When the boys got home after their walk, Shekhar was drinking his tea. “How was your day?” he asked.
“Good. We ate some excellent jamuns and played with the pets,” Ravi replied cheerfully. Then, remembering the labourers living in the hutments on the roadside, he mentioned how they had seen the men living there taking a shower under the hoses of the water-tankers. Looking pensive, Shekhar asked, “Do you know they take a bath the same way even in winters?”
His nephews were shocked as he went on, “Yes, they do, since they need to reach their work places early unlike government employees. Using the Delhi smog and traffic snarls as excuses, government employees leisurely reach their offices only after eleven. Then they laze around basking in the sun and drinking tea before settling down to work. Again, after an hour, they rush outdoors to sit in the sun and enjoy a long lunch break. Later, after attending to work for an hour, they hurriedly pack up to leave at 4 pm, fearing the cold and the smog and the evening traffic jams. This is accepted as a way of life.”
After a pause, he went on to paint a picture of the stark contrast between government employees and labourers. “A contractor doesn’t allow this liberty to his workers. So, they get ready at dawn with the help of their women. Wrapped in shawls, squatting on empty gunny bags, the women make chapattis on make-shift stoves propped up on three stones and fuelled with twigs and sticks collected from the jungle. After a quick breakfast, the men pick up their lunch packs and ride their bicycles to their work sites.”
Rekha added, “Yet, despite their tough lives, whenever I see them glued to their transistors listening to Hindi songs, I feel that they try to remain content with what they have like the army men posted on the border and the tribes in remote jungles.”
Shekhar was very concerned about the growing inequality in society. “Look at the wide spectrum – the beggars, the starkest poor, the workers, the middle class, the rich and the ultra-rich. The gap between the poorest and the ultra-rich in our country – can you imagine it? Some people try to move up the ladder by any means possible. Some government servants accept their position in the social order – high above these workers and far below the rich – as fait accompli and take comfort in staying where they are. Others take a shot at becoming ultra-rich by abusing their authority. They are confident that they will get away with it. Even on the rare occasions when the corrupt are caught, there are so few instances of them being punished.”
Shekhar pointed out that the poor remain where they are since all the schemes meant to help them get mired in corruption and frauds. The boys hung on to his every word as he shared some examples. Shekhar explained, “We keep hearing about people taking bribes for issuing ration cards and about how low-quality food grains are supplied to people while the good ones are siphoned off to the market. Take the classic example of Arunachal Pradesh. The scheme is meant to provide subsidised grains to people in the remote hills there. Transportation expenses are also borne by the government. In reality, no food grains reach them and the stocks are quietly diverted to the market. At the same time, false claims are made by a coterie of contractors, politicians, and officials that grains were transported by trucks from Guwahati to Arunachal and carried by mules and porters to the remote parts.”
“The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is a laudable scheme to provide at least minimum employment guarantee to people. Wherever it is sincerely implemented, people in rural areas get their daily wages for digging wells, clearing paths, maintaining water tanks, etc. But what happens in most places is a different story. People are paid about half of their wages without doing any work while the rest of it is pocketed by those who control the funds. As a result, labourers become complacent. Agriculture suffers a big setback because of this.”
“We also keep hearing about children falling sick or even passing away after consuming mid-day meals in some parts of the country. Sometimes, a lizard or a scorpion poisons their meals or some adulterated food items are supplied. Think of the callousness and dishonesty of those in charge!” In a disgusted tone, he added, “Such people have no conscience at all. They don’t even spare animals.”
“Are you referring to the fodder scam, Mamaji?” Pradeep asked.
Shekhar nodded. “Can you imagine someone procuring 5 kg fodder for one bird per day? That is the essence of the fodder scam and the scale of embezzlement. People fabricated vast herds of fictitious livestock and procured fodder, medicines and animal husbandry equipment for them. Initially started on a small scale, it grew into a full-fledged mafia operation involving many bureaucrats, elected representatives and business people. Together, they embezzled 950 crores quietly over the years. Although the CBI filed numerous cases, the trials still drag on.”
“There’s corruption everywhere, no doubt. But I feel you are scaring the children with all this talk,” Rekha said. She felt sorry for them and hoped they would not turn into cynics after their stay in Delhi. Ravi assured her, “Surely not, Mami. It is good to know these facts.”
Shekhar felt that Rekha had a point. He tried to cheer them up, “Don’t be sad. This is simply a fact of life. And you know it has been there since time immemorial.”
Excerpted with permission from The New Age of Bakasur, N Dilip Kumar, Speaking Tiger.
