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Why should I support this Bandh?
Written By silkboard - 5 July, 2010
Bangalore Politics fuel Complaint Others BJP Bandh
Why should I be forced to support a strike call (bandh) that I don't agree with? Where is my freedom of expression? Why is my office shut? Why is my son's school shut as well? Are the officea and schools shut because they support the bandh, or are they 'scared'? Why can state government not guarantee rule of law on general bandh day? Real shame in today's day and age, such "goonda-giri' driven bandhs are the most farcical tools of public vote in a democracy.
Leaving aside the "how can a ruling party support a strike" thing and talking specifics, what is wrong with total decontrol of fuel pricess to let the market forces rule? Kerosene price rise can be buffered towards a gradual decontrol, but the public needs to alter their fuel usage pattern - shift the burden away from fossils - and energy companies need that push to innovate.
I am not against my taxes going towards subsidies to support the poor. But I don't want that to happen via support for more consumption of fossil fuel. I want to put my taxes towards primary education, rural infrastructure, and alternate energy research so that the poor can gradually afford to buy energy at market rates.
COMMENTS
thanks for diverting from the focus on IMF
Public Agenda - 5 July, 2010 - 12:18
@ IDS & @ SB
Thanks for diverting about organising bandhs and TVs etc,etc
That was not the point
Why cant you examine the serious issues here?
please question the IMF
what if the IMF sitting pretty is the Biggest GOONDA trying to decide (happening in SE Asia, Bangladesh)
It just says that who are the ideological slaves .........
I am straight saying that India withdraws the 10 bn USD to keep the subsidy going
sure the quid pro quo for the GoI was a .0025 ~ increase in the voting share at the IMF with the so called BRICS countries
Whole country is saying no - how do you know?
silkboard - 5 July, 2010 - 10:31
Public Agenda dear (wish you used a proper noun to name yourself), how do you claim that "BTW the Whole Countrry is saying No "?
How do you know? Because the newspapers tomorrow will say so? Is it because the TV channels are claiming headlines like "bandh complete in Kolkata and Bangalore", or "all offices and schools shut in Kolkata, Patna and Bangalore".
It is ironic that we are seeing Bangalore named alongside cities like Patna and Kolkata. Having grown up seeing bandhs everyday at South Bihar (now Jharkhand) where jeep load of hooligans would do the rounds to "ensure" a bandh, same set of folks, for one party today and another party tomorrow, I am susprised to see that Bangalore of today is not that much different.
How the hell does one know whether the bandh has support of people or not? Only people who claim to know the public agenda can say they know (pun inteded Public Agenda sir). I don't.
If any party has the guts, let us have a bandh call without the threat of broken window panes or bones, And then we will see who supports bandhs and who don't.
Public Agenda - 5 July, 2010 - 07:30
This is not about the international prices of petrol. An imported litre of petrol remains at approx Rs 16 -17 / ltr.
This is about the context? If it is a BHARAT BANDH can any one person decide, while it is OK for the EGoM to decide to raise prices, Can any person say NO, BTW the Whole Countrry is saying No
How does the govt collect so much more and despite that no dip in consumption? There is even talk about the Reva co selling stake to M & M
Its about the Commodity trade the BIGGEST MIDDLEMAN who sets the price which came down from $ 147 / barrel to 36 / barrel in two months after the recsiion hit in September 2008. But please observe the trend :- post friday every weekend for 6 months the prices were highest ( which shows how international prices are rigged) so that fuel traders get the max price.
If we lived in a utopia which had EQUALITY and the MIDDLEMEN were controlled ....... dream on
So are we OKAY to pay a price determined by the MARKET MIDDLEMEN or some other "market determined" rates
Last year the GoI donated $ 10 billion ( 45,000 crores) to the International Monetary fund and bought 200 tonnes of GOLD from IMF.
It'll be good to see what is the link between the IMF , the Market Middlemen, and the GoI, the FRBMA, and the Global Macroeconomic stablity ( monitired by IMF)--- its far deeper than is apparent.
This 45,000 crores is much more than what the GoI is generating from fuel price hikes, but would we rather pay the IMF and generate the money from the Indian Poor( majority 60%), by making their cooking fuel unaffordable,.......OH !!.... If there were no middlemen, who would be happy to set the market price of kerosene
Get rid of the market RIGGING TRADER middlemen there and then call for a market price rather than only the shopkeepers, traders to bring in the RETAIL GIANTS who will also RIG prices and BECOME SUPER MIDDLE MEN
This is becoz just like fuel is a hit trading commodity, so is dal, rice, veggies etc
This is how the LOCAL is global and the GLOBAL is local
BTW the crude basket which India buys internationally is cheaper by $ 5 -10 than those others buy.
idontspam - 6 July, 2010 - 17:55
but to complete the picture the diesel for cars also should not be subsidised.
How do you implement that practically?
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