Making Decentralisation Work for Public Interest

One of the solutions for delivery of public services and development that is being considered and is being implemented across the country is decentralised governance. It is based on the assumption that individuals will want to and can have a say in determining their life and will be interested in and capable of making sure that the services and facilities due to them are in fact available. Whether it be educating their children or building a road to their village, it is assumed that beneficiaries can and will want to make sure that the work is done and will take the effort to monitor or implement these programmes.

What this means is that democracy is limited not just to voting our representatives at various levels, but also in taking an active part in deciding and monitoring what they do while in power and ensuring access to decision-making. Is this a concept that we are ready for? Is this assuming too much? I am not sure since I have not studied this matter, but there are certain doubts on this model of governance or a naive assumption that this will solve everything. I am not ridiculing the idea nor am I suggesting a return to centralised model, but we need to approach this with caution and ensure accountability and transparency while embracing decentralised governance.

If devolution and decentralisation are to work, then there has to be individuals interested in taking up the responsibilities associated with this. For this to happen, these individuals should also be able to devote time and effort for this purpose and this is the responsibility of our panchayat representatives. But then is representation fully fair? In spite of SC/ST and women's reservation, it has been found that these representatives are on many occasions controlled by upper castes and women controlled by their husbands. This defeats the purpose of reservation and the voices of those who require public services the most might not be even part of the decision making process.

In this system, gram sabha is the arena where the panchayat members are held accountable. But if not everyone is aware of how the work is being implemented and cannot devote time to see if the schools are functioning or roads are built properly and cannot attend gram sabha meetings, since they are busy fending for themselves and ensuring their daily survival, how is accountability ensured?

Another assumption is about the skills of the elected representatives who are responsible for planning and implementation of several programmes. There are attempts to overcome this through several training and capacity building schemes, but in their five year tenure, significant time will go towards this and due to rotation of reserved seats, most of them will not be able to contest the next cycle of elections.

If individuals are not educated enough to know the power of each individual and develop their capabilities to contribute, to monitor and hold their representatives accountable through direct meetings and if their social position is a barrier to being granted access and contribute to decision-making, how can devolution and decentralisation ensure good governance? On top of this, there is also the issue of interest and motivation for each of us to take the time and effort to make the system work.

Education, access to levels of decision making, accountability, transparency and public scrutiny is essential to make decentralisation and devolution of powers work towards development and better delivery of public services. This does not mean that we have to wait till the entire population is literate, but it has to be a virtuous circle of greater public scrutiny ensuring better facilities for the people which in turn increases public interest in and accountability of the system.

From Entitlement to Responsibility

Continuing from my previous post on reforms, there are few issues that are not widely known and accepted by many who have benefited from the reforms and this is perhaps why some of their views might sound contemptuous and even cruel. This is only a legitimate criticism and is an attempt to describe how the reforms have been disappointing and left out most of the nation as it has been hijacked by a few.

Until 1991, due to constraints imposed on industries, they had to resort to bribing to speed up things and build contacts with bureaucrats and politicians. Their intentions initially might have been to meet a genuine legitimate concern, but gradually they learned to play the game and used these contacts to benefit themselves in illegal ways. This cozy relationship continues post 91 and so we have an industry-government nexus where resources are handed over cheaply and policy is sometimes tailor made to suit private parties and government contracts are given for favours received during elections. The biggest gain in post 91 has been made by real estate developers who also entered the telecom fray and got embroiled in the 2G Spectrum scam (Unitech, DB Realty being the prominent ones). Even now, this sector has no laws or regulations which leave the customer neck-deep in trouble, labourers are underpaid and land is either acquired by government for them or handed over at no cost at all.

This has two implications- first is that government revenue has not gone up as much as it should have, which means a high fiscal deficit and which is in turn used as an excuse to cut down on essential social sector investments. Secondly, there is no transfer benefit to the consumer (home-owner) or the labourer and so only a small elite section has benefited from these reforms.

There is a usual argument to justify the benefits being cornered by a few or some growing rich- it is because we deserved to and worked hard. They worked hard to cultivate contacts at the right places and thus amassed wealth which I cannot say is deserving since it is an illegitimate act. The government is meant for the benefit of all, we all gave them a responsibility to govern in the interest of the nation and entrusted our resources so that it can be used for all our good- not for the good of only a few. This is dereliction of duty and thievery and these are not the ways in which to deserve the wealth.

Another common feeling is a sense of entitlement and the belief that poor are poor because they are lazy and not interested in studying and working. The upwardly mobile middle-class believes that it is my hardwork that gave me an education and a job and those who do not have it are not worthy. Firstly, in an era when education is bought (crores in capitation fee to sell seats in medical colleges- I wonder what the priority of these doctors will be, will they see a patient or an ATM) it is not the student who deserves the education but its all about their parent's 'priceless' 'visa' power. Secondly, not everyone who did not go to a top school/college is unworthy. This is not only because there are many who miss out by a whisker or bad luck, and there are many who get through due to good luck or by the skin of their teeth, but also because opportunities are extremely limited in this country and many are denied these opportunities right from birth. When we consider the lives of those living in conflict zones- we do not have to go far to see those places, North-East India, Kashmir and now Central India- we must realise that for them, survival itself is a question mark.

The poor are poor not because they did not work hard, but they have been held down by thousands of forces beyond their control. It could be a drought which bankrupted a farmer, it could be an old debt that forced the farmer and his family into bonded labour at a brick kiln and even sign away the life of his children to repay the debt. In a nation where children are born into bondage, where they have no scope of escape even though child labour and bonded labour have been abolished under our fundamental rights, is it right to say that we are entitled to it because we were lucky to be born into comforts, access to education, healthcare and hope for a pleasant life? This sense of entitlement should be replaced by a sense of humility and responsibility towards our nation to make sure there are opportunities for all to create a better life for themselves and their children.

I am here not because I deserved to be here, I can write and express these things not because of my skills or interests alone, but because I was fortunate to be born where I was. I have a duty to use this opportunity not just to advance my own life, but to use it for those who cannot speak up and fight for their basic rights.If it wasn't for the opening up of the economy, we would still be in hopeless poverty and backwardness of ideas and beliefs but many of our brethren have still not been able to catch a glimpse of the ray of hope. We all have a duty to make sure development and opportunities generated are not for the benefit a few through exploitation and exclusion of many but there is justice and opportunities for all.

Post Reform Narratives in India

Post 91 India has two narratives- one is that of high economic growth, increased risk-taking by entrepreneurs, Indians- individuals and companies- going global and a confidence in ourselves thanks to the opening up of our boundaries, connectivity accelerated by internet and economic freedom. More and more Indians are growing rich, travelling by air, buying cars and rising into the upper and lower middle class. A good thing for the economy because with each job generated in the organised sector, dozens are benefitted in the unorganised sector ranging from construction workers to restaurants to auto-rickshaws. There definitely is a case for being glad about a high economic growth rate.

There has been significant increases in literacy rate, life expectancy and certain sectors in India are the envy of the world- IT and Pharma being the major ones. But along with the optimism, there has been stinging criticism of the economic growth citing reasons of inequality, still persisting poverty, lack of access to basic facilities like health , education and infrastructure to vast majority of the population and this is the second narrative of the post 91 era. In many of these criticisms, I find there is a lack of alternatives. I agree inequality has increased- it is because the incomes of those in the upper economic classes have increased while those in the lower sections have not increased at the same rate and inflation is eating into their ability to survive. But blaming or presenting an anti-reform front, only shows a lack of practical appraisal of the situation.

The current growth owes a lot to unregulated capitalism- throwing away resources like land, spectrum and fuel to those close to the decision makers, under-employment and even exploitation by paying little or no wages (a) and this has added weight to the argument that 91 reforms are evil and does us no good. Consider the alternative, what if we stayed the same way and continued with state owned enterprises that produce little or nothing for huge losses, there we no expansion of industries and we have a population of 1.2billion?

Completely ridiculing the benefits of the reforms is a mistake because without it, we wouldn't have generated employment and education and the gains, albeit incomplete, made in the social sector. Rather than blast the reforms, wouldn't it be better to must make sure the reforms and their benefit reach everyone? Rather than ridicule or view with contempt the malls or multiplexes or swanky cars, we should make sure this economic growth is sustainable- environment friendly, fair allocation of resources, compensation for those deprived of lands and protecting the rights of those who have been disadvantaged.

Right now these fair needs are paid only lip service or the criticism is stifled through token measures- attempts to pass a land acquisition bill that will be watered down through rules and pathetic implementation, Forest Rights Act that is poorly implemented, promises of reservation in government jobs (its funny though, over a century ago Gopal Krishna Gokhale asked Muslims and Hindus to unite and not be satisfied by the breadcrumbs offered by the British through communal electorates-their version of reservation in Legislative Councils- without any majority and law making powers) along with media campaigns that highlight these "achievements".

The focus should not be on vitriol against reforms, but on how incomplete it is and where we should do better. Education, health and infrastructure are three main areas where we have to do a lot more. If the population is not educated and healthy, if we do not build quality roads and supply electricity and water, we will not able to achieve sustainable and fair growth. Education provides better jobs, ensures accountability of the government and creates an alert citizenry who will not be swayed by emotional appeals to divisive politics and build our capacities for making use of the benefits of decentralised governance. We need better health so that we can live not just longer but also better, we need electricity not just to watch TV and rant away on the internet but so that our micro, small and medium scale enterprises are not hamstrung having to spend large part of their money on generators or have to shut down entirely. We need roads not just to speed away in a fancy car but for farmers to move their produce to the market before they are damaged. We need technology not just to send satellites but in retail supply chain and for farmers to preserve their produce, we need IT not just to provide services for the rest of the world but to ensure transparency, accountability and better delivery of public services through e-governance.

Rather than a polarised argument where one side calls for a rollback on reforms on ideological grounds or rhetoric like 'imperialism', 'western-imposed reform' while the other side asks for more reforms, doing away with all regulations (including environment protection) and talks about 'animal-spirits of the economy', 'investor sentiment' etc, we need an agenda where inclusive, sustainable development are not just economic terms, but are translated into real action.The two narratives must merge so we can implement the laws and rights properly, invest in areas of health, education and infrastructure so that the benefits of reform reach those who have been neglected by it, they are sustainable and devoid of nepotism and corruption that currently plagues our country.

PRISMgate

Ed Snowden said that he does not want the focus to be shifted on to him, but to what he perceives as wrongdoings of the US government. But newspapers and government response has been disproportionately focussed on the rights available to Snowden, possible future scenarios regarding his extradition and nations willing to give him asylum. What it has not dwelt upon is how much we already knew about what was happening.

We have known for sometime that Google uses personalised ads that come after the servers scan through our conversations. The same is true for google searches with personalised search results based on previous searches and web history that google saves by default. Social networking sites work by selling customers and delivering tailor made ads for its users which required mining customer data, the only safety being that it is machines that do the job without human involvement. It was only a matter of time before this data was used for espionage or monitoring in the name of national security. Posting publicly about our location, likes, dislikes and political views is one thing, but scanning through personal communication and details is another, but both equally violate our privacy- in the first case we do it ourselves to gain attention while in the latter, it is done without our knowledge.

Anyone who has seen a decent spy movie or been enthralled by Tom Clancy, Forsyth, Ludlum or Le Carre and the classic 1984 would know that electronic surveillance by government is omniscient. Our telephone communications and financial transactions can be tracked quite easily and has been done without much civilian oversight. The current exposure is different for various reasons as the threat to privacy, data safety and even economies is larger.

1) Previously, social networks and e-mail service providers had not granted access to data on such a large scale to governments. It was targetted details about individuals and accounts and requests to take down certain videos and content. Here, these organisations are being provided unfettered access to data on anyone without any questions asked.

2) The e-mail service providers mentioned in the expose also provide corporate mailing service for almost all the organisations in the world. It would not be entirely inconceivable for the government to engage in corporate espionage to benefit corporations in the US or to target the economy of a foreign nation by destroying its corporates.

3) The US government's main excuse is that it does not spy on individuals in the US. Firstly, it is a small step up from the current scenario to snooping on US citizens. As of now, even conversations suspected to be one involving a foreigner is scanned, so suspecting more conversations would do the trick. The system is already in place, it is simply a matter of choice by the government to leave out citizens from this net and this may be thrown away anytime.

Secondly, this fact may satisfy US citizens, but the rest of the world should be rightly angry and fuming at the domination of the internet by one nation and application of US laws to an entity that has no boundaries. Considering all foreign citizens as enemies is only indicative of the insecurity and paranoia that exists in a declining superpower which is also manifested in the racist and bigotted ideas exposed through patting down of Asians in the airport and social network discourse in the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombing. Also, India has reasons to be offended for being spied on more than China and it must raise this issue with the US on why a nation considered friendly is being spied upon with such high frequency.

4) Lack of civilian oversight- a special secret court actually provides permission to engage in espionage and it provides this permission almost as a rule. This means that who and why they are targetted is never asked.

A pandora's box has been opened and all attempts are being made to defend such unaccountability and state-intrusion into our lives  in the name of protecting freedom and keeping away terrorists. We are slowly signing away our freedoms to corporates and governments who rule us through illusions of choice, freedom and social acceptance. Perhaps we were better off not knowing about it, Mr.Snowden has only made our fears real.

Save our Government!

This is a tribute to the only organ of the state that is working well in this country, UPA-2. The others, including sports- BCCI is caught up in a spot of bother while the Indian Olympic Association has no recognition- are messing it up or are busy blocking the government from fulfilling its duties. Whether they are constitutional or statutory bodies, they are all evil. It is time to save our government from all these evils- either abolish them or modify their functioning in the ways that follow-

Let us start with the CAG- it has dictated policy, exceeded its constitutional mandate, cooked up humungous figures beyond our comprehension and devalued the currency as lakhs of crores have entered normal conversation. If the government is to function, CAG and the Indian Audits and Accounts Department should just stick to verifying and tallying the accounts and be happy with it. If they do not match, there must be something wrong with its calculator.

Supreme Court and Judiciary- it has no role in making laws, but in the absence of legislation to protect women from harassment in the workplace, it framed its own guidelines as an interim measure. This is obviously trespassing and should be prosecuted. If that was not enough, cancelling (supposedly) unfair telecom licenses, criticising the government for having huge buffer stocks when there are hunger deaths, granting people in tribal areas the right to determine whether their land should be taken over for mining etc is just intolerable. This has lead to policy paralysis, low economic growth and animal spirits of the industry has been restrained. It should simply come to verdicts on issues that do not affect the government and not paralyse it.

Election Commission- by going in to the actual election expenditure, election commission is taking over the functions of an accountant. It should just be satisfied with whether the expenditure receipts have been filed, whether it is right or wrong is not something the EC should bother about. It should also stop worrying about what appears in the media during elections, how dare it trample on our right to paid I mean free press!

Information Commission- this is the latest entity to start bothering the polity of our nation. Why should there be any information about political parties in a democracy? Aren't they revealing all their agenda and intentions through manifestos that are implemented promptly? It should simply concentrate on dissemination of information about how well our government is implementing 'Bharat Nirman' and not give out information that will go against the dictum 'ignorance is bliss'.

CBI- well, they are actually doing their job, but not well enough perhaps. Why should it obey the Supreme Court when it is actually under the Prime Minister's office? Obey your boss, not a constitutional authority that is obstructing government functioning!

Why can't these bodies get their act right? They should aid the government, not paralyse its functioning. Sad time to live in, some simply abuse their power or have no idea how to use it.

Sreeshanth is Innocent

Although the media circus, social and mainstream media in Kerala especially, are making a mockery of the innocent until proven guilty norm and are filled with daily reports of the spot-fixing scam and the three guilty men, I have reasons to believe that they are all innocent. This is why-

1) Rahul Dravid, the captain of the Rajasthan Royals team and its owners Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra have not been accused of any wrongdoing

2) There was arms-length between Sreeshanth and the ball, quite literally. Otherwise he would have been pulled up by the ICC for suspect action

3) There was zero-loss. Rajasthan Royals won the matches involved in spot-fixing and even qualified to the eliminator. Hence no loss. A case could be made for immense gain to the economy as the spot fixing money would increase liquidity, consumption and lead to economic growth.

4) Where is the spot-fixing Mr.Delhi Police?- There was no spot-fixing in the eliminator, but RR lost to Mumbai in the match. What this means is that spot-fixing was good for the team.

5) Delhi Police exceeded its constitutional mandate- the job of Delhi police is to use water cannons against innocent protestors who demand that state provide legitimate protection for women. Although it has to maintain security inside the stadium, it has no business in a cricket field.

6) Delhi Police cannot dictate bowling tactics- Delhi police has no expertise in bowling, at best it has some skill in batting through the regular use of lathi against protestors. How can it dictate policy, I mean bowling tactics?

The best way to investigate this is by appointing a Joint BCCI Committee consisting of Srinivasan, Shilpa Shetty, Lalit Modi, Subrato Roy, Sreeshanth's brother, Chandila and Mohammad Azharuddin as government representative. During the hearings, the three players, Delhi Police, Srinivasan and bookies will not be summoned. The report will then question why Rajasthan Royals purchased Sreeshanth and the other players at the auctions and why Dravid allotted that specific over to them, due to which Shilpa Shetty will resign in protest.



Statutory Disclaimer- if the post resembles any other scam in India, it is purely co-incidental. The names used have been changed.

PS- a serious disclaimer- Among the names, I mentioned Dravid, but comparing him to the original "arms-length" guy was definitely unfair and I mean no disrespect to him. Apologies.