It would not be wrong to state that India’s middle class is an engine of India’s growth. But it barely gets anything in return.
The State has just got its hands off from every responsibility. For education the state conveniently presumes that we would be sending our children to private schools and private colleges as it has failed to run its educational institutions, for electricity it expects us to buy a generator or an invertor as the State run Electricity Boards cannot provide power 24 hours. For health care its now an unwritten code please visit private nursing homes as Govt Hospitals cannot be trusted. Even the poor avoid them. For water every citizen is expected to get a bore well dug in the back yard of the house and buy a water purifier as the State cannot provide safe drinking water.
During the Pendemic, almost every house hold of this class had spent more than Rs 2 lacs in getting his kith and kins treated but sadly the Govt has still not taken any step to improve its Hospitals. The oppressed middle class man will have to still take his family to a private hospital.
The current Govt ridiculed the MNREGA but still uses the oppressed middle class man’s hard earned money to continue funding MNREGA, it has rather started many other such initiatives that are being funded by tax collected from the already oppressed middle class ; Ayushman Bharat, Free electricity, free rations, free gas cylinder , Free laptops, free bicycles etc for the people who are kept poor due to MISGOVRNANCE and CORRUPTION.
And surprisingly, the oppressed middle classman still cheers the Govt. Today there is barely a single vegetable which is costing less than Rs 80 per kg the cost of cooking gas cylinder is costing almost Rs1000/ and cost of petrol has gone up to Rs110/lit.
Responsible Middle Class.
The responsible oppressed middle class man understands that lock downs in last one year have made an impact on the economy and it therefore needs time to recover.
But the moot issue is once it recovers at the cost of our miseries,
One. Will the Govt pass on the benefits to its customers,
Two. Will it ensure that we do not have to send our children to private schools, will it ensure that we do not have to take our sick to private hospitals, will it ensure that power supply is not erratic,
Three. Will it ensure that if the cost of crude oil comes down it will pass on the benefits to the people who underwent miseries and cheered you in difficult times.
The answer is EMPHATIC NO.
Benefits Never Passed On to the Cutsomer.
If we go through the prices of crude oil of last 10 years we will notice that the Govts never passed on the benefits to the people but always passed on the burden to them.
Remember the hue and cry the current political party made when crude oil prices increased in 2013-14( 97-104 US Dollars/Barrel), remember what the Hon’ble PM said when the crude prices came down in 2015. He called himself Lucky.
But despite enjoying the luck for almost 7 years 2015 to 2020, when the crude oil prices remained abysmally low from 11-61 US dollars/Barrel its benefits were never passed on to the OPRESSED MIDDLE CLASS and now when the crude prices are enormously high 84 US Dollars/barrel and above, the burden is still being expected to be borne by the OPRESSED MIDDLE CLASS only.
However, the oppressed Middle class will continue to Cheer in the name of Religion and caste peculiarly behaving like a frog on a frying pan which does not realize that he is being fried gradually.