Former PM ‘Weepy’ Singh is truly aghast. We, his former voters, are aghast too, but for a wholly different reason. While VP is understandably upset that his medical bill seems unfairly bloated in public eye owing to the inclusion of the expenses incurred on account of the SPG, the taxapayers are horrified that, SPG or no SPG, Rs 7.5 crores is still a lot of money.
Of course, it should be said to the credit of Singh that he did raise the issue of the additional cost owing to the SPG, with the PM and it was only the latter who paid no heed. But that is only an accounting technicality that can at the most ease VP’s guilt a bit while the fact remains that the SPG expenses do not stand alone and were necessitated only because of the ex-PM’s illness and its treatment abroad.
Apparently VP believes that the three and odd crores spent on his medical bills is quite legitimate although he hazards a suggestion, now that the cat is out, that the political patients be ‘allowed’ to contribute some margin towards those expenses. We are of course in total agreement with VP on one count-that the expenses on SPG was avoidable-as the ailing former PM is on the hitlist of none, barring probably Mr. Fate, on whose hitlist we all figure.
But then given VP’s fatal attraction towards social justice and such other fads, he could have done well to seize the opportunity that so providentially came his way, and summarily rejected State funding of his medical bills, howsoever legitimate they are.
That way he would have saved for his dear country a sum of rupees…well, you all know that by now… which in turn could have been used to build a hospital in once again, add a few thousand beds in a few wards in a few hospitals….the point is so much could have been done to alleviate the lot of the downtrodden and poor with all that money.
VP then could have even become a martyr, if Mr. Fate got to him faster than the doctors did, for the sake of his most cherished
social justice. Looking back, it was indeed a great lifetime opportunity. But alas, all that has gone up in smoke…like those seven and a half crores. Sorry for rubbing it in, couldn’t help it.
Why wouldn’t our politicos volunteer to demonstrate such consciousness atleast for the sake of publicity that they yearn for so much, if not out of any concern for the nation? Therein lies a sordid psychology hidden by a veneer of a well cultivated holy cow public posture.
Their parasitical instincts automatically prevent them from making any such suicidal offer. On the contrary they deem it their right and a duty imposed on the country to protect and preserve them, come what may.
In fact, the first thing most politicians do immediately after warming their seats in one of those ubiquitous Bhavans is to get themselves medically checked, from dandruff to fingernails. Cataracts and heart blocks, which have been lingering for long, suddenly beg to be treated, white some even cook up foreign jaunts, in the company of family members, well-wishers and, lest I forget, SPG, for a thorough, state-of-the-art check up.
Now, why the hell should a poor country like us be spending crores to keep our politicos in good health? Can’t they do it themselves by dipping into their own deep pockets? Though it may sound mean, there is no reason to be gentle with these characters for they most certainly have adequate resources to take care of themselves—after all, ‘poor politicians’ are passe, and the phrase itself is a comic contradiction these days.
If the Raja of Manda cannot afford to pay his medical bills, how can his prajas fare any better? Afterall, were not he and his ilk only the other day strutting around the length and breadth of the country parading themselves as the champions of the downtrodden? How can they now tread and trample on the very same poorest of the poor whose hard earned money that the government took as taxes is now being scattered around to keep them in fine fettle?
Do they deem themselves to be so indispensable to the nation that they have to be treated at such huge expenses, while a great part of the population do not have access even to basic medicine and health care? Most of these unfortunates don’t need a dialysis or a transfusion every day, but just a tablet for common cold or headache. Is that forthcoming?
Some presumptuousness on the part of the politicians, though sickening is not surprising. Sure, there must be some rules, norms and limits governing the funding of the medical expenses of present and pensioner-politicos, but they appear securely hidden in some bureaucratic muddle somewhere.
The funds are invariably sanctioned at the discretion of those in power who are only too keen to oblige, irrespective of political affiliation of the beneficiary, as a show of solidarity and concern for their cronies in arms, but more as an insurance for their own future, just in case. Such mutual backscratching serves them well, and it does not matter to them that the country gets drained in the process.
What we cannot cure, we have to endure and I am not referring to VP’s ailment. If our fate is to not only suffer our politicos but also suffer their sufferings, then so be it. But would we be wrong in suggesting that the ailing politicos get themselves treated at the government owned hospitals?
Besides reducing the burden on the exchequer, it would also give them a first hand feel of what the standards of medical care are in the country that they rule.
For the record, that appears to be the practice in most other democracies some of which are even smaller than ours. So, why not here, the mother of all democracies? Really, if the politicos choose to get themselves treated in the government hospitals, that the bulk of the population are forced to frequent, there is a chance that these places may attain some salvation from their current state of neglect.
Afterall, don’t the politicians deem themselves so precious that they need the best of medical care and as a consequences will not the quality of medication in the country be upgraded to meet their lofty standards? Let us move away while they ponder, lest yet another medical bill lands on our head, like in that insurance company ad on the tube.
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