Value of One Rupee

It refers to a highly irresponsible statement from Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, hurting the sentiments of silent majority of middle-income people when he taunted that those spending `20 on a cup of ice-cream or a bottle of mineral water have no right to object for price-hike of `1 per kg of wheat or rice. He forgot that dependence on mineral-water rather than normal tap-water is also due to wrong policies of governance-system. Ice-cream in present era is not a luxury where even people above poverty-line as defined by our Planning Commission with daily income of `28 have to spend at times to see their children happy. On the other hand, wheat and rice are daily necessities of life, hurting lives of every commoner even if there is a price-rise of even `1 per kg.

Our super-rich politicians and planners have no sensitivity at all towards miseries of common people. People are forced to accept unwanted items like candies, etc. because our government does not mint coins of one-rupee denomination in sufficient quantity because political rulers like P Chidambaram have no value for `1. Why we should forget that even richest persons if going to market have a common Indian psychology to bargain for vegetables even though such a bargain may result in saving of just `1.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

Delhi