That's the way the money goes.

Exactly one week back, on 2 September the price of petrol in the US,including tax at 12%, was $3.608 a gallon. A US gallon being equal to 3.8 liters and the rupee at 65 to the dollar the price works out to around Rs 60 a liter whereas in Delhi ordinary petrol sells at Rs 75 and premium petrol at Rs 84 per liter. Yet politicians, supported by the freeloading press, say that petrol is subsidised and the price will be increased further. One minister suggested that pumps should be forced to close at 9 pm to reduce consumption. Since mainly trucks move at night, because they are prohibited from entering cities during the day, it would have brought commerce to a standstill. Genius. Vast majority of Indians have no time to wonder where all this money is going, engaged as they are in a life and death struggle just to survive in the face of constantly rising prices of essential goods, lack of water and electricity and the hours spent in commuting over broken roads. Wonder no more. Rivers of petrol are flowing freely into free cars provided to politicians and civil servants. A Secretary of the Central government gets 700 liters of petrol every month for free, enough to travel from Delhi to Mumbai and back 8 times a month. TOI, 5 September. There are 77 ministers ( the US has only 22 ), 70 Secretary rank officers, 131 Additional Secretaries, 525 Joint Secretaries and 1200 Directors. That makes a total of 1926 officers. Add spouses going to kitty parties, children going to school or movies and servants going to buy daily groceries and these fellows need swimming pools of petrol. In 2000-01 travel allowance for 3.2 million government employees stood at Rs 11 billion, today its is Rs 35.19 billion. HT, 8 September. Whether this figure includes free unlimited travel on trains for railway employees and free travel on planes for Indian Airlines employees we do not know. Civil servants are allowed to book air tickets at full costs so that they can take a " companion " for free when travelling abroad. From 2010-11, 40 ministers racked up Rs 6.78 billion on junkets overseas. Politicians fly off to the US for medical treatment paid for by us. One woman has been many times with family, son-in-law and grandchildren but looks as healthy as ever. Rs 356.30 million for upkeep of bungalows of 77 ministers. That's where the money goes and pop goes the economy.