The order of disconnect…

Delhi has inaugurated a “world class” spunky new terminal at the Indira Gandhi International airport. It is now the sixth largest in the world, sprawling over 5 million square feet and boasts of 78 aero bridges, 63 elevators, exotic plants, multi level car parking, over 20,000 square meters of retail area amongst a myriad other things. Yes, we have a reason to smile and Manmohan Singh is beating his chest like King Kong and proclaiming how an airport is the first introduction to the country and first impressions are a lasting one. The multi billion dollar facility airport can handle 34 million air passengers a year and is ready for the commonwealth games which is scheduled for October, an event which we are struggling to put together.

 If only Manmohan Singh had the same vision of the commonwealth games, the preparation for the games would have been expedited. It has taken 37 months to build the international terminal at the IGI, in comparison for the commonwealth games, the caterers for this event are yet to be decided, the accommodation facilities for the athletes are far from complete and some facilities are due to be completed after the event has concluded. The commonwealth games are supposedly the largest multi sport event to be conducted in the city which hosted the Asian Games the last time in 1982. Until a few months back, the Government released reports indicated that the Games were behind schedule in 13 out of the 19 sporting venues. And one more question that can be raised, even if the facilities are ready for the games, are our athletes ready? I am glad that it is only the Queen’s baton that has arrived and not the Queen.

Suresh Kalmadi, President of the Indian Olympic Association in 2006 dished out crores of rupees to Bollywood stars to perform at the closing ceremony at the Melbourne Commonwealth games whilst at the same time Indian athletes in non cricket playing activities were traveling unreserved in trains and staying in third class facilities. Kalmadi is the same man who during the felicitation ceremony that had been arranged to honor the three Indian medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics, reportedly walked out because he had not been offered a chair next to the Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari. What goes around, comes around, don’t you think? How dare he expects to be canonized when our athletes get third rate treatment from the IOA?

We can all proudly land at the Indira Gandhi International airport or take off from there and bask in its spunky new glory but reality hits us when we step into the capital city, far removed from the IGI. Chaos and confusion greets us all. There was a full page article today in the Bangalore edition of the Times of India glorifying the IGI airport achievement and its capacity to cater to 34 million air passengers. On the same page there was news about how India has 1 operation theatre per 1 lakh people. Glancing from left to right of the newspaper page, the significance of the new airport is lost completely. We continue to boast of our economic growth with GDP growth at 7.4% but with CPI over 10% and Food inflation at 12% there is little point in celebrating over having the world’s sixth largest airport. The nation wide bandh that has been called today in protest of rising prices is likely to fall on deaf ears.

The biggest problem in the country today is the order of disconnect. There are enough number of broken links and little correlation between demand, supply, economic growth, CPI, unemployment, per capita income and per capita facilities. We lack the ability to link and work on different pieces together both in an economic and non economic sense. The country struggles to put various pieces together in this jig saw puzzle. 37% of the country’s population lives below the poverty line and until rising prices are controlled the chasm will widen. The focus needs to be made in an unequivocal manner on both sides of the poverty line. Ignoring the rural sector or not paying enough heed to it is another reason for spiraling food prices. In the last one year, food prices alone have skyrocketed at the rate of 19%, the maximum in eleven years. With both growth and inflation surging ahead in the same direction, there has to be a decisive policy action on the part of the Government. The spiraling food prices are again indicative of the fact that food is not reaching the consumer directly and hoarding is not being curtailed. The Government cannot continue to behave like a thick skinned buffalo.

It will be interesting to watch the Government’s reaction to the nation wide bandh today. Yes, there is little point in calling for the bandh but the reasons for the bandh are valid. Most cannot afford current price levels, those who can are profiting from the rise. Do our Ministers and Parliamentarians even feel the pinch of rising prices? The day they are made to pay for petrol for their gigantic fleet from their own pockets, pay for rentals for their sprawling bungalows in the best of localities across the length and breadth of the country, pay for their own security a lot more will be done to control this mad price rise. So, the next time you land in the posh India Gandhi International Airport, remember it is but an optical illusion.