A lot of people are feeling dejected about where this country is headed, and to be frank, they ought to. Indians have vested their faith, life, and money in this country, only to see their hopes go up in flames.

In the past two decades or so, it is safe to say that India has undergone a drastic change, but most Indians have been perpetually disappointed, be it with scams of the Congress and its allies or the inability to speak against today’s government, we live with a sword hanging over our heads.

With no power and no say in what happens to us, all we seemed to get was a waste of our taxes, complex policies and were done at the cost of what would have benefited us more. Here’s a brief list of things that failed India:

1. Bullet train

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There are no words to describe the wastefulness of this project. Being built at a cost of ₹100,000 crore, an IIM Ahmedabad study showed that 1,00,000 passengers would have to travel each day at a cost > Rs 4,000 for the project to break even. A flight ticket costs around the same and can go down to Rs 2,500.

Around the time, this was announced 10 trains derailed over 15 days all over the country. Perhaps it’s time to focus on lesser mishaps, running on schedule, improved security, better connectivity, end-to-end delivery, food quality, and how the poorest among us can travel. Else, it’s like saying ‘if they can’t afford bread, let them eat cake’.

2. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial, Mumbai

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At a time where more than a hundred people died in India in the aftermath of demonetisation, the Maharashtra government launched a Rs 3,600 crore-grand memorial for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj off the Mumbai city coast.

The 210-meter statue is being built as the tallest statue in the world, which is exactly what we need when year after year people suffer from floods amidst crumbling infrastructure, right? Because bragging rights against China, which currently has the world’s tallest statue is what will lift us all into being a developed country.

3. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue

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Spread across 20,000 square meters of the project area and surrounded by an artificial lake spread across 12 km. The 182-metre tall statute is being built at a cost of Rs 2,989 crore is a waste of money, effort, manpower, space and resources.

When most of the country is starving, have no electricity, potable water, toilets, or even basic safety, spending millions on a status symbol. The irony is that Sardar Patel himself famously said, “My only desire is that India should be a good producer and no one should be hungry, shedding tears for food in the country.” It’s a shame we can’t honour his wishes.

4. National mission for clean Ganga

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Don’t get us wrong. Nothing would make us happier than seeing India’s most sacred river restored to its pristine glory. The first Ganga plan was launched by Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India on 14 January 1986. Thirty years later, and after several hundred crores spent, the situation is as bad as ever.

In fact, our most sacred river is more toxic than any other river in the country today. Did you know that there was an entire Commission dedicated to cleaning the Ganga? The only thing that has changed ever since Modi came is the ministry, committee and budgets. “Not a single drop of the Ganga has been cleaned so far,” the green tribunal noted at a hearing in January.

5. Demonetisation

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Where were you when the Prime Minister announced demonetisation on 8 November, 2016? What ensued next was a blur as people scrambled to find out what would happen to their money, even that, which was entirely white.

Despite the bomb, India rose like a phoenix from the blaze. It’s been nearly a year, and the government is yet to tell us how exactly that move was beneficial. Where is the black money that was to be unearthed? Who were the people who were brought to task for hoodwinking the system? Have any of you got your Rs 15 lakh?

6. Aadhaar linking

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Your PAN card will soon become invalid if it is not linked with Aadhaar. You won’t be able to book travel tickets if you don’t have Aadhaar. Aadhaar is mandatory. Aadhaar needs to be linked with all your bank accounts –these messages have been doing the rounds with not one justification why.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had clarified that linking the Aadhaar Card is not mandatory, and yet the government still seems to insist that it is.

7. Cattle protection

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We know that this a tricky situation. While Hinduism and Sikhism honour the cow, and most don’t consume beef, the fact is there are a significant number of people who do regardless of faith. For many of the poorest Indians, it is a cheap and rich source of nutrition. And unless we can give them an option, we are in no position to judge.

And those who equate only slaughterhouses with cruelty may want to look into the dairy industry where cows are kept in inhumane conditions, forced to calve and driven so cruelly that their lifespan is cut by 15 years. And don’t even ask what happens in these places when a male calf is born. We might want to think this through before imposing a blanket ban.

8. Women safety schemes

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The ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ was announced by the UPA government in the 2013-14 budget with an agenda to help women with Rs 1,000 crore set aside for safety measures. Since then, an additional sum of Rs 2,000 crore has been added to fund the scheme via 2014-15 and 2015-16 budgets.

Yet, in four years and with over Rs 3,000 crores allocated, nothing substantial has been brought to the table. Some of the projects have ticked off and some of them are in the deliberation stage, yet, it is not as if the result is handy. Rapes are still a daily occurrence, minor girls are getting pregnant, molesters are moving freely, and we still have those in power who victim-shame.

9. Mann ki Baat

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This one-way communication that happens on DD News, All India Radio, and DD National is a programme hosted by the Indian Prime Minister, where he talks about ideas and how this nation is growing. In 15 addresses of Mann ki Baat broadcast so far 61,000 ideas have been received on the website and Rs 1.43 lakh audio recordings by listeners have been received, but we are yet to figure out the outcome.

Ideas yet to be executed, grievances yet to be answered, and directions yet to be taken.