 3 per kg means hunger quenched. Driven by these meager desires, the humanity have been promised of platonic life from ages, unfortunately every such promise has lead (not only French) it to guillotine.
& on the subject of dignity I must add that if & only if the rice 'to be sold' is available only for this year whence the new Govt takes charge next year, one must think before-hand instead of voting for any Govt who acts only in its final year.

No comments: