Areas of our

Hari Jaisingh

After 70 years of India's functioning democracy, what is that causes more concerns today to an honest observer of the national scene than ever before? The list of this unpleasant reality on the ground is long. It touches on the basics of life and society. It also reflects a state of drift as inner contradictions are getting sharper and sharper day by day. So do complexities. Most of these complexities are political and man-made. They carry within them traces of feudalism which are now part of the social milieu.

Narendra Modi : Promises with a smile ! The New Class of 'lords' have perfected the old colonial game of divide and rule into a fine instrument of governance. Indian strengths and weaknesses coexist between promise and performance by the power-puffed leadership. A ray of hope was ignited in 2014 with the promise of good governance, acchhe din and a corruptionfree and accountable system held out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Roughly three years have gone by. The shadow boxing in the promises made entertains us as well as evokes disgust. We, the p e o p l e , continue to hope against hopes at the e v e r - e l u s i v e promise for Change. But, all that we see is that the power topi (cap) has changed colours - from white to saffron. The old rules of the system and governance, more or less, remain the same. The ground realities show the same old cracks of poverty, deprivation and injustice at the lowest strata of society.

The inimitable M. F. Husain had annoyed the liberals by painting Indira Gandhi as Durga during the Emergency Prime Minister Modi's anti-poverty rhetoric at public rallies reminds us of Indira Gandhi's roaring thunder on garibi hatao in the seventies. The former Prime Minister was at her glorious best. She might have reasons too. The legendary artist M.F. Husain had immortalised her as 'Durga' after her courageous "operation Bangladesh" even in the face of pro-Pakistan America's Seventh Fleet in the Bay of Bengal. Paradoxically, in 2017 we still have in our midst 40-45 crore Indians living below the poverty line. The 'Daridra narayan' continues to be in focus as part of PM Modi's political dharma. The style is the same, but his latest political thrust is on garib hatao t h r o u g h notebandi and cashless route in the name of f i g h t i n g corruption and unearthing black money. This wild goose chase is a matter of our concern.

Change India: Modi takes the place of Gandhi in Khadi Udyog's calendar The Prime Minister's much-talked about 'cooperative federalism' concept is in tatters. This confrontation has put half a brake on the development agenda. Instead of 'Make in India' a global focus, Modi's brand of personalized democracy is drawing worldwide attention. The 'new Gandhi' with Modi spinning the charkha has replaced Mahatma Gandhi of our hearts on khadi calendars. The sycophancy culture is increasingly creeping into the Sangh Parivaar leaders !

Tribal India : A matter of survival ! The poor and the backward dotting India's digital landscape live on dreams and the leaders' promises. Who cares if a Kendrapara tribal women of Odisha sells her male child to another childless woman in the neighbourhood to meet basic needs of her large family? The inhuman system butts in to deny the tribal woman the luxury of survival from her male child sale for mere Rs 2000/ ! This is the India, the uncared for India, we are c o n c e r n e d about.

In focus:BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav This takes us to the fearless BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav whose "food quality" video along 'with other serious allegations has gone viral in the social media and beyond. More jawans have joined the chorus. This has damaged the high reputation the Indian armed forces have enjoyed. We are sure that the necessary correctives would follow. What, however, causes us concern is the absence of a credible internal communication and grievances redressal mechanism within the Command itself. One does not relish a jawan washing 'dirty linen ' in public. We do require transparency and accountability even within the military establishment. At stake is the nation's security and honour
Our national motto says, satyameva jayate (Truth will triumph). In the existing system of governance, speaking unpleasant truth is frowned upon by the masters since this exposes the rotten system they preside over. This is yet another area of concern that runs counter to all high values that India stands for.
The leaders fly high, chasing their interests. They get back to the ground once in five years with a new series of promises for acchhe din. Ironically, even Congress Vice- President Rahul Gandhi talks about acchhe din in 2019, if his party is voted to power!

We can surely "change the future for the better," says Prof Vir Chopra of London School of Economics, "if we possess two things': the clarity of thought to exactly what we want, and second, the ability to perform to that end". The point is how to acquire the clarity of thought to govern Indian complexities? And, from where to acquire the ability for our leaders to change the system and meet the rising expectations of the citizens?
In his book 'The Future of Democracy', Narverto Bobbio talks about 'ideals' and 'brute facts'. In India, the goal post for 'ideals' keeps shifting. As for 'brute facts', no leader likes to face them. It could be different if 'bare facts' are packaged live on the 'idiot box'in a dream sequence of scantily-clad dance belles! Everything is a matter of packaging. Even 'bare facts' of poverty and 'ideals'! A serious matter of our concern.
How can the dream concept of Change be achieved without systemic efforts to ensure that the process of growth gets seeped downwards to everyone, including those at the lowest rung? What matters in India today is the politics of manipulation, courtesy power brokers. This, in turn, has diluted the effectiveness of our institutions.
During the Indira Gandhi regime in the seventies and beyond, we saw how the ruling elite played with some of our democratic institutions. Today, we see a repeat of the old concern about our institutions. Even the RBI has come under strain for the first time. The distress signal has come from no other than credible former RBI governor Y V Reddy. This does call for a national debate, though the Finance Ministry says that it respects the RBI autonomy. A mere lip service does not change the reality.

Common sense suggests that democratic institutions tend to decline and get eroded when undue emphasis is placed on personalities, personal security and the attempt to use the public realm for self promotion and set goals. We have been witnessing this trend for the past several years.

Regrettably, there has been too much stress on personalized leadership, too little on institutions and their integrity and functional autonomy. This has not only led to a sharp erosion in the effectiveness and morale of crucial segments of the state apparatus, the party system, parliament, bureaucracy, law and order machinery, and even the judiciary, but has also given rise to arbitrariness and highly partisan and reckless intervention by power crazy politicians.

Much worse, it has led to a systematic neglect of the really backwards and the deprived and has generated an increasing tendency 'to treat power as a means of personal aggradisement and the state as an instrument of patronage and profit'. In this setting, the fabric of the polity has got petrified. Institutional erosion in the face of rising expectations of the people is the basic crisis facing us.

Alexis de Toqueville Instead of ushering in good governance to eliminate the causes of the people's sufferings, the leaders feed them on the syndrome of Maa Baapism to make sure of public dependency on them. This basic character of the ruling elite has remained unchanged, whichever party is in power.
The mid-19th century French diplomat, political scientist and historian Alexis de Toqueville wrote:
"Those sovereigns of our day who try to concentrate on themselves alone all the new desires created by equality and to satisfy them will in the end, if I am not mistaken, regret that they ever embarked on such an undertaking. One day they will discover that they have put their own power in hazard by making it so necessary and that it would have both safer and more honest to have taught their subjects the art of looking after themselves".

The point is that the omnipresence of the government only throws up opportunities for corruption and exploitation of aam admi. This is a far cry from the Prime Minister's promise of "minimum government and maximum governance". Today it is the case of maximum government and no governance!

I am not sure whether this underlying message will get registered with the present rulers working under Narendra Modi who himself was a chaiwala at a railway station in Vadodara district of Gujarat. He does occasionally recall those days with tears in his eyes, but, as is true of most leaders, power changes character as well as behaviour patterns of the ruler. Narendra Modi no longer gives the impression of his earlier chaiwala days of struggle!

Reminensces of the past are one thing, but to see in one's thought the heartthrobs of injustice and deprivation of others makes all the difference. Herein lies the tragedy of the promise of Change India!

Any change has to be directed towards the good of the poor, backwards, have-nots, over-exploited tribals and the minorities left behind on the social-economic ladder of whatever progress we have achieved so far. Unfortunately, the Indian system of governance has made the rich richer and the poor poorer. A never-ending area of concern – from Nehru to Modi!

The uncared for India ! The challenge before us is one of ushering in an allinclusive India as a land of new opportunities for millions of jobless young women, men and children craving for quality education, safer and better life and living conditions.
Will the leaders, elected representatives and Ministers care for the feelings of the people they are supposed to serve? Fighting for petty matters when the country is beleaguered by acute crises in every area and direction would be self-defeating. Equally unacceptable is intolerance and stifling of the voices of dissent and legitimate criticism.
In the 21st century India, we do not wish to see the nonchalant dismissal of the people's voice as Frederick, the Great did with his famous remark: "let them say what they want, I shall do what I like".

Responsiveness and accessibility have to be part of good governance, Mr Prime Minister. Equally crucial is the strengthening of the institutions and reaching out to persons of substance for a dialogue and attending to their concerns for the good of We, the People, and for the healthy functioning of our democratic institutions. India will shine in the comity of nations if its rulers take care of the people's areas of concern, instead of directly or indirectly working for the interests of the rich and the powerful and their cronies and power brokers alone!



		EDITOR'S MAIL MATTERS OF PUBLIC POLICY FIVE-STATE POLL PUNJAB ELECTION ON RECORD FRANKLY SPEAKING REALPOLITIK CHANGING POLITICAL PROFILES THE NIGHT THAT WAS RBI AUTONOMY A DIVIDED PARTY DIDI'S POLITICS INDIA ESSAY VOICE FROM LONDON 45TH U.S. PRESIDENT HITS & MISSES MIXED BLESSING ENVIRONMENTAL NEGLECT BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR YOGA IN DAILY LIFE-X SIGNS OF THE TIMES INTERVIEW BOLLYWOOD PANORAMA TRIBUTE THAT HEROIC EVENT LIVING WITH NATURE ART OF LIVING Issue:February' 2017 Subscribe Now	INDIA ESSAY Areas of our Hari Jaisingh After 70 years of India's functioning democracy, what is that causes more concerns today to an honest observer of the national scene than ever before? The list of this unpleasant reality on the ground is long. It touches on the basics of life and society. It also reflects a state of drift as inner contradictions are getting sharper and sharper day by day. So do complexities. Most of these complexities are political and man-made. They carry within them traces of feudalism which are now part of the social milieu. Narendra Modi : Promises with a smile ! The New Class of 'lords' have perfected the old colonial game of divide and rule into a fine instrument of governance. Indian strengths and weaknesses coexist between promise and performance by the power-puffed leadership. A ray of hope was ignited in 2014 with the promise of good governance, acchhe din and a corruptionfree and accountable system held out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Roughly three years have gone by. The shadow boxing in the promises made entertains us as well as evokes disgust. We, the p e o p l e , continue to hope against hopes at the e v e r - e l u s i v e promise for Change. But, all that we see is that the power topi (cap) has changed colours - from white to saffron. The old rules of the system and governance, more or less, remain the same. The ground realities show the same old cracks of poverty, deprivation and injustice at the lowest strata of society. The inimitable M. F. Husain had annoyed the liberals by painting Indira Gandhi as Durga during the Emergency Prime Minister Modi's anti-poverty rhetoric at public rallies reminds us of Indira Gandhi's roaring thunder on garibi hatao in the seventies. The former Prime Minister was at her glorious best. She might have reasons too. The legendary artist M.F. Husain had immortalised her as 'Durga' after her courageous "operation Bangladesh" even in the face of pro-Pakistan America's Seventh Fleet in the Bay of Bengal. Paradoxically, in 2017 we still have in our midst 40-45 crore Indians living below the poverty line. The 'Daridra narayan' continues to be in focus as part of PM Modi's political dharma. The style is the same, but his latest political thrust is on garib hatao t h r o u g h notebandi and cashless route in the name of f i g h t i n g corruption and unearthing black money. This wild goose chase is a matter of our concern. Change India: Modi takes the place of Gandhi in Khadi Udyog's calendar The Prime Minister's much-talked about 'cooperative federalism' concept is in tatters. This confrontation has put half a brake on the development agenda. Instead of 'Make in India' a global focus, Modi's brand of personalized democracy is drawing worldwide attention. The 'new Gandhi' with Modi spinning the charkha has replaced Mahatma Gandhi of our hearts on khadi calendars. The sycophancy culture is increasingly creeping into the Sangh Parivaar leaders ! Tribal India : A matter of survival ! The poor and the backward dotting India's digital landscape live on dreams and the leaders' promises. Who cares if a Kendrapara tribal women of Odisha sells her male child to another childless woman in the neighbourhood to meet basic needs of her large family? The inhuman system butts in to deny the tribal woman the luxury of survival from her male child sale for mere Rs 2000/ ! This is the India, the uncared for India, we are c o n c e r n e d about. In focus:BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav This takes us to the fearless BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav whose "food quality" video along 'with other serious allegations has gone viral in the social media and beyond. More jawans have joined the chorus. This has damaged the high reputation the Indian armed forces have enjoyed. We are sure that the necessary correctives would follow. What, however, causes us concern is the absence of a credible internal communication and grievances redressal mechanism within the Command itself. One does not relish a jawan washing 'dirty linen ' in public. We do require transparency and accountability even within the military establishment. At stake is the nation's security and honour Our national motto says, satyameva jayate (Truth will triumph). In the existing system of governance, speaking unpleasant truth is frowned upon by the masters since this exposes the rotten system they preside over. This is yet another area of concern that runs counter to all high values that India stands for. The leaders fly high, chasing their interests. They get back to the ground once in five years with a new series of promises for acchhe din. Ironically, even Congress Vice- President Rahul Gandhi talks about acchhe din in 2019, if his party is voted to power! We can surely "change the future for the better," says Prof Vir Chopra of London School of Economics, "if we possess two things': the clarity of thought to exactly what we want, and second, the ability to perform to that end". The point is how to acquire the clarity of thought to govern Indian complexities? And, from where to acquire the ability for our leaders to change the system and meet the rising expectations of the citizens? In his book 'The Future of Democracy', Narverto Bobbio talks about 'ideals' and 'brute facts'. In India, the goal post for 'ideals' keeps shifting. As for 'brute facts', no leader likes to face them. It could be different if 'bare facts' are packaged live on the 'idiot box'in a dream sequence of scantily-clad dance belles! Everything is a matter of packaging. Even 'bare facts' of poverty and 'ideals'! A serious matter of our concern. How can the dream concept of Change be achieved without systemic efforts to ensure that the process of growth gets seeped downwards to everyone, including those at the lowest rung? What matters in India today is the politics of manipulation, courtesy power brokers. This, in turn, has diluted the effectiveness of our institutions. During the Indira Gandhi regime in the seventies and beyond, we saw how the ruling elite played with some of our democratic institutions. Today, we see a repeat of the old concern about our institutions. Even the RBI has come under strain for the first time. The distress signal has come from no other than credible former RBI governor Y V Reddy. This does call for a national debate, though the Finance Ministry says that it respects the RBI autonomy. A mere lip service does not change the reality. Common sense suggests that democratic institutions tend to decline and get eroded when undue emphasis is placed on personalities, personal security and the attempt to use the public realm for self promotion and set goals. We have been witnessing this trend for the past several years. Regrettably, there has been too much stress on personalized leadership, too little on institutions and their integrity and functional autonomy. This has not only led to a sharp erosion in the effectiveness and morale of crucial segments of the state apparatus, the party system, parliament, bureaucracy, law and order machinery, and even the judiciary, but has also given rise to arbitrariness and highly partisan and reckless intervention by power crazy politicians. Much worse, it has led to a systematic neglect of the really backwards and the deprived and has generated an increasing tendency 'to treat power as a means of personal aggradisement and the state as an instrument of patronage and profit'. In this setting, the fabric of the polity has got petrified. Institutional erosion in the face of rising expectations of the people is the basic crisis facing us. Alexis de Toqueville Instead of ushering in good governance to eliminate the causes of the people's sufferings, the leaders feed them on the syndrome of Maa Baapism to make sure of public dependency on them. This basic character of the ruling elite has remained unchanged, whichever party is in power. The mid-19th century French diplomat, political scientist and historian Alexis de Toqueville wrote: "Those sovereigns of our day who try to concentrate on themselves alone all the new desires created by equality and to satisfy them will in the end, if I am not mistaken, regret that they ever embarked on such an undertaking. One day they will discover that they have put their own power in hazard by making it so necessary and that it would have both safer and more honest to have taught their subjects the art of looking after themselves". The point is that the omnipresence of the government only throws up opportunities for corruption and exploitation of aam admi. This is a far cry from the Prime Minister's promise of "minimum government and maximum governance". Today it is the case of maximum government and no governance! I am not sure whether this underlying message will get registered with the present rulers working under Narendra Modi who himself was a chaiwala at a railway station in Vadodara district of Gujarat. He does occasionally recall those days with tears in his eyes, but, as is true of most leaders, power changes character as well as behaviour patterns of the ruler. Narendra Modi no longer gives the impression of his earlier chaiwala days of struggle! Reminensces of the past are one thing, but to see in one's thought the heartthrobs of injustice and deprivation of others makes all the difference. Herein lies the tragedy of the promise of Change India! Any change has to be directed towards the good of the poor, backwards, have-nots, over-exploited tribals and the minorities left behind on the social-economic ladder of whatever progress we have achieved so far. Unfortunately, the Indian system of governance has made the rich richer and the poor poorer. A never-ending area of concern – from Nehru to Modi! The uncared for India ! The challenge before us is one of ushering in an allinclusive India as a land of new opportunities for millions of jobless young women, men and children craving for quality education, safer and better life and living conditions. Will the leaders, elected representatives and Ministers care for the feelings of the people they are supposed to serve? Fighting for petty matters when the country is beleaguered by acute crises in every area and direction would be self-defeating. Equally unacceptable is intolerance and stifling of the voices of dissent and legitimate criticism. In the 21st century India, we do not wish to see the nonchalant dismissal of the people's voice as Frederick, the Great did with his famous remark: "let them say what they want, I shall do what I like". Responsiveness and accessibility have to be part of good governance, Mr Prime Minister. Equally crucial is the strengthening of the institutions and reaching out to persons of substance for a dialogue and attending to their concerns for the good of We, the People, and for the healthy functioning of our democratic institutions. India will shine in the comity of nations if its rulers take care of the people's areas of concern, instead of directly or indirectly working for the interests of the rich and the powerful and their cronies and power brokers alone!