The price of Indifference and an example from Karnataka.

The price of Indifference and an example from Karnataka.

Trashing politicians as corrupt and selfish is now a national past time for the Indian middle class. Not that our politicians are shining examples of honesty and competence. They are not. They are among the worst people you can ever think of.  But whining and complaining will not wish them away. But that’s what we do.. even result oriented  corporate go-getters become paralysed when it comes to doing something about politics.

Some of the best brains in India are trying to look for solutions, but no success so far… and no hope even remotely visible in the future. The way our political system has evolved it is now nearly impossible to get rid of the corrupt political class. Even a 100 well meaning Raul Gandhi’s and/ or  Narendra Modi’s will not be able to change the system. I may sound pessimistic, but if someone can tell me a way out I will be overjoyed and support that cause. The Lokpal Bill had some promise but when you ask a thief to pass the law , what can one expect !

So what  can one see happening for the next 25 to 30 years in India ?

• an annual GDP growth of 5% which will generate just enough surplus (which politicians will dole out ) to keep the poor from starvation and revolt.
• The BPL population, as currently defined ( income of Rs 30 approx per person per day) may shrink by 2 % per year.
• We will still be a “poor country” , nowhere near even middle income countries.
• this rate of growth will also provide huge monetary rewards to the political class and bureaucracy.
• Inflation in near double digits… the middle class / urban poor will get squeezed.
• Infrastructure improvement will move at a snails pace. Our large cities will become increasingly difficult and unsafe to live in.
• India will have the world’s third largest number of billionaires, most of them as a result of crony capitalism. If the “black money” billionaires are included (read politicians), we  may be second largest.

And all this will happen while we keep chanting “India is the World’s largest democracy.”

The only one thing that can upset the above scenario (it is a very low probability, but nevertheless good wishful thinking) is that the growing middle class may create a new , less corrupt political order. I give this event a probability of 5 % or less.

So clearly the  middle class will suffer a great deal. Now let us look inward. What have we actually done to change things. Have we encouraged our children to join politics ? No. Have we ourselves done it ? No. So, clearly ,  bad governance/ corrupt politicians  is the price we pay for indifference.

On the other hand look at the people who are in politics, an example form Karnataka. The Congress (and other parties too ) is distributing tickets for the upcoming assembly elections. . The crowd outside the Congress office is so large that the police has to be called in to control it. Ticket aspirants have hired people to shout slogans in their support. Existing  and aspiring MLAs who have been denied tickets are threatening to turn rebel. In short these people are very focused and very motivated. The rewards maybe uncertain but can often be huge, and that’s what drives these people.