Privatisation

Education and Health are two vital responsibilities that the Government has almost totally abdicated and handed over to private hands who are raking in huge returns both through direct collection from public and through government reimbursements.

Huge amounts of land - both public and private - have been and continue to be compulsorily acquired and bestowed to private players in the name of Industries, SEZs, etc. It is an open secret that only a small percent of the land thus acquired is actually put to the legitimate use but get diverted to the booming realty sector or simply left undeveloped for the rates to increase.

Likewise, minerals are also dished out to private players, who export the raw mineral than put it to end use within the country as professed.

Now water resources are also slowly being handed over to private parties who are poised to make a giant killing. Huge lakes, canals, minor water bodies have been legally and illegally filled in and diverted to realty. Now private parties are being allowed to overexploit the ground water resources to the detriment of common people who depend on wells for irrigation and domestic consumption.

Many villages do not get potable water from respective local bodies but in their midst private parties are being allowed to pump out thousands of litres of water for being supplied to hotels, ships, etc.

With the present trend, it may not be long before we are forced to pay private parties for having windows in our houses as the air we breathe may be privatized.

Since less governance is better governance, the government may be thinking of confining itself solely to decide who will own the nature's gifts.


…ponder