Satyameva Jayate:Simple and Effective

We elect members to our parliament, state legislatures and local governing bodies regularly and they form the government, frame laws, rules, regulations and policy. The judiciary interprets and pronounces judgements based on these laws, but these organs of state have little power to decide what we think, what we aspire to become and what our attitudes are. It cannot decide for us what jobs we will take up or what sort of education we want, but can only provide us with options and ensure fairness and freedom to choose. We make our own decisions and in this aspect, the state has little role to play.

Our country has seen several instances of crimes against those belonging to lower castes, women, tribes and minorities. The government can only act by prescribing punishments for such acts and cannot be expected to mark its presence in every street corner or in every home and probe our activities. It is true that government can encourage and promote development of those belonging to lower castes, women etc but ultimately it is up us, the individuals, to treat our brethren with respect, dignity and honour. This is where Amir Khan's television endeavour "Satyameva Jayate" has its place, in influencing and educating the public, in generating awareness about the evils that plague us, in a simple yet effective language of a common man and one, thanks to his celebrity status, people will listen to more than they will heed the words of our politicians.

The solution to a skewed sex ratio is very simple, treat girls as equal to boys. The government cannot frame a law for this, go to every home and ensure this happens, our society must change because it feels the need to change and not because there are rules and regulations and incentives to promote the birth of girls. The role of government in these areas is limited, the role of public discussions, awareness, debates and opinions extremely important and such visible forms of discussion as envisaged by Amir Khan should get people thinking because it is in a form people can understand, relate to and most importantly gets their attention. It is much better than the cacophony and extremely annoying professional news presenters that rule prime time television, as "Satyameva Jayate" consists of sensible discussions without any animosity and hot-headedness, shows real problems of real people and not merely expert views of those residing in ivory towers, detached from reality. It deserves appreciation since it goes much beyond tokenism and PR exercises of celebrities and it is evident that there has been some genuine effort from the actor's part to bring an issue to the public.

For all the talk of his actions being amateurish, perhaps that is exactly what the country needs now. A known face coming out and asking questions of us, our lives and attitudes which will be understood by all, an attempt to find simple, elegant yet obvious solutions to the problem that face our country. In my opinion, Amir Khan has succeeded in that and I hope the initial enthusiasm the programme received continues and we too start thinking about the issues in our society to which we alone hold the answer.

Highly Inflammable Inflation

At times, it will be necessary for governments to take hugely unpopular decisions for the greater good and long term positive results. Only a decisive government can take such decisions and we need governments who can make such calls. The price of petrol was deregulated and Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) were given freedom to decide on prices on June 2010 and it has been the cause of public outrage ever since, but it was a step in the right direction. The last bout of revision meant prices went up by over Rs.7. This price hike is definitely justified in the light of fall in the value of rupee, high international prices the world over due to tension over Iranian issue and huge current account deficits. The need for sound financial management is beyond questioning, we have already experienced what such crunches can do since it was such a crisis in 1991 that pushed our nation's financial stability to the brink forcing us to adopt revolutionary economic reforms.

There are a few other reasons to justify higher price for petrol- world over, consumption is rising at such a rapid rate that we will see end of oil within the century, burning of fossil fuels also add to global warming and higher pollution levels and we also see lop-sided power and influence for a few countries that own oil wealth and for those that have influence over these oil producing countries. By keeping the price of oil high, it is assumed that consumption is discouraged but this is rarely true in the case of petroleum products since this is what moves the country, its people and its economy and so no matter how high the price, we will pay for it and there are no viable alternatives either.

In spite of the fact that price rises are justified for petrol (and also for other petroleum products, the prices for which are still under government control), the government must do its part to protect citizens from such hardships. The price of petrol that consumers pay consists of not just the cost of production and margins of OMCs as almost of 50% of it goes to the government (both central and state) in the form various taxes and duties. In the short-term, government can reduce taxes it levies on the consumer by not just forgoing additional revenue from the hiked prices, but a cut in the tax rates themselves. Revenue forgone by reducing and not levying taxes and duties on gold and diamond for the years 2010-2012 was more than 1 lakh crores and during 2012-2013, the government withdrew its own budget proposals to levy a nominal 2% tax on these items which shows that cutting taxes is not something the government is averse to. The majority of petroleum products is produced by the public sector and so there is little meaning to competition among these OMCs since the money is anyway going to the same destination and so costs on marketing and advertisements also make little sense which can be reduced or even done away with.

The revenue generated by government and OMCs from petroleum products must be used to invest in other sources of fuel and energy and to encourage the use of electric cars and also to encourage renewable sources of energy. Only then will our country have long term energy and financial stability. By taxing non-essential items like gold and jewellery, reducing taxes on this essential product and by investing the revenue generated to fund future stability and security, the government can protect the people, address financial issues and clearly show its commitment to good governance that keeps the interest of the people at heart. Only such an all round effort, can completely justify unpopular actions like increase in prices of essential items without inviting the people's angst against the government, will convince the people that short-term pains will evolve into long term gains and only then will the people reward the government with its support and confidence.

In the end, 'the means' becomes the 'end'

'End justifies the means' is a highly popular excuse to justify drastic and unfavourable action and in Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna resorted to it with guile and being the incarnation of god, it is a perfectly fine way of doing things. But what we see these days are that the 'ends' fade from the picture very soon and the means become an end in itself.

India initially established reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs for a period of 10 years so that they can come out of the backward status(the ends) and it has been extended and continues to this day. In fact, reservation is now provided for Other Backward Classes too or OBCs a highly flammable three letter word in India (I do not wish to go into the need or lack of need or misuse of this provision) and now it has become an end in itself as various communities want themselves to be included in the OBC category to avail the benefits of reservation. Achieving reservation has become an end in itself and thus achieving 'backward' status is the means towards the reservation!

Governments were established to serve the people, but now we have governments taking policies that are detrimental to the interests of the people (Think Greece and austerity), whether it be dictatorships propped up with the military and financial might of super-powers or legitimate democracies that trample upon human rights and basic living necessities of its citizens to provide 'economic growth' and generate statistics that will be given 'thumbs up' by rating agencies headed by individuals whose sole purpose in life is to crunch numbers for the benefit of industrialists and manufacturers without considering the impact of the letter grades they award. It does not matter whether governments displace hundreds of thousands of citizens from their homes or deprives millions of them off their livelihoods or poison the air we breathe and water we drink, but we must encourage FDI and mining no matter what the cost.

Money was the means to easy transaction of goods and now making money has become an end in itself (what else can explain the stock market and government efforts to pacify investors who are actually traders and vultures merely trying to cash in on a scoop). It does not matter if we divert farm land for shopping malls and multiplexes, it does not matter that half our country's population is poor (estimates vary, but even under the current poverty line of Rs.22.35 for rural and Rs.28.42 for urban areas, 36crore Indians are poor) we must encourage foreign investors and give them tax exemptions to kindly spend their money here. What our government does not understand is that Europe and USA have got stagnant domestic demand and the only market they have is India (China won't let them in and there are good enough Chinese manufacturers as they learned the tricks of the trade when all western manufacturing shifted to China) and we have the opportunity dictate terms or atleast negotiate as equals rather than waiting for the benevolence of the white-man.

The purpose is lost, the means become a self-serving machine, perpetuating its existence and holding the end as a distant mirage or at times erasing it completely from everyone's mind. Is there a purpose to life? I am glad I do not know of one even if it exists and that means I haven't figured out the means and so I am going to be just fine.