Who were responsible for keeping this country poor and underdeveloped? The politicians failed us; of course an educated urban often replies. You are compelled to agree with that if you keenly observe the economic decisions of the political class in the country. “In an underdeveloped country, every economic decision will be a political decision” – says a quote. There are many instances for the failure of politicians our country and the latest one comes from one of the frustrated ladies of Indian politics -Ms Mamata Banerjee. She is threatening to throw away her colleague, the Railways Minister Mr Dinesh Trivedi out of the job if the meagerly increased fares are not withdrawn. Mr. Trivedi has announced a 2 paise /km of fare hike in passenger class in the budget which is the first increase in nine years for the ailing Indian Railways. The Indian Railways is a case study of mismanagement as the people who took over it used the national transporter for winning votes by offering fare cuts. For nine years, the process continued resulting in insufficient money for the national transporter. Modernization and safety all were stopped due to lack of funds. The Indian Railways is one of the largest accident prone transporters in the world. Its efficiency is zero at a time when China announced the launch of bullet trains using indigenously developed technology. On the other hand, in India, the Railway ministry is looking for continuous government aid to finance its day to day functioning. All these occurred due to populist concessions adopted by different ministers in the past. The railways badly need money now on its own to enhance security of the passengers, to modernize its services and to upgrade the facilities to the world class level. For all these, it has to procure money from the passengers in a judicious manner. It should not depend continuously on tax payer’s money for providing its services. Mr Trivedi is correct in stating that he pulled out the railways “out of the ICU”. “Let us be honest somewhere …you can play politics with the railways …but you cannot play politics with the railways too much”- he reminds indicating the poor administration of the transporter in the past. We need politicians like Mr Trivedi to lead the country in this crucial development phase. Petty politicians of Mamata’s class have failed us. They have used this country to develop their political image and interests. Ms Magmata’s arrogance is against the people in the long term. The event shows that politicians are ruling the country simply because of the fact that they are the masters of sentimental populist politics.
