One Solution to All Problems: Tips from the Tamil Nadu Government

A recent visit to my hometown, Chennai left me longing to get back to Delhi. From the moment one enters the city, the exorbitant cost of taxis and autos empties one's pockets. The meters in auto-rickshaws  are showpieces which have probably been corroded to dis-functionality. No government standards are followed. A 25km taxi ride in Delhi costed us about Rs.500 as compared to Rs.800 in Chennai. No auto-rickshaw will charge less than Rs.70 for a 5km ride. There is not a soul to control the atrocious behaviour of the auto drivers of the city. 

That was just one of the many problems in the state: a failing education system which only produces marks-scoring machines; power shortage all over the state, rampant privatization of higher education institutions - leading to granting of degrees like laddus in temples; widely prevalent caste based issues; poor infrastructure; widespread corruption; extreme poverty... the list is endless. 

One cannot help but question what the government is doing to tackle these issues. Apparently, implementing stage III of the free grinder distribution program. Obviously, a free mixer, grinder, fan and some kilograms of rice per month is enough to solve any problem. I wonder if the UN has heard of this concept of freebies to alleviate all human problems. Perhaps, it would help reach  the United Nation's Millennium Goals before the designated time. 

Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 23, 2013

    "That was just one of the many problems in the state: a failing ....... corruption; extreme poverty... the list is endless." Is Delhi really that better? Or is it just your locality? You are making it sound like delhi is a separate utopia. I thought all of India is almost the same, give or take few problems. If what your saying is true, then people in chennai have been living in a hellhole and my wish that my family were in delhi or mumbai would have strengthened. Hyderabad is better i guess. We have meters in autos, Infrastructure is way better and poverty is comparatively less. But, for the other problems, i'm almost certain they're prevalent all over India. "degrees being granted like laddus" doesn't happen in delhi? Anyways, Delhi and Mumbai are far better than any of India's cities.

    BTW, congrats for getting into Cornell. I would'nt even have fathomed getting into a graduate program abroad, though I'm applying for post-graduation this semester. All I knew at the start of my +2 was IIT, AIEEE and for peers not willing to go outside the state and/or were ignorant of the existence of these tests, there's the preposterous EAMCET. People in South India, to my knowledge, know just two things - engineering and MBBS.

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