The recent constitutional amendment to limit the number of ministers as 15 percent of state assembly members is supposed to throw out more than two hundred ministers out of their seats all over India. The last week implementation – if not full; substantial – already removed more than 150 ministers of their seats; as a consequent and inevitable fate, Arunachal Pradesh Ministry itself collapsed since the down sizing the ministry simply defragmented the fragile coalition.

Let’s look at the scenario of Arunachal Pradesh as a typical example. Total seats are only 60 and there were 33 ministers!! Less than two MLAs represented a minister!! If this is the ratio required to ‘rule’ a democratic system, obviously we need almost 50% of our population as our MPs and MLAs.

In post freedom India, for a short span there was a management on the Central and State Governments for a certain extent. Soon after the familiarization of the loopholes of our constitution, the cunning businessmen learned that it is Indian politics, regardless to regional or national is the best national business anybody can afford in Indian soil. No machinery investments and trade union problems, no material and labour investments. The consumer is always the voter without a right to return their product even the quality is not maintained. So any business minded one could be a political business tycoon in India easily. The only investment he needed is the ability to manipulate. Your returns are high than any business. In other production business you have to pay the taxes, but for political businessmen, even can get tax exemptions as well as special privileges like blessings of ruling coalitions.

Since the above are the ground realities of our Indian political arena, there is no surprise at all for an arithmetic jugglery becoming excess in the number of ministers as 225, by only recent amendment, it is decided to limit the number of ministers as liberal as 15%. If you considering that percentage as a reasonable and practical as 10, the number of ministers ousted will exceed 300!!. The realization of the fact that around 300 political businessmen were eating up our money by squeezing us by tax since last 40 years is mind boggling and enough to build up blood pressure even for a skeleton if it is of a patriot Indian. Let us see how much these happy political business tycoons extracted from us or more figuratively from our poor India.

Now, the most ‘moderate’ minister spends average 15,000 IRs/day including his posh accommodation, the parties organized left and right, his un necessary foreign trips, his and his bands’ international and national telephone call tariffs as if they are first time saw this equipment in their life, frequent flights to see their party boss in the capital for the so called discussions and his or her meager expenditure to really administer the real state issues. The above amount is only apparent expenditure, the hidden binami investments are not included if any, since these investments are binami, we will not be able to track it down with clear evidence, even sources are discreet. So let us consider this 15,000/day only. Then 365 days for 40 years by 300 ministers. We can ignore the inflation rate just to avoid a situation of figures scares us. So, the squandering imposed on the Indian for the past 40 years only to fool him is amounting to 65700.00 Million!! And, taking this money from our pockets, these tycoons looted more than hundred times of public funds and converted it in to private property as wizards. As a result, the poor Indian lost even the reconciliation of the shade of the national flag in the scorching sun of the starving realities.

By luck or unluck, if any Indian happened to be the member of upper or lower house or in any law making bodies, we implore him to be sensible enough to be assertive for a move to further downsizing the number of ministers to a 10% of the number of the members regardless to parliament or legislative assembly. This may eventually wipe out the tears from several eyes by marginalizing a bunch of political businessmen from their vigorous and greedy activities using the public fund.

And, a discarded baby on the crowded street may hear a favorable voice to cover up his burning hunger.

Prasad Karunan.A

10^th July, 2004.