Artificial scarcity - the bedrock of power for Indian bureaucrats and politicians

Whenever I see or read about all 'exciting' news about India's economic growth, and the insane and vulgar competition for claiming credit (more by the supporters of political parties and ideologies than the politicians themselves), it really puzzles me and annoys me greatly that no one talks about the phenomenon of 'artificial scarcity' that has always been maintained for various goods and services in India.

Artificial scarcity is an economic term describing the scarcity of items even though the technology and production capacity exists to create an abundance. In economic terms, most non-rival goods (cable television, digital media) are artificially scarce, as one person's use does not diminish use by another.

However, the Indian situation is really peculiar and rather vulgar, as, in my opinion, it springs not so much from profit motive, but from the desire to hold on to one's power and privilege. OK, I agree, things have gotten a lot better when it comes to services such as telephones, air travel, etc., and one no longer has to 'book' and be put on the 'waiting list' to buy a scooter or a car. But if you look closely, you can find that the basic mentality of the bureaucrats and some politicians hasn't really changed much.

What provoked me to write this piece? It's the headline in 'The Hindu' :
Two killed in stampede at Delhi station

I read the news, and it says:
Two persons were killed and half-a-dozen injured in a stampede at the New Delhi Railway station on Sunday night. The injured have been admitted to the nearby Northern Railway Hospital. The tragedy occurred when passengers were rushing to board Swatantrata Senani Express, running between Delhi and Darbhanga, which was entering the platform at around 11.15 p.m.

According to railway sources, the train arrived late and there was a heavy rush near the unreserved compartments, leading to the tragic incident.

Of course, the train arrived late - I checked the train schedule on the Indian Railways website:

The train was supposed to arrive at New Delhi at 12:35 pm from Darbhanga, Bihar, and depart from New Delhi at 8:40 pm. Instead, on that day (March 5th), it arrived late - at 4:00 pm. That still leaves enough time for it to be cleaned and stuff, so that it could have still left on time - at 8:40 pm. Instead, it entered the departure platform at 11:15 pm! Obviously those who had depended on this train had to get on it. It's really a pathetic situation if you are an 'unreserved' passenger - that is, if you do not have reservation. It's a different matter that in trains going through northern states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, even reservation does not help much, since a lot more folks get into the so-called 'reserved' coaches, as there is a perennial shortage of capacity. This is what I mean by artificial scarcity.

Why is that no one looks at this situation objectively? I mean, even a child knows (when it is still a child, and not grown up in one of these states) that one has to buy a ticket to travel. So it's very simple to enforce this part, isn't it - that is, no ticket, no ride? People who have got to travel will travel anyways...So any logical business entity would do all it takes to provide the service and charge whatever the market allows it to charge from the customer. This is where the cynical mindset of the Indian Railways comes into play. Everyone thinks that the present state of the Indian Railways is because of the politicians heading this ministry, and it seems like the Railways have mostly been 'headed' by ministers from Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, and, from my observation, these folks have mostly lacked originality, vision, initiative and the strength to deal with the bureaucrats - the real fat rats feeding off the public money.
However, if you look closely at the day-to-day running of the Railways, the real power is with the bureaucrats, starting with the Railway Board. The 'Board' is supposed to be filled with experts on various subjects, but the overriding qualificaiton seems to be extreme selfishness and a keen sense of self-preservation. All bureaucracy knows about what self-preservation is, but no one can beat the Indian Railways! And the ministers who come and go don't have a clue about why the situation is what it is, and what could be done about it. For the ministers and bureaucrats, any expansion of capacity is probably like a lunar mission. That is, expansion in terms of more number of trains on the existing tracks. Any expansion that involves building of additional tracks (called 'doubling') is like a mission to the Mars. And, any building of railway lines where none existed before - is like a mission to the frontiers of the solar system! You think I am exaggerating? Well, consider this:

In 1951, the total route-km of Indian Railways was about 53,600 km. Since India became a Republic only in 1950 by adopting a consititution that was completed by late 1949 (the British left India in 1947), it would be safe to assume that this was the 'capacity' that existed at the time of independence. And, by 2003, it stood at about 63,122 km. So, in over 50 years of Indian rule, there was an addition of less than 10,000 km. Out of this, about 750 km was for the Konkan Railway - OK, I agree - this was a MAJOR accomplishment by any standards. (In typical bureaucratic fashion with a northern Indian mindset, the map is bilingual, though).

If you ask any railway 'official', the cynical moron would tell you that there was always a shortage of funds, or that this capacity was sufficient to meet the demand, and anything more would be 'unremunerative' - I know that they like this word. It's because of such mentality that there is always overcrowding in Indian Railways, especially in the northern states where bus service is yet to expand sufficiently to meet the enormous demand.

I do plan to write more - on artificial scarcity and how this has helped the Indian bureaucracy preserve it's power structure. But before I go, I just want to mention how the system functions for those with the 'connections':
There are all kinds of quotas - for the railway officials (the most infamous of them all was the 'Platinum Pass' - (and check this out) since withdrawn after a court order following a Public Interest Litigation) and the politicians. And then there are the touts with connections to the booking clerks. Of course, the situation with regard to paying the touts and the blocking of reservations has improved greatly after some level of computerization of the reservation system. But the basic scarcity of capacity still remains. Nothing is going to change in a hurry. Because, the majority of the Indian public, including the newspapers and the magazines (who are otherwise quite knowledgeable) seem to view the glass as 'half full' - so any small improvement in bits and pieces is welcomed wholeheartedly - so the ministers and bureaucrats can pat themselves on their backs. No one seems to ask fundamental questions. The same was the case with the telecom services until it was shaken by some ministers who seemed to know what was possible with today's technology. Of course, these guys had to be tough to override the vested bureaucratic interests.

P.S.
The train that I referred to above seems to have left the New Delhi station at 11:25 pm! That is, within 10 minutes after arriving at the platform, despite the stampede!! I don't even want to imagine the plight of the passengers who were trying to get into the train. It should outrage any right-thinking human being - that such a thing could go on in the capital city of India - that is supposedly 'shining'! ($%#@*&$& I generally refrain from using expletives during my blogging)
And, the last I checked, it is delayed on its way to Darbhanga, as well - after leaving on Sunday night at 11:25 pm, it is now expected to reach the destination at 05:14 am, Tuesday morning, instead of the scheduled time of Monday evening at 6:05 pm! The nightmare continues for the passengers on Indian Railways while India is supposed to be shining! Amazingly, the 'glass-is-half-full' crowd is actually commending the Railways minister for his latest budget! Like I said before, I am not like the majority that blames only the politician-minister. I do blame them for failing to see beyond the inputs they receive from the bureaucracy and to independently assess what is possible - at least based on what has been achieved in other Asian countries.

P.P.S.
It's a lot more profitable to be a bureaucrat than to be a politician - so it seems.
http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/20000808/ina08049.html