The essence of good governance

GOOD INTENT, BACKED BY STRONG ACTION

Tuesday, 20 May 2014 | Ashwani Lohani | in Oped

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The welfare of the citizenry must form the basis of all the decisions and actions of the sarkari tantra. For this, a cultural change is necessary

With a new dispensation round the corner and the hopes of the common man firmly pinned on the ensuing change, the emergence of good governance to take this nation forward, not merely in rhetoric but in reality is the need of the hour.

Foremost is the need of a good intent. Yes it is true that intent alone is not adequate, a lesson reinforced by the Kejri episode, yet sans a noble intent to provide good governance for the sake of the nation and its constituents, the nation would never really move up the garden path. Intent has to be to govern and govern well and can and should never be to make hay adequate enough to last generations while the sun shines. The intent is also to be supplemented by concrete action, not mere plans and rhetoric, even if it ruffles more than a billion feathers in the process.

Integrity in governance has indeed been conspicuous by its absence since long. Having been unfortunate victims during the last decade of a series of scams of growing magnitude we the common man of this nation are the best suited lot on this earth to really appreciate the need for probity in public life. Yet the fact that corruption which engulfs our day to day existence cannot be wiped out easily needs a deep appreciation. Since our famous tryst with destiny, the system of governance based on mistrust spurred by the greed and luxurious lifestyles of those in power has dented the entire social fabric to the extent that it has become rare to come across even one single interaction of the common man with the sarkari tantra that is devoid of the customary greasing of palms. And that should lead the powers to ponder - if all the apples are rotten, there is much more than mere apples that needs to take the blame. Yes it is true that our decision making and contractual mechanisms that are based on mistrust and mired in scores of thumb impressions provide a convenient shroud to the corrupt and need to be replaced with a system where affixing responsibility is a simple affair. The nation sick and tired of scams like the CWG, 2G, Coalgate, Adarsh and Railgate is looking forward to a dispensation that does not permit a recurrence of incidences of similar elk and brings to book the perpetrators.  

The belief that deliverance alone can lift the nation out of the morass that it finds itself engulfed in needs widespread acceptance. That the economic prosperity of any nation is directly linked to the sum total of goods and services produced or in other words the GDP is a thought that needs to be repeatedly hammered across the sarkari spectrums engulfing the nation. It is indeed shameful that even after almost seven decades as a free nation, the bare essentialities of roti, kapda and makaan still elude the common man. While it is true that the GDP is a function of the basic infrastructure put in place by the sarkar and the produce of the private enterprise, yet the fact remains that the policies of the sarkari tantra that are meant to facilitate both have been miserably failing in giving a boost to both. Government policies that directly affect the creation of wealth and infrastructure need simplification and a fresh look.

Maintaining the sanctity of the laws and rules of governance is one of the foremost duties of the government. The laws, rules and the procedures should not be allowed to discriminate between the ruler and the ruled and the rich and the poor as is almost always the case in our country. Discretionary preferential treatment to the privileged, a sign of inadequacy of services as well as cultural degradation would need to be curbed by effective measures on the lines of the developed world that provide a level playing field to all their constituents.

Police and judicial systems that ensure swift justice, not like the present where even perpetrators of heinous crimes occupy await retribution in the premises of the holy Tihar for decades together is the need of the hour. These systems while instilling the fear of an almost instantaneous retribution in the minds of the criminal should act as a beacon of support for the common man. 

Fundamentally we are talking about bringing in a cultural change, a change in the thought processes both of the ruler and the ruled and the emergence of a scenario where the good of the citizenry forms the basis of the decisions and actions of the sarkari tantra. Despite the all-pervading rot and sloth and an environment marred by scandals and lack of probity in public life, the time has come for the nation to put a major step forward and emerge out of the league of forever developing nations.

RISE AND FALL OF A LEADER

Friday, 21 March 2014 | Ashwani Lohani | in Oped

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Arvind Kejriwal must take stock of the reasons why he has gone wrong. He will discover there are many of them

The ascent and descent of Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal have a commonality — both have been rapid and beyond comparison. The rise from an RTI activist and a street-level anarchist to the Chief Minister of the country’s capital-State left almost all political parties gaping and gasping. The rapid growth in his popularity and the clamour of even the most ordinary citizens of the capital to see him in the hot seat and take the city forward was indeed spell-binding and at times extremely astonishing.

It was clear that the people, who, over a period of time had grown sick of poor governance and rampant corruption, were rooting for a change. The first person who appeared capable of bringing in that  change was lapped up. Mr Kejriwal appeared as someone who has the rare blend of commitment, capability and integrity. His appeal to the masses to overthrow the State Government that looted the exchequer in the garb of preparing for the Commonwealth Games in 2010, therefore, did not go in vain. For the first time in the history of the nation, school-children and auto-drivers alike were enamoured of this strange man who emerged on the national political scene, almost overnight.

The ongoing rapid decline that we are witness to these days is also as dramatic and as astonishing as his ascent, even though the election results alone would provide the real proof. Total disenchantment withMr Kejriwal and his ilk is visible in the aam aadmi’s drawing rooms as well as at road-side discussions. His posters on the auto-rickshaws of Delhi have now been replaced by the posters of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, whom the nation apparently wants to see in the driver’s seat following the Lok Sabha election. It appears that Mr Kejriwal is a spent one-time phenomenon despite his integrity and a very short spell of governance. Even his detractors are convinced of his absolute inadequacy in giving results in the warped governance machinery of this nation.

So, what went wrong?

Mr Kejriwal went wrong in failing to live up to the expectations that he only helped fuel and fan. It is evident that he has miserably failed in his understanding of the tantra in his eagerness to govern. He raised expectations that obviously could not be fulfilled in a short time or in the flawed manner which he had adopted. This was his first folly.

The second was his penchant for taking up issues that were not within his competence. One fails to understand why he did not take up matters like improvement of infrastructure, schools, hospitals and basic governance that were within his domain. Instead, he wasted time and energy in trying to bring the police under his wings. Perhaps completing the ongoing improvement works at Connaught Place at the heart of New Delhi and giving it a new look would have given him a mileage that would have carried him far.

The third mistake on his part was his anarchic style of working. Threats and dharnas by the head of a State Government almost on a daily basis and then actually carrying one out in front of the Rail Bhawanearned him the ire of the masses. He failed to realise that even his supporters had turned away from an anarchist Chief Minister.

The fourth is his holier-than-thou attitude. He failed to realise that not everyone is tainted, when he painted everyone with the same brush. Mr Kejriwal’s accusations, sans substance, hurt him more than they harmed those whom these accusations and abuses were hurled at.

And, last but not the least, his utter failure in even attempting to build any credibility during the period he was in power, served as the icing on the terrible cake. He did not lose credibility — because he started with none and also ended with none. Had he moved in the direction of giving some results on the ground, results that the people of Delhi could have seen or felt, and then in a few months actually delivered something, his credibility, in the backdrop of his mass adulation, would have soared sky high. Even his acts of anarchy would then have been condoned by the people who have since moved away from him. His failure to appreciate that it is delivery and delivery alone that the nation is crying for, has cost him dear.

Mr Kejriwal frittered away that golden chance given to him on a platter. His is a case of failed and foiled hopes; a return seems unlikely. Perhaps it is in the fitness of things that the nation, for the sake of good governance, gets governed by those who know good governance, have the experience of delivering it on the ground, and who inspire confidence by their conduct, integrity and personality.

Please do not let us down Mr Kejriwal!

That the rapidly changing political scenario would ultimately lead to rapid changes in governance is a hope that the aam aadmi of this country is carrying in his heart nowadays. The ascent of Kejriwal marks the beginning of the descent of corrupt politicians.

Sceptics should step aside and allow the man to perform by taking a path that he chooses – after all he has earned the mandate and also the goodwill of the people of Delhi.

Whatever one may say about the Times Now debates, Arnab has a commanding personality. For the aggression and the confidence that he displays he has to be a man of immense conviction and integrity. There are many who dislike him, but in this country of mediocre people, it is rare that a man like him will be lauded universally. Yet I like him and his trampling of puny people with unethical mind-sets, consistently and sanely.

The intransigence and petty mindedness of even well-known political leaders comes out sharply during Arnab’s debates. I fail to understand why even astute politicians are unable to understand that plain acceptance of good as good and bad as bad is what really appeals to the conscience of the ordinary man. Why Pinky Anand of the BJP continued to bat for Yeddy and Sanjay of the Congress for Virbhadra Singh, despite well-known connivance of these two in dubious deals baffled me yesterday.  And that too in the face of an environment suitably tempered by the Kejriwal effect. For once cant’ our political leaders accept that building a government based on integrity and value systems is much more important than building a government at any cost. The means are also as important.

Kejriwal spoke at length yesterday on the floor of the house. He spoke from the heart and that is all that matters. During the Times Now debate yesterday, the man from Samajwadi Party mockingly gave Kejriwal the advantage of a clean slate. He was not prepared to give Kejriwal the credit that is due to him if only for bringing the issue of corruption and mal-governance centre-stage, and I wondered why.

Even the good qualities of a rival need appreciation and acceptance and our so called leaders need to assimilate this basic premise. It is apparent that we have indeed travelled a long way from the times of Nehru and Patel when the battles were issue based and the welfare of the nation the core focus of those manning the treasury as well as the opposition benches.

Perhaps Kejriwal would show the light to the politicos, but who would be the torchbearer for the real culprits – from the bureaucracy. It is they who fail in their duty to function as the conscience keepers of the government and connive with all and sundry purely for personal gains. It is they who derail even the well-meaning politician with a clear intent. It is they who instead of showing the path to glory focus on the path to doom. Perhaps clean politicians with bureaucratic backgrounds on the lines of Kejriwal have a better chance of being able to clean the stables. 

Please do not let us down Mr Kejriwal. There is too much at stake!

From despair to hope!

Pain and anger over the Nirbhaya incident marked the national mood in the December of 2012. Such was the pain that a nation normally used to celebrations abandoned the new year bash and such was the anger that the entire populace clamored for nothing short of death penalty for all the rapists including the juvenile. It was perhaps the first time in the history of independent India that the entire nation rose in unison against gross injustice and torture perpetuated on one individual. It was also perhaps for the first time that the middle and upper classes spilled out of the confines of their homes onto the streets, to show solidarity with a cause and anger with the incident as well as the state of the nation. Perhaps everyone felt as if  mother india herself had been defiled.

The December of 2013 in sharp contrast has been marked by a mood of despair yet anxious expectation. Despair and frustration over the abysmal standards of governance witnessed in recent times and anxious expectation over the results of the mini general elections that are indeed a pointer towards larger changes to occur in the way governance is conducted in this country. That the quality of governance and call for probity in public life and not merely anti incumbency mattered in this mini mahabharat was its main redeeming feature. For once the people of this nation voted for good governance in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, and for AAP in Delhi out of sheer frustration with national parties. 

I only wish that the anger, frustration and despair does not spill over to 2014 and that this year marks the beginning of good governance in this nation thirsting in vain since its tryst with destiny.

Perhaps the time for a real tryst with destiny has now arrived. Maybe we the people of India, the resilient people of India may now opt for spine in favor of resilience and for the call of conscience in favor of greed. The silent acceptance of mal-governance, corruption, high handedness and inequality may soon be a thing of the past if and only if the change that has happened especially in the capital of the nation proves to be a real change and not a hashed continuance of the status quo.

We as a nation have a problem in almost every sphere of our activities. Be it poverty, lack of housing, water, electricity or basic infrastructure, there are shortages galore, shortages that do not have a plausible reason to exist after sixty six years of self rule. Why Delhi should be internationally known more as the rape capital of India than for any other reason is what makes us hang our heads in shame. Why we are way below in the transparency index and a front runner in corruption is beyond rationale. 

Screwed or perhaps warped governance is at the root of almost every issue, yet our leaders, good and bad blabber only about further tweaking the system for marginal improvements that remain merely sinusoidal. While any bureaucracy thrives on the backwardness of the nation, the inability of the public representatives to understand why we have not reached where we should is inexplicable. That a machinery built to rule is unfit to govern is a realization that has not sunk in despite failures galore on every front. 

The day we have a leader who understands this very basic premise and then makes structural changes in the processes as well as the machinery that makes policies, takes decisions and enter into contracts, the country would be able to make up for the lost years.

Victorious Democracy - Hope Lives

Who would have ever thought that Kejriwal, the national icon of defiance and honesty would be taking oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi after participating in a battle, the results of which defied all odds. His victory brings to fore the greatest strength of the indian democratic system, a system where governments regularly pass the baton of change without rancour and where even an ordinary citizen can aspire to reach the top through ballot, not bullet.  

The recent elections have once again displayed that the nation has sufficiently matured to endure the pangs of democracy. Despite the ills plaguing the nation, rampant corruption being the most visible amongst them, democracy has taken deep roots in this country unlike many other nations of similar elk. Thankfully hope is not yet dead!

The singular trait of the developed world that India a member of the forever developing group shares is that governments smoothly change by ballot without the hullabaloo normally witnessed in many developing countries. To a great extent this can be credited to the strength of the national institutions that were set up in the post-independence era. The credibility of the machinery conducting general and state elections, the election commission in conducting the biggest electoral battle in the world is now unquestionably established. Also established is the environment of mutual trust that almost all political parties generally have with the commission that functions as it really should - in an unbiased and nonpartisan manner.

Despite low literacy levels, the electorate that often displays a high level of understanding of fundamental issues cannot be taken for granted anymore. It now has the proven capability to show that even established political pundits can be way off the mark while making profound assessments. Till the results started pouring in, no one was willing to give the Aam Aadmi Party more than a single digit figure, yet the electorate gave them the mandate, almost and placed Arvind Kejriwal in the top seat in the hope of being blessed with good governance. 

Arvind Kejriwal is not merely a person who has ascended to the throne of a state in the shortest ever time frame in history, he is indeed a phenomenon and an assertion by the common people of the capital that they are sick and tired of acts of gross abuse of power by powerful men and now want a change, a change for the better. Contrary to popular expectations, the common man pinned his entire hopes on the Aam Aadmi Party and it would therefore be a sad travesty of justice if these hopes are belied. This change is therefore also a realization that the common man in his heart of hearts really aspires for goodness and dreams of Ram Rajya. 

The recent election in Delhi will also go down in history as the culmination of a series of events that catapulted an ordinary citizen, to the highest seat of power in the state. While the rise has indeed been meteoric, the fall will also be as drastic if the new dispensation fails to provide what they promised - good governance. The proof of the pudding is always in the eating. 

For the sake of the national yearning for a society based on value systems and for keeping alive "trust and hope" in the common man, his dreams have to convert into reality. If they really do, it would indeed mark a major turning point for this nation. The great national experiment has just begun.