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Why poor are growing poorer and riches are growing richer?

ByDanendra 11.2.2010         Mail Now X   Post Comments

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Airfare seems to be reasonable if you book your ticket one month in advance. But it goes on increasing if you delay in booking the ticket. The more you reach to nearer to date of your travel by air, the more you will be charged by private ailines. It means your urgency of travel will cost you higher fare. It is remarkable to point out here that for journey from Agartala to Delhi varies from Rs. 3000 to Rs. 23000 depending upon the date of travel and the private airlines you choose. It differs from one private airline to other. Rate are decided in completely whimsical manner and government is silent spectator of all these arbitrary charging of fares by private airlines. Even Government sponsored Air India and Indian Airline does not hesitate to charge higher fare though they book loss even after recovering maximum rate.

There is complete freedom to airline to exploit the passenger whenever there is increase in number of passenger on any particular date due to festival or marriage season or due to strike by any of private airline. Government has for all practical purposes turned blind eyes towards arbitrary rule of flight owners. You may imagine the fate of passenger who travels by train or by bus or by taxi, if they also start exploiting the passengers in the same way. You will be frightened to think of a situation if traders in other essential goods also start charging higher rate depending upon the demand in the market of a particular goods or service. It is therefore not astonishing that traders first hoard lacs of tons of sugar in their hidden godowns, create artificial crisis and then raise sugar price in the market. Similar is the fate of wheat, rice, pulses, potatoes, onions and many other essential goods.

Government has no right to regulate the bus fare or train fare (if privatized as airlines) or the prices of essential goods in an era when government has given freedom to traders and manufacturers. This is perhaps the root cause of unprecedented price rise in all sphere of life and increase in inflation number.

It is interesting to point out here that prices of TV, freeze, washing machines, CD players, Computers, have not increased in last few years, rather decreased because of the fact that demand of these goods is confined to microscopically small portion of population. More than 95% of population has faced severe erosion in their buying capacity due to rise in price of essential goods disproportionate to their rise in salary or income from their business.

RBI or government of India shedding crocodile tears on price rise and in fact they do not have moral to advise traders to fix reasonable rate of any goods or service or to have a reasonable profit margin and there is no doubt in it that the government willfully have taken no steps to stop profit making and hoarding activities undertaken by traders to give an artificial boost to prices of essential goods.

After all we are living an era of privatization, liberalization and globalization and our policies are traders friendly. We are no more protagonists of socialistic policies; we are in fact marching towards capitalistic pattern. Even voters preferred voting Manmohan Singh Government who advocates complete freedom to traders in the name of global competition. The more you are rich, the more favour you will get from Government. Reliance, Tata, Mittal etc will get discount in tax, reduction in interest rate, preference in land acquisition and what not. But when milk produces and farmers talk of tax rebate government will talk of financial deficit and resource crunch. Government can provide cheap land or even free land to those people who establish engineering or medical college. But the same government cannot advise college owners to charge reasonable fees from students.

Gone are the days when cigarette, wine, freeze, cars etc were taxed more, gones are the days when home loan and car loans were given by banks at higher rate of interest. Now a days banks are asking for freedom in interest rate for charging higher rates to farmers because they are of the view that farmers should be given credit at rate higher than BPLR and they advise farmers to depend on local money lenders or local banks contemplated by RBI .On the other hand banks are ready to give Sub PLR credit to corporate, home loan seekers, real estate developers, luxury goods manufacturers. Students are given loan so that they become capable in paying exorbitant college fees to college owners and take admission in private colleges. But the same government does not think it morally prudent and wise to ensure that students are charged reasonable fees. After all it is an era of freedom and freedom only for those people who hail from affluent class of society.

This is why poor are growing poorer and riches are growing richer. Gap between the have and have –not is widening day by day. It will not be an exaggeration to say that poor are leading a life of slave though they are given freedom of speech and freedom of occupation and though education has been made mandatory upto secondary level. Politicians are therefore deviating the minds of poor, middle class and downtrodden class from their poverty, their unemployment, their incapacitance and incompetence to their caste, religion, region or language. Leaders like Bal Thakre, Raj Thakre, Ashok Chauhan therefore think it wise to talk of Marathi Manush and Marathi language. Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Yadav, Mayawati like VIPs do not feel shame in talking of Yadavs, Dalits, OBCs and Muslims. Politicians in general therefore do not feel shame in talking of reservation or quota because they expect to get support from many voters. Leaders try to avoid talk on hardships of common men and try their best to arouse emotions of common men and enrich their vote bank so that their castle of power remain intact even under acute economic crisis and severest recession or draught or fraud or any other natural calamity. Leaders do not hesitate in supporting or getting support from Naxalites or terrorists or anti national elements if their survival in powerful post is at stake.

Let us therefore not cry, weep for beg for alms from our political leaders, better to starve and accept painful death. It is not out of place to point out there that poor people cannot even dream of proper medical treatment if they fall sick in lack of nutritious food or water or due to polluted climate. Global warming also do not affect rich people and it is poor who become victim of pollution in the environment.

It is However God, and God alone who come to rescue of common men in all bad days. Government is after all of the rich people, for the rich people and by the rich people.