Indian Budget:...of "Economic Incentives" and "Populist Subsidies"

I had some inkling that the the Annual Budget of the Govt of India must be quite a blancing act. After all it involves the complex task of allocating resources to so many different set of competing socio-economic objectives.

However, only this year, I realised that the Annual Budget exercise also involves another delicate act of balancing - of obfuscating facts by putting them under intersting nomenclatures.

I discovered, for instance, the Annual Economic Survey 2009-10 describes Rs 5 lac crores (actually, Rs 499,340 crores - to be exact) as "Tax Revenue Foregone" - an amount consisting of exemptions of:

Corporate Income-Tax: Rs. 79,554 crores,

Excise Duty": Rs 170,765 crores, and

Customs Duty: Rs 249,021 crores

While these maybe seen as "incentives to stimulate economic growth" - as the media, politicians and captains of the industry love to describe these - the Survey also informs that in the year 08-09, India Inc. had a combined declared taxable income of Rs 449,085crores - on which it paid Rs. 153,280 crores as taxes...

i.e., the tax incentives are:

almost equal to the India Inc's combined taxable income, and

more than 3 times the total taxes paid!!!

On the other hand, if one compares this amount to the budget allocations for some of the GOI's high-decibel "flagship" social services programs, the confusion compounds:

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS): Rs 40,100 crores

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA): Rs 15,000 crores

National Rural Health Mission (NHRM): Rs 15,440 crores

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS): Rs 8,700 crores

(that 1/10th of this amount qualifies as "Food Subsidy" or "Fertliser Subsidy" etc. - and that removal of Rs 12,000 crore "petroleum subsidy" created so much headlines -adds to surrealism)

And just to put things in perspective the "Tax Revenues Foregone" is slightly more than the entire Planned Expenditure of government for 2009-10, as given in the table below:



er.. if only someone can explain to me the difference between the "economic incentives to increase market efficiencies" and the "wasteful subsidies which are doled out as populist measures" (^_*?)\

India's fastest growing state - and it's underbelly..

About a year back, I had posted some links in a post about India's fastest growing state - Gujarat's stance on "India Inc. vs Mera Bharat"...

Gujarat's model of Economic Growth is one model of Growth - even though, all growth is not necessarily good, e.g., cancer cells...

Today, I was forwarded - by a friend - Mallika Sarabhai's open letter to Gujarat's "Brand Ambassador" Amitabh Bachchan. Here are some excerpts, which details the underbelly of the Gujarat Story:
----------

....So, as a Gujarati, permit me to introduce my State to you.

Everyone knows of our vibrancy, of the billions and trillions pouring into our State through the two yearly jamborees called Vibrant Gujarat. But did you know that by the government's own admission no more than 23% of these have actually moved beyond the MOU stage?

That while huge subsidies are being granted to our richest business houses, over 75,000 small and medium businesses have shut down rendering one million more people jobless?

You know of Gujarat's fast paced growth and the FDI pouringin, you have no doubt seen pictures of the Czars of the business world lining up to pour money to develop us. To develop whom?

Did you know that our poor are getting poorer? That while theAll-India reduction in poverty between '93 and 2005 is 8.5%, in Gujarat it is a mere 2.8%? That we have entire farmer families committing suicide, not just the male head of the household?

You have heard of how some mealy mouthed NGO types have been blocking the progress of the Narmada project, how the government has prevailed, and water is pouring down every thirsty mouth and every bit of thirsty land. But did you know that in the 49 years since it was started, and in spite of the Rs.29,000 crores spent on it, only 29% of the work is complete?

That the construction is so poor (lots of sand added to the you-know- which cement perhaps) that over the last nine years there have been 308 breaches, ruining lakhs of farmers whose fields were flooded, ruining the poorest salt farmers whose salt was washed away?

That whereas in 1999, 4743 of Gujarat's villages were without drinking water, within two years that figure had gone up to 11,390 villages ? (I cannot even begin to project those figures for today - but do know that the figure has gone up dramatically rather than down.)

With our CM, hailed as the CEO of Gujarat, we have once again achieved number one status - in indebtedness. In 2001 the State debt was Rs.14000 crores. This was before the State became a multinational company. Today it stands at Rs.1,05,000 crores. And to service this debt we pay a whopping Rs7000 crores a year, 25% of our annual budget.

Meanwhile our spending on education is down, no new public hospitals for the poor are being built, fishermen are going a begging as the seas turn turgid with effluents, more mothers die at birth per thousandthan in the rest of India, and our general performance on the Human Development Index is nearly the first - from the bottom.

One rape a day, 17 cases of violence against women, and, over the last ten years, 8802 suicides and 18152 "accidental " deaths of women are officially reported. You can imagine the real figures.

You have said that you are our Ambassador because we have Somnath and Gandhi. Somnath was built for people. Gandhiji was a man of the people. Do the people of this State matter to you?....

Mao-ists vs. MoU-ists

Today, India's Home Minister, P Chidambaram made a statement to the media: "We are willing to suspend all memorandums of understanding [with mining companies] until we talk to the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and review them".

This is a significant statement, since as I had once mentioned in one of the earlier blogposts that there is a huge overlap among the "poverty map of India", the "maoist-infected map of India" and the "mineral map of India" - reproducing the 3 maps below:

Poverty Map of India


Maoist/Naxal Affected Areas of India


Map of Mineral Resources and Forest Cover in India

The Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) are strange documents, which are signed between the government and the corporate entities, with no representation from the people whose life will finally get affected - mostly for the worse - by them (economists - of the Milton Friedman kind - call these "externalities").

I first realised this when I read the bookCatterpillarand the Mahua Flower: Tremors in India's Mining Fields (click to download pdf), which is collection of case-studies. Here is an excerpt (once again quoted in an earlier blogpost):

"...That companies are coming by the dozen to Chhattisgarh to mine its mineral wealth is hardly surprising. The state is rich in natural resources, with abundant deposits of iron, gold, tin, diamonds, coal, uranium, bauxite, corundum, dolomite, copper, limestone and other minerals. It’s estimated that the state has 35,000 million tonnes of coal, 2,336 million tonnes of iron ore, 3,580 million tonnes of limestone, 606 million tonnes of dolomite, 96 million tonnes of bauxite, and 29 million tonnes of cassiterite. With such bounty, Chhattisgarh accounts for over 13 percent of India’s total mineral production, worth around Rs 4,000 crores a year. Most importantly, 23 percent of the country’s iron-ore deposits are located here. The deposits in Bailadila in Bastar are considered to be among the best in the world....

....While the government cheered about the MoUs with Tata and Essar, the locals were curious about the agreements’ terms. How much land had been given to these two steel giants? Whose land was it? Would tribal land be confiscated? Would there be compensation, rehabilitation, or employment for the locals at these units? But no replies were forthcoming from the government on these issues.

MoUs have always been considered as public documents but a veil of secrecy hung over the government’s agreements with Tata and Essar. When the people demanded a copy of the MoUs under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the answer they obtained was both shocking and surprising: it was stated that a condition in the MoU prevented the government from revealing it to a third party! ..."

An Invisible Revolution in Rural India

Wall Street Journal published my article on the Self-Help Groups

An Invisible Revolution in Rural India
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, JANUARY 4, 2010
By Madhukar Shukla

Mahua Devi is a petite woman in her early twenties. She cycles through 10 to 12 villages of the Koraput district in Orissa [one of India’s most backward states] everyday.

"I help these women keep their accounts," she tells me as we walk towards a group sitting in the shade under a tree

When she says "these women" she is referring to one of India’s millions of self-help groups, or SHGs. Each group has 15 to 20 women who pool their tiny savings of only 5 rupees to 10 rupees at a time. They use the money to give loans to members for income-generating investments like chickens, seeds or goats. The interest on the loans then adds to their savings pool.

Driving from the nearest city to the village, I don’t see any bank branches. Even if there is a branch, it’s unlikely it would be equipped to open even simple savings accounts for these women, given their meager savings, lack of assets and inability to read or write. For most of the village women the SHG is the only bank they have ever had.

Ms. Devi keeps the accounts for 20 groups, for which she gets a commission of 2% of the value of all the transactions. "On average, I earn about 5,000 rupees per month," she tells me.

That, I quickly calculate, works out to 250,000 rupees in cash transactions per month - an amazing economic engine, silently working in one of India’s poorest regions.

Self help groups are a transformational phenomenon which has swept the Indian countryside over the last decade and a half. The groups are India’s own social innovation. In a country where almost two-thirds of the population have no access to formal financial services, SHGs are a unique route to financial inclusion, increasing incomes and helping build productive assets among the poor.

Though similar groups were promoted by many non-government organizations in the 1980s the turning point of the SHG movement was a pilot project by the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) in the early 1990s.

Despite India’s network of around 30,000 bank branches in rural areas, a majority of the poor still remained outside the fold of the formal banking system. NABARD studies showed this was because existing bank policies, systems and products were not aligned to meet the financial needs and constraints of the poor. What the poor can earn and save varies widely each day. Meanwhile their tiny savings – as little as 50 rupees per month - make providing banking services to them too expensive for banks.

To bridge this gap, NABARD and a group of NGOs started a pilot project o 500 groups of women to be used a vehicle for financial intermediation through its SHG-Bank Linkage Program. Typically, these were informal groups of up to 20 women, who would meet regularly and pool their savings.

After saving for six months and proving the group had developed the required fiscal discipline through consistent savings, on-time loan payments and maintaining records the group becomes eligible to be "linked" to the local bank branch. The innovation here was that the group, rather than the individuals in it, could open an account with the bank and use that account to save and take loans.

The pilot was a remarkable success and within a year more than half of the first groups had become eligible for the bank-linkage. Even more impressive was the fact that 90% of the loan payments were on time and there were no defaults. The success of this pilot project sparked the SHG movement which has been an unparalleled, albeit under-reported, revolution in financial inclusion.

The number of bank-linked SHGs crossed 10,000 in five years. By 2004, there were more than one million groups with their own bank accounts. By the year ended this March, the number of groups had grown to about 4.7 million, touching 59 million rural families through their members. Meanwhile, the average loan size per group has increased from 1,137 rupees in 1992 to 74,000 rupees this year. That shows the women’s rising capacity to manage, utilize and pay back loans.

So is everything fine with the SHG movement? Not entirely.

According to one 2006 study (EDA Rural Systems and Andhra Pradesh Mahila Abhivruddhi Society’s "Self Help Groups in India: A Study of the Light and Shades") the groups still suffer from many inadequacies. For instance, the study found that a large proportion of SHG members remained poor even after being in the groups for seven years. Another report (Access Development Services’ "Microfinance in India: The State of the Sector Report 2009") underlined the popularity of SHGs has so far been a regional phenomenon tilted towards the southern and eastern states of India.

In spite of such inadequacies, however, self help groups have emerged as a critical vehicle for creating social equity and empowerment.

I once sat with women from three SHGs in the community hall of Madanpur in Haryana. The women had assembled for a workshop on "legal literacy" organized by a Delhi NGO. There was jubilation in the air and the village women were talking animatedly.

"We got the license of the local liquor shop stopped yesterday," one of the members told me with glee. "It was a drain on us because the men-folk would squander away their earnings, spoil their health, and often physically abuse us. This time we protested and kept the liquor license from being renewed."

The self help groups have gone beyond financial inclusion and become a platform to provide a voice to a marginalized section of society. Some SHGs have become forums for women to discuss everything from health and sanitation to legal rights and human trafficking. They are also being used to promote education and skill building. The groups are so respected now that they have been called upon to implement government and donor-driven programs such as the mid-day meal program for school children and HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns.

Between 2006 and 2008, more than 600,000 new self help groups were linked to banks. Assuming an average group size of around 13 or 14 members, that means more than 400 women are joining a SHG every hour!

Now if that’s not a revolution, then what is?

---------------
—Madhukar Shukla is a professor of organizational behavior and strategic management at the XLRI School of Business & Human Resources in Jamshedpur.

Alchemy of Inequity - A Photo Essay

A picture is equal to a 1000 words - or so it is said!

Here are 23 pictures from Alchemy of Inequity: Resistence and Repression in India's Mines - A Photographic Enquiry...

... a story, one may say...

The "Greatest Threat to India's Internal Security" !!??

The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh had recently - and even earlier - described the Naxalites/Maoists as the "the greatest internal security threat to our country”.

This 95-page document says something just the opposite. Some excerpts:
----

"India is today proudly proclaiming an above 9 per cent growth rate and striving to achieve double digit growth. But it is a matter of common observation that the inequalities between classes, between town and country, and between the upper castes and the underprivileged communities are increasing. That this has potential for tremendous unrest is recognized by all. But somehow policy prescriptions presume otherwise. As the responsibility of the State for providing equal social rights recedes in the sphere of policymaking, we have two worlds of education, two worlds of health, two worlds of transport and two worlds of housing, with a gaping divide in between. With globalisation of information, awareness of opportunities and possible life styles are spreading but the entitlements are receding. The Constitutional mandate (Article 39) to prevent concentration of wealth in a few hands is ignored in policy making. The directional shift in Government policies towards modernisation and mechanisation, export orientation, diversification to produce for the market, withdrawal of various subsidy regimes and exposure to global trade has been an important factor in hurting the poor in several ways....(p. 8)"

"Much of the unrest in society, especially that which has given rise to militant movements such as the Naxalite movement, is linked to lack of access to basic resources to sustain livelihood... (p. 18)"

"The development paradigm pursued since independence has aggravated the prevailing discontent among marginalised sections of society. This is because the development paradigm as conceived by the policy makers has always been imposed on these communities, and therefore it has remained insensitive to their needs and concerns, causing irreparable damage to these sections. The benefits of this paradigm of development have been disproportionately cornered by the dominant sections at the expense of the poor, who have borne most of the costs. Development which is insensitive to the needs of these communities has invariably caused displacement and reduced them to a sub-human existence. (p. 36)."

"There are also large areas of labour not governed by the Minimum Wages Act. This includes categories where there is no discernible employer, which is for this reason included in the category of self-employment. Since the Naxalites are in any case not bothered whether or not there is a law governing the right they are espousing, they have intervened and determined fair wage rates in their perception in all labour processes in their areas of influence. This includes wages for washing clothes, making pots, tending cattle, repairing implements, etc. Naxalites have secured increases in the rate of payment for the picking of tendu leaf which is used for rolling beedies, in the forest areas of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand. This was a very major source of exploitation of adivasi labour, and while the Government knowingly ignored it, the Naxalites put an effective end to it. (p.57)."

"However, the Naxalite movement has to be recognised as a political movement with a strong base among the landless and poor peasantry and adivasis. Its emergence and growth need to be contextualised in the social conditions and experience of people who form a part of it. The huge gap between state policy and performance is a feature of these conditions. Though its professed long term ideology is capturing state power by force, in its day to day manifestation it is to be looked upon as basically a fight for social justice, equality, protection and local development. The two have to be seen together without overplaying the former. Its geographical spread is rooted in failure to remove the conditions which give rise to it (p 66-67)."

"The public policy perspective on the naxalite movement is overwhelmingly preoccupied with the incidents of violence that take place in these areas and its ideological underpinnings. Though it does concede that the area suffers from deficient development and people have unaddressed grievances, it views the movement as the greatest internal security threat to the country. Accordingly, the attention of the Government is concentrated on curbing violence and maintaining public order to achieve normalcy. While area development is also being speeded up, the security-centric view of the movement accords primacy to security operations. The contextualization of this violence is missing from this perspective. The scale, intensity and approach of security operations cause considerable collateral damage leading to greater alienation of common people. The strategy of security forces to curb violence has also encouraged formation of tribal squads to fight naxalites, with a view to reducing the security force’s own task and risk. This has promoted a fratricidal war in which tribals face the brunt of mortality and injury.(p. 83)"

"The government’s Status Paper on the Naxal problem appropriately mentions a holistic approach and lays emphasis on accelerated socio-economic development of the backward areas. However, clause 4 (v) of the Status Paper states that “there will be no peace dialogue by the affected states with the Naxal groups unless the latter agree to give up violence and arms”. This is incomprehensible and is inconsistent with the government’s stand vis-à-vis other militant groups in the country.... The government has been conducting peace talks with the Naga rebels of the NSCN (IM) faction for the last nearly ten years, even though the rebels have not only not surrendered their weapons but continue to build up their arsenal. What is worse, the NSCN (IM) have taken advantage of the peaceful conditions to consolidate their hold and establish what could be called almost a parallel government. In relation to ULFA also, the government is prepared to have a dialogue without insisting on the insurgents surrendering their weapons. In J & K, the government has more than once conveyed its willingness to hold talks with any group which is prepared to come to the negotiating table. Why a different approach to the Naxals? The doors of negotiations should be kept open. (p 67-68)"
----

...and before one concludes that this must be some propaganda material, or writings of some "bleeding-heart liberal/intellectual", I must also share that these exerpts are from a Planning Commission Expert Groups Report, entitled "Development Challenges in Extremist Areas, which was submitted to GOI in 2008. The document can be downloaded from:
http://planningcommission.gov.in/reports/publications/rep_dce.pdf

This document was either not read by the Home Minister, or was just shoved aside for a trade-off, since as the Prime Minister told the parliament on June 9th, '09: "...if Left Wing extremism continues to flourish in important parts of our country which have tremendous natural resources of minerals and other precious things, that will certainly affect the climate for investment.'

... In the meanwhile, from 51 maoist-naxal affected districts in 2001, India has now 231 districts in the category (out of 640 or so)...
(*_^?)\

Related Posts:

My "Encounters" with Maoists/ Naxals

A Rich Nation of Poor People

East is East, and West and West...

6 Novel Ways to Celebrate Diwali

Came across this article by Vandana Rana in TOI, which makes so much sense...

6 Novel Ways to Celebrate Diwali

How do you celebrate Diwali? By lighting diyas, bursting crackers and eating sweets! But as we do this every year, how about bringing in a positive 6 novel ways to celebrate Diwali change this time, which will help people around as well?

Traditional way to save electricity
Diwali is also known as the Festival of Lights. So this time let's decorate our houses with traditional lamps and diyas rather bulbs. This was how in earlier times, people touched up their homes with cotton wicks dipped in ghee or oil. This will help you save electricity as well. This will add a traditional stroke with social responsibility in the festival.

Food wise
There are many people who cannot afford even one square meal so, how can they afford Diwali celebrations? In this season cut short your list of crackers and use that money in buying them food. Your joy will be doubled and your kitty will brim over with blessings and wishes.

Celebrate with a new expression
Our country is a blend of several religions and festivals too. Then why not celebrate this Festival of Lights with our Muslim, Christian and Sikh friends? Use this opportunity to introduce one culture to another. Such an act will encourage unity and teach new morals to your kids.

Make a new family
Diwali is family time. But what about those elders and kids who have no families. Wouldn't it be nice if we all could take out some time this Diwali to meet them. There are several old age homes and orphanages dotting the city so finding them shouldn't be a problem. This is the time to exchange your happiness with their gloominess. So go ahead and put a smile on at least one such pretty face.

Have a healthy Diwali
Post Diwali pollution is always on an all-time high despite there being a ban on crackers. Say no to crackers if you have'nt done so already and gift saplings to friends and relatives along with sweets. This effort will sweeten the celebrations of your loved ones. Plants are great for a pure and positive environment.

Decorate the neighbourhood
Every year we paint and touch up our homes. But no one pays attention to that garbage dump in the corner. It stinks to the high heaven and is a veritable house of all ills. Have it cleaned up and painted afresh. At least for sometime, flies and mosquitoes will be less. Let's join hands to clean the society as well as it will encourage positive atmosphere in neighborhood and double the joy of festivity.

Happy Diwali to you!

And he said....

...and he said...

There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.

...and he said...

Satyagraha does not begin and end with civil disobedience.

...and he said...

My notion of democracy is that under it, the weakest should have the same opportunity as the strongest.

...and he said...

To me I seem to be constantly growing. I must respond to varying conditions, yet remain changeless within.

...and he said...

True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men at the center. It has to be worked by the people of every village.

...and he said...

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism, or the holy name of liberty and democracy?

...and he said...

We are constantly being astonished at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.

...and he said...

There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.

...and he said...

Today the cities dominate and drain the villages so that they are crumbling to ruins. Exploiting of villages is itself organized violence. If we want freedom to build on non-violence, we will have to give villages their proper place.

...and he said...

As soon as we lose the moral-basis, we cease to be religious.

...and he said...

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

...and he said...

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problem.

...and he said...

It may be long before the law of love will be recognized in international affairs. The machineries of government stand between and hide the hearts of one people from those of another.

...and he said...

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

...and he said...

Whatever you do will become insignificant, but it is very important to do it.

... such was that fussy old man who changed the destiny of an Empire with a fistful of salt!!

The Economics & Physiology of "Joy of Giving"

Question 1: How do you "monitize" this act of "Giving"???.... What is the economics of "Giving"?

Ramaa wrote a beautiful piece about "The Joy of Giving - What Price, Happiness?"... (which thankfully, was rescued out of Facebook and reproduced on his blog by Ninja...)

Lots of events are happening in XLRI as we celebrate the "Joy of Giving Week" & the "Jamshedpur JoyFest"... e.g.

...and Ramaa's note was about one of them - the visit to the old-age home "Nirmal Hrudayalay"... her note ended with an observation:
---
"I walked out of the gate, smiling a little, wondering about the price of happiness.

To Mala: her bangles and the promise of a big stool to sit on.

To the boy: strumming a guitar.

To Poorni: talking to me in Tamizh.

To the children there: playing throw ball.

To Nirmal Hriday: Two hours of our time.

I had all of these things they each wanted, and yet I had never been so happy. Giving it to them created the happiness, the priceless joy- of caring, of sharing and giving."
---

Question 2: What is the "physiology" of "Giving"?... Why do people indulge in "unselfish acts"... and self-lessly "give" - money, time, service, resources - in this age of an oxymoron - the "enlightened self-interest"?

So, I also came across an interesting study by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland - reported by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences... and converted into an article on "Altruism" by The Economist". To quote... because we "feel good" - the study reports....because "giving"/ altruism...

"...also engages the part of the brain that plays a role in the bonding behaviour between mother and child, and in romantic love. This involves oxytocin, a hormone that increases trust and co-operation"
---------

Ah! Good to know that !!... Good to know that the science/econmics has found out - what any decent human being would know in his/her heart!!

India Votes...

I got two messages - on the net - today from old friends/ students/ alumni... Both from the NCR region - the penultimate "Indian Dream of becoming USA"...

One read, which was posted:

"I voted. I am sad. Not sad because I voted but sad because an old myth got shattered. The myth that education makes you responsible. The myth that education enables to make decisions and a better decsion. The myth about education has been shattered. Abysmal 16.67% of polling in an area populated by primarily educated guys. You will have shell out INR 10 million to buy an apartment in the area. It hurts!"

The second one - an e-mail:

"...had to tell you this, had a strange experience voting today.

Gurgaon is one confused city in many ways - there are high-rises stumbling over  villages with their crumbling houses and still sustainable lifestyles. The voting centre was in some govt school just behind the apartment block we stay in, but somehow I  had never known that it even existed.  Its a government school after all, sad in many ways. I do know about the  swanky school not too far away, and another interesting school that follows an alternative kind of education system but i am digressing.

Anyway the approach road was dusty, clogged with  buffaloes heat flaking off their skin, and fancy SUVs, pigs lay about in the open sewer lines that ran by (and that was scary) and barber shops and grocery stores abutted right onto this road.

But the contrast hit hard when i stood in queue.  A far more skimpily dressed young woman stood in front of me, and behind - because there were separate queues for either sex - were several veiled women. The ghunghat reached down to their waists, and their arms were covered with bangles  up till the elbows and some could not understand the instructions of the lone police guard manning that centre.

But they understood after their men, tall, strong Jats most of them, I would think,  with their turbans, proud moustaches, and lathis explained things to them. Most of them inked the form with their thumbs and the election officer was understanding and courteous. I dont know why, but the sarpanch of the village was striding around the booth -  the election guys however, were courteous to him too, usually mumbling a word or two in reply  to his pleasantries. I suppose he was just  showing off.

Like me, the veiled women and the girl in the short sequinned skirt ahead of me pressed the beep on the EVM.  In that sense, in that one moment, all differences between us melted away.

I know this must be usual, but time and again when i see a demonstration of India's strange and immense contrasts, and the understanding that still remains, I am somehow moved."

From the same - NCR region - Ritu Sharma had posted an article -Rich Residents of Gurgaon too Busy to Vote? - a couple of days back:

"They are affluent, educated, well travelled and vocal about their rights. They want the best equipped gyms and swimming pools in their high-end condominiums. But many residents of this 'millennium city' won't be voting this Thursday.

Notwithstanding awareness campaigns, voting in urban Gurgaon is likely to be low with many staying away from the polling booth - some because it is a conscious decision not to, others because they don't have voter identity cards as they have moved recently or just haven't bothered to find out how to get it.

Gurgaon in Haryana is presented as the shining India, a symbol of urban success promising a better life for everyone behind the gateway of development. But away from the oasis of glittering malls and privately-developed housing complexes, basic infrastructure like power, water, roads and sanitation are lacking.

The affluent denizens of the gated townships of the city voice their grievances but have their own excuses for not casting their votes in the Lok Sabha elections on May 7....

....The figures tell the story. According to official records, only 6,947 voters have been added under the Gurgaon parliamentary constituency after a summary revision in the last five years. This is far less than the total number of people who move into the city each month. At present, the total number of voters registered with urbanised Gurgaon is 166,000, out of 1,230,949 voters in the constituency..."

Meanwhile, an article in Hindustan Times, informs:

"Dalits may be at the bottom of the country’s socio-economic order, but when it comes to fielding educated candidates in parliamentary elections, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party scores over the others.

The BSP has fielded more graduates and post-graduates than any other national party. Also, the share of graduates among BSP candidates has risen sharply from 38 per cent in 2004 to 50 per cent in this election, according to an analysis of data available for the first four phases of polling.

According to data compiled by National Election Watch... the BSP is slightly ahead of Congress in fielding more graduates and post-graduates... BSP has 264 graduates and post graduates in the fray, while Congress has 258.

Experts said the numbers reflect a trend wherein the first generation beneficiaries of affirmative action are now seeking a bigger say in the country's affairs.

"The rich among upper castes are turning apolitical and dalits are now seeking electoral power," said Arun Kumar, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Mayawati was a teacher before she joined politics, and her party was built on financial and intellectual support of such Dalits who made it to government jobs and bureaucracy with the help of affirmative action...."

OR...
... as a certain survey across 172 countries shows that in terms of the voter-turnout (since 1945), India - the 2nd (or 1st??) largest democracy', ranks 105th (out of 172 countries).

Perhaps this mail floating on the net says much:

10 reasons why South Mumbai didn't come out to vote on April 30:

Clashed with Salsa class

Election whites were not drycleaned

No candidate was a hottie

Tony Jethmalani contesting from suburbs. Sigh!!

There was no valet parking at booth

I spotted servant in queue ahead of us

Driver did not come

But eElections over dude! aren't they?... Obama won!

No party is tackling real issues, eg, reduce Golds Gym rates.

There was no "home delivery!"

In any case, India (or the rest of it) trudges on...

Related posts:

One Single Vote!... that's India's Democracy is all about!

Yeh Mera India!!!

India... between "Masses" and "Classes"