Dhruv Rathee As PM Gives A High School Speech

Dhruv Rathee, the popular YouTuber, is known for his appealing videos backed by thorough research, though sometimes they sound biased.

His videos can be loved or hated, but they cannot be ignored or laughed at.

However, for the first time, he released a video titled "What if I become India's Prime Minister?", which is laughable. 

The video ran for about 24 minutes during which he spoke in his distinctive style. To add spice to the speech, he first took his oath as the Prime Minister of India, starting with, "Main Dhruv Rathee, sab ke nishta ke saath shapath leta hoon...".

He then imagined himself as the Prime Minister of India and spoke about the changes he would bring, addressing various issues in the nation.

He began by showcasing newspaper cuttings related to terrorist activities in India. He suggested that this issue should be addressed by allocating more budget to defense and by promoting the domestic production of weapons. 

However, it's worth noting that India's defense budget has been increasing over time, and efforts to produce indigenous weapons like Agni and Nag have been ongoing for decades.

While this initial point could be considered reasonable though not effective, as he continued his speech, he demonstrated a lack of understanding.

He criticized the substantial investment in National Highways, arguing that they primarily benefit car owners, who represent only 8% of the Indian population. He proposed reallocating a large portion of these funds to educate the poor. 

Dhruv Rathee should first understand the current government spending on education and address inefficiencies in the system. 

How many government schools are there? How many teachers are employed? How many hours do they work? How many students are actually receiving education in the desired manner? Everybody knows how dire the situation of government schools is. Already, a significant amount is being spent on government education in India. The situation should be corrected first, and increasing the budget is not the solution, Dhruv!

India urgently needs infrastructure, and roads are essential for transportation and trade. With a growing population and increasing number of vehicles, including buses and trucks, expanding National Highways is crucial. Citizens also contribute to maintaining these roads through toll fees. Why should Dhruv be concerned then?

Another point he raised was about the police department, expressing concern over their low pay and high stress levels leading to inefficiency and corruption. 

He proposed increasing recruitment and limiting police work hours to 8 per day, believing this would reduce corruption and improve public interactions. Is he imagining a Utopian world? 

However, corruption stems from desires rather than basic needs or work pressure. "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed," said Mahatma Gandhi. Corruption persists regardless of salary or work pressure reduction because greed cannot be curtailed.

He also mentioned the need for a state-level CBI due to public distrust in state police handling cases. However, he overlooked the existence of state-level agencies like the CID performing similar functions.

Finally, he suggested that to ensure national security, all citizens should surrender their illegal weapons.

This suggestion seems more suitable for countries like the USA or Pakistan, rather than India, where the threat from illegal personal weapons is almost negligible compared to attacks involving knives and other weapons.

It can be said that Dhruv Rathee's speech resembled that of a high school student, filled with elementary ideas and naive solutions.

With the confidence and clarity in his delivery, his speech might earn him a consolation prize in a high school elocution competition. However, the content lacks depth and originality.

- Usha Chowdhary