At 2:00 PM everyday here in Pune, I am reminded that the infrastructure can’t keep up with the demand. The entire office has backup power, but like clockwork on most days there’s a “current cut” or what’s also referred to as “load-shedding.” Apparently, the magic hour is designated downtime to reduce the strain on the city’s power supply for this part of town. In rural parts of the country it’s not unusual for villagers will go without power for large portions of the day.
The general problem related to lack of infrastructure supply to fuel the demand is widely understood in India. What strikes me as unusual was that the promises of the candidates from the recent elections in Tamil Nadu made little mention of advancement in infrastructure services. Instead, people were promised 1kg of rice at $.05, 4g of gold for women, color televisions for everyone — all things that ultimately were used to prey upon the poor and uneducated.
Politicians are self-serving universally — so nothing new necessarily here. What is appalling is the blatant disregard for improvement of municipal services that would end up helping in untold ways contrasted against a backdrop of corrupt politicians lining their own pockets. Influence peddling is an a la carte service and politicians are the maître d’.
Which leads me to another post for another day: there seems to be a universal corollary to having survival mentality vs. lack of civic duty. I have noticed in places as disparate as areas of India and in country towns of South Carolina.
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