'Air Conditioned' Indian society

It is very hot in Kolkata in late April and most of the commuters have to travel by very old tram in the city. This tram does not even have any air-condition. What a shame! Isn't it? These are not my views rather I picked these lines from the reporter of NDTV's election express bus when she was touring in the tram in Kolkata.

It surprises me where on earth she was born, definitely not in India. If we notice the latest Human Development Report from UNDP then we find that still, even officially, 28.6% population is living below the national poverty line. That means one out of every 3-4 people is living below poverty line and over 20% population is undernourished. If these facts were known to a journalist then she would have not made such comment. At another place, in their blog, Sunetra Choudhury has written that the local kids in a remote village needs to learn English language for their development. Is it laughable? I disagree. In reply to her blog post (The Jharkhand boys) one person, Nandkumar, has commented that during the polling people should be provided "air conditioned waiting halls with all basic amenities such as food, drinks while voter is waiting in the queue to vote". This gentleman further goes to comment that people should use PIN (personal identification number or password) to cast their vote. If we refer to the same report from UNDP we see that just 60% population is literate and he talks about using Internet and password for polling. He needs to go out of his small town called Jamsedpur.

In the light of fact, the demand of air conditioners in India seems rubbish. People need employment and food rather than air conditioned waiting rooms. This kind of demand or discussion can only make the divide between the rich and poor people clearer. There is so-called middle society that does not know or want to acknowledge the needs of the almost 300 million people living in the country. Most of these are the people who exercise their franchise despite being threats from naxals and other local goons. They deserve better respect at least from us.