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VIEWPOINT
Sham
on You
It is
the right time to sack the slothful babus who derail relief at times of
calamities
By
Tavleen Singh
Why
does it surprise us when disaster strikes and the Government, yet again,
fails to respond in a way that can even be described as half-way adequate,
leave alone humane? Why have we not yet learnt to accept a government
machinery that cannot meet the basic needs of its citizens in ordinary
circumstances will collapse totally when confronted with disasters? Perhaps,
because in a desperate, hopeless sort of way we have continued to dream
that we will one day get a prime minister who realises that the most important
task before him is to drastically change the method of governance. Mr
Vajpayee is clearly not that man or he would have done much, much more
to understand why-as he himself points out-implementation is the real
problem.
 So
in Gujarat, despite a massive amount of aid flowing in, availability of
foreign help, modern technology, there were the usual, typically Indian
delays. Foreign rescue teams were delayed at Ahmedabad airport because
officials felt their ludicrous procedures were more important than the
lives of people. Relief materials-desperately needed by the victims-could
not be distributed fast enough because greedy officialdom met its own
needs first. This in the face of the worst natural calamity to hit us
in years.
What's new?
Nothing. It happened with the cyclone in Orissa, with last year's terrible
drought and with every other emergency the Vajpayee regime has been confronted
with. All the prime minister has been able to do is make the usual VIP
visit and shed the usual crocodile tears.
If there
has been an impressively quick return to a semblance of normality in Gujarat,
it is because ordinary people and civil society organisations have relied
on their own efforts, rather than the government. Heartening though this
is, it does not absolve the Government. It is time Vajpayee realised that
one of the main reasons people voted for him was because they hoped they
were voting in a government that would understand governance differently.
What they hoped for was change. Change that can only come through serious
administrative reforms.
Is it any
surprise that the average Indian is not at all clear about the meaning
of economic liberalisation? How can he be when the simplest dealings with
the government remain so needlessly complicated that something that should
take a few minutes takes weeks, even months if you run into a bunch of
particularly obdurate bunch of officials.
Government
offices now have computers but our officials prefer to use medieval methods.
So, they sit you down in their offices filled with dusty files and open
yet another to write your name, your father's name and every other possible
detail before you can begin to talk about what you need.
In a recent
interface with officialdom, I tried pointing out to the official, laboriously
writing in his dusty register, that if he used the computer that sat like
some technological totem on his desk, it would be easier for everyone.
The official agreed but said that he was a stenographer and that there
were no jobs left for people with his qualifications because computers
were doing the job quicker. In words reminiscent of Laloo Yadav he said,
''Computers are all right in rich, developed countries. In India people
need jobs''.
There was
no point arguing with him since he was only reflecting the unchanged mindset
you see everywhere in Indian officialdom. It is a mindset whose main features
are procrastination, mediocrity, inefficiency and arrogance. When you
have the misfortune to encounter our senior babus this arrogance reaches
unimaginable proportions: you encounter the Middle Kingdom.
So, what
do we need to change this abysmal state of affairs? Quite simply: political
will. We need a prime minister who has the courage to admit that he runs
a government that does not work, has not worked for years, and that it
does not work mainly because it is run by far too many inefficient, useless
people. He needs to make a beginning by at least making it possible to
sack officials for inefficiency and incompetence.
Gujarat
would be a good place to start since the state government is also run
by the BJP. All the officials who allowed buildings to violate construction
byelaws and all those who, when the earthquake hit, were seen to be in
dereliction of their duty should be sacked instantly. No inquiry commissions,
no explanations. Otherwise, as with the cyclone in Orissa, we will simply
forget in a few weeks and carry on as usual. Do we, for instance, know
if the collectors who abandoned their districts when the cyclone came
were punished? Do we know what happened to the chief secretary who went
on a foreign trip when entire districts of Orissa were devastated? Only
when we insist on accountability can we start talking about better systems
of disaster management.
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