HVK Archives: Poverty vs philosophy
Poverty vs philosophy - The Asian Age
Editorial
()
4 October 1997
Title: Poverty vs philosophy
Author: Editorial
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: October 4, 1997
A relatively senior apparatchik of the Communist Party of India is rather
distraught. He has asked of the United Front government a,, to what kind
of message it intends giving out to the "poorest of the poor" by telling
them that they cannot get cheap food because the government wanted to pay
more to the white-collar middle class? The comrade's dilemma is real, even
though over the last few months, such moans and groans accompanied by
searing indictment of the UF government's economic policies has not evoked
the kind of response which the Left may have originally hoped to elicit,
given their clout in the central arrangement. In the event, the largesse
bestowed on the central Government employees could arguably have enabled
the unorganised poor to get something like an extra five kilos of wheat to
feed themselves. But then, such dichotomies are inbuilt into the situation
the central government employees have the means and wherewithal to force
any government to do their bidding, whereas the "poorest of the poor"
simply cannot afford the luxury of a struggle for the most basic of their
needs. And even when there is an element of uncertainty hovering over the
political landscape, no general elections seem to be in sight for the Delhi
government to do something, or at least promise to do something for the
wretched of the earth. What makes the distance between the executive and
the really poor even longer is the fact that ascendant middle castes,
hitherto denied their share of power, have now become arbiters of political
destinies of more states than ever before in the Union of India, without
addressing the real problems faced by those at the very bottom of the
social scale. The traditional Left, faced with a stagnant membership, seems
to be stagnating at the level of ideas as well, with the result that an
inequitable social order is as deeply entrenched as ever even in states
ruled by the Left. In the context, the Left's idea of taking Prime Minister
Inder Kumar Gujral to task for kow-towing before the Congress does not seem
to be realistic enough. The Left says that it has been the failure to
co-ordinate with Mr Sitaram Kesri which has landed Mr Gujral in the dilemma
he is in. Senior Left leaders, like Union agriculture minister Chaturanan
Mishra, have admitted that there is at least some basis to the resolution
passed by the Congress Working Committee which recently lambasted the
central regime in no uncertain terms. The Left leaders have a vocal ally in
deposed Prime Minister Deve Gowda, who is apparently yet to forget how Mr
Kesri slighted him by withdrawing Congress support to his continuance in
the office. Mr Gowda therefore can be expected to support a stringent
Leftist line against the Congress, but it is arguable how far the Left can
go with Mr Gowda on issues after their heart. In the event. the various
constituents of the United Front will hope that Mr Kesri's fulminations and
the Left's misgivings do not destabilise them, even when there may be a
ring of inevitability about such criticism. It is for the Congress and the
Left to decide how serious they are about their apprehensions regarding the
Gujral government. Maybe, till such decisive intent is forthcoming, those
who can amplify-their demands will have a field day, and the consumer goods
sector, too, will not be complaining, because any increase in the wages of
the white collar workers will bring the latter to buy more goodies. That
will leave and poorest of the poor where they, are, comradely concerns
notwithstanding.
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