India’s fault lines & fixes

Six decades of independence is changing the common man for both good and bad, but the changes for ‘good’ are coming at a snail’s pace

By Col R Hariharan
Courtesy: Gfiles

(August 10, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) At 62, India is hardly a senior citizen nation – for the simple reason that nations age slowly. And, like the Galapagos tortoises, they are great survivors. To say India is the largest multi-religious, multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic democracy in the world is a cliché, but that is the truth.

Historically, India and its people have baffled others. Al-Biruni, who came to India with the invading armies of Mahmud of Ghazni in the 11th century, said foreigners found Indians different from other people “in everything which other nations have in common”. Hence, it is not surprising that India’s successful practice of democracy for over six decades continues to be a conundrum for the Western mind conditioned by a codified Christian ethos.

India’s problems are as diverse as its people, languages and religions. Its governance has not been ideal; it remains “organized anarchy”, as John Kenneth Galbraith said. The reason for India’s survival and success is the evolution of a composite Indian culture in keeping with the dynamics of social change. This process, though painful at times, is a continuous one. It is neither the politician nor the bureaucrat but the common man who is handling the process. He is the real instrument of change – even making or breaking governments.

It was he who brought down Mrs Indira Gandhi, one of the most successful Indian Prime Ministers, when she pulled down the shutters on democracy and slapped a national emergency. Unlike the now fashionable orange revolutionaries in Europe, people reacted unobtrusively by using the ballot to dislodge her from power. Her defeat had a cathartic effect on international perceptions of India’s democracy in action.

Despite its lumbering journey through the uncharted path of participatory democracy, India is at last standing up to be counted in its rightful place among nations on its own strength. But it continues to be the “rich country where people are poor”, as JRD Tata reportedly said.

The Indian economy went on a planned development route with marked growth of bureaucracy rather than national wealth. Central planning, after adding value in the early years of independence, ended up as an iron-clad control regimen to distribute political and bureaucratic favours. But, in spite of its distraught journey, India has created a whole generation of achievers in various fields.

Despite their poor English and un-Western ways, Indians produced results in business, science and technology. That was how Nirma gave a run for its money to Unilever and the humble dabbawallahs of Bombay became a model of operational management. The low-profile labs run on meagre budgets dreamed of an Indian space mission, and achieved it.

India and Indians have not lost their resilience and adaptability to change. India’s lead in information technology is a shining example of this. It is clear that, like a unicellular organism, India is now cloning its influence in countries around it and even beyond. But we cannot say we are a confident nation. Jawaharlal Nehru said, “Real progress of the country means progress not only on the political plane, not only on the economic plane, but also on the social plane.” And that has not happened.

The Common Man

At the heart of India’s success and failures is the common man. He is India’s strength. He defies stereotyping. He is immensely patient, generally thrifty and has few wants. He has no great aspirations and holds on to his culture, community and family like crutches to see him through his tribulations. He generally has a mai-baap attitude towards the rulers and kowtows to those who command him. But six decades of independence is changing him for both good and bad. And the changes for good are coming at a snail’s pace.

He is increasingly becoming urban, breaking away from his village moorings. Though living in an urban slum in subhuman conditions, he needs his mobile phone and TV as much as his richer countrymen. He has a little more spending money in his purse now. His consumer needs are on the increase.

THREE POINT AGENDA

Given this ambience, the first point in the national agenda should be replacing caste as the unit of social action with meaningful social welfare. Caste-ism thrives because caste affiliation provides comfort to the poor in the absence of a well defined social security umbrella. All political parties have caste-linked groups operating or influencing the party agendas. Often their goals are nowhere near national agenda and they manage to block progress. The stalled legislation for reservation of seats for women in parliament is a case in point.

The second is use of time as a resource. Absence of time bound benchmarks for administrative actions has eroded public confidence in the government. Delay makes room for corruption and political favour to thrive. Well meaning social welfare projects promoted after a lot of homework by bureaucrats fail to deliver because they are dispensed late as political favour or sold to the highest bidder. The public distribution system that leaks like a sieve is a good example.

Lastly, the agenda should include growth of national awareness. As the father of Hindu renaissance Swami Vivekananda said “…All that is needed is that she [India] should de hypnotise herself and wake up from her age long sleep to her true rank in the hierarchy of nations.” It should start at the school level and go right up to those who sit in the North and South Blocks.

His health is appalling as his environment is polluted. His traditional belief and value systems are in perpetual conflict with the increasingly crass socio cultural ambience. He is not getting value for his hard-earned money. The goods sold to him are shoddy and substandard. His every move is stymied by an insensitive bureaucracy. The callous, impersonal urban society ignores him unless he turns violent.

But his awareness is growing. He has acquired rudimentary literacy. Every five years or so, he is wooed for his vote and invariably forgotten afterwards. He knows he is being short-changed so he does not trust politicians and their smooth talk. He is increasingly shrouded in feelings of insecurity and distrust. And he is slowly getting impatient with the false prophets all around him. That is how extremism and militancy is taking root in his midst.

THE common man is the one who should be at the heart of a national agenda. For he deserves better. His welfare, well being, productivity, prosperity and participation in a safe and unpolluted environment should be the central goal of governance because he is the spoke that keeps the wheel of India moving. Unless he has a feeling of security and trust in the government and its representatives, any national agenda will be irrelevant.

During the past three decades the class and caste of people getting elected to Parliament are transforming. There are probably more millionaires in the present Lok Sabha than ever before; a few are even billionaires. Political parties, both in and out of power, are bankrolling “donations” and distributing favours through a system of cronies and clansmen.

In short, politics has become big business. Unfortunately, it is not delivering the goods. Parties have only slogans instead of ideologies and plans without projects. They have bogeymen instead of leaders. They thrive on fears and insecurity rather than on success and achievements.

The founding fathers’ dream of a democratic India has been fulfilled only partly. In the words of historian Ramachandra Guha, “If India is roughly fifty per cent democratic, it is approximately eighty per cent united.” The much-hyped multi-ethnic democracy is ridden with seams of caste and corruption corroding free and fair elections. As veteran Congress leader VN Gadgil remarked, “In India you do not cast your vote; you vote your caste.” And money power is yet another rider in the election circus.

-Sri Lanka Guardian