In India: Rs 75 a day for monkeys, Rs 27 for humans

Monkeys rated above humans; Rs. 75 a day to feed a monkey in Delhi, Rs. 27 for basic living for humans in villages

According to the records of the Delhi Government's forest department, Rs. 75 per head per day is spent to feed monkeys in the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary located in South Delhi. It would be interesting to recall that the Planning Commission of India and the Finance Ministry of India prescribed in July, 2013 that if a person is spending Rs. 27.20 in rural areas, he could not be considered poor. He does not belong to the Below Poverty Level category of people in India. For cities, the expenditure cap was fixed at Rs. 33.

In an irony to the state of humans in India, Delhi’s forest department has spent a nothing less than Rs. 6 crore in feeding 16,400 monkeys at the Delhi Sanctuary in the last six years. The Forest Department’s reports state that it spends approximately Rs. 14 lakh every month on food for the monkeys in the sanctuary since 2007-08 following a Delhi High Court directive to feed the animal.

 The cost to feed monkeys has been rising every year given the fact that food inflation has been flying north in India, in general, and Delhi, in particular. The expenditure incurred on feeding the monkeys in 2007-08 was Rs. 13.01 lakh. It went up to Rs. 1.19 crore in 2008-09. In 2009-10, the expenses declined to Rs. 13.01 lakh before going up to Rs. 1.27 crore in 2010-11, Rs. 1.39 crore in 2011-12 and the Rs. 1.50 crore in 2012-13.

In the backdrop of this incremental cost in keeping monkeys healthy in a protected environment, it would be interesting to compare the cost prescribed by the Manmohan Singh government to meet the basic requirements including food valued in rupees as calculated by the Planning Commission. The cost of living for humans prescribed by the United Progressive Alliance government of India is less than half of what is being incurred per head on the upkeep of monkeys in the Capital.

In October, 2011, the Planning Commission filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that the BPL cap was pegged at an expenditure of Rs. 32 and Rs. 26 by an individual in the urban and rural areas respectively taking into account the rate of inflation prevailing in 2010-11. This was revised in March, 2012 by the Planning Commission, which stated that anyone with a daily consumption expenditure of Rs. 28.35 and Rs. 22.42 in urban and rural areas respectively does not belong to the BPL category. 

The March, 2012 estimates of the Planning Commission were revised again in July, 2013 as the electoral politics started hotting up in India and the Manmohan Singh government was facing flak from every corner for persisting high inflation and stagnant economic growth. The Planning Commission, which works in tandem with the government of the day at Centre stated that people whose consumption of goods exceeds Rs. 33 a day in cities and Rs. 27.20 a day in villages are not poor. Incidentally, in the same report, the Planning Commission said that India has reduced the number of poor by more than 15 percentage points since 2004, when the UPA seized power from Atal Behari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government.

These figures of the Delhi Forest Department have been arrived at on the basis of the actual expenditure incurred in buying fruits and vegetables at the wholesale price in Delhi. In contrast, the planning commission and the finance ministry calculated the daily requirements at the market price. So, according to the understanding as well as the policies and schemes of the government in India roughly three humans can live a day respectfully catering to their food, housing, clothing, travel and medical requirements in Indian villages on a day’s food expenditure of a monkey living in the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in the national capital. No wonder, India is the capital of malnourished, hungry, diseased and sanitation-deprived people in the world.

The curious case of coalgate whistleblower PC Parakh

Politics is the business of expediency, and running a government is a game of chess, where queen is protected till the very end. And this is ensured by sacrificing pawns, who fortify the palace. The UPA government and its approach to dealing with scams prove this basic philosophy of governance that I heard while growing up in the politically conscious Bihar. The case of former Union coal secretary PC Parakh in the coal scam is not only curious but perhaps a sad commentary as well.

PC Parakh had generally been hailed as an honest bureaucrat till his retirement in 2005 and considered an early whistleblower of the coal scam much before the Comptroller and Auditor General of India made the scam public in March 2012. Parakh was the man, who resisted the obsolete policy of first-come-first-served for allocation of coal blocks and favoured a policy of transparent system of auction of coal blocks/mines.

Now, it is in public domain that in July 2004, PC Parakh had warned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about a possible scam if the old policy of coal block allocation was followed. Parakh registered his opposition to the existing method of coal block allocation in writing, categorically saying that the award of captive coal blocks could result in windfall profits for the beneficiary corporate houses. If still not less than 142 coal blocks were allocated under Manmohan Singh’s nose, where is the question of culpability of Parakh? Clearly, he was overruled by the Prime Minister or his office.

Incidentally, PC Parakh had also strongly objected to and lodged a protest with the Prime Minister against political interference in the coal ministry and the intrusive role played by the then-minister of state for coal Dasari Narayana Rao. There is no doubt that Parakh tried his best in the capacity of  coal secretary to prevent what turned out to be a coal scam. But his political masters ignored him.

It should also be recalled that PC Pararkh’s successor in the coal ministry as secretary, HC Gupta had taken cue from Parakh and continued opposition to the existing policy of coal block allocation. It is again in the public domain that on April 7, 2006, HC Gupta strongly opposed, at a meeting held in PMO, the manner in which coal blocks were being allocated. He said that there was no legal basis for allocation of coal blocks by a screening committee as was being done then. It is no surprise that Gupta is also facing investigation for his alleged involvement in the coal scam.

This takes us to the moot point that all the pawns and commanders are being sacrificed in the hope to save the king. Now, one the valiant commanders has threatened to reveal the fortified secrets of the kingdom in an unambiguous signal to the king and the kingmaker that he is not okay with the idea of becoming the sacrificial lamb for the safety of the throne. That, the commander will not go without offering a fight.