What Austerity!

By Poonam I Kaushish

Austerity? What’s that? In a milieu of George Orwellian ‘more equal than others’ India, this term sounds hollow. So, when Prime Minister Modi recently urged Indians in the name of patriotism to rediscover restraint in Viksit Bharat 2047 by using public transport or car pool, go Swadeshi, avoid buying gold, say no to foreign travel etc, two different traumatic memories kicked in: Lockdown days and pre-liberalisation era.

Primarily, as austerity and belt tightening has always been the operating system of Indian politics since Mahatma Gandhi’s days. Remember, poet and freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu’s famous lament “It costs a lot to keep Gandhi in poverty! Which, involved booking full train compartments and procuring demure goats for milk to satiate his specific and peculiar gustatory needs.

Our first Prime Minster Nehru asked a hungry Republic to save food. His successor Shastri preached skipping a meal when intermittent fasting and one-meal-a-day weren’t dietary fads but harsh realities. Indira turned enforced simplicity into discipline, with the State watching prices, hoarders and eventually everything.

And therein lay the rub. Calls for sacrifice were par for the course because self-denial was an essential part of nation-building. Citizens gave up rice, gold or dinner because the Republic was still a work in progress, held together by ration cards, radio speeches and the belief that tomorrow would justify today’s discomfort.

Today, consumption itself has become the evidence that the Republic has arrived. Petrol, gold, foreign holidays, quick commerce and destination weddings are no longer treated as indulgences; they are needs.

Sadly, Modi’s dream of Viksit Bharat 2047 has crash landed, for no fault of his. His promise of achhe din is now on hold. But see our duplicities leaders. The call for “austerity” often co-exists with visible privileges for our political and bureaucratic elite which makes such measures feel hollow. Specially, when we see large security convoys and roadblocks stretching to over 30 minutes.

After the Prime cut Minister his cavalcade by half some of his minion Ministers traveled pillion on mopeds, one took an e-rickshaw, another cycled to showcase ‘going humble’ by forsaking their luxurious and lavish lifestyle for patriotic reasons.  No matter, their security personnel busily shooed commuters as “Mantriji is cycling”. All, for a photo-op.

The icing on the cake: All live like Burra Sahibs! Costing the tax payer an extra Rs 60 crore annually to maintain their seven-star plush 5-acres mansions in tony Lutyens Delhi with manicured lawns where they grow wheat and vegetables, free pani upto 4000 kl per annum, bijli upto 50,000 units, furniture Rs 30,000, 1,50,000 local calls for 3 telephones and 50,000 free local calls during a year for Internet, air-conditioners, fridges and maintenance to boot down to a Rs 50 tube-light all for free.

Moreover, our jan sevaks have a battalion of policemen to protect them from the janata they profess to serve! Shockingly, 50% of the entire police force to guard over 2,500 such VIPs in a country that has, perhaps, the lowest per capita policing — 10 armed cops for 1 lakh people. Worse, there is a 1,200% rise in policemen cover for VIPs in Mumbai over the last 5 years, in Punjab 703 VVIPs get security.

True, Modi banned red beacons to curb VIP culture yet convoys and traffic stoppages still function as a de facto privilege, a signal of diverting public resources and reinforcing the “elite bubble” perception. We removed the “lal batti,” but not the “VIP mindset.” Thereby, trashing a Supreme Court judgment, “VIP security is obnoxious. It’s nothing but a status symbol, a scandal when a common man is killed on the street, old people strangled and politicians get so much security at taxpayers’ money”.

The tragedy is that in 21st century India for our ruling neo-Maharajas the vestige of 19th century still lingers on. No IDs’, no frisking and long queues, in-your-face security on roads with an entourage of gun-toting commandos they flaunt their “power status” by blocking traffic, jumping red lights etc to exhibit their ‘power’ might. God forbid, if anyone questions their misdemeanor be prepared for open fury.

Primarily, part of the problem is that while citizens are told to accept cuts one doesn’t see proportional restraint at the top. When austerity is preached, visible spending on elite comforts look contradictory, which angers people as they suffer daily inconveniences due to a VIPs time being valued more than thousands others. Sacrifice is accepted from the public, not from those in power.

Issues, which leave a bitter taste in the aam aadmi’s mouth. Already grappling with sky-rocketing prices, shrinking budgets and rising unemployment, it raises a question: Aren’t symbols of authority contrary to the basic feature of republicanism enshrined in our Constitution?

Perhaps part of the problem is that we suffer a huge hangover of colonial legacy whereby Indian society often still associates power with display, office with privilege, status with visible separation. Consequently VIP culture is not only political — it is also social and bureaucratic.

Sadly, no ruling Party be it BJP, Congress or others — has a strong incentive to bring austerity or dismantle VIP culture because: Status signals power in Indian politics and patronage networks rely on perks and privileges. Consequently, austerity which calls for shared sacrifice has to align with dispensing with hierarchical privileges. Till such time, skepticism will remain.

Besides, why is it austerity announcements often focus on reducing travel expenses, cutting meetings, limiting discretionary spending, but big-ticket items: administrative inefficiencies, subsidies with political motives, large infrastructure overruns are rarely addressed with the same urgency.

Thus, in a milieu where simplicity and austerity is Utopian to our polity, what frugality are we talking about?  The issue isn’t austerity itself—it’s asymmetry. When ordinary citizens are asked to tighten belts while elites appear insulated, the policy loses moral authority.

Thus, to make austerity credible, our polity needs to lead by example: visible cuts in top-level perks, public disclosure of Government spending, system reforms: reduce bureaucratic waste, not just optics and equal enforcement: same rules for officials and citizens where possible.

High time, for Government to cut spending on itself. As an ex-Finance Minister confided, “one- third items on Government’s agenda could be cut without any one even noticing. Along-with   many dispensable Government departments and employment cuts.” A case in point: Visit to Capital Delhi NDMC looks like one has walked into a “slumber party”, with the awake “hanging out” drinking tea. Sic.

The bottom line: The gap between message and reality is what fuels the “more equal than others” sentiment.  Whereby, the frustration isn’t just about tightening the belt, it’s about fairness and dignity in everyday life. Time our high and mighty wake up to the danger lurking round the corner and smell the coffee. Will our leaders live by the austerity they preach? — INFA