After a long time.. But I am going to skip the self centred monologue
in the beginning and come straight to the point..
This post is in reaction to the allegations on the Planning
Commission of India in general and Montek Singh Alhuwalia in specific. If you
may sit down, I have couple of things to say in the matter!!!
The First controversy was when the Planning Commission
decided to set the poverty line at Rs 32 per head (and later reduced it to 28). Of course
media, bloggers, facebook activists, etc etc went berserk on how can someone
live on Rs 32 per day in India today.
Yet no one mentioned the fact that at
this level the poverty in India stands at 29 percent Plus... That is 36
crore Indians who live below an income
as defined by the Planning commission as the poverty line !!!
Now the technical rebuttal of public argument saying that
these are too law, was given by Swaminathan S A Aiyar here and here
So I am going to leave it at that. Basically the simple fact
that there are 36 crore people living below that income itself is evidence to
the fact that there is a certain merit to the poverty line.
The next was the article
in The Hindu, by P Sainath
which I find utterly ridiculous. He makes the assumptions which I can not
comprehend in any possible way.
- The Rs 28 poverty line is an attempt by the
Planning Commission to drive austerity (which I have never heard the Planning
Commission stating)
- The money which I earn or which I spend should be in proportion to what I think the poverty line should be !!!
Sainath goes to even more juvenile exercises in comparing the money that Dr. Alhuwalia spent abroad with the poverty line!!!!
Think about it, 4000 USD while nominally is equal to 2 lacs
plus, is not actually equal to 2 lacs. Basic economics suggests that for
comparison of earnings or spending between two countries, the better indicator
should be Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). And by that the expenditure is roughly
half of the amount that is expressed as
the daily expenditure !! (in PPP terms 1 dollar is roughly 19-20 Rs)
The same error is used in converting the Poverty line to 45
cents in USD terms. (as you can see from Swami ‘s article which I linked above,
the poverty line figures work out to be
more than 1.25 USD which is the world bank benchmark for Poverty Line)
These are economic mistakes..
The bigger mistake is how can you compare the money spent by
someone who is holding such a high rank in the GOI with someone who is in
abject poverty?
So essentially
1)Dr Alhuwalia should not have gone to any of his foreign
conferences
2) If at all he went, he should not have stayed in five star
hotels like his counterparts. He should have stayed in a cheap rundown bread
and breakfast place
3) When the foreign dignitaries invited him for a lunch
meeting or discussion in fine dining restaurants, he should have excused
himself and ate at Mc Donald’s or better
still roadside hotdog stands
4) While it is expected to tip at least 10% everywhere in
US, he should have shown the classic Indian cheapness proudly (that Russel
Peters make fun of)
5) While all his peers arrived at the meeting venues with
their entourage in high end sedans, he should have simply hired a yellow
taxi!!!
You get the drift rt?
The same is the case with the fresh debate on Rs 35 Lac
toilets in Planning Commission Office.
If we as a country is to grow, (and mind you that is the
only way to remove poverty) we have to get rid of our cheapness.
The only relevant question about both these scenarios is ..
Did Montek or Planning Commission follow right procedures, ie did he spend
within the allowance that he is entitled to as Deputy Chairman of Planning
Commission. Did he involve the right departments, bid out the contracts etc for
the toilet construction etc..
I am fine with criticism against the Rs 28 poverty
line. But the logic should be different. What do you think the limit should be?
How did you arrive at it? Except for a couple of guys who did an experiment of
sorts, this was not even attempted by any of the intellectuals (of course they
would have had to explain their earnings or spending wrt their defined
baselines wouldn’t they).
Also do not get the wrong impression, I am not a chamcha of
Planning Commission. In fact I even question the need for such an institution.
Also since we have such an institution, I should hold them responsible for
slowing down of Indian Economy.
But getting personal and challenging expenses to a
ridiculous level will only scare away qualified people from taking up any
position of responsibility in India. At the very least think about it !!
