Friday, August 19, 2011

Annagiri- the new phenomena part2: middle class

It is a fairly straight forward question..why is the middle class supporting anna hazare? why are people from different religion, caste etc come together to support anna hazare? The reason is fairly simple... outburst of frustration caused mainly due to the virtual absence of any governing body in the country..
Indian middle class is the largest contributors to the Tax paid to the government. They do not have an option of not paying taxes, it is directly cut from their salary...and in return what do they get? even basic amenities like clean and hygienic water, smooth roads, public transportation are not provided by the government...I am not against the government using tax-payers money for the benefit of the poor, but at-least provide the middle class with these basic amenities..ya, you lay roads every year, but come one rain, the roads are all gone..what is left is stone and soil..and we have to face the agony of travelling in poor roads all winter...there is also the added hazard of stagnant water and its related diseases. But the government is not bothered about all this..
The poor have been poor all their life. The government policies are aimed at short term benefits. be it NREGA or any other scheme, they are meant to provide the villagers some form of employment. The money they earn is only sufficient for rozha khana...And in effect the poor are dependent on the government all their life..

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There is another aspect of the Indian youth that I would like to highlight here..

why this sudden momentum? were things fine 5 years ago? was there no large scale corruption before? remember JP Narayanan + Indira Gandhi + Corruption = Emergency..?? remember Bofers..Corruption has been a phenomenon throughout 60 odd years of independence....2G, CWG etc are just additions to the list...
The answer lies in the IT revolution...till a decade back, middle class indians are mainly employed in government firms like railways, incometax, PSUs, banks etc..that is the educated people of this country were mainly dependent of the government for its salary..but the last 10-12 years have seen large number of education youth work in private industries...
anna hazare is just a phenomenon that people could connect with..the people of this country do not only want to fight corruption or black money etc.. The people also want better infrastructure, better roads, better transportation, better healthcare facilities etc..It is a fight for their basic rights...
Dont be surprised if you see more such anna hazare's and protest in the future...

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