Consider the facts. The Shiv Udyog Sena, a newly-minted organisation, will get around Rs 4 crore from the concert. This Sena is, of course, different from the Shiv Sena, in spite of the fact that its officials are all Sena members. The inclusion of the additional word Udyog makes all the difference. The Shiv Sena has also pointed out that the Udyog Sena is an organisation dedicated to providing jobs for Maharashtras unemployed. A very laudable objective indeed, provided you dont use public money to fund your schemes. The problem with the Jackson concert, however, is that the government of Maharashtra has waived the sales and entertainment tax on the concert, and has lost Rs 11.75 crore in the process, according to its own calculations. Surely, if setting up a fund for generating employment is the objective, this money could have been used to create a fund for the unemployed. Instead of that, money due to the public is being lost while the Shiv Udyog Sena sets up a Rs.4 crore fund for the unemployed. The figures just do not add up at least not for the public.
For the Sena, of course, the economics is eminently sensible. The jobs, if and when they are made available, will be provided by the Shiv Udyog Sena, instead of by the government. If the objective is charity, surely there are other institutions more deserving of the governments largesse, with a better track record than the newly formed Shiv Udyog Sena. And so far as public money is concerned, are the concert authorities paying for the additional security and police services? With law and order being what it is in Mumbai, surely the police would be better employed in ensuring the safety of ordinary citizens, such as Ramesh Kini, rather than going ga-ga over Michael Jackson? All this seems to have left the BJP, the Shiv Senas partner in Maharashtra, high and dry; but after Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, the BJP has little option other than to keep its mouth firmly shut.
