Naxals Have More Sense Than Chacha

AK Singh’s comment yesterday, on how politicians run PSUs, based on his own personal experience, deserves to be placed on the main page. So here goes:

As the son of a former public sector employee, I witnessed first hand how the ministers charge bureaucrats for the cushy jobs, use any company vehicles as their "baap ki jageer", award contracts to their favoured parties, keep their mistresses/relatives in the guest houses, and constantly harass the few honest left among the corrupt.

Thirty-eight years of service in the public sector left my father a bitter, cynical man who can't view anything in a positive light. There must be a special place in hell for people who do this to a man.

The first point he makes is that ministers take money for appointments. That is, these PSUs are auctioned to the highest bidders. Of course, we all know that politicians take money for all government appointments, as well as transfers and postings, beginning with police constables. It surely cannot be that PSUs are exempt from this.

But what does this mean for theory?

Under socialist theory, “collective ownership” is the Great Ideal. However, as reality indicates, all these PSUs are actually “private property” being ruthlessly exploited by those who “claim to represent the public.” In other words, the very idea of collective property is false.

Indeed, this conclusion is upheld by Singh’s very next sentence, where he says that company vehicles and guest houses are “baap ki jageer” (father’s property) for our socialist politicians.

So there we have it: PSUs are Private Properties of Politicians.

Socialism is a Fraud on The People.

Yet, I do believe roads are genuine collective property in the sense that they can be used by all. None can be debarred from them. If all the PSUs were sold, we could easily finance a toll-free, world-class (i.e. of GERMAN standards) highway network.

The Indian Express lead editorial today is on roads. But they are talking of “private-public partnerships,” which they admit is unfeasible where traffic projections are low. Such partnerships delay projects indefinitely – we all know why.

Then there is a highly relevant ToI story on roads which warns that tolls are going to rise – for 2-laned roads, for 4-laned roads, for bridges, et. al. This is double taxation. Further Fraud.

There is also a report in Mint that talks of the “food subsidy” bill going up to over Rs. 70,000 crore. Our The State is going ahead with a “food security law” – as if The Law has “lacteal veins within its breast with which to feed the hungry,” as Bastiat quipped. These bozos in our legislatures do not know the purpose of law, which is to prohibit certain acts – like murder, rape, etc. The law is “negative.” The “right to food” cannot be law in any meaningful sense. This is mere gimmickry. Further Fraud. Another nonsensical “right.”

I am therefore of the view that Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi is playing a wily game. The Left have gone, but he is happy with the DMK and Trinamool opposing privatisation – because his “baap ki jageer” will remain.

Under Chacha, roads will never be built as they should – out of tax revenue, free for all users.

And I would like to see an investigative report on Kamal Nutt’s tribal constituency in Madhya Pradesh, which has been returning him to parliament for 29 years. He is now roads minister. How are the roads in his “baap ki jageer”?

In the meantime, here is an interesting investigative report from the Hindustan Times on our Naxalites, who have taken over parts of West Bengal. Yes, they are building roads as top priority. They are not providing subsidised rice to anyone.

More power to the Naxals, I say!