Subsidising petrol prices- My take!

No dilly dallying here. I will straight forward come to the point here. I am with the government (or the policy makers) when they are wanting to reduce (or even do away with) the subsidy on petrol and diesel! I know you would frown at this but i have my share of reasons for it which i have tried to list down:

1. It's good for the environment! Till the time petrol and diesel becomes exorbitantly dear, people will not even notice the alternatives to these fossil fuels. This is true both from the customer perspective and the automobile companies perspective.

Most people are not aware of electric technology used for automobiles which is absolutely emission free. Even if they are slightly aware they will sideline it with ridiculous logic like- 'what happens if i run out of electricity while on road?' Don't you have to plan accordingly for any other fuel? And electricity is actually easy to 'refill', at the convenience of your home or office.

The companies are oblivious of the environment friendly technology because of demand mismatch (the customer is not interested so why should i) and of course because if they plan to introduce new technologies they have to invest in R&D and new production lines etc. So 'we will think about how to cross the bridge when it comes'. Though companies which are smart know this new technology is going to be the future and thus have started working on the alternative fuel technologies for their cars. Many cars now come with factory fitted CNG kits and other will have electric versions of existing models in another couple of years.

2. My second point is very simple. Why should government pay for the fuel you and me use in our vehicles? And when they are withdrawing it we are raising such hue and cry over it! We don't expect government to subsidise our food items, our restaurant bills, our property and real estate, our designer dresses etc. Then why petrol? It is not our constitutional birthright to ask our government to cover us from the global price rise in petroleum products. And please understand, our government does not subsidise these prices by taking a cut from the salary of our minsters or IAS officers, it is our money, that we pay through various taxes to government. So whichever way (through government subsidy or paying directly for dearer fuels), it's your and my hard earned money! I feel it's wise to switch away from Petrol.

3. This is the only way we will realise the value of petrol! And I feel we are still miles away from realising it's value. So we see people at traffic signals not wanting to switch off their engines even if the light is for 3-4 minutes. People do not switch off their engines while they get out of their car, to buy a cigarette or to buy flowers or for that matter anything else. The other day i saw a man park his scooter on a street, engine on, and go in to a store to buy apples! And he had no compunction in doing so. Once the same petrol becomes Rs. 250 a litre, i am sure he will not dare to even think leaving his scooter with engine on!

4. Only when the people and thus the government realise that petrol is not a viable option anymore will they start investing more money and efforts in R&D for alternative fuels. And the sooner this research happens and results start pouring the soon we can implement them. Because accept it or not, alternative fuels are the only options for the future, so better start early. Although i can not quote exact figures, but many countries around the globe have already started to use alternative fuels for their own good.

5. When was the last time you travelled in a public transport bus or Metro? Yeah, i know, it's not that viable because the metro station is a little far from your office and you will have to walk to office from the metro station. What the environment requires is not for you to plant a tree once an year and feed it with water on every weekend, but something more serious, some thing more sacrificing, like resting your car and taking public transport (Metro or Bus) and walking those 5-10 mins to reach office from the Metro station or Bus stop. When executives in China and Japan can cycle to work why can't Indians even take a bus or Metro? I think even cycling isn't too bad an option for people who have offices close to their homes. You save the environment, help us reduce our dependence on Petrol and cycling can help you stay fit!





6. Last but not the least, we need all this simply because we are not an oil producing nation. We need to import oil to meet our demands and the price of everything we buy revolves around petrol and diesel prices. That is why every price goes for a toss when the petrol prices increase. Imagine if we reduce our dependence on these petroleum products we could kind of detach our economy from whatever happens in UAE, Iraq or US (to some extent). We would not have to worry about the price of vegetables increasing, if petrol prices rise. We as a country would be more self sufficient than we are today.



This is what i think!!!

An incident and a learning

Let me start by narrating a small incident. The other day while coming back from office, i saw a group of 'Kanwariyas- saffron clad, Shiv worshipping Sadhus, who travel to different Shiv temples on foot carrying poles across their shoulders which hold small water-pots (kanwars)' on a road side stall set up for them. At the stall, which was amidst a very busy road, they were being offered free food, water and a air cooled resting place (which was playing hindi bhajans 'inspired' by popular bollywood songs). Now if you have already perceived them to be old, abstinence loving, docile creatures, let me describe them for you.

This group was young, most people seemed to be in their 20s or 30s. They were riding their bikes (oh yes, they were on their path to moksha on their two-wheelers), were wearing sunglasses and carrying what seemed like imported backpacks. It seemed amusing till what happened next!

As they were on their bikes, they reached the traffic signal (where i was also there), which was red and the traffic from the other side was speeding. Once they formed a small group of about 10-12 riding on their 7-8 bikes, they suddenly barged into the opposite traffic and by signaling by their hand to stop, put the opposite traffic in a mess. When a couple of cars and buses stopped to save them from being crushed under them, they sped on their bikes yelling- Bam Bam Bhole, with a sense of victory in their war cry.

Although, luckily nobody was injured and everything went normal in a few seconds, it made me realise how we in India do not perceive religion to be a personal thing at all. These kanwariyas seem to take participation in religious groups because they get empowered by this participation. Empowered enough to take the law of land in one's hand and jeopardising the life of other fellow human beings!

Imagine a scenario where even one of the these kanwariyas might have been hit by a car from the opposite side and injured. I can imagine what would have happened. They would have called their group and thrashed the poor driver of the car without any mistake of his. In a worse case they would have become violent, stopped all traffic and done gruesome harm to public property (which has happened in past too). And could the police and administration have done anything, i think not!

And they could have done all this just because they represent a particular religion and sect and have to be treated above the law or bear the wrath! I think, as people out on a religious mission, they surely should be treated with all due respect and care that we can, but nobody can be above law and their life is no more worthy than of anybody else on that road.

May lord shiva help us and all the kanwariyas realise the fact that religion does not provide someone to be above law or become violent, it is just a way of connecting with the almighty.