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Sunday, August 07, 2005

India : Tragedy of the commons

Yesterday, a friend of mine mentioned that we indians have come to realize that less government is better. He gave me the example of middle class indians increasingly buying generators and invertors to overcome the erratic power supply as a sign of it.

I am not sure if that can be taken as a sign of anything other than "I got enough money. I don't care about the electricity board and power. I have my ways". I guess, this "I have my ways" is the root cause of corruption. After all for corruption to thrive there should be supply and demand.

Now, if only the middle class will assert itself by making its elected representatives and the electricity board accountable. And, do its part like pay the electricity bills on time, not tamper the meters etc...

This phenomenon is not restricted to individuals. Take the darlings of the Indian industry - they demand special rates/ conversion of farmland to commercial land to setup their campuses. Why can't they pay the market price? Then, they setup hotels within their campuses so save their corporate guests from the traffic jams and pollution. Why can't they exert their influence in creating a better infrastructure? I have always wondered why a country full of IT companies has very little IT consumption both in the public and private sector. Why can't these companies offer their IT services to the public institutions in return for tax sops.

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