Who should be held responsible for the problems like corruption, hygienic conditions, backwardness, power misuse, etc... that we smell every day in India. Is it the problem with The System or it is more deep and is the problem with the peoples mind set. It is one of the popular discussions that my self involved in several times......
In India, if I step out
I see people cleaning their house and throwing the waste onto the roads....
I see people spitting on the chairs and roads
I see people giving bribes to get things done
I see people finding shortcuts to get rid of long Que...
bribe for license, bribe for certificate, bribe to get gazetted officer signature, ......
bribe for license, bribe for certificate, bribe to get gazetted officer signature, ......
Most of the times in my discussion, I get majority of the people showing finger at The People as the reason for most of the problems. They say 'people pointing at the system are only finding ways for the excuses for their deeds.......' Ideally speaking a society which respects human values and follows Dharma shall flourish irrespective what system they are following...... are all of us sages to be like that...NO.
I tried to get my birth certificate, it took me almost a month to find out whats going on with the application...the next day i gave 500Rs to the attender, the certificate is in my hands with in next one hour.this happened in Kukatpally some office. Now whose problem is this? mine or system? I am sure I would have got the certificate if I wait for few more days...But if you do so, people looking at you will say that you are stupid.....
You can say, I should be strong and follow Dharma, then you are only expecting a Perl from the shell taken out of mud. I am from a society that embraced the shitty system. I just cant resist it even if I want to be good... Its is important to clean the mud before you expect Perls from it.
My point is always, "if there are problems in a nation, that means there are serious problem in their institutions/systems". Our police system is spoiled, civil system is spoiled, political system is spoiled, educational system is spoiled, health system is spoiled etc... but on the same land we have comparatively best judicial system, best election commission....So its not the people that's the problem, but the surrounding/systems/institutions are bad.
One simple example, when I was in India, i throw stuff on the roads, I followed shortcuts, I jumped the traffic signals...but why I am not doing any of those in USA, is it because I changed suddenly as soon as my feet touches holy soil of USA, No, the systems here doesn't allow me to do any of those.
Its great if we have all people follow ethics, but do you wanna spend next 100 years to educate and change the people, then start thinking about progress.....The best option to make things change fast is to implement the reforms they all sitting and waiting in the store rooms of govt of India. Lokpal bill is waiting to curb the corruption, police reforms, educational reforms, political reforms and many other reports with detailed plans are waiting. Huge responsibility on law makers to make all those changes, but there is no political will or they intentionally ignoring it for their benefit.
One simple example, when I was in India, i throw stuff on the roads, I followed shortcuts, I jumped the traffic signals...but why I am not doing any of those in USA, is it because I changed suddenly as soon as my feet touches holy soil of USA, No, the systems here doesn't allow me to do any of those.
Its great if we have all people follow ethics, but do you wanna spend next 100 years to educate and change the people, then start thinking about progress.....The best option to make things change fast is to implement the reforms they all sitting and waiting in the store rooms of govt of India. Lokpal bill is waiting to curb the corruption, police reforms, educational reforms, political reforms and many other reports with detailed plans are waiting. Huge responsibility on law makers to make all those changes, but there is no political will or they intentionally ignoring it for their benefit.
Yeah...we don't the greatness of freedom & democracy..recently my frns visited china..and they don't even have access to FB and orkut..and i heard..in US traffic police can impose a fine as same as worth of ur car....india is a good country and syatem is sooo flexible and laws are tooo cool...i feel they meant to be for the well being...but we mis used & mis using....the problem is with OURS...for sure
ReplyDeleteNice thought venky!! U r right..but imagine for the population count of India..can the system really manage to do things on time?? Ppl r tired of waiting which only tends them to break the rules and lead to corruption and stuff.. Here, the richer u r, the faster the things get done 4 u..I feel that in this case, neither the ppl nor the system is responsible..all r inter-linked..
ReplyDeleteEverything is so damn spoiled that now, no one really knows where to start to fix it.
I disagree with both of you as you said people and system are the problems. Majority of the problem may be 80% is with the systems. for example, if go to a municipal office, for each work there is a time frame set by govt, to get birth certificate it shouldnt take more than 2 days, and for caste certificate one day...etc for each and evry work they have the list of max time that they can allowed to do it. But the problem is that there is no one to check whether they following it or not...and poor doesnt know about all these...so employees at the office intensionally keeps the work on hold because for sure they know that the guy will come with soem money....if some one compalins and if a arrest happens, he can freely walk out with an MLA recommendation or something....so corruption dept should be an independant system but not under political system thats a major flaw...and that system should change....
ReplyDeleteDefinetly the start is system/institutional reform...........a styrong law enforcement...when u know u cant get punshed if u jump the signal, damn sure taht i dont care...an officer is quiet sure that he gets out even he takes bribe then damn sure that he will take bribe....all that needs is closed loop system taht take actions according to the outputs...all that we have now is open loop.....simple question..why the same perosn behaves differently in India and in America because the american system/insitution are more stringent.....and thats the starting point...but the problem is all the syetms are under the control of politicians who desont want any things to cahnge
Venki, It is a good topic to discuss and I think you are spot on with all the issues. The main idea is what is the way out, and how can we make it asap.
ReplyDeleteI differ with you telling that Judiciary and Election commision are best, defenely not the best. Look at the Judicial system, how many cases are pending?, How many years should it take to complete a case, simply irrelevant and completely stupid system. If you talk about the higher courts also you can find a lot of loop holes and people can make fun of the Judicial system very very easily.This discussion can be long.
If you talk about Election commision, the way the elections are made by itself is very silly. You know how many votes are needed to win an election, 1 vote is enough. and dont ask me to talk more about this.. the good thing is every one is some how following the system as the majority thinks.
Now, coming to the main point of quick change. I will give you three examples,
One, Bangalore- I heared that poeple use minimal horn on the roads(correct me if it is wrong)
Two, Karnool,there was a rule in the town not to use plastic bags any more, and the vendors who use plastic bags will be penalizzed.
three, China, Olympics, If you see them, when we where in teens, they were not even in the race for the top spots, but due to systematic planning, and encouragement, they are in the top now.
In India, the drawback would be following what the majority wants to do. Instead, if you need a change, You have to create a movement with great public involvement and correct guidance and stratergies. There are some great works being done in our country, unfortunately are not popular as they deserve to be. I would say, it is up to all of us, if we are more cautious about what we are doing, and with great heart, change is bound to happen in our generation.:)
Somegood points Chinni ..... Judiciaryon it's own is goodbut the systems that needs to cooperate like police or govt medical systems are the ones misleading the courts. Otherwise I don't have complaintspn judiciary
ReplyDeleteI know quantitymatters than quality in elections but out of all the responsibilities given to EC their performance is extremely good. And EC is the most respected institute in India the main reason for them to perform well is that they r independent systems