The story, Cows never came home (TOI,24/9) is not a great new revelation. It is as old as the hills – hills of subsidy. The former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had mentioned it 25 years ago – that only 15 paise in a rupee reach the intended beneficiaries. However the RTI applicant Vilas Wankhede and your correspondents ( Alok Tiwari and Ranjit Desmukh) have found a new fact of life -" rich are justifying the grab even as the poor are not even aware of the schemes". That means even 15 paise do not reach them ! This is the true face of 'am admi' government. Indeed a government of the politicians, by the politicians and for the politicians !
Here is an opportunity to the NGOs of India to be the last-mile link between the government and the poor. This connectivity does not require large resources but lot of courage and integrity to face the powerful politicians and apathetic bureaucracy. Supervising the subsidy schemes should be made part of the Corporate Social Responsibility. Another suggestion is to include all the subsidy schemes into the curriculum of the secondary schools so that school children and the teachers know them and some of them would be encouraged to take up these issues with the authorities. If these schemes are not monitored, they would only enrich the rich and the powerful.
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