The crises in Sri Lanka are scary, deepening with every passing day while people are seen queuing up to get the scarcely available essentials. The gravity of the crisis can be gauged by the fact that the country does not have enough money to even buy paper. Several exams have been cancelled because there is no paper; rather, there is no money. Rice is sold for Rs 500 per kg; milk powder for Rs 800 per KG even as the country is running low on foreign reserves too.
The Rajapaksa family in Sri Lanka has been squarely responsible for the country’s doom as the country started borrowing money from various countries and the same was then looted by the political elite—the Rajapaksas. As of now, Sri Lanka has all the major ministries occupied by the Rajapaksas who have been calling shots on their own to the point when the country is now facing immense economic crises with people not knowing where to turn. The country does not have money to buy diesel to run its coal power plants as a result has plunged deep into the darkness.
Mahinda Rajapaksa started borrowing money, particularly from China way back 15 years ago and that has not stopped so far. With the policies of Sri Lanka being implemented as the last word, the same has been severely affecting the country. Under the new policies, which nobody dared to criticise, the Government bonds were sold in the capital markets even as the borrowing continues. Today, these loans account for nearly 40 per cent of Sri Lanka’s debt while the country owes China well over 10 billion dollars.
The Lankan Government didn’t even stop there. It went ahead with more tax cuts; more money was printed to deal with the situation that emerged out of the bad policies as the pandemic further battered the country’s economy. The current state of deep economic crisis is the result of the short-sighted and deeply motivated policies of Rajapaksas.
There is a hidden meaning and lesson in the crises of Sri Lanka for India. The country has also been witnessing a sudden policy shift in several sectors, while in the absence of a strong and decisive opposition; the Government has been taking steps without vetting the same and projecting those steps to have been taken for the sustenance of the country.
India has also witnessed such game-changing events, starting from demonetization to the implementation of GST. While the demonetization was projected as a masterstroke, on the ground, it did not make any difference, rather, it added to the miseries of people. Whenever there are decisions taken by people in the power–who have an unnaturally strong wish for power and control, or think that they are much more important and powerful than they are—then the system is bound to fail with policies backfiring as we are witnessing in Sri Lanka. Remember, those who have an obsessive desire for power will never accept they did something wrong. However, they would need a timely and routine course correction.
