The austerity of the affluent
May 21, 2012  13:38

Another must-read piece from P Sainath on the goverment's austerity drive.

Rrural Indian spending Rs. 22.50 a day would not be considered poor by a Planning Commission whose Deputy Chairman's foreign trips between May and October last year cost a daily average of Rs. 2.02 lakh Pranab Mukherjee's stirring call for austerity tugs at the national tear ducts.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pleaded for it in the past and watched his flock embrace it creatively. With the Finance Ministry even acting on Dr. Singh's call in 2009 (economy class air travel, spending cuts), we are now in the fourth year of our noble quest.

More 

 

Also read Sainath's columun last week on BT cotton and the Times of India.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES