After spending billions on memorials, Maya orders a check on ``unproductive expenditure''

After being rebuked by the Apex court of India for wasting the tax payers’ money – to the tune of Rs 260 Billion – on memorials and statues, the Indian queen of Dalits (lowest of all castes)– Mayawati has ordered her officials to observe austerity measures or to spend judiciously. Mayawati is also the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh – the most populous and backward state of India.

The orders of the Chief Minister are to curtail ``unproductive expenditure’’ and maintain ``financial discipline’’. Therefore, ``no seminars and trainings for her officials, unless necessary’’.

This raised a question in my head – were these officials in the past, going for trainings and seminars which were unnecessary? The question can best be answered either by the authorities that gave their sanctions for the seminars and trainings or by the officials who had been attending such events.

The list of ``don’ts’’ issued by the Chief Minister’s office to stop ``unproductive expenditure’’ and for maintaining ``financial discipline’’ is exahaustive.

• No new guest houses by any department, public enterprise or state owned autonomous institutions.
• No new office/residential building at any division or district except in new districts.
• No new vehicle purchase except for security reasons.
• Official tours for important and necessary government works should be minimized.
• No official lunch and inners in five star hotels.
• Blanket ban on advertisement and publicity by government departments
• No greetings, calendars or diaries on government expenditure on New year.

A closer look at the government functioning in consideration to above-mentioned austerity measures and it is revealed that...

• It is the Chief Minister who is constructing guest houses/residences in the name of her favourite
• It is the Chief Minister’s cavalcade that has maximum number of vehicles.
• It is the Chief Minister’s office whose officials make the maximum number of tours
• It is the Chief Minister whose hoardings can be seen anywhere and everywhere in the state capital – in each newspapers and every news channels. The Uttar Pradesh government has spent about Rs 5 crore on making films on the Mayawati government.

Nevertheless, the government claims that despite limited financial resources it is running several welfare programmes for poor, Dalits, girls and slum-dwellers, who have remained deprived since India became independent. Several projects were being implemented by this government for the development of resources in rural and urban areas, says the official spokesperson.

However, the fact is that what one can see in Uttar Pradesh today, is memorials and statues in Lucknow & NOIDA and acute poverty and illiteracy in the rest of the state.

Mayawati came to power in this state in 2007 when her party - Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won a majority in the State Assembly elections. No sooner she came to power, construction work started on massive scale in places like Lucknow – which is the capital of Uttar Pradesh and also in NOIDA (New Okhla Industrial Development Area) – which is the industrial showcase of this otherwise backward state. Incidentally, the construction was only memorials in the name of Dalit leaders of the past. Each memorial adorns huge gigantic statues of these leaders of yesteryears along with statues of Mayawati as well.

Unfortunately, it is not only construction in which the government is indulging – it is construction and demolition and construction and demolition – which seems to be the BSP way of building things.

The issues has reached the extent that even the Supreme Court of India issued an ultimatum to the government, ordering a complete halt for all construction activities with immediate effect. The court had also questioned how with a mere 2 percent GDP growth, a state like Uttar Pradesh could incur such a “colossal expenditure” on construction of memorials.

The court observations were strict -- “It is not as simple so please do not try to over simplify the matter. It needs to be examined whether such huge public expenditure can be made for memorials! Suppose 80 percent of the budget is diverted for building memorials, isn’t it call for a review by the court?

So much so for unproductive expenditure.......