Of LPG share and others : Redefining quota raj
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 26 2011 -

A bullet tanker truck heads for Imphal-File - Pix :: TSE

The immense pressure mounted by the VVIPs who come under the garb of the politicians, bureaucrats and high ranking police officials, on the distributors to increase their quota of LPG at this time of scarcity should not come as a surprise to anyone who is used to the arrogance and insensitivity of the people occupying positions of power and influence.

Each single gesticulation of the hand, each scowl that decorates the ugliest of faces, each obscenely loud shouts to shoo away the traffic just so that they can impose their right of way at peak hour is a reflection of the mindset behind the very act of pressurising the agents to increase their quota of filled LPG cylinders.

Each day that is added to the economic blockade/counter blockade on the National Highways, each goods truck that is burnt on the highways, each litre of fuel that is sold in the black market at maddeningly inflated rate, each extra rupee that is charged for a filled LPG cylinder in the black market, each hour that is spent in the queue outside a fuel outlet for petrol worth Rs 500 or Rs 400 have in one way or the other been turned into some of a milch cow for this class of people.

So while the average Tomba and Chaoba are forced to forgo their allotted share of a filled LPG cylinder after waiting for a period of 50/60 days post their last booking, we have these bunch of people deciding that the best time to exert their presence and power is during this time of crisis and jack up their demand to 50/60 filled LPG cylinders everytime the day for distribution to the valid consumers comes.

The availability of such scarce commodity abundantly in the black market should be self explanatory. This may be understood as giving a unique touch to the Quota Raj. In as much as such conduct of these people will not shock the public, this does not mean that everything should be taken silently.

This is not only a gross misuse of power and authority but is also a naked demonstration of a mindset to whom the public is nothing much more than a foot-duster.

Marie Antoinette and her Let Them Eat Cakes, pale in comparison when viewed against the fact that what happened in France in the 18th Century was during the period of monarchy, before the idea of modern democracy had come to roost, unlike the present 21st Century Manipur which is claimed to be a State of the largest democracy in the world.

And so it stands that while those who can afford it have to cough up the ridiculous amount of anything between Rs 1500 to Rs 2000 for a filled LPG cylinder in the black market, those who cannot have to fall back on the charcoal and not surprisingly the price of charcoal too has shot up significantly.

One does not need to be a student of Economics to understand the interplay of demand and supply and the resources available to understand why there has been a significant increase in the price of charcoal.

Muddying this scenario is the unfolding sordid tale of how the political class and those occupying the corridors of Babudom have been dipping their scummy, dirty hands in the scarce commodity and perhaps preening under the shadow of their bullying tactics. Something has to give.

It cannot go on like this forever. However as the past has repeatedly shown, the humiliation of having to spend more than four/five hours to get petrol worth Rs 500 or so, the discomfort the lady of the house has to face to lit up the chulha (Meiphu) everytime the tea has to be brewed, the ignominy of being ordered to clear the way just so that the political Boss can shop more conveniently, will evaporate like water running off the back of the duck when the time for reckoning comes.

Perhaps this is what the people deserve, for not for any reason is it said that in a democracy people get the type of Government they deserve. This however does not mean that the towel should be thrown in.

To throw in the towel presupposes the contestant being in the ring and it should be clear to all that each day, each minute, each breath that the people take is a reminder that they are indeed in the ring. What is needed is a clear perception of the situation.

The farce has been going on for too long. To put it in a nutshell, it is about people in positions of power and authority robbing the source of energy to cook one's food, that is whatever little is left to be cooked after the greater share has been siphoned off by the emerging nexus of the unholy triad of the politicians, contractors and Babus.