Making an informed choice

When transnational carmakers talk about giving a choice to the customer regarding the fuel that will power their vehicle, they know that the average buyer in India knows next to nothing about the dangers of diesel. And the companies do precious little to make the customers aware. After all, it is business at stake. Public health be dammed. But people find out. In a democracy, it can be quite difficult to suppress information. And when they are aware, customers are quite capable of making an informed choice. After reading the article entitled ‘Fatal Attraction’ (Down To Earth, May 31, 1999), Madhava Sarma, executive secretary of United Nations Environment Programme’s Ozone Secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya, wrote back saying that such articles were “slowly chipping away at my decision to get a diesel van....” Writing from Hyderabad, R Rajamani, former secretary to the Union ministry of environment and forests, said: “I am driving (a diesel-fuelled automobile) now but shall phase it out as soon as possible” (see p2, ‘Change begins with me’ and ‘Making a difference’). The power of knowledge should never be underestimated. If lack of awareness or misinformation can propel hundreds to buy diesel cars, information flow can move people from not only resisting from buying them but to phasing-out old ones. Perhaps the transnational carmakers coming to India can offer a ‘real’ choice to their customers by coming out in the open with all the information they have about diesel vehicles. Otherwise, the market can be a tough place in a democracy. It is their long-term investments at stake.