It is very well for the Prime Minister to advise the captains of the industry on austerity and social responsibility. However, before that, maybe he needs to lead by example and also ask his colleagues in the cabinet and the parliament to do so. The ostentatious lifestyle of politicans of all hues and shades, in or out of office, is glaringly visible all around us. The leaders in industry rise through qualification and merit, produce results or are replaced and thus are accountable to the management or the shareholders, and their expenses are borne out of the wealth created by them. Conversely, politicians rise as we all know how – biggest qualification today being a larger history sheet than the others – waste most of the time allocated for parliamentry business being as unparliamentary as possible, and are largely unproductive or counterproductive. They are also not accountable to their shareholders - of late, brazenly so. And most significantly, wallow in the lap of luxury at the taxpayer’s expense, while causing inconveniences to the common man in the name of security wherever they go. Therefore, to an ordinary citizen like me what is jarring is not the handful of people who are creating wealth for thosands of others availing some fringe benefits, but rather the so called public servants lording over the public at its own expense.
If the good doctor would like to walk his talk, maybe he could begin by doing away with the five-star catering for cabinet meetings.
