| The bureaucracy in India is a curse on the country. The
state is no longer regarded as an entity that people look to for help. It is seen by and
large as an obstacle. It exists basically to feed itself. It is not only the huge
infrastructure which supports thousands of civil servants but the mindset which has become
deeply ingrained into our collective consciousness -- the babu mentality. Everything warrants a procedure and tonnes of paperwork. Everything, be it
a permit or a licence, ensures delay. We grudgingly accept it and factor in the costs of
these delays. But such accounting cannot work when human lives are at stake. The reaction
to the Orissa supercyclone is proof of that.
As our cover story, written by
Special Correspondent Ruben Banerjee, reveals, the bodies are piling up in Orissa but the
state continues to fail. The district collector, for instance, is the focal point of any
administration. During a disaster, when relief arrives, he is supposed to coordinate its
disbursal. Instead, the cyclone warning appeared to be a call to collectors to abandon
their posts. In Orissa, three of them just vanished while a few others seemed unable to
control the situation.
So food flew in but could not be distributed, with trucks
lined up outside the chief minister's residence awaiting orders. Money was sent but,
predictably, it was first used to pay off government salaries. Instead of solutions, we
were witness to unnecessary arguments. As people starved and drank water from
carcass-littered ponds, the Orissa Government quibbled over whether the funds were a
"grant" or "aid". Unwarranted politicking surfaced as well, as members
of the BJP-led Government mocked the Congress-ruled state Government's efforts in Orissa,
as if those affected were not Indians.
It is almost eerie that when a cyclone hit Andhra Pradesh
in 1977, the reaction was similar. As we wrote then (India Today, December 16-31, 1977),
"A natural calamity is being heightened by a man-made one." History repeats
itself: a bloated bureaucracy has again remained unequal to its task.
(Aroon Purie) |
