I often find a Nation's pride argument lofty (not connected with ground reality).

It doesn't mean, I have no belief in a Nation's pride. It only means that I don't like it to be used to justify ground realities OR; careless spending.

When a Nation's pride argument is used carelessly; it makes real issues look small.

I believe that the money spent on the Statue of Unity (in the tone of "Statue of Liberty" in USA) is a very careless spending. But when the Nation's pride is used to justify it, then the person has no option but to agree with the misplaced logic.

There are two reasons, which makes the statue of Unity, an necessary spending.

1) Rs. 3000 crore is a BIG money. For comparisons sake, the Uttarakhand State's budget for One year is around Rs. 23000 crore (Only 8 times more). The maximum money Uttarakhand received from other states after sad June 2013 Uttarakhand floods was Rs 25 crore.

2) In states such as Uttarakhand, even a money as small as Rs. 100 crore (small when compared to the money spent on the Statue) can stop RTE like, real people welfare schemes.

The above are sufficient arguments, I assume.

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