The Way out....

CWG may have displayed the shoddy side of Indian bureaucracy, but let’s not forget we have the other side of it too. The shining side of Indian public management have outplayed their western counterparts by leaps and bounds in many areas. When the so called liberal far right propagators of US and Europe are shrinking into the once laughed at protectionist laws, here in India we are slowly and steadily opening up the markets.The Ohio ban and the recent hike in visa fees reveal the heat and insecurity the US is feeling from the

Indian markets.

Had our forever despised bureaucrats and policy makers listened to the modern management “gurus”of the west during the formulation of Industrial Policy-1991, forget US even God could not have saved us now. The famed economists of LSE and HBS failed to grasp what our good old IAS officers could sitting in the North Block, New Delhi and the RBI Headquarters in Mumbai.

The Reserve Bank of India was acknowledged worldwide for its mature and austere handling of the economic crises with the right mix of caution and risk. From once being the largest borrower of IMF loans, today India is being looked up at as a savior of the very same IMF. Under the Note Purchasing Agreement and Gold scheme India’s contribution to the world economic institutions deserve accolades.

Indian bid for a permanent UN Security council seat is being backed by majority of the countries and this is evident from the fact that 187 out of 192 countries including Pakistan voted for the non-permanent seat for India. So as always India is turning out to be a country of Contradictions. Seen as a rising Tiger from outside, India is still groping in dark to set its domestic issues straight.

So what is the solution for the lopsided growth pattern that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing? What exactly is the role of state today? A “minimalist “approach advocated by Neo-liberalists or a more proactive socialistic welfare approach? No one size fits all type of solution to India’s problems. Rather than being a provider, the Government needs to don the role of an enabler. Enable the citizen’s to participate in the democratic and administrative setup. The current dichotomy is exactly what India faced at the time of framing the constitution when the legacies of Nehru and Gandhi were at loggerheads. Finally Gandhian principles of “Swaraj” or Local self rule was overshadowed by the socialist aspirations of Nehru and thus started decades of experimentation with centralized welfare planning.

Today world order has changed and is no longer bipolar. The question of Capitalism vs. Communism is irrelevant. Communism has failed and with that dies the welfare state aspirations of Nehru. Indian policy makers have done a credible job by adapting to the changing world dynamics. It’s time we completely revamp the administrative set up to meet the challenges of globalization as well as local needs. Devolution of power to the people and forming a citizen centric administration is on its way if the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission recommendations are to be implemented.

It’s not the state alone that requires re-orientation. Citizens need to move away from the notion that it is the sole duty of state to ensure welfare of people without any obligations back. How many of us have taken part in the largest democratic exercise on earth, elections to the parliament? How many of us realize the importance of local body elections to the municipalities and Panchayats?

We crib at the system for all its failures and inadequacies, but fail to do any corrective measures. No amount of finger pointing at the state or vociferous accusations at bureaucracy will change the ground reality.What is required is a paradigm change in the attitude and active participation of common citizens inthe governance. All that the state can do is act as a catalyst with administrative, legislative and judicialsupport.