Friday, November 26, 2010

HOW 2G IS INDIA’S FIRST PRO-POOR SCAM

The chatterati and the pundits seem to be behaving as if the 2G scam marks the end of the Indian civilization. There is passionate agonizing over how the carpetbaggers of crony capitalism have looted more than Rs 1.7 lakh crore (almost $40 billion) of potential revenue due to the Indian exchequer. There are inevitable and familiar laments about how the money could have been used to build more schools, health care centres et al for poor Indians (the real scam being that enough schools and health care centers for the poor have not been built even 63 years aft er independence; 54 years of Nehruvian socialism; 39 years of Garibi Hatao and 20 years of economic reforms).

Forgive me for being cynical; but I think the poor of India would actually cheer and welcome 2G style scams because they have actually given something worthwhile to the poor. Look at it this way: till former Minister A. Raja started doling out telecom licenses like prasad in a crowded temple, a handful of telecom operators were making a killing and the really poor could not still afford the tariffs charged by them. Post the monumental 2G scam, telecom tariffs actually dropped to a paisa a second and even lower. More importantly, intense competition forced telecom operators – both old and new – to look beyond saturated urban markets. The fact is: most of the 300 odd million new subscribers since 2008 live in small towns and rural India. For them, the power of mobile connectivity at oft en Rs.100 a month is literally a dream come true. Also, do not forget how smart entrepreneurs have grabbed this exploding market by importing Chinese handsets. Most of these models are in sync with this new market: they offer long battery (upto 72 hours, even 72 days!) life to people for whom long and unending power cuts are an unending reality.

Ask these poor Indians about the moral, intellectual and existential issues raised by the 2G scam and they will laugh at you. And justifiably. For more than 60 years, they have helplessly witnessed false promise aft er promise and scam aft er scam without any material difference to their wretched lives. Now, scam or not, they have got something concrete and worthwhile. As far as they are concerned, the pundits can go on debating to kingdom come.

And don’t underestimate the poor or their ability to figure out what is good for them. The perpetually scam tainted MRNEGA is another example of a pro-poor scam. Everybody knows corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and contractors are still brazenly using NREGA funds to line their pockets. And yet the poor in rural India consider the scheme to be a divine blessing. Their logic? Earlier, they used to get nothing; now they at least get something. Raving and ranting and railing against NREGA corruption is not going to change that.

The fact is: Indira Gandhi was dead right when she categorized corruption as a global phenomenon. You must be living in cuckoo land if you think there is no corruption in countries like Japan, USA, UK et al. The best a society can do is miniminize corruption; it can never be eliminated.

Most (I wish I could say all!) of us wish and pray for corruption and scams to come down drastically. Till we move closer towards that Utopia, I say let a thousand 2 G type scams-which actually benefit the masses instead of the classes-bloom!

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3 comments:

  1. The title is contradictory to the contents of the article. If the author claims 2G scam of 2007 to be the first Pro-POOR scam of the nation and finds the NREGA of 2005 to be from the same stable, then how does 2G get the title of being the first pro-poor scam. I guess, NREGA is the rightful owner of the title.
    Besides, according to the theory of relativity, exchequer could have utilised the sum lost to telcos prudently towards the upliftment of the poor, therefore, poor tend to lose from the scam, in contrast to the author's suggestions.

    Regards,
    Ashish Saxena
    asis003@gmail.com

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  2. So mainly it proves that India is clunky and Unwieldy. Or are the poor are the same? There is no dearth of opportunities.

    Or India is a non planned Society. Planning made cities of Olden days perfect. So more and more focus should be given on Urban and Rural Planning.

    India achieved a lot after Independence. Indians are respected world over and power the Western developed socities. It only means that Indian DNA is superior. The only problem is to scale the Prototype.

    Less population would translate into better Quality of Life for all. So poor should be given incentive for Family Planning. The population should be seen as a dynamic problem like that of Economy and intervenions should be designed to stimulate or sabotage the overpopulation by the government.

    Corruption may be present inHuman genes and is a subjective term. All people love a little gratification hereand there, though the degree varies.

    OK,
    Nice Read Sir,
    Bye.

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  3. Sutanu,

    The whole divide is fairly stark. One needs to chose between the two extremes. Does one wish to become the Biblical "cleanser" or "Avatar" to set "right" what is happening globally?

    Or does one wish to become "empowered" by whichever way/means available in order to buffer one's own needs as well as those of his family?

    Chosing the former will take you straight to the core of human degradations and value systems etc - the incredibly unnatural notion of "limited liability, unlimited profits". It will make you want to use the imperfect political environment in order to delete from the statute books, the Companies Act of 1956. So that business men put their money where their mouths are... and if they screw up, they personally go to jail- or at the risk of sounding Taliban-ish, flogged in public.
    And not sit smirking behind the "corporate veil" which theoretically can be "pierced" but which practically becomes impossible because that veil has threads made up of the corrupt elements from the legislature, the executive, the administration and judiciary as well...

    The latter makes one a part of the so-called corrupting influence. So, grin and bear it. Fix your life and the life of those you care for. Oil and gas, minerals, band-width, defence, atomic energy - everything is for sale. Because everything ultimately boild down to human values. And those have been sold, cut up, eaten and digested since about 1897 (Salomon V Salomon, House of Lords, UK) when the British system (which in turn ruled half of the world back then) decided to separate ownership from management and decreed that human beings may come and go but a "Company" lives forever. Welcome to the House of the Devil.

    So, dear Sutanu... the polarization is complete. And the human race races away to nothingness...

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