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!!