A CRUEL JOKE

Is it a joke? And for that matter, a cruel joke. Indeed a sick joke. Who came out with this magic sum of Rs 32 as the amount sufficient enough to buy you a wholesome meal for the entire day of 24 hours? The portly turbaned man, a bosom friend of Prime Minister Singh, who now looks like a fallen King under multi-pronged attacks of one and all and who laughed at the poverty of people by giving the magic figure of Rs thirty two, is called Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

 
Ahluwalia sits in a large air-conditioned office in the Yojana Bhawan and a large brass name plate outside announces his designation as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India. Indeed a high sounding name but this output of work brought a sense of shame to the Planning Commission of India. The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not roar like a king of the jungle as his bosom friend, Montek Singh’s Rs 32 as diet money in the year of our Lord 2011 won’t buy enough edibles that a Singh could even whimper.

Many Ministers of the Government of India felt miffed at the drum beats of the opposition parties ridiculing the sense of pragmatism of old Montek endlessly. The journos got enough material to write against the poor judgement of an important arm of administration that has the onerous responsibility of planning for five years for the whole country.

Oh poor dear! A man drawing a fat salary, living in a Lutyen’s bungalow, travelling in a chauffeur driven car at government’s expense betrayed his ignorance of the economic situation of common man so badly that even his bosom friend ( read Prime Minister) had no words to offer in defence of a crest fallen friend.

WHY AND HOW OF THIRTY TWO

Now we all know why the country named Bharat is suffering from the effects of double digit inflation. Unfortunately, the planners are oblivious of the ground realities, they never meet the ‘aam aadmi’ for whom they work and thus there is a wide chasm between the economic theory these Quixotic Knights learnt in their western alma mater and the ground situation obtaining in villages and towns of rural India.

Ignorance is reining supreme and the darkness thus created by battalions of foreign educated economists and planners has blackened the minds of the government mandarins. The magic figure of 32 is just one product that got publicity at both the national and the international levels. One is compelled to use the cliché: where ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise.

The experienced trouble shooter of the Government of India, Pranab Mukherjee, is busy on a different line at the moment. He is sharpening the spiritual aspect of his personality by devoting time and attention to Durga  Pooja. Jairam  Ramesh was roped in to help Montek Singh see reason and light of the day. Well, the nation heaved a sigh of relief when late in the evening on October 3 2011 it was officially announced that the magic figure of 32 had been withdrawn. So, for now, the curtains.