My frustrations with the UPA government

Of late, I have been very frustrated with the policies and the paths taken by the UPA government. Agreed, that I never was a congress supporter because ever since i started being aware of politics all I could see was scams and more scams and Congress at the helm, forever(either as the leading party or "outside supporters"). Apart from this, I was pretty satisfied by the policies taken by the BJP government during power and was one of those, very surprised to find them out of power.
Nevertheless, I had made my peace with the decision of the majority of my fellow countrymen, and had not only accepted but also started to appreciate the good things in the UPA government.
I had officially buried my hatchet against the congress, atleast till they are in power.
But off late it seems the government wants me to dig out that hatchet once again. Ofcourse, me being a tiny little citizen in a country having billion others like me, the congress wont really mind me weilding a hatchet. After all what can I do?
But then what have the striking medicos been able to do?
It seems to me, that this government is taking a huge advantage of the the majority and the stability that they seem to enjoy and are fast behaving like they have noone to answer to.

My first and biggest frustration with the government is on the reservation issue. Its not that I am against the development of the people who are lacking and its not even that I dont understand the concept of "poor becoming poorer and rich becoming richer". I understand them both. But my problem is that I understand them much better than the government, or atleast our education minister, Mr. Arjun Singh. Why is there a need to increase the caste based reservation when stats pulled out by all the surveys show that the existing reservations itself are either not being utilized or not benefitting in the manner they are supposed to. Why cant the government understand that reservation based on the economic level is the correct answer when the same has been realised and reiterated by many people from as diverse a fields as politics media and showbiz!
Why cant Arjun Singh just ask himself this simple question, are we giving them (the beneficiaries) crutches for life, or just a push when they need it desperately?
There have been numerous incidents on same people taking advantage of the existing reservations throughout their lives, inspite of being financially well off to afford to explore other options.

My second frustration has been the terrorism/National Security issue. This was one issue which, in my opinion, the BJP handled brilliantly. Firstly, after the Mumbai 7/7 massacre, the PM did not issue any condolence to the public. Sure a condolence cant bring back the dead, but it definitely goes on to say that the PM has taken the loss very personally. The statement on behalf of the PM was issued by Shivraj Patil, our Home Minister, 4 hours after it had all happened and he began the statement with "Our PM wants me to convey to the...". What the hell? why cant "our PM" convey it himself? More astounding is the fact that it took the PM 4 hours to issue a statement(delivered by someone else) while Mrs. Sonia Gandhi issued statement within half an hour of the tragedy!
Furthermore, the "peace process is still on" - "peace making cant progress" statements by our PM shows the uncertainity and confusion that the government was in. Did the terrorists wish to interrupt the peace process? Or were the terrorists directly under Pakistan control?
Well if you dont know then dont say stuff that would make you appear foolish later on!


My Third major frustration has been the two sided nature being shown by the government on the issue of petrol price rise. On the one hand the government kept repeating on various occasions through various spokespersons that it was against an increase in the oil prices, but when finally it did permit the gigantic leap in the price, it just offered condolences to the middle class. Why could it not reduce the VAT on petrol to cushion the blow? Going further, why couldnt it remove VAT from petroleum products knowing fully well that doing this would actually decrease the price of petrol! Some states, went to reduce the sales tax being imposed on petrol, while Maharashtra completely removed it, Delhi partially removed it; but nobody did anything to the VAT. Why?
Agreed, that VAT from petroleum products is a HUGE amount catering to a significant portion of the budget allowance, but was it so hard to realise that such a huge increase in the price would result in the increase in the price of almost *every commodity*?

My fourth major disappointment has been the issue of illegal constructions in Delhi(by the Congress govt. of Delhi). Apart from see sawing on the issue, the government actually went ahead and tried to pass a bill that would partially legalize these structures! On the one hand they kept saying that the illegal structures have to go, but once the sword reached the bigger players, the bill was introduced! Ridiculous!
Similar stance was adopted by the UPA govt at the centre on the Office of Profit issue. Going ahead with accusations when the politicians in questions were from the opposition but immediately changing the stance and even passing the bill to reverse it when the person in question was their own leader. Even more ridiculous is their attempt to re-send the bill to the president as is, even after he has rejected it once!

The tyrannical nature of the government became visible when it chose to ignore or "bend" the rules laid down by the Supreme Court on various issues.

All I can say is that I am terribly disappointed by this government and I sincerely hope that there is a change in, if not the government, atleast the mindset of the politicians in question.

When will the politicians of our country move on from the petty selfish issues that they play with and move on to the more important questions pertaining to national development?! Why do they forget that their main aim should be to build a nation, not to build their bank balances and try and hold on to their seats!


P.S: The needless Vande Matram ruckus raised by the BJP just goes on to prove the oft repeated saying that all politicians are the same!



- A very disappointed Indian