Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s directive to his ministers not to gather at the airport to see him off has come like a whiff of fresh air. In a country given to such senseless and expensive rituals, sensible thinking seems to remain confined to responsible men like Singh.The appeal reminded me of a front page story I had done some time in ’94 for this newspaper. Then prime minister, Narasimha Rao, had come to Chandrapur to “dedicate to the nation” units 5 and 6 of the local thermal power station.The story had quoted some unnamed officials and ordinary citizens and raised questions over the propriety of holding the function, which was estimated to have cost a whopping Rs 1 crore, a criminal waste in a country like ours. Fresh coats of colours, chalking of the road borders, hundreds of vehicles making countless trips to the venue, five hundred truckloads emptied at the site of a temporary helipad, barricading, thorough security checks and preview visits by scores of so-called VIPs and VVIPs, were some of the preceding activities aimed at giving the place the look of a new-bride. In kind, it meant a fortnight of administrative flux and incalculable manhours. All this just for a 45-minute function.And, shockingly enough, the then PM was to perform the “dedication” act for the two units, which were operational since two years prior to the event. Curiously, Rao was the second PM to go there for such a function. In 1984, Indira Gandhi had “dedicated” the first phase of the project.The story had also referred to more such instances, including an earlier visit by Rao’s predecessor, Rajiv Gandhi, to lay the foundation stone of the Gosikhurd irrigation project. The cost of the visit was said to have been more than the maximum amount sanctioned for the project in any year since then. Ironically, the project is still far from being completed. A right-thinking State Electricity Board engineer had raised a very pertinent question as to what exactly these leaders do by “dedicating” something to the nation. Another asked why a VIP had come all the way from New Delhi.Now, how many of us really feel disturbed by such questions? Most leaders with vested interests would love an opportunity to be a part of such extravaganzas. If Rao’s 45-minute Chandrapur visit had cost Rs 1 crore, just imagine how many such crores may have been lost in such programmes to date. Perhaps, enough to wipe out the entire debt of our crisis-ridden farmers!The PM has raised a very important issue, but he shouldn’t stop here. He must take it to its logical end. That is, he has to end this culture of meaningless rituals — if necessary, by legislation.
