Modi''s hawai baatein

Narendra Modi has said it is his dream to see a person wearing hawai chappals travel in a hawai jahaz. The PM is entitled to his dreams. But he should be a little more open and upfront about his priorities. Fast growth in recent years has raised middle class incomes, yet these are not sufficient to make airports and flights sustainable. If people can't afford anything better than rubber slippers, they may find it difficult to reach an airport, let alone buy an air ticket. Such is, however, Modi's sway over the faithful that he can easily convince them that a Rs 2,500-an-hour Shimla-Delhi flight is affordable for the poor. 

Modi's, and the BJP's, politics is marketed as "pro-poor" but his government's priorities are pro-elite. Scarce resources are diverted to benefit the privileged few.  Airports and bullet trains cater to the needs of a small but influential minority. Common sense says that demand should dictate where, and whether, an airport is to be located. Investments made in regional airports, including the one in Shimla and another in Bathinda, are lying idle as business has not picked up and there are not enough air travellers. Now smaller planes and subsidized rates, introduced under "UDAN" (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), are expected to make passengers fly places.  

The vast majority of Indians travels by trains, which are not only inadequate to handle the rush but are also unsafe and unclean. Modi's interest is in bullet trains meant for the same class that can afford air travel. But the cost to the nation will be huge. In November last year Modi finalised a deal with Japan to start an Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train at a cost which an expert has calculated will be three times India's health budget. Modi's"New India" seems to be about airports and not railway stations, bullet trains and not passenger or goods trains. NITI Aayog recently outlined its development vision which envisages, among other things, cars, air-conditioners and digital connectivity for all citizens by 2032. In good old days they used to plan for education, health, environment and sustainable development. Some parivartan!