The scary and shameful manner in which the governance system is being derailed to suit the personal whims of those in power is evident also in the observation by a parliamentary panel that the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 went haywire. The findings of the House panel linked to “women empowerment” that went into aspects of utilization of some Rs 850 crore in the past six years noticed that nearly 80 per cent of these funds was distributed by governments to media establishments by way of advertisements. Multiple government funds are misused and squandered this way. This is typical of the wayward styles of those who rule this country in the garb of democracy and rob the exchequer for their personal aggrandizement. The unprincipled, self-seeking crop of politicians does not buy media support by using money from their pockets. They indulge in tactics like this. There indeed are still a large number of politicians whose integrity in promoting public causes is unassailable. But, the number of the black sheep is steadily rising more because those the nation elects as its leader(s) are unmindful of arresting such trends and instead concentrate on indulgences like freebies to the poor to pocket their votes. The poor do not know they deserve more than crumbs. That their plight has only worsened in India compared to the British Raj days was well-documented in a recent global study. This, for us, is clear as sunlight. Politicians will rile at such findings because their own survival is called into question.
Notably, it is neither understandable or acceptable that 80 per cent of the central funds meant for the uplift of poor girls and their education has been squandered. The media faced serious odds during the last two years due to the Covid-linked devastation caused to the economy through reckless lockdowns for repeated terms. Helping the media in such contexts is fine, but this splurge has been going on since 2015. Normally, in olden days, the Centre used to give break-ups as to how the money for a project should be utilized and how much could be spent for public awareness or advertisements. States and even the Centre seemed to have thrown sense and caution to the winds. Likely there was no such stipulation when this fund was released in instalments. The government, rather than coming up with an explanation, is keeping quiet – a trait often exhibited by thieves. In the long term, such indulgences are bound to seriously hurt the institution of democracy itself.
