The Global Slowdown has been on for what seems like forever (in fact, the economy may even be on an upward swing now) but suddenly India is seeing a political austerity drive. The high and mighty will no longer stay in five star hotels. They will travel by economy class in air and also use trains. While some have welcomed it, I don’t support it at all. Here are my four reasons for doing so…

Whither Security?

Stop being partisan or cynical for a minute: I would want my Prime Minister and the top people who run this country to be safe. While the number of all-out wars may be going down in the world the number of relatively small-scale attacks is on the rise. When a VVIP goes by a private or Air Force jet, it is very difficult for someone to infiltrate. Not so with economy class. Any troublemaker could come as a passenger.
And if the VVIP is at risk, isn’t so the public travelling along?
Future Prime Minister potential Rahul Gandhi’s train got attacked the very first time he went austere. I don’t see this as a long-term solution.

Grave Public Inconvenience

VVIPs and the Common Man live in two different worlds. And rightly so! I remember from my college days, whenever the Prime Minister would visit Bangalore, traffic jams would see some people being stuck for 4-6 hours! Let them all travel in luxury helicopters all the time. Both worlds would be happy. Imagine if you were sitting in an Air India plane where the top five rows were reserved for security and a VVIP entourage:

1. Movement would be restricted.
2. All the airhostesses and stewards would be busy with the “front-seaters” and you might be left high and dry.
3. If the back loo was out of order, then you might not be able to use the front loo for security reasons!

They are entitled to it man!

The bigger the company: The bigger the perks. The bigger the rank: The greater the luxury. It’s as simple as that. It applies to every company and most governments in the world. India’s GDP stands at more than a trillion dollars!
That’s more than $1,000,000,000,000.
When the top executives of billion dollar companies travel in fancy cars and business class, what’s wrong with high-profile politicians doing the same? Whether you like it or not, they are the country’s custodians.

Whither Real Issues?

In 2009, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented a budget of Rs 1000,000 crore! Out of that about Rs 39,000 crore was for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, more than Rs 12,000 crore was for the National Rural Health Mission and Rs 15,000 crore plus was for highways. That’s what the Finance Minister should concern himself with. Roads. Agriculture. Education. Basic amenities… All this austerity and “no five star” talk will save a few crore rupees at best: That’s peanuts. By doing such stunts, attention is being diverted from the real issues.

Austerity, then, is a Red Herring.

© Sunil Rajguru