Swarajya, April 15, 1961
Between ourselves, honest voter, these private monopolies created by the pernicious system of permits, licences, quotas and controls (to be extended now even to foreign capital which voluntarily comes into the private sector) make the Congress Party's rich friends richer, and the poor poorer. It is a close conspiracy; we have a battle between money and liberty, between dharma and atheism, between freedom and communism clothed in Congress robes.
Coffee in Madras city hotels and restaurants now costs 20 nP. a cup as against 17 nP. A single meal now costs 75 nP. as against 63 nP. a month ago. When the hotel-keepers are questioned they give the following prices of commodities which, and much else, they have to buy and pay for before being able to serve their customers.
Sugar costs now Rs. 120 a bag as against Rs. 95 in 1957. Firewood has risen from Rs. 63 per ton to Rs. 85; coffee seeds from Rs. 219 per cwt. to Rs. 260; milk from Rs. 1.12 per measure to Rs. 1.75; rice from Rs. 44 per bag to Rs. 74; charcoal from Rs. 160 per ton to Rs. 240; gram from Rs. 40 per bag to Rs. 60; ghee from Rs. 71 per tin to Rs. 105.
The Hindu's Delhi correspondent has reported that the Congress Parliamentary Price Committee had a "lively discussion today (April 7) for over two hours", on the problem of increase of prices of necessities and that the view that emerged from the discussion was that the "basic mistake lay in not visualizing at the time of the Second Plan such a rise in prices".
It appears that they came to the conclusion that steps should be taken to evolve methods by which prices may not be allowed to rise. It seems the Finance Minister, Mr. Morarji Desai himself presided at this meeting.
The rise in prices, which it was agreed 'had not been visualized at the commencement of the Second Plan' was estimated to be very near to 30 per cent during the Plan period. The great confabulators resolved to examine at the next meeting the question of improving the machinery of production and distribution which was at the root of this unpleasant rise in prices. All those who were competent to criticize, and who did not belong to the yes-group of the party, were shouting 'inflation' but were treated as incorrigible cynics, if not traitors to the cause revolutionary advance on which the ruling party had decided, and which necessarily 'involved a degree of inflation'. But now the party is going to improve the machinery of production to cope with the inflation and induce prices not to rise so immoderately.
What is this "machinery of production" which is going to be improved under the orders of the administration? It is obvious that this producing machinery is not situated in the secretariats at Delhi or in the offices of the State governments. It can tamper with the distribution which will make matters worse and reach a crisis. The "machinery of production" is in the peasant's farm. And everyone knows what has at present happened there, the greatest uncertainty and the farmer's own running deficit financing. These are the features of life and operations at that end.
The machinery that causes the rise in prices is situated in the secretariats where taxes and levies are conceived, and orders issued to make up for the red gap in budgets. The State governments have been relieved of all their old-time anxieties and now live on doles from the Centre for everything. This is the irrefutable source of all the unpleasant phenomena in the markets, including the restaurants and eating houses. There is no use in lively or other discussions. The only thing to do is to give up wrong policies, and if that is not possible and if the ruling party cannot give up its facadism and gigantism, the thing to do is to give place to those who do not believe in such exhibitionist advance, and who believe in progress and prosperity through freedom, and in an honest free economy wherein the State will take a back place and the energy of citizens released and allowed full play, instead of being choked and suppressed by an intolerable Statism.
The Congress has resolved, we are told, not to enter into any alliances and to fight the elections alone. Why should it seek alliances, when it can depend on triangular and multilinear contests among its opponents, and when it has unlimited funds, and the whole administrative machinery at its effective command for running the elections? It is a shame that where the party has adopted a policy of total economic grip, it pretends to run free general elections, refusing to make arrangements for a neutral regime during the election period. 'Voluntary' levies are merrily going on to fill the party chest from the coffers of the favoured monopolists at its beck and call. It has the numerous Sevak Samajs, social welfare bodies, development boards and other quasi-official bodies operating at public expense, organs of so- called decentralized government power to be briskly used as party organizations, and ministers and deputy ministers organizing election tours paid for by the State. There is an almost unlimited quantity of artificially produced money to confer election-eve boons on the major voting groups. This misuse of position and refusal to make the elections really free. may even warrant a total boycott of the elections by all who wish to protest against it.
Why indeed should the Congress Party seek any alliances? It hopes to win hands down, unless the electorate wakes up to end this paste-board totalitarian rule and this intolerable corruption, and convert the elections into a tempestuous moral revolution.
