Indian Government Economic Divestments

Padmini Arhant

Amid soaring inflation and sluggish economic growth besides high unemployment in the worst pandemic environment, the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been engaged in philanthropy with investments in Afghanistan since 2015, the beginning of PM Narendra Modi’s first term in office as the head of the nation.  

India’s ordinary taxpayers money lavishly expended in infrastructure projects overseas in neighboring Afghanistan.

According to leading news organizations in India – PM Narendra Modi dedicated the newly built Parliament building in Kabul to then Afghan government under former President Ashraf Ghani who is reportedly fled Afghanistan since Taliban control of the nation.

“The Indian news agencies report that new Afghan Parliament building cost India $90 million. The other investments include a palace, high school, children hospital, Agriculture and Technology University, Power station, roadways, dams, cricket stadium to name a few among key infrastructure contributions valued at $3 billion thus far.”

The children hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan named after India’s former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by BJP government and leadership PM Narendra Modi is a twist in the overall gesture. The BJP government under PM Narendra Modi never spared opportunity to scapegoat the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her father the first Prime Minister of India, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru for drawbacks and downsides in India’s status in anything and everything up until now. Despite the BJP government’s conspicuous disdain for the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the children hospital in Kabul attributed to ex-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi highlight disingenuous propriety not barring nuanced projection in the ill-conceived substitution of the targeted nemesis with anyone.

Above all, then critically ill infants in BJP’s heavily contested northern state Bihar with at least 150 children dying from acute meningitis and encephalitis (brain fever and inflammation) in June 2019 post second term of PM Narendra Modi’s term in office were not regarded important and worthy of the Prime Minister’s empathy let alone a medically well-equipped children hospital in the location.

Sadly, even at the time of instant infants’ death in the state of Bihar, the infants’ grieving families never heard from PM Narendra Modi on Twitter or in the weekly broadcast regularly reaching Indian audience. PM Narendra Modi otherwise checks on the health and wellbeing of celebrities in the entertainment industry and conveys them speedy recovery message via social media in world view.

Yet another strange involvement by PM Narendra Modi’s government was building a wall in Gujarat state capital to hide the slums from the former United States President Donald Trump’s sight upon the latter visit to Gujarat, India in February 2019. The paradoxical paradigm could have been reversed with resettlement of these residents in a proper habitat. Instead the ordinary citizens tax payments were wasted over a wall to conceal their poverty and poor economic conditions.

In the financial realm, the ordinary Indians pay GST, income tax, property tax as well as indirect taxes adding to the state and national revenue. Indian citizens working abroad in different parts of the world contribute to India’s foreign currency reserve with money sent home to their dependents in the family.

Contrarily, in the domestic front Indian government response to national emergency has been extremely disappointing and frustrating for the victims severely affected in the pandemic and the economic lock down.

PM Narendra Modi’s reaction or the lack thereof to Indian citizens urgency and essentials in the pandemic was widely known regardless of censorship on factual data in social and conventional media. However, the Prime Minister’s discriminatory treatment among citizens further confirmed the government and leadership’s preference to the rich and affluent over the poor yet the backbone of the economy pervasively representing the work force earning next to nothing.

The case in point is at the pandemic onset, the wealthy Indian tourists, students and other members in Indian society traveling overseas for pleasure and other reasons were safely brought home from various destinations world over via chartered Air India flight paid by ordinary tax payers in the economy.

In contrast, the labor force predominantly construction and factory laborers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh etc. working in different parts of India   were stranded at the point of employment nationwide in the abrupt economic lockdown and curfew.  PM Narendra Modi’s government ignored their plight.

Unlike the government’s service to the wealthy Indian travelers, the laborers mobilizing business sectors in the economy were neglected during the pandemic and economic lockdown. In the absence of government’s monetary aid or logistic support, the workers trekked the dangerous highways and railway tracks by foot in an effort to return to their villages from southern India to north and north eastern state and from west to eastern India.

In the course of the journey, some collapsed and passed away on the rail tracks in the sweltering heat at that time. There were also incidents of some workers and families run over by the express trains on the track. Many with their families comprising infants, toddlers, pregnant women and elderly were seen walking several kilometers as far as 1500 Km or more as pedestrians eager to reunite with their community and collectively deal with the pandemic ordeal.

The Indian government’s indifference to improving the economy with jobs, relieving farmers from the financial debts in the agrarian crisis, providing economic assistance to small businesses and especially daily wage earners forced into starvation and other sectors in the economy is a serious setback for a nation with overwhelming majority among 1.3 billion population struggling to make ends meet in the height of the pandemic.

The Indian leaderships and government focus on the nation is now directed at local level with the renaming of world’s largest cricket stadium in Gujarat’s state capital after none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The other infrastructure commitments in the country range from an extravagant Parliament building to Prime Minister Palace in a vast acreage of land and other amenities for political members in India’s capital, New Delhi while the millions of average Indian citizens are abandoned to their fate.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s generosity was extended to nations far and wide with export of vaccines, oxygen supply and medications during the pandemic in India leaving Indian citizens to fend for themselves in the excruciating COVID 19 second wave resulting in mass graves and dead bodies afloat on river Ganga and Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Bihar.

The incumbent Indian government under PM Narendra Modi’s bizarre Samaritan efforts in foreign nations at ordinary Indians’ expense is a growing concern for many bearing the brunt of hikes in petrol and diesel prices among diverse goods and services that are barely affordable.

Without a shadow of doubt, India’s ruling government misplaced priorities and divestments from the economy to fiduciary interests and personal comforts together with image management offshore pose a monumental challenge in India’s economic progress.

BjP political party and PM Narendra Modi as the leader claiming to value Hindu traditions and principles might be acquainted with the basic rules in life and they are as follows:

Prior to spending ordinary citizens hard earned national revenue in foreign shores, keeping own house in order is any government’s foremost duty and responsibility.

India’s $3 billion investment in domestic economy could have addressed burgeoning issues at home like unemployment, farmers grievances and workers – the daily wage earners woes in the middle of pandemic and economic decline alleviating the pandemic impact on health and economy. 

Charity begins at home before spreading near and far. 

Padmini Arhant

Author & Presenter

PadminiArhant.com

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