One man,One vote, No value..

“On 26 January, 1950 we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics, we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics, we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle on one man one value” .

These were the words of Dr.Ambedkar in the constituent assembly when the issue of justice was discussed.

How true is the statement of Dr.Ambedkar almost 60 years since he made the statement? In fact today we have “One man, one vote and no value”.

We are today proud of slogans like “India shining”,” Indian at 60”, “Vibrant India” and so on. News channels were obsessed with the sensex hitting the 19000 mark from 18000 in just four trading sessions. Economists in India and abroad are obsessed with the phrase “India’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals”.

What Does India’s strong macro-economic fundamentals mean?

Are our policy makers proud of 77% or about 840 million citizens of India living with Rs 20 a day (About half a dollar according to national commission for enterprises in the unorganized sector?)

Are we proud that India ranks first in maternal mortality rate?

Does a strong macro-economic fundamental in India mean rank of 126 out of 177 in human development index?

The very day the Sensex crossed 19000, it was also declared that India ranks 94 out of 118 in global hunger index, behind Pakistan, China, Indonesia and even Ethiopia. We Public spirited citizens must hang our head in shame to know that a country like Ethiopia which does not have a growth rate equal to half of  India manages its hunger better  than India. There is still no comment about this by any top bureaucrat, Minister or even a well meaning NGO. What value are we associating with 800 million men and women of one vote with empty stomach?

No Indian can be proud of such dismal figures. The next day after the sensex crossed the 19000 mark, all top officials of the finance ministry including the finance minister swung into action at the news of a crash of about 800 points. There was utter mayhem in the capital market at the news of a discussion paper posted in securities and exchange bureau of India (SEBI) website. There was unprecedented discussion about Participatory notes, Derivatives and the future of offshore derivative instruments.

The next day our finance minister Sri Chidambaram addressed a press conference in New York to clarify issues regarding P-Notes to foreign investors. He sought to explain the Indian market problems to citizens of America (Where nobody in hungry) who were looking for a widow to use their legitimate/illegitimate money. He gave them confidence about the exact nature of FIIs and other instruments through which they can route their money into the Indian market. The whole press conference was telecasted live by many channels and analysis of the same was done in many forums after the press conference. Till date there is neither a panel discussion nor an exclusive program in any of the news channels regarding India’s pathetic performance in many social indicators released recently. 

Our government is more bothered about the Money of Americans and American interests. Our finance minister had to face questions from the American media regarding Investment instruments. Yet no journalist has approached the finance minister about the rank in Global Hunger index.

The government and RBI of late are extremely concerned about the appreciation of Rupee. Corporate houses are using all resources at their command to woo the RBI to intervene and stem the appreciation of Rupee. This is happening at the backdrop of the fact that oil prices have soared to $90 a barrel. Furthermore exports account to only 13% of our GDP.

Higher price of oil will gradually translate into price rise in many commodities and more importantly food. What impact will it have on already 840 million people of India living with Rs 20 a day? Is the government bothered about these people with one vote? (A stronger rupee will make the import of oil cheaper thereby reducing the price of many commodities).

The possibility of a CRR hike in the next monetary policy review is already doing its rounds in the corporate houses. Businesses are bothered about the tightening of credit. It’s been almost four months since the Radhakrishna committee on agricultural indebtedness submitted its report. Till now there has been no appreciable move by the government to improve the credit needs of the Farmers.

  

Government has been just pushing Mantras like “Privatisation”,”Disinvestment”,”Washington consensus”,” Washington consensus plus” and so on. Of what good value has all these been to the impoverished masses in India?

It is high time that the government takes into account the condition of large masses of people wretched in abject poverty with a vote and no value rather than wooing foreign investors without a vote but with unnecessary value. We must spare no effort to raise the standard of 77% of the population of our country from clutches of hunger. If we fail to do so in near future, we will make the statement of Dr.Ambedkar conspicuously pronounced in centuries to come.