I have in previous instances, clearly indicated my disillusionment with the competition between Indian states to build a Formula One track and bring the race to India.

I wrote an op-ed for the Politics of International Development class, which I took last semester, expanding the subject. Here it goes:

Please Watch Your Back Dear Chief Minister

Dear Chief Minister of Karnataka,

“Gowramma lives at a small village, located in the Muudebegal Taluk in Bijapur District in your state. Any agriculture in her village is dependent on seasonal rainfall and there are no irrigation facilities. The primary health center is never open. Her youngest daughter died a couple of months back of diarrhea. Her kids stopped going to school because the teachers are mostly not there and school building is expected to collapse soon. Her family hasn’t had three square meals in a long time. Oh yeah, her husband has a drinking problem and abuses her every night. She heard that your government is building a new Formula One track and she is really excited to see Michael Schumacher. Although she heard he is retiring soon”

The above story should not sound absurd to you, if you have been reading the news lately. Four major Indian states including yours and Maharashtra, Punjab, and Delhi have been competing for a Formula one track. It is expected that you need to invest US $ 100 million to host the race, and in return the you get back nothing. Yes you heard right, a big nice zero. I’m assuming you are already aware of these facts.

Of course, you probably believe the investment is justified, given that people like Gowramma, can enjoy the race, a source of quality entertainment to watch European drivers, in their billion dollar cars to go round and round in circles. Unfortunately, that seems rather improbable, given the tickets are not going to be afforded by Gowramma, when she is unable to buy simple diarrhea medication. You may of course ask, what about the trickledown effect. By hosting the Formula 1 event, surely more jobs will be created and significant boost in the local economy through tourists who come down to see the event (once a year!). Its surely a valid argument. For a moment, let us see what other things you can do with the 100 million dollars (this is not an effort to do a cost-benefit analysis, but just an effort to exert some common sense).

With 100 million dollars, we can create 4 new IITs, and 3 new AIIMS, or build one million new government primary schools, in the remotest areas within your state. Also with 100 million dollars, you can provide safe, sustainable drinking water for all families living in 6 of your biggest districts. You could even launch couple of satellites into space for communication and weather forecasting. Finally, with a 100 million dollars, you can distribute Formula ODS to virtually every family in this state (ODS stands for Oral Dehydration Salt, a simple medication to stop diarrhea among children) which could have prevented of the death of Gowramma’s daughter.

It is possible to understand your economic motivation, to build a Formula One track, given that you probably have a 100 million dollars lying around. Unfortunately, as you are aware, that’s not true either, all you are currently running on a significant budget deficit. Thus, you can be assured that you are making a conscious choice between building schools and building race tracks in spending in 100 million.

You may also argue the importance of improving sports within your state, which is essential for creating vibrant society. Again, that’s quite a valid point, except, we don’t really have a Formula One team, neither do we a have an Indian Formula One driver. Our only glimmer of hope, Narain Karthikeyan (who is not from your state) was booted out of the circuit last year.

What affects me the most is the glaring inequality, to which you are turning a blind eye. Imagine gleaming plastic world class roads in the race track as compared to bumpy roads constructed fifteen years back to the nearby village. How about tourists enjoying their Martini watching the race, when Gowramma cannot afford a simple diarrheal medication – clean water, sugar and some salt.

Growth is good for India, and the for the state of Karnataka. The past decade has seen phenomenal increases in income levels and living standards, especially in cities like Bangalore (where you live). However, I think you need to be more mindful of the state that head, a state where seventy percent of the population is still living in rural areas. And it would be great for you to compete with other states on improving literacy levels, providing safe drinking water, and eradicating diarrheal deaths, but not on building Formula One tracks.

You may not agree to any of my arguments above. However, I believe this last one should probably convince you. There are far more Gowramma’s in your state than Formula One fans. She and everyone like her around that state are really looking forward to the upcoming elections. So dear Chief Minister, you better watch your back.

Thank You

Santhosh Ramdoss

(Concerned citizen who votes from Ward No. 27 – Rajainagar Industrial Town)

The myth about private schools

Two weeks back, the NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship hosted Dr. Paul Farmer. After his humorous and thoughtful speech, we had the opportunity to have lunch with Dr. Farmer at a very nice east village restaurant combined with an informal discussion. One of the issues that came up during discussion was role of private sector in providing basic services like health and education. Proponents of this approach argue that the poor are willing to pay for good quality services which they value (like educating their children). Dr. Farmer refused to accept this dominant view, and further stated that most people who put forth this argument have failed to understand the poor, and they themselves are not poor; India has a swelling middle class, and thus frequently emerges as a shining example in any discussion on private schools (as an alternative for public schools), the same is not true about Africa.

The very next day I boarded my flight to the country with a swelling middle class, scorching economy and the country where primary education can be bought for a price, if you are willing to pay for it. At my home in Bangalore, we employ a part time maid, Sujatha, and apart from paying her a monthly salary, my mother also supports her with educating her two kids. The older one is moving to fifth grade and the younger one is entering the first grade. The day after I heard Dr. Farmer speak, our maid came in with a circular from the private school where her children have been studying. Neither she or her husband could read the circular, given that it was written in (not so good) English. The circular stated that the school was increasing the fees by three times since they were moving on to a CBSE schooling system (administered by the Central Government) from the current system (administered by the State Government). Consequently, the annual fees now is Rs. 9000 (approx. US $ 250, excluding books, uniform etc), for her younger kid who is entering first grade. It was a challenge, even for me (a lucky kid educated in English all through my life) to decipher this information given the number of grammar and spelling errors in the circular. Turns out the school lost its permission from the State Government and thus decided to move to a Central Government administered system (which they also don’t have the permission for). This was uncovered after a quick visit to the school.

So we had to find alternatives for Sujatha’s children to continue their education. There were no public schools in the neighborhood, and she was clear she wanted to educate her children in English. We found another private school in the neighborhood with a precarious name – Madonna English School. I seemed little less convinced about Madonna, which also charges the same amount of money (around $ 250) for a year’s education.

It no surprise that the worst quality private schools are targeted at the poor. Typically, a poor uneducated parent who has high aspirations for their children, has limited information to evaluate school quality, both in-terms of inputs as well as outputs. Sujatha’s older son, who is entering the fifth grade, struggles with basic addition and can hardly read a sentence. In our hurry in endorsing private education, we are not only forcing the poor to make hard choices in spending their money, but also creating false aspirations about their children’s education.