Why
are Indian politicians and civil servants provided with imported cars to roam
around in for non-emergency situations? Does the adherence to ‘made in India’
go only as far as loud (in signalling, not colour) white khadi clothes, and not
even as far as accessories and implements such as footwear, belts, bags, and
pens?
Imported
automobiles may be more powerful, safe, and reliable than Indian ones, but if
an Indian politician or civil servant desires to roam around in one, shouldn’t
it be at his/her own expense, not the government’s? I am excluding emergency
services, particularly police and ambulances, from this requirement: Clearly if
one is to save lives through emergency medical treatment or check crime before
or while it is occurring, one needs the best possible equipment, not to be
hampered by unsupported notions of patriotism. But what of a routine
office-goer or meeting attender – what’s the need for such a person, on such an
endeavour, to hog the road vrooming past the populace, at government expense?
I
admit that politicians and civil servants are human (at least I don’t dismiss
the possibility), and may, in that capacity, experience strong urges to own
high-end automobiles and articles manufactured abroad. They are welcome to - in
their private lives, at their own expense. The government needs to reconsider
these perks. Indian politicians and civil servants, whether in starched white
khadi or ahimsa silk, on in any of a range of synthetic fibres, should move
around in Tata or Mahindra automobiles driven by reasonable government
employees, cribbing at traffic jams (not cleared for them inconveniencing
hundreds), not roar past in Innovas with entitled drivers at the wheel.
