In India, whenever some new project is announced with much fanfare and foundation stones laid by local political bigwigs, the knowledgeable will know that there is a bunch of smart operators, including the ubiquitous bureaucrat and a gang of politicians is making money out of that project. Actually, one does not even have to be knowledgeable to come to this conclusion. Ordinary people without any knowledge of how public finance is managed will conclude the same way. It is the dumb ones like me, who do not know how to get on the band wagon of the gravy train and skim some off the top.
No, I am not seeking a Guru to teach me how to undumb myself. I am referring to the gall of the people concerned that have got on the gravy train despite the funding coming from the World Bank, whose auditing of expenditure is more stringent. Here is a detailed news report in our venerable Indian Express.
I am however gratified that this is not a local phenomenon. Politicians and other vested interests seem to be the same in other more “advanced” countries. Since some of my readers live in the vicinity, this report in the Washington Post should be of some interest to them. They can feel glad that their vested interests are no less than ours.
Unfortunately my reaction is, “So what else is new?”
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Rummuser Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 19:27
Why unfortunately?
Thanks for sharing with us this informative post, this will bring a huge help to have an idea about public finance….
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Couldn’t agree more, the problem is the higher echelons of society, they are taught greed is ok.
Not quite a bridge to nowhere but close.
As the cynics would say, government is just the political arm of capitalism. Self-enrichment is the hidden agenda for many.
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Rummuser Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 19:28
The one big regret that I have is that I did not enter politics when I could have!
The problem here in the UK is that our “bigwigs” can’t take their snouts out of the trough for long enough to board the “train”. Although they are working on it.
Rummuser Reply:
April 19th, 2012 at 19:31
That is a universal problem all over the world Big John.