In business, one of the long-established
rules-of-thumb to retain your performing employees is to ensure that
non-performers are recognized and dealt with as such.
When a non-performer is carried in
an organization - worse, when he or she
is pampered or promoted – the extent of demotivation for the performing
employee is often no less than if he or she had been delivered a resounding
slap. It makes a mockery of the performance standards of the organization.
It is, or at least should be, no
different for citizens of a country. The ability of different citizens to
deliver depends no doubt on each one’s capability. But at the very least, a
citizen is expected to abide by the laws of the land and not to break them.
In India, very sadly, this is
where the law-abiding citizen gets a resounding slap. The person who pays taxes
is made to feel stupid by the one who dodges them. The person who commits a
crime gets away comfortably while the victim is left to deal not only with the
scars from the crime but also with the knowledge that the criminal is very much
at large, probably laughing at the victim and the “system”.
THIS to me is THE biggest
governance deficit in India.
When the citizens of the country
cannot depend on their law-enforcers, whether it be the police or the justice
system, for something as basic as protection of their rights – whether to life
or to property or to their dignity – what can they depend on then?
When the laws of the land exist
only on paper, are they worth anything more than toilet paper?
When it is the law of the jungle
that is in practice, albeit packaged in an impressive structure of a “legal
framework” and a “judiciary” in a “democracy”, is is not the biggest fraud on
the citizens of the country?
In my humble opinion, the answers
to the above questions are “nothing”, “no” and “yes”, in that order.
Everyday we hear about crimes
committed in the country. The papers are full of them, the TV is constantly
blaring another “Breaking News” item about them.
What actually happens then? Is
there any follow-up? Is anybody taken into custody at all? Are the perpetrators
made to pay for their crime? If so, to what extent?
Talking about extent, brings me to
another point. Now I’m not a lawyer but I think one of the common points often
raised in a case is that the punishment should fit the crime. This is
especially used by the defence counsel to try to get the accused off as lightly
as possible, even if he or she has been found guilty. Sort of damage mitigation,
if you will.
In India, this works wonders for
the defence because it is in Indian nature – and this has been translated into law
– that except for the most heinous of crimes, a lot of punishment is actually much
like a rap on the knuckles.
Even this rap on the knuckles is of course based on a big
assumption that the criminal, now the accused, is actually found guilty.
And this is based on a bigger
assumption that legal proceedings will happen at all, instead of the case
papers gathering dust in some chamber.
And this is based on an even
bigger assumption that the criminal will be brought into the justice system at all. Most of
these law-breakers just have a laugh as they are comfortable in the knowledge
that their power and influence will ensure nobody dares touch them.
So THIS is the country the
law-abiding citizen has to live in. Day in and day out he has to live in the
hope that his path does not cross that of one of these criminals. Because he
knows he cannot depend on the system to help him. He knows the David-Goliath story is only biblical, it does not happen in real life. At least not in India.
Over the last two decades, India
has made giant strides in its economic development. Today it occupies a seat
next to the biggest powers in the world at the G20 and other such global meets.
More and more Indian corporates are now global players. Some of the richest men
on earth now are from India.
Yes, that is one side of the India
success story. And it cannot be denied that this success has put more money
into the hands of Indians of all strata of society.
But has this translated into more
safety for the ordinary citizen? I am not sure. If anything, the “aspirational”
Indian seems to very easily slip into becoming an “ugly” Indian, for whom the
ends need to be achieved any which way. When we are talking hundreds of
millions of “aspirational” Indians, there is easily a critical mass for concern
here.
The administration is sadly not
geared to cope with this. Like in other areas of infrastructure deficit, the
police force is inadequate – in every sense. From its numbers, to technology
solutions, to training, to even intent. As has been discussed above, the confidence
that the common man can have on the legal and judicial infrastructure to
provide him justice when taking on criminals is a four-letter word, starting
with “z” and ending with “o”.
Safety of the citizen is a basic,
fundamental right in any country. Maybe we should take the safety of our people just a little
bit more seriously and remind the government of the day, every single day,
about its deficit in this area. After all we do talk about “fiscal deficit” very
often, we talk about “economic growth” every single day. Then why not “safety” –
especially when rapes are happening every single day, not to mention murders?
Don’t get me wrong. Economic
growth is important too – this is not a zero-sum game. We need economic growth
AND we need safety of our citizens AND we need solutions to other
infrastructure deficits.
It is just that we seem to talk so
much about economic growth, about the state of our roads, about our education
system – all this suggesting an underlying premise that we lead a day-to-day
safe life, doing whatever we do on a daily basis.
Well, maybe some of us do. But
many of us – and this is a number that probably goes into hundreds of millions
- don’t.
This is for, and on behalf of,
those who don’t. PLEASE do something for them. PLEASE sensitise and modernise the police force, PLEASE make sure criminals are not allowed to walk the same streets as the law-abiding citizen, going about his daily life.
Surely this isn't too much to ask for? It says a lot about the situation we are in, that we are now being made to implore our administration for what should be our basic, fundamental right.
Also, increasingly the only thing that seems to make people act nowadays is media attention to an issue - so my request is also very much to the media to be an active pressure group to improve law and order in the country. Yes, there are soap operas playing out everyday in the political landscape of the country but I would expect the media, as the fourth estate, to rise above these political saas-bahu equivalents and use their power and influence to bring about social change too.
So please let's re-jig our priorities a bit. Yes, it's great to talk about the growth in GDP. But the people of this country need to first live in safety before they can enjoy education, roads and all those other beautiful things that economic growth brings with it.
Surely this isn't too much to ask for? It says a lot about the situation we are in, that we are now being made to implore our administration for what should be our basic, fundamental right.
Also, increasingly the only thing that seems to make people act nowadays is media attention to an issue - so my request is also very much to the media to be an active pressure group to improve law and order in the country. Yes, there are soap operas playing out everyday in the political landscape of the country but I would expect the media, as the fourth estate, to rise above these political saas-bahu equivalents and use their power and influence to bring about social change too.
So please let's re-jig our priorities a bit. Yes, it's great to talk about the growth in GDP. But the people of this country need to first live in safety before they can enjoy education, roads and all those other beautiful things that economic growth brings with it.
