When Oliver asks for more

   "Oliver asks for more" is an important chapter in Charles Dickens' most famous novel 'Oliver Twist'. When Oliver a young boy who was put up in a Parish orphanage, asked for another bowl of gruel 'the master aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle; pinioned him in his arm; and shrieked aloud for Mr. Bumble the beadle".Asking for more was viewed as an act of rebellion and hence Oliver was treated as a rebel. When an individual asks for more, he/she is punished. Whereas, if it is a bunch of voices asking for more, it becomes a collective demand and attracts the attention of those who govern.

  Asking for more is one of the most essential human tendencies, because many times, things do not happen without asking for, and social justice is not something that comes 'as naturally as leaves to a tree'. In most populous democratic countries with mixed social groups, every social category comes upon with genuine demands and it becomes the responsibility of governments to consider and yield at least to some of their demands of dire necessity. At the same time, with multiple social sectors striving for achieving each one's demands, divisive tendencies explode to the extent of each section accusing the other, against eating away the resources due to them.

   During these times of social media upheavals, there is an accrual of mutually murky and vituperative viewpoints, hurting one another .From reservation to remuneration and fund allocation for social welfare measures, everything is subject to criticism. The most recent issue in this regard is about the upgraded new pension scheme of the central government employees, which evoked both balanced and aggressive criticisms in social websites, especially in the X handle. Some people even expressed the extreme view of scrapping pension for government employees.

  Individual and collective demands may be genuine or exaggerated. Public criticism may be balanced or prejudiced. But the point here is putting oneself in each other's spot,and looking at the issues as insiders rather than as outsiders. Whenever the governments revise the salary of the employees once in ten years, there is the possibility of some kind of disparity in the revision that might affect the seniors.

   In such contexts, the senior employee can represent the disparity only as 'senior getting less than junior' and not as 'junior getting more than senior'. This is because, while the first representation could be viewed as a call of injustice, the second one might reflect a sense of jealousy. This kind of interpretation could be extended to one section's reaction to other section's benefits too.

   The government employees and pensioners hardly compare their financial demands with those of their brethren in private and corporate sectors. Nor do they question the distribution of funds towards socio-amelioration measures resorted to, by the government. Many people outside the government sector, seem to think that they alone are the taxpayers forgetting the fact that government employees and pensioners are also taxpayers of various kinds. In a vast democracy like India, every section can make its demands, ask for what they need, and for this they need a collective voice. There is no meaning in making negative criticism about the benefits meted out to one sector by the other sector, by making foul cries that one section is getting more.

   Mere inter sector comparisons will not take us anywhere. Times periodically shuffle fortunes with misfortunes. Employees of Public Sector undertakings like BHEL, nationalized banks, and various insurance agencies under the union government, whose employment portfolios held proud monetary positions, are facing desperate times today, with competitive challenges, and sliding monetary benefits. Poor farmers, the running staff on the Railways, Roadways, Airways, those toiling in the defence forces and in the Merchant Navy the daily wage earners,the Indian labour force striving in foreign countries for survival,those languishing in the film industry and many other sectors have their voices to be listened to.

  Fighting for others' issues, besides a sector fighting for its own needs, would move forward towards creating an egalitarian society. Greed and sector jealousy are potential weak points that would strengthen the hands of the egregiously wealthy and ostentatious Titans, sucking the blood of the nation. Unless each sector collectively asks for more, like Oliver, only stone age tendencies will prevail. Collective voice alone will save not only democracy but also humanity. Ask for what is due to you, and let others get what is due to them. In my view, people working in every government and private sector, need reasonable pension, and pension should be an inclusive vital part of a social security scheme, protecting the dignity of every senior citizen. It is collective human struggle, that can make even a utopian ideology a possible reality.

P.Chandrasekaran

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