Tags:
Journalism of Courage
What does it say about us if dirty toilets are seen to be a necessary sign of austerity?
Montek-baiting has been fun but now we should declare hunting season closed before the sport degenerates into vicious absurdity. Montek Singh Ahluwalia allowed the Planning Commission to mechanically set the poverty line at a politically imprudent level. But for that,and for reasonably recommending austerity,he is being dragged over the coals by the narrow- and bloody-minded who,by the way,are not noted for austerity in their private lives.
Expenditure on his foreign trips has been stringently audited but scrutiny has been restricted to one half of the balance sheet. Conveniently,no one has totted up the benefits that his travels have brought in. And now,this selective logic has surpassed itself. Ahluwalia is being targeted for installing clean toilets at the Planning Commission for Rs 35 lakh. The criticism highlights the disparity between this investment in governmental hygiene and the daily expenditure the Commission has allowed to the poor.
However,Montek-baiters are conveniently ignoring a competing reality everyone,not just the babus of the Planning Commission and patrons of hotels,malls and airports,should have access to good sanitation. Why should trains,bus terminals,highway stops and even urban slums have to make do with basic and usually filthy amenities? Surely clean and hygienic toilets are a necessity,not a sign of luxury. The critics have been as narrow-minded as disarmament fundamentalists who use spurious displacement analysis to make their point. See how many hospitals we could build if we didnt buy that interceptor? How many primary schools could a battle tank finance? Ahluwalia is being subjected to the critique of the simple-minded. It needs to stop because its turning plain silly.
