The newly formed Indian Government today brought out the annual budget. This is a day when the spotlight is on the Finance Minister, where he reads out his plan as to how his government will manage the money. This is a day when all the News channels are on a high, bombarding television screens with info graphics, charts, graphs and expert opinions (Once I typed it out, it looks like the everyday schedule of the 24X7 News channels).
Normally the words thrown around on this day include Tax, GDP, Fiscal deficit, Inflation, cheaper and some more in the same genre.
The newly formed government heralds itself as the 'change' people voted for. In an attempt to maintain the image, they try to do something different from what the previous government did.
This budget was no different!
Point number 33, on the 8th page of the Union budget speech the Finance minister said and I quote "Government of Gujarat has embarked upon the mission to build the largest statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. Sardar Patel stands as the symbol of the unity of the country. To support the Gujarat government in this initiative to erect the Statue of Unity, I propose to set aside a sum of Rs 200 crore."
So erecting a statue is so important it features as a main point in the national budget! Yes, this news has made the poorest farmer in Vidharbha relinquish his attempt to commit suicide because now there is a statue for which he can live for!
A little bit of background on this. Gujarat is the state where our prime minister rose to fame. Its his Frankenstein. The Gujarat state government is planning to erect a 183 meter long statute (Statue of Liberty is 93 meters) of Sardar Patel, a freedom fighter and the first deputy prime minister of India. The cost of this project is is Rs 2500 crore ($415 million). The center has now agreed to pay $34 million for this project.
Setting aside the grotesque display, which I am sure has made Patel turn in his grave, is the obvious money spent on this. If the government is spending so much, I thought I would give some suggestions on how the statue has to be built.
1. Instead of erecting the statue vertically, erect it horizontally so that homeless people can sleep under it during the monsoons.
2. If its a statue 183 mts high, then its the height of a 60 floor building. The statue will be in the state of Gujarat, where business is big. Why not build a five-star hotel inside the statue?
3. If the government is spending so much money , a little more spending and imagine we can have a mega telescope in the head of the statue and Indian space research will bloom to greater heights.
4. May be, this might be a conspiracy. The Indian military might be setting up a station atop the statue to monitor Pakistan (which is right across the border).
5. The statue should hold a huge pail to facilitate rain water harvesting.
6. Make Sardar Patel a superhero, so his cape can be made of Solar Panels and produce electricity for the "developed" state.
7. If the State government likes a display so much the statue should have a provision for all the poor people to hang themselves publicly (Patel organised the farmers of Gujarat against the British in the civil- disobedience movement)
8. It should have ducts like human sweat pores, through which water can be let out to clean all the pigeon excrement.
I can go on but I will let the readers add more options. The statute is called 'Statue of Unity'! I really don't know what unity it symbolizes! How many people among the 1.2 billion people really feel 'united' when they see this behemoth of a statue? How many will actually get to see it?
Normally the words thrown around on this day include Tax, GDP, Fiscal deficit, Inflation, cheaper and some more in the same genre.
The newly formed government heralds itself as the 'change' people voted for. In an attempt to maintain the image, they try to do something different from what the previous government did.
This budget was no different!
Point number 33, on the 8th page of the Union budget speech the Finance minister said and I quote "Government of Gujarat has embarked upon the mission to build the largest statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. Sardar Patel stands as the symbol of the unity of the country. To support the Gujarat government in this initiative to erect the Statue of Unity, I propose to set aside a sum of Rs 200 crore."
So erecting a statue is so important it features as a main point in the national budget! Yes, this news has made the poorest farmer in Vidharbha relinquish his attempt to commit suicide because now there is a statue for which he can live for!
A little bit of background on this. Gujarat is the state where our prime minister rose to fame. Its his Frankenstein. The Gujarat state government is planning to erect a 183 meter long statute (Statue of Liberty is 93 meters) of Sardar Patel, a freedom fighter and the first deputy prime minister of India. The cost of this project is is Rs 2500 crore ($415 million). The center has now agreed to pay $34 million for this project.
Setting aside the grotesque display, which I am sure has made Patel turn in his grave, is the obvious money spent on this. If the government is spending so much, I thought I would give some suggestions on how the statue has to be built.
1. Instead of erecting the statue vertically, erect it horizontally so that homeless people can sleep under it during the monsoons.
2. If its a statue 183 mts high, then its the height of a 60 floor building. The statue will be in the state of Gujarat, where business is big. Why not build a five-star hotel inside the statue?
3. If the government is spending so much money , a little more spending and imagine we can have a mega telescope in the head of the statue and Indian space research will bloom to greater heights.
4. May be, this might be a conspiracy. The Indian military might be setting up a station atop the statue to monitor Pakistan (which is right across the border).
5. The statue should hold a huge pail to facilitate rain water harvesting.
6. Make Sardar Patel a superhero, so his cape can be made of Solar Panels and produce electricity for the "developed" state.
7. If the State government likes a display so much the statue should have a provision for all the poor people to hang themselves publicly (Patel organised the farmers of Gujarat against the British in the civil- disobedience movement)
8. It should have ducts like human sweat pores, through which water can be let out to clean all the pigeon excrement.
I can go on but I will let the readers add more options. The statute is called 'Statue of Unity'! I really don't know what unity it symbolizes! How many people among the 1.2 billion people really feel 'united' when they see this behemoth of a statue? How many will actually get to see it?
2 comments:
Brilliant, Kaichu! Brilliant! Senseless fools... gr............
Post a Comment