Mr Modi sheds no tears for the poor

Despite the crushing burden of poverty on nearly 74 per cent of India's people, there are minimal policies for the poor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks repeatedly about welfare policies, or what he calls policies to "Make in India". But, these are just a politician's promises, false dreams to beguile the masses. Looked at carefully, these public policies are actually "Make Believe in India". The Indian rupee is down against the dollar. Foreign investment is far from the target. Accumulated inflation has made our simple exports like clothes and leather goods overpriced in the export market. The weak rupee has made imports more expensive. The balance of trade has worsened. Even prices of petrol which have steadily declined internationally, have gone up. Even the price of the lowly onion has risen exponentially, before falling.

With all serious discussion dealing with the wealthy businessmen and entrepreneurs, there is no room for discussion of the forsaken masses. Critical discussion of pro-poor policies, emancipation of the backward classes and women, massive increases in employment generation and minimum wages, universal health care are pushed aside, unlike the NDA Bill on land acquisition which would have further beggared the poor. Bank accounts as a sop to the poor, promising riches after many years are frauds since they don't take into account significant inflation which will eat away at the deposits of the poor. Fairy tale schemes lead to nightmares for the poor.

It was not like that in the Constitution drafting process. Dr BR Ambedkar warned that the Constitution had ensured political equality, but had done little about social and economic inequality. He had pointed out that the Constitution makers could no longer blame the British, but only themselves. But very serious questions of development, equality and serious economic rights encapsulated in the Directive Principles of State Policy were given detailed attention and subjected to painstaking debate. It's a different India now. Out of 1.2 billion people, 73 per cent constitute rural India, of which 74 per cent eke out an existence on less than Rs 5,000 a month, without minimal healthcare safety including lack of potable water, toilets and hygienic living conditions. Overall, those below the poverty line are a massive 68.7 per cent.

So whom do public policies benefit? Well under ten per cent of the population: the super rich, rich and upper middle class. Dr Ambedkar warned that crushing poverty and discrimination could lead to a plebeian revolt against the Constitution itself. The Maoist revolt, militancy in Kashmir and the Northeast are signals of such a desperate resistance. More successful than armed force would be more egalitarian policies. But egalitarianism is not a popular slogan any more. This is strikingly evident in the media, not to speak of venal politicians.

But do politicians and the affluent care? No. In this parasitic capitalist system, they are the bosses, next only to foreign capital. The political class has also failed the Republic. Politicians have become increasingly corrupt, as the Vyapam scam highlights. Defections are done in a blink of an eye, most recently by Mulayam Singh Yadav, who sent up his own front against the Nitish-Lalu-Sonia alliance, obviously with some personal benefit in mind. The rich have in reality seceded from the real India, to wax rich in their plush havens.

The real thrust and promises of the Constitution have been betrayed. A rebuilding of the Republic is the need of the hour. But then the educated classes, the social activists, honest bureaucrats, a fearless judiciary, honest media persons, and the millions of exploited poor, will have to form a "rainbow coalition" to bring back social justice and equality to the system. This won't be easy. But there is no other way, to build the India of our dreams. It has been done before in tiny Cuba and giant China.