Mila mouka to mara chouka nahi to phir 'Mai hu Anna'.
(मिला मौका तो मारा चौका नहीं तो फिर 'मै हूँ अण्णा')
Today our housemaid came in the morning and announced that she had to attend an urgent work hence would go off duty for around two hours in the day.
When enquired the reason she said that the Government has come out with a scheme to give monthly allowance of around Rs. 1000/- to the domestic helps. The reason behind this is that they form part of an unorganized sector where yearly bonus, leaves and other facilities don’t exist.
She had to go to fetch an ‘application form’ of the scheme.
There should not be two opinions about this good gesture from the Government and must be applauded.
However one should not ignore the fact that number of genuine and fictitious applicants that would get enrolled for this scheme.
In the recent past the Government of Maharashtra had conducted a survey of aided schools and realized that many of the schools that were getting aids didn’t exist at all but the Government was disbursing subsidies.
Based on the track record, one would comfortably say that some fictitious applications would come from the family and friends of these domestic helpers as well as from the people involved in the machinery of disbursing this allowance. Not to mention that the number from the later section of people would be disproportionate.
It won’t be surprising if the later section indulge in such gimmicks as for them it would be like any other routine thing but what would be appalling is the first section where many would have supported Anna Hazare’s movement of ‘Freedom from corruption’ by wearing a cap carrying slogan ‘I am Anna’.
But the same people would hit a chouka in the given opportunity; otherwise they would say “I am Anna”.
