Curbs on beacons is a fine start - but for an assault on VIP culture, more must be done
In a most welcome move, the Union Cabinet has decided to disallow the use of the red beacon on vehicles on India’s roads. Starting May 1, only vehicles on emergency services, such as ambulances, fire trucks and police cars, will be permitted the use of a beacon — from now, a blue-coloured one. So-called dignitaries will no longer have the privilege of announcing their exalted status on the road by sporting beacons on their passenger vehicles. For this, the Central Motor Vehicles Rules of 1989 are to be amended, so that the Central and State governments lose the power to nominate categories of persons for the red-beacon distinction. As a symbol of an assault on India’s over-reaching VIP culture, this is a good beginning. The flashing red beacon has become so closely associated with unchecked official power that in popular culture it is often all that is depicted to establish a character’s place in the hierarchy. In fact, it is seen to be such a symbol of arrival in the country’s power structure that at a workshop for first-time MPs in 2009, one of the main demands made was that cars with red beacons be allotted to them. Such demands have also made its very denial a low-hanging fruit for regimes seeking to establish their street cred as men and women of the people. For instance, over the last three years, governments in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, each of a different political hue, have limited the use of the red beacon.
But to meaningfully begin to dismantle India’s VIP culture, doing away with status symbols such as red beacons is not enough. For one, this accessory is just one category among privileges that maintain a colonial-era overhang on the country’s democracy, by publicly enforcing a subject-ruler separation. From pat-downs avoided at the security gate at an airport to a freer pass at the toll-gate on a highway, there are numerous ways in which the culture of entitlement is asserted. Such visible reminders of a feudal separation apart, the power of official proximity is experienced by citizens most intimately while accessing government services — from getting a bed at a state hospital, or a seat for one’s child in school, to cutting the waiting time for, say, a passport or an Aadhaar identity proof. To be, or to know, ‘somebody’ is far too often perceived as a requisite to getting one’s rightful due in a political economy of shortages, sloth and rent-seeking. To refresh Indian democracy, the state needs to stop protecting MPs such as Ravindra Gaikwad who coast along on “don’t you know who I am” bullying. But yet more importantly, it must also reform procedures and the work culture to provide a level playing field to citizens to get what is theirs by right.
1) Beacon (प्रकाश) - Bee-cun
- Meaning - a fire or light set up in a high or prominent position as a warning, signal, or celebration - Noun
- Synonyms - flare, radar
- Example - The lighthouse is a beacon for ships lost in the night.
2) Dignitaries (गणमान्य व्यक्तियों) - Dig-ni-trees
- Meaning - a person considered to be important because of high rank or office - Noun
- Synonyms - celebrity, official
- Antonyms - nobody, nonentity
- Example - When the former mayor passed away, many dignitaries and celebrities attended the funeral to show their respects.
3) Privilege (विशेषाधिकार) - Priv-ledge
- Meaning - a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group - Noun
- grant a privilege or privileges to - Verb
- Synonyms - advantage, allowance
- Antonyms - hindrance, allowance
- Example - At one time only men had the privilege of voting.
4) Exalted (उच्च) - Ex-alt-ed
- Meaning - (of a person or their rank or status) at a high or powerful level - Adjective
- Synonyms - elevated, prominent
- Antonyms - denounced, unimportant
- Example - Limited partners will not receive such exalted premiums for their stakes.
5) Depicted (वर्णन किया हुआ) - Dep-ict-ed
- Meaning - represent by a drawing, painting, or other art form - Verb
- Synonyms - portray, represent
- Antonyms - hide, conceal
- Example - The drawings on the cave walls depict the lives of the earliest men on the planet.
6) Asserted (दावा किया गया) - Ass-ert-ed
- Meaning - state a fact or belief confidently and forcefully - Verb
- Synonyms - declare, maintain
- Antonyms - abandon, conceal
- Example - In his speech the political candidate will assert he is the best man for the presidency.
7) Feudal (सामन्ती) - Few-dul
- Meaning - according to, resembling, or denoting the system of feudalism - Adjective
- Synonyms - antique, primitive
- Antonyms - current, modern
- Example - The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.
8) Proximity (निकटता) - Prox-e-miti
- Meaning - nearness in space, time, or relationship - Noun
- Synonyms - closeness, presence
- Antonyms - distance, remoteness
- Example - The hotel is popular with travelers because of its proximity to the airport.
9) Requisite (अपेक्षित) - Rek-ui-zit
- Meaning - made necessary by particular circumstances or regulations - Adjective
- a thing that is necessary for the achievement of a specified end - Noun
- Synonyms - condition, essential
- Antonyms - nonessential
- Example - To today’s young women, high heel shoes are a requisite in the fashion world.
10) Whopping (भारी) - Whoop-ing
- Meaning - very large - Adjective
- Synonyms - colossal, massive
- Antonyms - small, tiny
- Example (English) - With few options left, President Cleveland met with New York financier J.P. Morgan, who pledged a whopping $60 million in gold. Adjusted for inflation, that would be about $1.5 billion today.
- Example (Hindi) - जब ज्यादा विकल्प नहीं बचे, तो राष्ट्रपति क्लीवलेंड न्यूयॉर्क के पूंजीपति जे पी मॉर्गन से मिले जिन्होंने 6 करोड़ डॉलर की भारी रकम के बराबर का स्वर्ण सरकार को देने का वायदा किया। मुद्रास्फीति के लिए सुधार के बाद यह रकम आज के डेढ़ अरब के बराबर है।
Now considering the article above as a Reading Comprehension question, try to answer the following -
- Is it a right decision to ban red beacon cars?
- How the banning of beacon will help the ordinary people?
Given below are some words to check your vocabulary you can make sentences with those words in the comment section which will be reviewed by us.
- Distinction
- Dismantle
- Entitlement
- Perceived
