2018 was ushered in with a bang, full of hope and expectations. It left with a whimper leaving behind disappointment and frustration. Which prompts us to reflect on what was; what should have been and what could have been. First a disclaimer; I do not subscribe to any political party; never have and never will. My concern is: what sort of country are we leaving behind for our children?
It was a year when we witnessed the insensitivity of a photo-op of our chief minister inspecting bridges with a naso-gastric tube in place. As a medical practitioner it disturbed me to see a patient subjected to such “treatment”. It merely reflects a dearth of leadership talent such that no one can be trusted to replace him. As a result, a seriously ill patient is not permitted to spend his last days in peace with his family.
It was a year which gave us the spectacle of two political groups hurling abuse at each other on the streets of Panjim and physically attacking each other. Many readers are parents trying to teach our children to distinguish right from wrong. What explanation can we give them for such behaviour?
It was a year when we suddenly had thrust upon us the prospect of total breakdown of traffic flow because between the PWD and the builder there was chaotic lack of coordination. We are told we will need a 22 Km. detour (reduced to 14 at last count), so that the “expert” bridge builders can proceed; and to hell with fuel consumption, pollution and traffic jams. It seems that political affiliations paper over all inefficiencies.
It was a year when repeated foreign jaunts by our leaders, on “study tours” with family members in tow failed to improve tourism in the state. We still have to cope with mounting garbage; ODF status still evades us; and travel advisories routinely warn against the possibility of being raped, robbed and murdered. If you survive this, there is the taxi mafia and increasing police brutality to contend with. And we still claim tourism is a major industry in the State.
Nationally, we are faced with the prospect of being thrown in jail by anyone of ten different organisations on the flimsiest grounds. Kangaroo courts threaten to be the order of the day with a total lack of transparency and accountability. You are now advised that you can kill anyone in an encounter particularly in UP and Karnataka; “we will see what happens afterwards”. In UP even senior dedicated police officers are not spared. And their Illogical cow shelters are a disgraceful shame, matched only by gigantic statues.
The status of the economy hardly inspires confidence. GDP figures are manipulated to prove that “our figures are better than yours when you were in power”. Meanwhile farmers continue in dire straits, and scams have reached a state-of-the-art level. Defaults and frauds have touched Rs 14000 crore in one scam alone and PNB is expected to take a Rs 20K crore hit. The RBI attritions have reached four at senior levels with obvious conflict with a government trying to impose its will on highly competent economists in an effort to fund its crazy schemes. Managerial exits in both PSUs and private sector banks are disturbing. Leading banks like Yes bank, Axis, ICICI, State Bank and PNB are affected, with losses expected to reach Rs 4532 crore. And all we get is a “your scam was bigger than ours” attitude be it Rafale, Agusta or any other. Interestingly the investigations into the Panama Papers continue with little or no progress; the CBI having been reduced to a joke.
Both the GST plan and demonetisation have proved colossal disasters bringing misery to millions. The number of changes made to the GST merely prove that there was little research or thought that went into the plan. Farmers and small traders without the monetary muscle of large corporates were reduced to ruin because demonetisation was bulldozed through, in spite of objections by economists. All of which suggests that a flawed economic agenda devised by the “brains” in the PMOs office was thrust upon the various ministries to provide the “brawn” for implementation.
The health sector fares no better with health care budgeting stuck at 1.2% of GDP instead of the required 8-10%, and the private sector is increasingly called upon to carry the can. Insurance schemes were introduced with no discussions with the private sector regarding permitted rates for various procedures. As a result, pricing was pegged at ridiculous levels, and in little or no time we heard of hospitals being knocked off the accredited list because of billing scams. Further the private healthcare sector has taken a hit in another sphere. A major corporate hospital was vandalised recently, and another has announced its decision to exit the healthcare sector because of unbridled violence. It is deeply disturbing that in 2018, the number of hospitals that had closed because of vandalism and hooliganism touched 45. All this, in spite of most States having laws in place for the protection of medicare personnel and institutions. Mercifully the law enforcers have now woken up with some semblance of convictions and punishment.
Political parties across the spectrum were exposed for their hypocritical policies on women’s rights. The women’s rights in Haji Ali were robustly propagated and laws passed. Yet in Sabarimala, it was considered inappropriate for women of a certain age group to enter the temple.
The only ray of hope in all this is that things can only get better from such lows. After all we are a robust and resilient nation. And on that note of optimism I wish our readers a very happy and fruitful year ahead; hopefully better than the one gone by.
As for me I am still waiting in hope for the Rs 15 lakh to be credited to my account!
(The writer is a founder member of the VHAG)
