I had writtten about the Law of Unintended Consequences before (read here).
Much despicable the actions of ex-telecom minister Raja is regarding giving away the 2 G spectrum at a throw away price, one has to admit that it has had a tremendous positive impact in empowering the ordinary people, especially the poor.
I had written way back in 2009 as another post, in this blog,
It is amazing how much an improvement in the earning capacity the mobile phones have brought in for the poor in India. The mobile penetration and the low calling rates have done much more to empower the auto driver, the priest, the jasmine seller, vegetable vendor, the house maid, the petty shop owner, the plumber, the electrician than any NREG scheme that the government uses to dole out freebies. To say the truth, the poor have leveraged the mobile much much more than the educated and the rich in India to further their economic interest. For them, it is a tool to earn, rather than a social networking facilitator. And that is how it should be. The mobile revolution has also enabled the poor to network professionally. I was amazed at how each one of them have created a network of other trade craftsmen/women to offer an integrated service to their clients. They earn more, have improved their productivity and as a result enjoy better living standards. This stresses the importance of having better grass root level infrastructure to eradicate poverty rather than taking the route of welfare economics.
Almost all the decisions taken by the Governments, Central or State, reeks with corruption. But at least in this case, we can rest assured that the Rs 1.76 lakh crore notional loss to the exchequer ultimately benefitted the poor rather than going to the deep pockets of big businessmen, like for example government acquiring lands dirt cheap for big business houses, who in turn sell it at a premium immediately, and the gain goes only to them. Raja made money, as did many telecom companies, and government definitely could have got much more from the sale of spectrum if it were auctioned. But the money thus raised would have gone down the drain through some social security programs like NREGS, where the end beneficiary, the poor, gets only 15%, with the rest lining the pockets of fat pig middle men. Or for running corrupt games like the CWG. But the low tariff rate, possible because Raja gave away the licenses for a pittance, changed the rural, economical and social landscape of India.
Raja never intended any of these when he gave away the licenses. His only aim was to make money for his party and himself. But the Law of Unintended Consequences came to the fore, much to the relief of the common man.
