I read somewhere that the recession has started to bite even the Queen of England. She is forced to cancel the annual party thrown to her employees that cost the exchequer $ 80,000.
This is the right time for us to rethink on the waste in our country. And the austerity measures have to commence at the top. Forget about Ministers travelling by Economy Class - a drama enacted a year back. It was in the news for a couple of days, and the ministers are back to travelling First and Business Class. I dont grudge them. Even middle level executives travel Business Class, then why not the Ministers. They are certainly entitled to it. At least, it will spare the common man travelling Economy the pompous behaviour of a Minister.
I am talking about abolishing certain posts. Why do we need a President? Only thing she does is to swear in the Central Cabinet, appoint Governors and some functionaries like Chief Justice, Election Commissioner. Even here, her role is ceremonial, and she has no say in any of the matter. Do we really need a Ceremonial Head of the State, whose job is ornamental? Rashtrapathi Bhavan can be converted to a national museum. The ridiculous Presidential Body Guards can be dispensed with to bolster the army, where at least they can contribute to the nation.
Ditto for Governors at various States. An envoy of the Central Government is a relic from the British Era, and it is high time they are dispensed with. An audit of all the Governors since independence will show that the cost - benefit analysis tend to be skewed towards huge costs with nil benefits. In fact, our Governors have proved to be a hindrance than a help in many a State, the latest case being Karnataka.
Why do we need 80 Ministers in the Centre? Most of the Junior Ministers (Junior is an anachronism - some of the Junior Ministers are well over 70 years old) dont get any work allocated to them. Various Ministries can be merged and we can rule quite comfortably with 20 Ministers. As such, the PM leans on less than 10 ministers to get 95% of his work done. So why have 80? We can have 20 Cabinet Ministers, and each can be allowed to have 2-3 MPs assisting him, as non ministers, who can be an under study.
Indian Private Sector cut the flab in 1990's and became lean and mean. They reaped rich dividends in the long run, and are highly respected globally. In fact, they have beaten Western MNCs hands down amidst fears to the contrary in 1990's. It is time, Government takes a leaf out of our Private Sector.
