Thinking Beyond the Hartal On Fuel Price Hike- Why and When Do We Need Hartals?

This blog is quite accidental.

I had not blogged for a long time.

My good friend Mathew Jacob, whom I know from UAE and now is settled in Kochi is an intellectual whom I respect a lot. He is a wonderful public speaker, a renowned toastmaster and a great entertainer who has the special gift to make everyone laugh with his quick wit and wonderful sense of humour.

It is quite understandable that having lived in UAE for long and having relocated to Kochi recently, he is unhappy with the hartals and other political happenings in India, which, we, who have lived long in the Middle East find as unproductive and invading our personal rights and freedom. 

His blog posting is here:

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2381301334025297126&postID=4366689451457810056

Mathew- At the outset, let me tell you that this posting is in no way meant to disrespect or belittle your views on hartal. I felt that there were larger issues which instigated the recent hartal on 24th May 2012 that needed to be discussed in detail alongwith the hartal culture itself!

I am right now in Kerala and had the opportunity to witness and experience a Hartal after a long time on 24th May 2012. While I agree with Mathew's comments on the objectives and benefits of Hartal and the hardship it brings to the common man, I still believe, it is the most democratic and peaceful way to express the protest against autocratic decisions imposed on society by the rulers. Hiking the petrol prices by Rs.7.50/- was the highest ever by the UPA government in recent times. Let us not forget the fact that the price of petrol in India is more than in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malaysia, who fully rely on crude import for their internal fuel needs!

http://www.kshitij.com/research/petrol.shtml

http://www.mytravelcost.com/petrol-prices/

http://www.thechoice.my/featured-articles/36703-malaysia-maintains-one-of-the-cheapest-fuel-prices-in-asia

In the past two years since fuel price control was deregulated by the Central Government, the cartel of Government owned oil companies- IOC, HP, BP and IBP have increased the fuel prices 13 times and reduced it only twice.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/petrol-price-hikes-in-the-last-two-years/1/192328.html

Agreed that a free economy needs to be self-sufficient and subsidies are not the way to stimulate economic growth and discipline for a country, we need to look at India and the emerging economies who have gained independence from British and European ruling in a different perspective. I would consider all ASEAN countries in this category of consideration.

The rule of the aliens over centuries had depleted the assets of these countries, alongwith the morale of the people. Resurrecting the countries is a big challenge. It took India almost 50 years to realize it before surging ahead with some sweeping economic changes- some which worked in its favour and some with a severe backlash, as we are facing now.

While the entire world was reeling under economic recession for the past three years, India, China, Brazil and similar emerging economies were continuing healthy. I still remember people asking me “what is this recession you all gulf people are talking about?” till a few months back, when I used to visit India. But, not anymore- now they too feel the heat of recession and its global effect. India is no more insulated from global recession- the flaws in the economic planning and financial discipline of the pundits who rule North Block and South Block of New Delhi are reflecting on the economy and cascading down the line, hitting the common man hard.

The oil companies of India- IOC, BP, HP and IBP are leftover companies from the British Era, which were originally Burmah Shell, Caltex and Vaccum. While they became 100% public sector companies, the legacy of their predecessors continued in the management, pay scale and perks. I know it well, because, in 1982, I joined Bharat Petroleum as an Apprentice Engineer at their Mahul Refinery, Mumbai, on my first job at Rs.1,000/-. Believe me, even as an Apprentice Engineer, I had wonderful perks- sumptuous breakfast, four course lunch (which took one full hour of the lunch break), tea break and dinner on the way back home, all free! And for those who were employed full-time, the payscale was simply the best- even better than the top private sector companies. The tradition still continues- employees of oil companies are amongst the top paid, comparable to the best in the private sector in India. I don’t have an issue with paying the Oil Company staff decent salary to keep them within the organization. But, they don’t need to be considered as overprivileaged compared to other public sector employees.

We also need to look at the extravagant spendings of these monopoly companies who have a stranglehold on fuel sector in India

They spend millions on promoting their products and services on all media- what for? When the choices to buy petrol or other fuel products are limited to IOC, HP, IBP or BP to you as a customer (not forgetting Reliance or ESSAR, which are expensive options), does it really matter to you about the media promotion these companies indulge in? Who doesn’t know that the fuel sold in an IOC pump is coming from a HP or BP refinery, if it is the closest (and vice versa!). So, what about the quality or branding of fuel? Who are they trying to fool with the millions they spend on these advertisements? Or, as I and million other Indians doubt, who are they trying to benefit – the media (and have a share of the spending for the top brass of these oil companies who award these promotion contracts)?

When the oil companies cry out loud that they are losing over Rs.11/- per litre of petrol, how do they make so much of profits? 

Please see the Financial reports of the three Oil Companies of Indian and their P&L Reports for 2011:

http://www.iocl.com/aboutus/annualreports/consolidated_financial_statment_26_aug_2011.pdf (Page 144)

http://www.bharatpetroleum.com/Admin/Finance/SterliteDocument/F000000104_BPCL%20AR%202010-11.pdf (Page 95)

http://www.hindustanpetroleum.com/Upload/En/updf/AnnualReport2010-11.pdf (Page 49)

Also, see the fat salaries, media expenses and community service expenditure that each company has spent!

Like my good friend Mathew, I too had the fortune to visit and live in many developed countries, where fuel prices are deregulated and change on a daily basis, based on crude oil price changes. But, these are countries where the quality of life, social security system and minimum wages system are adequate enough to demand a free pricing policy. It is not the same case with India or other emerging economies and South East Asian countries, which have majority of the mass living under poverty line and fuel is more of a necessity for survival than a tool of luxury. Petrol is used in two-wheelers, the common mode of personal transport of the lower middle class to middle class. All two-wheelers and more than 50% of the autorikshaws in India, which are used by the same class of people for their daily commuting run on petrol. Diesel is used by mass transport systems and the upper middle class who own diesel driven cars. LPG is the fuel that the lower-middle class to upper class use equally.

So, when petrol price goes up, who gets hit harder?

Not the upper middle class or above- they can afford to buy diesel driven cars and maintain their comfortable life. But the poor guy who owns a two-wheeler or hires an autorikshaw has to pay more.

This is the harsh reality of India- when the rulers no more care or bother about the common man, he is forced to protest. 

In a democracy, the most common and peaceful way to do so is “Hartal” or fast to death like Anna Hazare! It used to be called “Bandh” a few years back, till the honorable courts of India declared it as illegal. Today, a Hartal is no diffent from a Bandh in effect- the country goes into hibernation- factories, offices and shops close, roads turn empty and people stay home watching TV and enjoying their rare family reunion! The country loses its productivity, those who are caught by surprise due to the sudden call for hartal are left to be stranded and sometimes suffer. Sporadic violence happens, which the ruling party and their media highlight as the negative propaganda against those who called for the Hartal.

But, if at least the opposition parties don’t represent the common man and call for a hartal to express their protest against such autocratic and inconsiderate decisions of the rulers, then, what is the meaning of democracy?

Where is the avenue for the people to express their resent against such unfair decisions imposed on them? I don’t endorse that the political parties who call for Hartal really care or represent the sentiments of the people. Yet, Hartal is the first line of defence for the common man to revolt against undemocratic decisions. If it doesn’t make them listen, then it would go to the next phase- a movement similar to what Anna Hazare started or the Arab Srpring movements.

I agree with Mathew and the friends who commented on his blog that we need to think different on our ways to express our protest. Hartals should be used with discretion to revolt only against those injustices which are of magnitude that affect the common man of India imminently and/or on a long term basis. They should not be used to protest against petty and local issues which do not affect the community as a whole.

What started as a reply to my friend Mathew’s blog has turned to a blog write-up itself. So, I am posting it on my blog. Thank you Mathew for inspiring me to write - please provoke me again!

To conclude, let me reiterate my opening statement. What my friend Mr.Mathew Jacob highlighted about the hartal culture is a serious issue to be debated by Indians, especially, we Keralites.