Parliament is in season and as is usual, it is providing its own brand of entertainment. But this time what has caught my eye has are a few incidents, each distressing in its own way. First was Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh claiming that opposition Hindu nationalists prayed for his death, the latest charge in a war of words sparked by a controversial nuclear energy deal with the United States. Singh’s comments were made in an interview published in the latest issue of India Today weekly magazine, which hit newsstands on Saturday.
In Parliament, the old war horse, George Fernandes began the entertainment by saying that the Prime Minister has betrayed his country and if he were in China, he would have been shot. He was referring to the nuclear deal but the remark caused a showdown in Parliament on Friday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said in response if he was not mentally sound, “then we have nothing to say”. However, “if he is, then the Government condemns the statement. In response George alluded back to his years as Defense Minster when Sonia Gandhi) incited her shouting brigade to shout “Kafan chor kursi chhod” every time he entered Parliament.
But all this are seasoned politicians with skins as thick rhinos. What was most appalling was to watch the former Dream Girl Hema Malini literally reduced to tears on television by a shark like anchor. The background is a bit interesting. Hema Malini was nominated to the Rajya Sabha during the NDA regime and has finished half her tenure there. During this period, she has spoken exactly twice two ask two questions. I don’t know what the first question was , but the second question which she asked last week and which brought the house down was Is the government considering imposing zero duty on components and parts used in manufacturing reverse osmosis-based water purifiers to bring them on par with finished products? the Rajya Sabha member asked. In reply, Minister of State for Finance S.S. Palanimanickam said: ‘The government is not considering at present any proposal for reduction of excise duty on components and parts of reverse osmosis-based water purifiers.’
Hema Malini seems to have had a memory lapse as she asked the question. For a common sight on television is that of Hema and her daughter Esha endorsing the Kent brand of water purifiers. The TV anchor latched onto that like and would not let Hema go and the more he dug, the more she tripped. First she said that her concern was prompted by the fact that the poor were being deprived of “neat and clean” drinking water and any reduction in the excise structure would make them more affordable. When asked if the poor would still be able to afford reverse osmosis and what about the situation in places where there is no running water, she was stumped.
Clearly Hema Malini was not prepared with any background regarding the question she had asked for the anchor’s relentless probing brought out the fact that she knew nothing about how reverse osmosis worked, whether it was a technology suited for the poor or the rich and the current excise duty structure on the product. With that little level of preparation , there was little she could do to carry on any further from the minister’s reply and clearly if the company had at all hoped that she could be an advocate for their cause, they chose the wrong person.
Apart from the conflict of interest issue which Parliament has already taken up , there is the question of the ignorance of public representatives showing up in full public glare and the embarrassment it causes all around that our members of parliament are not even well versed on subjects they talk about , let alone having a strategic overview of global affairs. In the US , Congressmen have staff that are thoroughly briefed and trained to read up on subjects that are of concern to their Congressman and his constituency, so that they are always appropriately informed and educated and do not come to grief on the floor of the house or even outside it.
The average salary of an Indian Institute of Management graduate is around Rs 700,000 per year. On paper, the salary of a MP is Rs 144,000 per year. A paltry sum of Rs 12,000 per month. But it is meager only if you don’t consider the numerous allowances and freebies that a MP is entitled to. In India .It pays to be an IIM graduate but it pays more to be an MP. Clearly therefore one is entitled to an informed and articulate member of parliamentarian…. At least some one who is intelligent enough to cull out information from the Parliament Library or other sources which the tax payer so liberally provides for his elected representative. Meanwhile as for George Fernandes and his remarks, was Priya Ranjan Das Munshi hinting at senility perhaps when he made that comment about the mental soundness of the Former Defense Minister ? May be some one should ask a supplementary to that one.