INDIA in 2015-START THINKING!!

Even before 2015 started, India was celebrating the incoming of The President of USA, Barack Obama. He was invited as the chief guest on Republic Day and probably the most celebrated one. And before we knew, January was over in pomp and splendour. A black guy from the opposite side of the world advised us to be tolerant and it was a cue to the whole intolerance drama in the near future!!

February was the month of David vs. Goliath. AAP not only won Delhi elections but gave a new ray of hope for an alternate party in the future. A few administrative hiccups and less activism have earned Kejriwal a rightful place on the post of Chief Minister of Delhi!!

March brought an end to section 66a of IT Act and gave netizens a legal right to express their views on social media. There were a lot of voices of victory and hash tags on twitter stating the victory of Fundamental Rights. But the loophole is in form of section 69 of the same act, whereby government can block anything if it finds inappropriate. Now your voice will be suppressed even before it rises. At least you would not get a knock from cops with an arrest warrant!!

In April our neighbour, NEPAL, was struck with a disaster. With the chaotic and unplanned development, a disaster was waiting to happen. And an earthquake of 7.9 on Richter scale did the rest. We provided all the resources we could and with a stick note that we will ask something back. And over the top, media was blamed for being insensitive. Nepal recovered with a constitution and a bitter experience!!

May was the month for socialism. Prime Minister Modi launched the biggest and cheapest social security schemes world has ever seen-12 rupees for accidental insurance and 330 rupees for life insurance. Go and grab the deal* before the offer runs out!!

*Read the offer choice carefully before investing.

We gave the world International Yoga Day, to be celebrated on 21 June every year. It is one the thing I like about our PM. I think no nation has been able to integrate the culture of a nation at an Institutional level. We do not find International Halloween Day sponsored by UN. Thanks PM Modi!!

In July we pledged to be digitally synchronised with DIGITAL INDIA programme. Not to mention, but the biggest programme in the world of the kind. It is a comprehensive and visionary programme for a nation which is still living in the past. When more than eighty percent of the population are under deprivation category according to Socio-economic Caste Census with one or multiple basic deprivations, how can India be digitally aware? What will broadband do for a boy with no electricity or a shelter to live in? A question for those who are digitally aware and reading this.

August sounded the reservation bell with Patel agitation. They demanded for reservation. Yes, the most affluent caste in Gujarat!! Fifty percent of reservation sounds a little bit harsh but it raised a very important point- It’s high time to revisit reservation.

September was the time to call in favour for help given to Nepal in April. India asked Nepal to rethink the constitution which took eleven years and an earthquake to pass because it was worried about the rights of madheshis-a hindu group. Gujaral Doctrine and Panchsheel principles were openly violated when India tried to play big brother with Nepal. Nepal on the other side of border went to CHINA!!

October fall brought cheers for women in India. After 68 years of Independence, India actualised the demand that women can also fly for combat role in Air force. I think women will fly much better than men. Just want to say-ALL THE BEST!!

November saw the Samvidhan divas or Constitution day. The representatives explained very minutely what constitution represented when it was made six decades back. Quotes by Ambedkar, Gandhi were thrown like bombs. But I missed the part where someone could have explained what Constitution represented in present society.

December saw the after grief of Chennai rains of November. North was a little late to recognise that it India also consists of South. Sorry Chennai, we did not know that you existed!!

Only three weeks are left before we start 2016 and forget about 2015. Start thinking!!

ODD or EVEN - AAP ki CHOICE!!

I am sure you would have met people not eating chicken on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Now these people cannot drive cars on the roads of Delhi, if they own a car ending with odd registration number. So pious!! And for other days of the week, you can drive cars ending with even numbers. And Sunday is Free-for-all day!!

Why does it seem that this regulation is only for the middle class? The rich already have dozens of cars and they can easily pick and choose a car every single day of the week. The lower class will worry the least.

Let’s calculate the odds and evens of the experiment!!

The other problems that Delhi can face are the mismanagement of markets due to influx of customers on specific days; regulation of cars and commercial vehicles entering Delhi to cross it as alternate route is not available; genuine emergency problems; sensitivity training of traffic police department towards the regulation; the challan cost per car in case of defiance; poor level of public transport; and other minute problems that can spring up. It can also result in increase in number cars parked on the roads of Delhi as everyone would need two cars to commute freely.

On the even side, pollution level will come down. The opportunity cost calculated from the odds seems counter the sustainable development argument. The prerequisite for sustainable development is development.

Now it is up to Delhites!! Do they want to live in a smoke filled city and shorten their lifespan Or they are ready to make some adjustments? The pro-active citizens speaking about the Fundamental rights should come forward with the details of duties they perform as a citizen of the nation. If the government had done nothing, pro-rights citizens would have demanded a strict action. And now when a bona fide step is being taken, the same citizens have a problem because their rights are being infringed upon!!

Engngane Irikkunnu, Haryana!! (How are you, Haryana!!)

Our PM, while speaking in Parliament, gave a very cohesive vision of India. I wonder why the media houses and other states have not picked up the vision. He imagined a India where diversity meets the unity. He advised that each state should celebrate one chosen state every year. For example, Haryana celebrates Kerala for a particular year. One culture meets another culture. One religion understands another religion.

Frankly, I am not a Modi fan but intellections like this make me proud of our PM. He did not ask to make this programme an event and a annual bazaar but rather an experience. The students should learn basic linguistic skills to interact with people of different languages. The local mela (fairs) should focus on the delicacies and cuisines of the states. Music and dance festivals of that particular state could arouse cultural curiosity. This can also be a medium of entertainment which is live and real rather than virtual means of entertainment prevalent in the present society.

“Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny...” And I believe we will truly achieve our destiny when the vision of our current PM will come true.

Let us contemplate what we can achieve!!

As a country we know very little of our country. We cannot even name the 29 States of our country; forego the culture of the region. This ignorance has taken the form of stereotypes and prejudices.  All South Indians are Tamilians for us; Biharis are not welcomed in Maharashtra; We need special laws for protection of people from North-East; Delhi is the rape Capital; and as many examples as number of people living in India.  We all have some bad experiences and some good experiences about a city but these isolated incidents cannot define the city. I strongly oppose calling Delhi as the rape capital of the country.

Socially, the knowledge about different cultures will help us abandon such stereotypes. It will build an assimilatory society which is progressive and peaceful. Economically, it will boost our domestic tourism. Politically, it will deepen the democracy and increase awareness about the political culture of the nation.

I would like to end this article by taking a little from the ‘I have a dream’ speech by Martin Luther King and modifying it to the following:

  

I have a dream that one day children of Haryana will greet children of Kerala in Malayalam-Engngane Irikkunnu.

I have a dream that one day the hills of eastern Himalayas will be connected by roads and people with the people of Thar.
I have a dream that one day a Tamilian will dance in a Punjabi marriage.
I have a dream that the present of the nation lives in a nation where they will not be judged by the region they come from but by the content of their character!!

Living among the monkeys

Ward Councillor, “Who is this?”

Citizen, “I am living in your ward and I have a complaint.”

Councillor, “Why are you calling me? Contact the Municipal Corporation or your MLA.”

Citizen, “You said to reach you if we have any problem in our war.”

Councillor, “Han Acha, What is the Problem?”

Citizen, “Lately, monkeys are becoming a menace in our locality. Yesterday, a monkey bit my neighbour Mrs Sharma. I am scared to let kids play in the park. We can’t walk freely around the block without caution. So, I was thinking if you could help.”

Councillor, “Do I look like a langoor to you!! Contact someone else. It is not in my work prescription.”

Citizen, “Yes, but.....Hello Hello...”

Before the citizen realised, the councillor had cut the line. It was just another sales call for him asking him to join the institution. But in this case, the institution was the neighbourhood from where he had been elected. He does not need their membership for next five years or before he decides to join the bigger race of MLA or MP. As a consequence, citizens of the locality are still living among the monkeys!!

There is a broken bridge of Samvaad between the people and their representatives. The representatives do not know the specifics of the problems or rather tend to ignore the problem and citizens are lost in the generalities of the problem. Citizens do not know whom to contact and Representatives do not know if they are the right person for the job. Former wants the problem solved anyhow and latter wants the problem go away anyhow. In a tussle between who and whom, the problem transforms into tolerance and acceptance of the status quo. It becomes a chaotic situation.

There are hundreds and thousands of examples where people want to solve the localised problems like parks, parking, street lights, security etc.  They do not know how to go about the problem. In the last decade of twentieth century, India passed 73^rd and 74^th amendment as a solution to these problems. It provided a representative at the door step of people. They do not have to go to MLA for every niggling problem. And jobs to be solved at the premise there and then before escalating into the failure of the government system.

The person who is elected is not supposed to be a leader or representative of the neighbourhood. For citizens, the post of ward councillor is solution of how the things are to be done. For the councillor, the post is a breeding ground to become a leader and representative. He works as an aware citizen of the neighbourhood rather than a point of authority. But the description is only the vision. In reality, the local elections are fought on party lines. Moreover, there is no oath or contract to explain the winning candidates their job. They are overpowered by the district administration and local leaders. They are pushed to background as a base to conduct party meetings in the neighbourhood.

The major problem is of dialogue-A Samvaad between people and councillors. There is no communication among stakeholders. The ward meetings, if taking place, happen once in six months. There are other problems associated with such meetings like low attendance; sponsored by political parties; vague agendas and meetings only for the sake of meetings. This communication has to be regular and documented to have a transparent and accountable structure of local government.

I am emphasizing on the word SAMVAAD. It means - Dialogue. A democracy can work only if there is a continuous and clear communication structure between the people and the representatives. The continuity will balance the change element in the society. The clarity element will make it easy and comprehendible, especially for India because of high illiteracy. In a democracy there are myriad of representatives at different level. And it makes it a necessity to improve the level of communication at the base because the probability of filtering of communication is more at the base. Further, anyone should be able to provide feedback.

Till we mend the communication gap at our local self governments, we will have to live among the monkeys!!

What does Indian Constitution mean - An attempt to invoke questions!!

(Read the following article not as an article rather as a question)

This session started with a discussion on the ‘Commitment to India’s Constitution’ on the 125^th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar. I kept changing the channel to the Lok Sabha to watch the live discussion in the parliament. Yes, Lok Sabha is actually a television channel!! I was eager to know what the Constitution means to the leaders of our democracy.

It was a day full of attacks and counter-attacks. It was a day full of quotes by our freedom fighters. It was, once again, a day of BJP vs Congress. But above all, it was a day of discussion on the Commitment to India’s Constitution made in 1950. Are we in consonance to the Constitution made in 1950? Why the changes made in the Constitution after 1950 were wrong?

Members of Parliament were busy in discussing what Constitution meant to us. It has been more than six decades. Should not we start thinking what Constitution means to us in contemporary era? I agree values like equality, liberty, fraternity are seminal. But do they mean same to us now?

Does Equality mean only reservation? The only solution I listen to giving equality is reservation. Give reservation to women in legislatures. Give reservation to backward castes in education. Give reservation in promotion. Give reservation in food distribution. Give reservation in jobs. What about the rudimentary idea of providing QUALITY education sans political-social interference to all free of cost? I think it is the solution to all the problems in our society.

Constitution makers gave reservation to end inequality. But now even a debate on relevance of reservation can invoke jibes thrown at you. When will the clause of continuance of reservation end?

We have been sticking to the past. I am not demanding to change the principles of Constitution like Democracy and Federalism. But can we change the way how it works? Do we need a strong centre? Why not adopt a strict federal model? Let Centre control only major subjects like defence and communication. Let’s state decide their course and bring out true competitive federalism. India is proud of Diversity with Unity. And it is high time to respect that diversity by giving States more powers.

We have the lengthiest constitution and added to that sub-ordinate and delegated legislation makes numerous laws contradictory. Should we not cut short the Constitution to basic values?

Fundamental Rights are the quintessential part of a Constitution. And due to various judicial verdicts the Fundamental Rights are being read in the most liberal manner. Instead of expanding the vastness of Right to life, should we not specify the rights? An extra page will not make it heavier. And when will rights of nature be included in the Fundamental rights?

Directive Principles of State Policy asks for various prohibitions. Should not we decide if we want to drink alcohol or eat beef? Is India a socialist economy or capitalist economy or a mixed economy? I don’t see India as a socialist country where rich is telling poor how to develop. Classes sitting at the higher echelons of the society are enforcing their plans of growth and equality on the poor. Their attitude-I’m rich and I’ll tell you how to become rich. Directive Principles include provision of just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. Should not it be a Fundamental Right rather than a policy direction? Directive Principles are full of such contradiction.

We even have a law not to joke about our constitutional authorities!! Actually a law saying you not to laugh!!

A simple analytical mind can find hundreds of contradictions in Constitution. If you ask judiciary meaning of any article, they will hide behind the technicalities and legal jargon which none of us can comprehend.

SHOULD A CONSTITUTION INSPIRED BY CONSTITUTIONS OF THE PAST GOVERN OUR FUTURE?