The important last week of April

25th April is going to be a very important day for us On that day it would become quite clear which way the wind is blowing. Is the coronavirus in this country tapering off and have the preventive measures taken by the government panned out according to its strategy or not. This day would also be a litmus test for the government as the people of the country would be watching it closely whether or not it is going to come down heavily on those responsible for creating the sugar and atta crises in the country in the recent past according to investigation in the matter . The PM has said he is waiting for the forensic report in the matter likely to reach him by 25 th of the current month.
This country is being run under a capitalistic economic system for all practical purposes . Under this system it is the Competition Commission which is supposed to keep a strict vigil on the traders of all sorts for ensuring that no monopolies or cartel is formed. We too have such a Commission but , unfortunately, its performance leaves much to be desired. When only an handful persons start monopolising sugar trade of the country and become owners of 51 percent of sugar mills , surely, something is wrong somewhere.
Time was when this country was known for its massive cotton production. Reverse is the case today We have to import it . The sugar mafia in the first phase weaned the cotton growers away to growing sugarcane instead. In the second phase the sugar barons started paying the cane growers much less than the purchase price of sugar cane fixed by the government while on the other hand scooping fat gains by obtaining subsidies also on its exports The sitting governments of all the major political parties that have been in the saddle since 1980, in particular, looked the other way as these sugar barons were their members who bankrolled these parties and their leaders.
Now when an investigation report has spilled the beans the rulers are left with no choice but to take drastic action against, no matter who they are, otherwise, their own political future would be at stake. They would be writing their own political obituary with their own hands if they tried to shelter them.