Why do our MPs behave as though they are our lords and masters?

The news that MPs who were denied First Class AC travel on the Patna Rajdhani protested so strongly with Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi that he had to assuage their feelings of hurt and humiliation by transferring and suspending senior officials is startling. But, as usual, the country will take it in its stride. Because, it happens like that only in India when the privileged raise Cain.

Not only that, Trivedi also issued a fatwa that henceforth reservations on trains for MPs would be dealt with directly by the Railway Board. The MPs who fussed on board the train at the ignominy of having to make do with Second AC travel actually forced the train to halt on its way for some time. Other passengers on the same train, it may be noted, apparently did not matter.

The news item is as revealing as it hides a few possible facts. The Indian Express quotes Trivedi as saying: “It turns out that there was an official circular at the zonal railway that required a three-day notice for adding an extra coach. So despite them being MPs, it was not done.” Of course, it is not known if these worthies heading for Parliament, which was anyway non-functional for nine days, were greatly inconvenienced by this.

It is possible that the MPs, entitled to privileged travel facilities, may have got their PAs to inform the concerned officials without giving them the requisite three-day notice. They may have swaggered in at the last moment, in a manner of speaking. After all, it was an entitlement that was theirs for the asking. Unlike, of course, the entitlements that the common people are entitled to.

This self-conferment of privileges, often without a vote, has become the norm. A few days ago, MPs had no hesitation in recommending, via a house panel, that they be put on a par with chief justices of high courts in the warrant of precedence. They wanted to jump from place 21 to place 17 because it befitted their status.

Why? Because, good lord, they can’t be lower than a provincial cabinet minister. The pecking order has to be changed. At the same time, they said, use of red beacons on their cars should also be mandated. Apparently, it adds to their swagger.

One wonders why our MPs – who not only disrupt Parliament, but often don't turn up to listen to answers for their own questions — should be so concerned about the occasional lack of travel comfort in an AC-1 coach.

It is this kind of behaviour that makes them an object of ridicule by common people. They want to grab things for themselves even though their prime mandate is to get things done for the people. What the aam aadmi sees is not a politician working for his people, but someone who cheats him of his dues.

It would do well for MPs to travel in ordinary coaches with ordinary people to know of their travails.

Take, for instance, a case, which unfortunately happens to be this writer’s personal experience. It happened on 29 November while travelling in an AC chair car from Ahmedabad to Borivli. Someone came asking for lunch orders to be placed, deliverable at Surat. For Rs 70 a toss, which was collected in advance, no receipt issued, the food was delivered.

It was thin dal, watered down curd barely resembling buttermilk, three rotis the size of my palm, a fistful of rice, beans and another curry that wasn’t enough to go with the array. The man vanished after leaving this with me. When one complained, the TT/conductor was blunt: “Serving food has been stopped on this train for long. It must have been unauthorised.” Then, why was it allowed in the presence of conductors who kept walking up and down, checking tickets, and allocating seats for a bribe? Because, I guess, this is a racket.

The coach toilets are never cleaned between two terminals, the place of origin of the trip and the destination, drinking water is never available unless you pay extra, tea is a thimbleful for five bucks a shot and the railways countenance it. Had I raised a ruckus, would Dinesh Trivedi had heard it out? Would a complaint to the General Manager of Central Railway have brought about some improvements? Possibly not, because, I am not an MP.

Had an MP been on board the train, would it have happened? I guess not, for he or she would have been ensconced in a better class of accommodation, blissfully ignorant of what was happening around him. He is part of a system that is wrecking our lives by distancing itself from the realities of a common man’s life and if such persons have a conscience, it is insulated by the mindset which says “First Class – AC” travel for me and let the countrymen travel cattle class.