By Barnes Mawrie
It is highly symbolic that last Tuesday, PM Narendra Modi while he was on a podium at Lucknow for the Dussehra celebration, he was given a bow and an arrow. He tried to shoot the arrow but it fell short of the target, nay it fell right out of his bow. Is this not symbolic of what his government is? They claim to have good targets but so far their shots have fallen short of expectations.
The slogan “achche din” has become a monotonous cliché of the BJP government. It is being broadcasted, televised and announced in the media ad nauseam. But in reality the citizens are experiencing “aching” din (days) as the situation is not improving but worsening year after year. Take for example, the swaach bharat project of the Prime Minister, has remained merely a promise but never a reality. His tall promise of improving the condition of the farmers in the country has been conveniently forgotten and poor farmers continue to commit suicide to the shame of our nation. Where are those promises of cleaning the Ganges and other rivers? Most rivers, lakes and places in India remain dirty as ever.
In the meantime taxes are levied for these projects and the money will probably end up in some individuals’ pockets. What “achche din” can we have if the prices of essential commodities keep on rising? When international price of crude oil has come down drastically, the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene keep on rising in India. Keep in mind that the price hike in fuel causes a collateral impact on the economy. Prices of luxury goods may come down and government salaries are doubling, but what will the poor daily wagers gain from all these? India is still a poor country and most of our countrymen still live below poverty line. How many of them have government jobs to benefit from the salary increment of the 7th pay commission? Most of the poor people are not government employees but are either farmers or they do menial jobs where they are often exploited and denied just wages. Now with the little they get how can they cope up with the rising prices of commodities? As far as I recall, it was easier during the Congress Government for poor people to procure LPG and ration cards, but today this has become a very annoying experience for people. It is evident that the BJP Government is pro-rich and it is hand in glove with the corporate world. As such, only millionaires and crorepatis will reap the benefits of this government. The poor and have-nots will have to content with price rise and deprivation.
The BJP is a make-believe government, one that thrives on media propaganda. Modi is always projected as the best prime minister and the media is trying to fool us by saying that even in 2019 election, Modi would still be the best PM candidate. But as the saying goes “the test of the pudding is in the eating”, so in my opinion the litmus test of the BJP Government lies in its performance at the grass root level, I mean the vast population of poor people. Has the condition of the poor improved since the coming of the BJP? This is the question that every responsible Indian citizen should ask today. The answer as of today is negative. When Mr. Modi is wearing a suit that costs lakhs of rupees, there are poor people who cannot afford to buy a shirt to cover themselves. How many poor rubber workers in Kerala are almost jobless because rubber plantation is no more economically viable all because the BJP Government is importing rubber from outside with the intention of killing that industry.
The failure of the tall promise of swaach bharat itself should be reason enough to prove that the BJP government has fallen short of our expectations. Through TDS the government is amassing wealth meant for the implementation of such civil projects, but till today these projects remain as unfulfilled dreams. TDS has become an official way of stealing the citizens’ earnings. No one would resent taxes levied if the public sees that they are being well utilized for public development, but the present government is collecting money not for improving the citizens’ life but perhaps for the next general election campaign. Unfortunately, we live in a country where the mob is easily duped by the media and its subtle propaganda, where idolization of politicians and showbiz persons is a common phenomenon. Mass illiteracy and ignorance has become fuel for crafty politicians who play on the sentiments of people and then cheat them wholesale. I hope the enlightened citizens will soon realize that we are being blackmailed by a government that glorifies itself and its leaders through banal means.