
Almost a year has passed since I last updated this blog. Life has been quite busy throughout and so, I could not devote time to this blog. There has been a lot of changes for our great nation in the last one year including both positive as well as negative changes. One such change which has the potential to shape our great nation in the right path is the acceptance of the Jan Lokpal Bill by the Parliament today. Anna Hazare has been a torchbearer as well as a ray of hope for the anti-corruption movement. Almost every Indian including me has supported him and more importantly his noble cause either actively or passively. I hardly have time to even watch TV nowadays but I frequently check out news websites to know the latest about how well the movement has progressed. It is great to see that the support of a billion Indians has finally helped the cause to be accepted by the parliament and hopefully will be drafted very soon.
But the big question is – Will Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement end all the problems and get rid of the all the malaise in our country? To be frank, the answer is a big NO.
Anna’s win today is a start for sure but a lot of things needs to be rectified to eradicate corruption as well as other problems in our society and nation. Anna’s movement is only half the work done and the following four things need to be rectified to end corruption as well as to make our nation “the ideal nation” which you, me and every other Indian has dreamt of:
1. Population Explosion: You might think that how is population explosion related to anti-corruption movement but if you think deeply then it is one of the main reasons why corruption starts at the first place. The root cause of all problems in India is the population explosion which has been taking place from time immemorial and the govt. has never taken proper steps to take care of it. At the current rate of increase in population, we are sure to become the world’s most populous country in the next few decades. We might also reach 2 billion population in the next century. Though this might not sound much worrying at first but in layman’s language, we have multiple times the population density of any other country with land area or population size comparable to us. The result of this ongoing and perennial population explosion is that there will always be more “demand” than “supply”. This includes demand of goods, land, property and amenities (including things which are our rights as citizens). This massive gap between “demand” and “supply” has always existed and has been widening rapidly in recent decades. To get the “supply” or in other words to get the work done faster people start to pay extra money which starts the process of corruption. Economic development has been happening quite rapidly in recent times and that also means that a lot of people do not have the time or patience to wait for years to get their work done. They also have extra money and this starts the corruption process as they are ready to pay extra to get their work done faster.
To remove this problem there are two solutions that needs to be worked on. First one is a short term solution and only related to corruption in govt. services and second one is a long term solution.
a) Tatkal: Have you ever traveled by Indian trains in the last decade? If you would have done so then you would perhaps know about Tatkal services where people can get train reservations within a lot shorter duration of time by paying premium rates. Though there have been allegations of corruption etc. there too but the Tatkal service has been by and large a massive success for Indian railways as well as for passengers who need urgent services. Such a system needs to be implemented in every government agency so that people who have urgency can get their work done quicker by paying premium rates. Both the normal as well as tatkal services should be present in every government agency. The extra revenue earned through the Tatkal service can be used to improve the normal services too so that it can be at par with tatkal in the future. The citizen’s charter in the Jan Lokpal Bill mentions the time frame and penalties levied to govt. agencies for not doing work in the required time frame. But in reality, the ongoing population explosion would never allow “demand” to meet “supply” within adequate time frame. This would result in people with “urgent needs” trying to get it done through “contacts” or by “paying bribe”. Tatkal services will keep this evil at bay and make the whole system more refined and professionally executed.
b) The long term solution is obviously to control the population explosion. If the population keeps on increasing at this rate then the problems would only keep on increasing. Corruption would increase due to the gap between “demand” and “supply” which takes place with increase of population. But another major problem i.e. inflation would also keep on increasing with the increase of population. When there is a lot more demand than supply then it automatically increases the price of each and everything in a free market. So, it needs to be sorted out in the long run for our nation to become effective. I would not say that we need some draconian steps like “one child policy” but we surely need a well planned approach to tackle the menace of population explosion. A solution for doing so in a democratic way would be to make a system where “couples with more than children” will always be given lower priority in government agencies and services compared to those with “one or two children”. Similarly, a person with a single wife would need to be given more priority in government services and agencies than one with multiple wives. And it should be bereft of religion, caste or creed and a common law for all. If needed the income tax slabs for a couple “with more than two children” or a person with “more than one wife” should be made higher than others who are not contributing to the “population explosion menace”. The couples with a single child can also be given special reservation or benefits in government functionaries like it happens in case of caste etc. based reservations right now. It might be a bit harsh and might not be fully effective but it would surely help in controlling the population explosion to a large extent. And unless population explosion is sorted out rest of the things would never be sorted out easily.
2. Reservation: One of the biggest problems behind the corruption and dividing the nation is caste, creed, region or religion based reservations. So, it needs to be removed ASAP. Reservation based on caste, creed, region or religion creates an unwanted divide in the society especially amongst young Indians trying to get admission to a govt. college or while applying at a govt. job. India has changed a lot in the past 64 years and such types of reservations are being turned into political and social weapons. The premise of the reservations during independence was that under-privileged Indians should have some extra edge to rise to the level of other Indians. But in recent decades the people who get benefit through the reserved quotas are mostly from well-off families whereas the “economically backward people” who need to apply through general quota end up in not being able to get any benefit. So, this system must be abolished and replaced with a system of reservation based on “economic background of the person” as that is what reservation was originally meant for during independence. Some would argue that it might be difficult to detect if people fake their economic background but then even in the present system, corruption is rampant and people make false quota certificates too. So, it will at least be a lot better and effective than the present one. If the Aadhaar or the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) program is effectively rolled out then it might work out wonders in identifying the economic background of any portion. A great tech genius such as Nandan Nilekani is heading the UIDAI program and so, hopefully it will be effective to a great deal. UIDAI combined with economic condition based reservations could lay the foundation for the most authentic reservation system for the first time in the history of the nation.
3. Division: The third malaise that needs to be treated is the man-made divisions of the country including religions, castes, regions, languages etc. Religion card has always been played by political parties, “so called” religious leaders and various other “opportunists” filling up the nation. “Caste” card is played everywhere from politics to reservations. And regionalism and Linguistic divides were always there and it is becoming even more evident with time. These internal divides have resulted in a lot of the problems inflicting the nation. Every Indian needs to change himself or herself for these divides to be removed and the nation to become an “ideal nation”. In the last few years the visible divide amongst the “educated Indians” and “internet warriors” has been quite worrying as they seemed to be giving preference to religion, caste, region, language etc. more than the nation. If you visit any news website then the hatred and division in the comments section of nearly every topic related to religion, caste, region or language are shocking as well as worrying. And it is also worrying that many educated people are nowadays being blinded by the divisions and have forgot that they are “Indians” and “world citizens” above everything else. I am a techie and most techies around the world including me follow modern science and technology a lot more than the “man-made divisions” and consider the world to be our domain. This universal brotherhood has resulted in all tech minded persons being united in one way or the other even though everybody is from different countries, regions, religions etc. We think of ourselves as a part of the “global tech community” which has resulted in our success and unity. Such an attitude should also be adopted by all Indians where they think as “Indians” and “world citizens” first in order to bring positive changes to the nations and make this great nation an “ideal” one.
4. Hypocrisy: The fourth problem is the hypocrisy amongst Indians. Most Indians are becoming hypocrites and there is a massive divide between the “forward-thinking younger modern generation” and the “older conservative generation”. The problem is that people are taking extreme sides now. Some are trying to change everything completely and rapidly whereas some are completely resistant to change. Some are taking the pretext of culture, religion and region for defending their extreme actions while some are taking the pretext of democracy and freedom for their own extreme actions. But the way forward is a middle path where changes can take place without harming the society. Actions such as taking harmful drugs, rape, eve-teasing, drunken driving, physical harm or any kind of actions that harms the society or people as a whole should not be allowed. But at the same time culture is a transient thing and with time it will also change and this also has also to be kept in mind. Things should go in such a way they are not extreme and does not harm society or people as a whole.
To eradicate all the above problems and to make our nation “ideal” every Indian must also change and work for mutual good of everyone. We need to be a “disciplined democracy” rather than a “brittle democracy” for all problems to be resolved. I hope that we will see “India of our dreams” one day. Jai Hind.
Read More