14 March 2014, 04:07 PM IST
Is this India's last chance to recover from the wasted decade?
Come May 2014, once the electoral dust settles into the foreground and the new claimants to power emerge - one thing will become painfully certain. India is struggling to breathe and it needs a capable leader who can revive it.
The freshly elected Prime Minister of the 16th Lok Sabha will face the unenviable task of dismantling the failed administrative systems and destructive economic policies that have choked India's progress over the last decade. In the past, it was considered customary for freshly inducted Cabinet Ministers and their subordinate Minister's of State to take their own sweet time to ease into their individual portfolios. Sarkari privileges were meant to be enjoyed to the point of being abused. As long as the Ministry in question chugged along at a rate reasonably similar to what had been achieved in the past, no one expected anything more. Performance would be judged on how many freebies or waivers could be squeezed out of the tax-payers sweaty brow. 'Accountability' became a dirty-word that no one cared to utter.
After all, who cares about accountability when you've already won the election?
Mercifully, times have now changed and with the advent of an even larger and better aware youth-vote, there is a vociferous demand for change in the way India was hitherto being governed. Politicians foolish enough to take their positions for granted will be quickly shown the door. This newspaper has reported that several senior members of the ruling coalition have opted out of contesting the upcoming elections for fear of embarrassing defeats. Ironically these were the same loyalists who, till very recently, smugly defended their Government's credentials even in the face of shameful scams and exposés.
Despite the writing on the wall, it is shocking that several political parties have completely ignored the mood of the nation. The recently concluded Rajasthan Assembly elections made it clear that the young voter there was in no mood to be patronized with the insulting promise of 'cash handouts' and 'pressure cookers' and other sundry household items which he ought to have been able to buy in any case on the strength of his wages. Imaginary wages which he never had the opportunity to earn, because his elected Government was busy emptying the treasury to offer more hand-outs instead of building the infrastructure to attract industry and much needed jobs. In a telling example of the ruling party's inherent ideological bankruptcy, Rahul Gandhi in Balasinor proudly announced that "we take your money to use for your welfare." Unfortunately for Mr. Gandhi, recently concluded elections confirm that voters across India have decisively rejected this sort of arrogant mai-baap pitch favoured by the garibi-hatao type politicians in favour of visionary leaders who promise tangible empowerment in the form of jobs and improved government services.
But here's the question that no one is asking - what will be the first order of business once the new PM takes charge?
This blog has identified 6 core challenges that the new Prime Minister of India and his Cabinet must tackle the day they assume office:
1. Overhaul the justice system: The PM and the new law minister need to heed the suggestions and advice of the Chief Justice of India to urgently reform our broken justice delivery system. There are numerous reports of the Law Commission which are bristling with excellent ideas that only need the political will to be implemented. Quite shamefully, our judiciary currently faces a severe shortage of resources that has caused the denial of justice to lakhs of litigants and this can be easily reversed. The Supreme Court in New Delhi ought to be rechristened exclusively as a Constitutional Court as is the case in United States. The High Court's of Judicature in the erstwhile presidency towns should be retooled as the final courts of appeal in all commercial and criminal matters for their region. Thousands of more judges need to be appointed. Fast-action courts dealing exclusively with crimes against women need to be setup in every district under the direct supervision of the High Court of that region. Guerrilla courts of the khap-panchayat variety, that Arvind Kejriwal and his ilk have been endorsing been - are patently illegal and deserve to be banned. The PM could also setup a time-bound committee to suggest which laws have become redundant and need to be struck off our statute books. The focus needs to be on implementing the existing laws rather than creating more rules that no one respects.
2. Jumpstart the economy: The PM and the new Finance Minister must put in place a single-window business approval system to hasten industrial growth and to cut out bureaucratic red-tape. The alleged extra-constitutional taxes that the environment ministry levied to approve large-scale infrastructure projects, if true, was a shameful example as to how individual greed and ineptitude cost thousands of jobs in the poorest regions of India. India also needs a simplified tax-code that supports small and large business owners and encourages much needed foreign investment. The new PM, whomsoever it might be ultimately, would do well to bring back the veteran disinvestment guru Arun Shourie to help redirect precious tax-payers funds to more critical pursuits - like education and healthcare rather than say, running white elephants like Air India and ITDC Hotels like Ashoka in Delhi[6] that exist only to be abused by our public servants.
3. Rebuild infrastructure: To bring economic empowerment to our poorest villages and forgotten towns, we need to connect them to our highways with a vast network of arterial roads. The new PM must appoint a thorough technocrat to overhaul the Indian railways. It is a crying shame that the only means of transport that is truly accessible to the vast population of the country is treated with such disdain by our politicians. There is tremendous scope to bring in private enterprise into the operational functioning of the railways to improve safety, efficiency and comfort. The thousands of railway platforms across the country, if harnessed properly, could generate thousands of crores of rupees which could easily be used to build world-class express and bullet trains. It is also shameful that our farmers in places like Vidarbha continue to suffer because of avoidable droughts and poorly developed irrigation canals. Unfortunately, India continues to have its fair share of misguided celebrity activists like Medha Patkar and Arundhati Roy who revel in stone-walling critical infrastructure projects at the cost of farmers lives.
4. Resolve the Naxalite crisis: The new PM must recognize that the Naxalites have taken to violence out of sheer disgruntlement at the failed economic policies that have their roots in Nehru's failed economic experiment. The Maoists/Naxalites are the children of extreme poverty who must be reintegrated into the mainstream by providing them genuine opportunities to better their lot. Brute military force may fix the symptoms but will not cure the disease.
5. Ban communism: No modern democracy in the world can continue to turn a blind eye to the perverse forces of a communist ideology. The new PM must show grit and stand by the stated 'democratic' objective outlined in our constitution and firmly deny any place whatsoever to the evil marxist-communist ideology, be it even in the garb of a 'political-party.' States like West Bengal and Kerala continue to remain the poorest and most backward regions of India because of the communist stranglehold that has only produced misery and death at the cost of merit and enterprise.
6. Revolutionize the government school system: The new PM needs to acknowledge that our government run schools are among the worst in the world. Even the poorest of our citizens prefer to use their meagre resources to send their children to privately run schools that offer a marginally higher quality of education. A brilliant way to resolve this crisis is by introducing a 'voucher' based school system. By allowing private players to setup schools and compete for 'payment-vouchers' given to families by the government, there will be an automatic incentive for these private entities to provide the best quality of education. Government funded schools could be gradually phased out.
These are just a few ideas that the new PM might want to consider while dealing with the accumulated failures of the last decade. I would urge my readers to post their suggestions in the comments below. Democracy runs on the engine of consensus, when enlightened citizens come together and demand accountability from their leaders.
2014 is making it increasingly clear that ivory towers seldom produce genuine leaders.
Perhaps India is indeed ready for a chowkidar.
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