Dictator Democracy

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Dictator-democracy/articleshow/5120815.cms
An article Re-print of Jug Suraiya's Dictator Democracy on the ToI. While the treatment of the subject is sarcastic and humorous, it asks a very sensitive question: Whether government decrees and force feed democrcay like the one in Maharashtra is in true spirit of democracy.

Can democracy be a democracy and a dictatorship, both at the same time? Yes, it can, if it's Indian democracy. The Maharashtra government decreed that when the state went to assembly polls, Mumbai would forcibly be shut down shops, restaurants, schools, offices, factories, all closed so that people, with nothing else to be distracted by or to do, would be forced to vote.

The reason for this drastic measure to force-feed democracy or at least elections to Mumbaikars is that the otherwise 'can do' city is notoriously 'can't do' or 'won't do' when it comes to voting. This was evident in the last Lok Sabha polls in which the voter turnout was just over 40 per cent. The fact that the polls coincided with a long weekend which lured many Mumbaikars to out-of-town holidays was deemed to be largely responsible for the poor showing. However, sarkari concern was voiced over the seeming political apathy of a city which had just suffered a murderous terrorist attack and should have been all gung-ho about manning the barricades of democracy as represented by the ballot box, instead of swanning off on holiday.

To preclude the possibility of the assembly elections also proving a non-event in terms of turnout, the authorities reportedly issued orders that anyone failing to comply with the shutdown diktat was liable to face arrest under Section 135-B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. To ensure compliance with this closed-door policy, special squads patrolled the city to make sure that no one was subverting democracy by trying to sneak into a school, or an office, or a factory, or a shop, or a restaurant. Go to vote. Or you might find yourself in jail: that was the message, willy-nilly, that officialdom sent out not just to Mumbaikars but to all of us who are citizens of this democracy.

Mumbai's case is symptomatic of a fundamental problem of our democracy. Democracy is supposed to be about empowering people, the common citizens, and helping them to get on with their daily lives as best they can (by going to schools, offices, factories, etc). But our sarkar seems convinced that democracy is only about empowering itself, at the expense of the people and their day-to-day needs.

India's political class and the successive governments that it forms, and which often comprise the strangest of bedfellows sees democracy only in terms of elections. It doesn't really matter which party comes into power, for in the end as a number of blatantly opportunistic alliances and coalitions have shown they are all fundamentally the same: cynical exploiters of the people.

Or at least that's the message that all our political parties have over the years been communicating, consciously or otherwise, to an increasingly sceptical electorate. The way our political parties, all our political parties of all shades and stripes, appear to see it is that the function of our democracy is only to hold periodic elections in which voters will, forcibly if necessary, vote one or other, or several, of these parties into power. Having fulfilled that basic duty (of having voted a politician into power) the voter can go jump. The voter's and the politician's democratic responsibility is over. Elections are the end all and be all of our democracy. And never mind what happens in between, never mind the persistent hardships and despair that citizens continue to face in their daily lives.

This is the real meaning of the Mumbai bandh on polling day: in our democracy the voter has no right of education, employment, earning a livelihood, whatever other than the right to vote. Indeed, as the Mumbai authorities would have it, the voter's right to vote is not just a right but an enforceable obligation. In other words, you've got to vote, whether you like it or not, whether you feel it's going to better your daily life in any way or not.

Jai ho to the democratic dictatorship of India that is Bharat.

Tongue in Cheek: Mayawati's Maya

State of affairs in the Uttar Pradesh .. following the statue scam.

Liberhan commission report and its impact on the BJP

It took the Liberhan commission 17 years, 100 witnesses, 399 sittings, 48 extensions and 9 crores to floor its report on the Babri Masjid demolition. It could not have come at a more worse time for BJP. Already under seizure and disarray for its electoral debacle, and under acute identity crisis seeking to re-define its fundamentals from a right wing hardcore Hindutva base to a more relevant pedestal, the findings could push them a little closer to tatters. As a part of its strategy, Congress would use this as its knock out punch for the down and beaten BJP. The list of accused include L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Sadhvi Rithambra, Ashok Singhal and more. Is this then the death of BJP?

I would view this knock out as a opportunity for BJP to clean up its tainted past, cut its umbilical cords with Hindutva and the Sangh, refresh its leadership completely, review its own partners and part ways with dubious ones and resurrect itself from its core. BJP has some good results to show in terms of its efforts for business and economic development (remember Vajpayee’s Golden Quadrilateal or Modi’s Gujarat) and it has to build these platforms to showcase its stand for progress, development and prosperity. This probably is the nadir in BJP’s political history. It runs the risk of disintegrating and collapsing totally or it can resurrect itself from the shadows of the past. I hope for the later. Politically, India needs BJP as an right wing moderate alternative against the Congress.

Ref:

http://newspaper-posts.blogspot.com/2009/06/is-it-time-for-bjp-and-left-to-rift.html

http://newspaper-posts.blogspot.com/2009/06/bjp-imploding-part-iii-lack-of.html

http://newspaper-posts.blogspot.com/2009/06/bjp-imploding-part-ii-lack-of-electoral.html

http://newspaper-posts.blogspot.com/2009/06/bjp-imploding-part-i-lack-of-coherent.html

BJP Imploding (Part III): Lack of Leadership and Way Ahead

Post Reference:
Bharat Karnad:professor at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. http://www.livemint.com/2009/05/31212229/BJP-finding-the-right-centre.html
Ramesh Thakur: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/TOP-ARTICLE--Press-The-Reset-Button/articleshow/4600720.cms

Anti-incumbency, a nondescript track record in office and an insufficiently thought through nuclear deal should have drubbed the Congress in this general election. The botch-up by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended up increasing Congress’s margin in Parliament. But a larger truth lurks behind the BJP’s failure, beyond supposed lapses in electoral strategy and a misreading of the public mood. It even surpasses the little noticed irony of the Congress party acquiring a youthful sheen only because the dynast Rahul Gandhi hand-picked young men and women as candidates, something which L.K. Advani—heading a less autocratically run outfit—could not do. Its failures include lack of vision, leadership and strategy.

Lack of leadership
Taking a swipe at Advani, Karnad says, the problems of the BJP are manifested in the persona of Advani. An ineffably sad man who strived mightily to invent and reinvent himself—in his last stretch, as a latter day “ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity”—he was flatly rejected by the people as much for his pretensions as, perhaps, for his lack of conviction. Wanting to be prime minister is no bad ambition to have; but, tethered to a nebulous set of beliefs, it became a liability.

The likely successor to Advani, Narendra Modi, too frittered away the opportunity to influence the public consciousness positively and to position himself as a leader of substance for the 2014 general election. Rather than talk about his success in providing power and water 24x7 to Gujarat—the only state to attain this—or his well-founded reputation for incorruptibility and, as its downstream effect, a clean administration at the grass-roots level, Modi heckled the ruling party as a “budhiya” (crone).

What Could be the way ahead?
Moderating its “Hindu” image (Influenced by the Saffron led RSS Militant Hinduism), replacing its intellectually exhausted and morally compromised leadership and returning to the virtues of party discipline, conviction and values that promote national integration and equality for all; pro-growth economic policies that encourage and reward entrepreneurship yet institute compassionate social safety nets; and a foreign policy that rests on confidence in India's ability to compete with the world all of this will position the BJP to capture a significant chunk of India's growing middle class. It can then capitalise on government shortcomings and the corruption issue, by forging winning coalitions with regional parties whose loyalties between the two national parties will continue to fluctuate.

A better bureaucracy

In a separate post,some time back (http://newspaper-posts.blogspot.com/2009/01/thumbs-up-for-china-thumbs-down-for.html), i had discussed a point of view (widely accepted amongst Indian professionals), that while the growth of China is a result of their governance and bureaucratic efforts, Indian growth is more to do with the effort of individuals, businesses and entrepreneurs. A latest report ranks Indian Bureaucracy as being the worst in Asia. For long the accountability of the bureaucratic class has been a pain in India's governance.Reproducing an article by S. Narayan (former finance secretary and economic adviser to the primeminister) on the same issue.
http://www.livemint.com/2009/06/07212419/A-better-bureaucracy.html

With the reconstitution of the Planning Commission, the government has once again sent out signals that it means business. The new faces in the commission represent a class of people who have achieved considerable success in their own work environments, and who bring a passion to the roles they have been assigned. The President’s address to Parliament has underscored the determination to produce results, and there is evidence that ministries are being activated and some strategies worked out.
The air of expectation that things will happen this time is quite palpable, but one wonders what is different now. Improvements in levels of governance cannot come out of existing systems and deliveries, and yet there is little indication of how things will change. There have been no suggestions of reforms in processes and procedures: The reports of the Administrative Reforms Commission have offered little by way of solutions, and the major impediment to foreign direct investment (FDI) appears to be the excruciating pace at which the bureaucracy works.
Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, a Hong Kong-based organization, in its latest report has ranked India’s bureaucracy the worst in Asia, with a score of 9.45—zero being the best grade and 10 the worst. It is the only country whose ranking has worsened in the last three years. There are several reasons for this.
The first is ambiguity in policy. There are several examples. The foreign institutional investment (FII) policy, for example, allows free flow of funds without transparency of origin, for short-term investment into markets and market-related products, and has a low taxation burden in the form of capital gains tax. FDI has to bear the burden of full corporate taxation, as well as clearances from multiple agencies and continuous scrutiny. Poor mining policies and lack of consensus with states have stultified mineral exploitation, converting it into a resource available only to those with political access. However, most of these problems are in the realm of implementation issues, and can be addressed by ministers who are determined to get matters moving at their ministries.
The second is in the area of implementation strategies and monitoring. In the last five years, there have been several expert committees whose reports (nearly 70 in number) are available with the government, representing suggestions for implementation in areas as wide-ranging as agriculture and skill development: These only need effective implementation at the ministry level, this at the level of secretaries and joint secretaries. There has been almost no attempt to get these recommendations off the ground.
The third is the most difficult. This is in the area in which the public interfaces with the government, in the day-to-day business of life. In the area of sales tax and income tax, in paying bills and getting planning permissions, in running hospitals and schools, the functionaries of the government behave as though they are an Inquisition to extract the most from clients. This cutting edge bureaucracy, the reluctance at the lower levels of government to change, the lack of responsibility and accountability are all states of governance that we have wished upon ourselves.
Part of the problem is probably the scales of pay, but this has been substantially taken care of after the Sixth Pay Commission. More importantly, it has to do with how government servants perceive themselves and how society perceives them. They are part of the elite; and part of the way they display their importance is by being difficult to work with—whether in matters requiring their approval or when dealing with the people they meet. One reason could be the lack of checks and balances—as was demonstrated last week by the inspection of the Sushruta Trauma Centre in Delhi by the health secretary. But this is not all. The real problem arises from the hierarchical nature of decision-taking and the intense fear of taking the wrong decision, resulting in the tendency to pass the buck upwards. From the civil servant’s perspective, it is ideal to hide a decision behind a committee. In India, over the years this has gotten worse—decisions we used to take at the level of joint secretaries now require cabinet approval, that too after a formal recommendation by the committee of secretaries.
The Right to Information (RTI) Act and public interest litigation (PIL) have no doubt contributed to transparency in decisions, but they have also increased the reluctance to take decisions at lower levels. The answer is “no” unless there is no way of avoiding a “yes”—and corruption flourishes in such an atmosphere.
There are no easy solutions here. One way is to distance people from the bureaucracy through technology—payment of bills, tickets for travel, and applications for jobs and admissions can now be done without face-to-face contact. There should be an attempt to enhance these services. However, at the level of approvals for economic activity, improvements can only happen if those at the top are more vigilant—through better supervision and checks and, most importantly, speedy deterrents.
We need to change the way government transacts its business.

Pakistan on edge

The power struggle between Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz sharif threatens to paralyze the government in Islamabad and distract the army from its fight against Taliban militants operating along the Afghan border. (Pakistani army has always fancied distractions that reduce its Focus from US aided war on Taliban. Earlier, the distraction was a belligerent India and now the distractions are the polticial forces within.)

So then, it was Zardari who started it all by dismissing Shahbaz Sharif's Punjab government (Shahbaz being Nawaz's brother) over convictions dating back to an earlier chapter in Pakistan's political history. Coupled with a mess of reinstatement of (Musharraf Sacked) chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhury, which has piqued lawyers and judicial authorities and a no show at being able to keep Taliban at bay, Zaradari's inconsistency and inability has been attacked by Nawaz Sharif. Not only has he violated the state imposed house arrest, he also has a few brownies from the Long march to Islamabad. Ceeding to pressures all around him Asif Zaradari has now thrown the towel in.Iftikhar Chowdhury restoration to the chief justice position has re-instated Nawaz Sharif's stature as a viable alternative to Asif Ali Zardari. This also has de-escalated a political flashpoint that was looming large on Islamabad.

With no control of Army and Intelligence, Asif Ali Zardarai seems to have now lost the high moral grounds of presidency after he had to reinstate Iftikhar Chowdhury. The public sentiment for him is worse than that of Musharraf in his time. The US is clearly according the army chief Gen Ashfaq Kiyani more importance than Zaradri and his PM, Gilani.

For everything after all, it seems that Asif Ali Zardari's step down time is near.

Elections and the Populist Gravy train

Barrack Obama may not find supporters of his "stimulus act" to the American economy. But he has serious serious competition in India. Sample the populist measures unvieled by different state governments for the people of their states:

1. Uttar Pradesh: After Dalit reservation, it is time for Upper caste and Muslim quota by Mayawati. Then there are one time settlements of power bill arrears in villages and a relaxation of stamp duty on property registrations from 10% to 7%. Most of the properties bought will be by mayawati anyways.
No one talks of the death of a hard working PWD engineer who was lynched by Mayawati's henchmen.
2. Tamil Nadu: Free health insurance to poor, Rice at 1kg/kilo, free colour TV sets to all households.
3. Maharashtra: More floor space for religious temples, special grants for education institutions of minorities. Mandatory employement of sons of soil (marathi manus) in industries of the state.
4. Andhra: Rs.1 lkah loan waiver for SC/ST/BC and minorities. 9 communities to BCs list.
5. Madhya Pradesh: Wheat @ Rs.2 Kg/Kilo. Farm loans @3%. Rs. 50000 loan waiver for farmers.
6. Rajasthan: 6% DA to state employees, an annual outlay of Rs.17322 crores for development.
7. West Bengal: Rice at Rs.2 Kg/Kilo, 20% pay hike for teachers, Rs.5106 crore fiscal stimulus package.
8. Bihar: Rs.16300 crore for development of 36,500 kms roads, Rs.236 crore steel plant at Bettiah, Schemes worth Rs. 10000 crores in 20 districts
9. Karnataka: Rs.130 crores for Mutts and temples.

In an earlier post, i had mentioned the cost of elections to exchequer and party spends to be around Rs.6000 crores. The figures announced in populist policies is an estimable one. All this a cost to the exchequer and to the taxes that the citizens pay for 543 corrupt / illiterate / inefficient/ unrelentingly shameless representative of the state. ALl this is a bribe to the electorate for which the electorate foots the bill. What recession, Mr. Obama?

General Elections: The great Indian tamasha

The leaders of our democracy continually disgrace the office and the trust that they carry by the citizens of the country. Criminalization of Politics is rampant and with the majority seats being the major electoral agendas, parties both national and regional choose candidates who are from dubious backgrounds to lead constituencies, state and the country. With the new citizen activism taking wings, 2009 looks to be beginning of an anti criminalization movement in the country. One must give kudos to the social and political thinkers, awareness generation groups and the press for supporting this new movement. A new ad campaign doing rounds of the satellite networks is the "i will vote against.." which exhorts citizens to vote against all that is ill in this country for the future generations.

Impervious to this mood however (strangely) are political parties, who seem to be eternally haggling about seat sharing and opportunistic alliances. BJP led NDA has run into problems with JD(U) and Shiv Sena. Apart from that a long time partner BJD (Naveen Pattnaik led Orissa party) has already ditched BJP to join the third front. Congress and UPA have its own list of woes with SP (AN uneasy alliance that has broken down), NCP, TMC and RJD all on seat sharing basis. The gainer of all this is the third front or the left with its ragmatag loose coalition of marginal and state majors. So far, a national agenda is yet to be firmly highlighted by Congress and BJP who seem to be more busy in terms of getting its partners right.

In an earlier post i had already mentioned about how the initial Lok Sabha candidates list by BJP, INC and SP are tainted with individuals from dubios and criminal cases riding behind them. http://newspaper-posts.blogspot.com/2009/03/criminalization-of-politics-revisiting.html. Of the 543 representatives of the country in May 2004, 125 had charges against them, many with serious offences.Of the 125, 96 had serious charges with potential sentences of two years or more. A quarter of them had done more than 3 terms in the Lok Sabha.

It is worth a note how BJP and Congress dominate the party list, fielding close to 50% of the total tainted list. The first party lists for the general election this year have started to flow out and out of the 18 out of 71 candidates on whom the background checks were have emerged tainted. The percentages of candidates with Criminal past is definitely not abating. If anything the trend is getting more and more established.

Criminalization of Politics: Revisiting the same paradigm in 2009 Elections

With election commission declaring a 5 stage electoral process for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the political tempo has set a pace with seat sharing bargains between the principal parties (Congress/BJP) with other regional parties. ToI's first round poll results have indicated no definiote majority and in effect, it would be these political parties which would prove to be the kind makers in the face of a hung parliament.

What is disturbing to the citizens of the state is the number of candidates with criminal pasts being fielded by political parties all over. These are same political parties which roil and shout and critic each others criminals antecedents. In two different reports by ADR (Association of Democratic Reforms), a Ahmedabad NGO has exposed the criminal background of lok sabha candidates fielded by Congress, BJP and SP. This is only basis the 50000 criminal records since 2003 (and not earlier!)

Basis the limited database that the NGO was working around, it can be clearly seen that INC has fielded 4 candidates in UP with criminal background, while BJP has fielded 8 in the LOk Sabha Fray who have criminal backgrounds. BSP has fielded 6 criminals in the Lok Sabha candidates. Many of these candidates have serious charges against them.

WIth lack of a political will, does clean politics stand a chance in this nation: the largest democracy in the world.

Peddling Politics of Hatred and Mistrust!

I had covered the topic of Godhra riots in Gujarat, in two of my earlier blogs about Asma Jahangir's report to UN about status of the "minority religions" in India.
http://newspaper-posts.blogspot.com/2009/02/india-ticking-minority-time-bomb-part.html
http://newspaper-posts.blogspot.com/2009/02/india-ticking-minority-time-bomb-part-i.html

Seven years later, the issue still remains unresolved and sore thorns of hatred are littered around the country.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Gujarat-riots-toll-to-go-up-from-952-to-1180/articleshow/4133625.cms
Denial is a word that we have to associate with Pakistan and its refusal to owe responsibility for the terror that emanated from its soil and created havoc in the streets of Mumbai. However, there is this case of BJP government led by Narendra Modi in denial of its own heinous and barbaric act in the state of Gujarat. BJP, a hindu idealogy centred political party, could not control the militant and extremist arm of the Hindutva centered idealogy as it went on a murderous rampage in Gujarat in 2002. The death toll stands at 952 and will now rise to 1180 as the 228 "missing" will be declared dead! No effort was made to trace the 228 "missing", not because the banks had to pay compensation, but because this would repeal full scale investigation into the murders. Only when and if, the state goverment is hand in glove with the crimes such as these, can 228 people "missing" or "killed" enquiries be stalled. The issue which has incited so much attention to Indians and the secularistic fabric of our society, and has been portrayed on screen "Parzania", is swept under the carpet hastily, as BJP and its allies glorify Narendra Modi's tall list of achievements as a poll plank!

The government at centre cannot influence the one at state, because the constitution doesnot permit such interferences and more because they are from different parties and cannot stand together even on constructive issues, forget sore points such as these. The industry roots for polititicians such as Modi, because of the economic/business/political favours. In situations such as these, it is for educated citizenry and media who can form a stand against such issues and such loathsome idealogies and leaders!

The start can happen through casting our votes....

Contesting the Lok Sabha elections with maturity and responsibility

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1816831
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1816830

The only other place, where you would find a semblance of the "political one up man ship" act is probably the nursery for kids! Mud slinging is the USP of such debates! I was not surprised when L K Advani and Sonia Gandhi, the top most leaders in the respective fronts NDA and UPA have taken the first steps towards the political "debate". One would expect that being the top most leaders, these two individuals would step aside from this wild "free for all, no holds barred mud wrestling" matches to talk about development, economy, goals, direction and governance. Alas, the first salvo fired between these two fronts is basis what we call the dirty poll politics. If this be the start, it would only get worse from here both in thought and morals.

L K Advani has gone on an overdrive about three things: Hindutva issue and hence the Ram Mandir, the internal security issues threatening the country and the anti-Congress anti-dynastic rule. Significantly missing is any reference to the economy, trade, foreign policy and home issues (infrastructure, education, healthcare). I think it is time to realise that Ram is insufficient to galvanize votes. One has to have an agenda, a thought and a process! While LKA roils about internal security and the failure of UPA, may he be reminded that NDA carries the cross of Babri Demolition and the death of 1169 civilians in Gujarat riots!

Sonia Gandhi speaks against Divisive forces alluding to BJP and its allies for not supporting the ccause of the state in times of distress. For one thing, i would call Antulay's remarks after 26/11 a case of being divisive. Vote bank "Secular" politics have been far more divisive than any political gambit, and the allies of UPA play this card best. UPAs own leadership issues may be divisive to the common cause and agenda.

Net of all
1. Two seniormost leaders of the political bulwarks should be more fore-sightful in terms of what their parties stand for! (do they define their existance as being the anti matter of the other or are they relevant to India in its present state?)
2. In absence of an agenda for the country, BJP will end up doing a VK Malhotra act (in Delhi) for the polls in the country!
3. With people like Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram one still has faith about the Congress. (Inspite of the Shivraj Patils, Arun Singhs and Antulays of the world in the same party)

Can politicians ever stand united against terror?

As every Indian i too am deeply hurt by the terror attack on Mumbai. My response to a discussion on NDTV.com: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/mumbaiterrorstrike/Election_Story.aspx?ID=NEWEN20080074624&type=News

My heart fills up with pride for the valiance of the army, navy, NSG and Maharashtra Police men who have braved death. At the same time, i am ashamed of the political resolve in the country. In times of distress, two senior leaders L K Advani and Manmohan Singh could not present a united face of the Indian Politics to the extremists and the nation at large. I seriously hope that R R Patil, the Maharashtra Home Minister was inebriated when he made the comment on "such small incidences". Repeatedly, incidences such as blasts in Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi and now this terror attack at Mumbai. Our Home Minister is quick to "react" with his high level meetings. There is no end to this terror. As an Indian, i wonder to who or what purpose am i paying my taxes?
In days to come this will become an electoral issue with BJP, BSP, SP and others attcking Congress for its failure to tackle these situations. Question is... even when BJP was at power was it able to do anything post the "Attack on Parlaiment". So under what assumption will it be attacking congress for its "failures"?
The Elections are also a farce because for an ordinary citizen in the country the choice is betwen the devil and deep sea. WHy cant we have an accountable system on these issues? When will the qabbling political class wake up an address the real issues rather than bickering over each others short comings. Is this what you call a democracy?

An accountable political system

For once the French president has gone beyond Carla Bruni in making a statement about Dollar loosing its sheen as a global currency.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Forex/Dollar_is_no_longer_the_worlds_king_pin_currency_Sarkozy/rssarticleshow/3710105.cms

Only some time back i came across this feed as well on India and China. the asian super power economies also failing to bail out the world economy. (The fairy tale thought that India and China will undo the evils of a banking disorder worldwide is a chimeric one. Feels good as an Indian though.)

Then there is a also the clamor from the Indian contingent to honour it with greater status than the Bretton Woods accorded it. This was a part of the G 20 meet and it seeks to undo the historical mistake of under rating India's role in the world economy.

On The home turf, there is also Nandan Nilekani who is writing about how India is climbing on its world superpower status. All this makes me proud. Feels good that a nation which had lost some of its stature in the world after the 1800s is gaining it back in 2000s! The Indian Business Community and the Indian Intellect has a healthy contribution to this achievement. While the governance has made some contribution to all of this, yet it is far from being an active agent ringing the change in.

Governance in India is still a far cry from a Obama-esque "change" philosophy to turn the country into a better place and the citizens a better lot. It is governed by the politics of religion and regionalism. A 123 agreement which was the only natural way forward tok an year to get through the parliament. Hygiene and Healthcare are stil tottering way behind the world living indexes. We dont have enough doctirs, enough medicals, enough health centres to impart a basic level of hygiene to our citizenry. Our country is electrified only on paper. Education and literacy levels are moving upwards but most of it is not even basic. We dont have roads, we dont have drains, we dont have drinking water, we dont have a sound irrgation system. At the end of it all, the representatives in the democratic government are a corrupt lot with no accountability to his people and the system.

Can this change? Yes it can. WIth the advent of IT as a media, there is no beter way to ask for systems of accountability. Can ministers be answerable to media and the public on questions answered in open forums on the net? Can there be an independent assessment of developmental projects and efforts of these lot of ministers? You may need to create provisions in the constitution but it can be done.

So why does it not happen that way? Lack of political consenses. When a corrupt party judges another corrupt party, it is basically collusion to fake it before the Junta.

Media has been playing a role in establishing such systems but the efforts have not been concerted and probably few and far between. It is time to ask for such accountabilities to be mandated from the representatives of the people in the parliament.

Without that, we shall always be "just short" in terms of realising our potential ever and always.