during the interaction session, someone raised a question that corruption is also a fault of the public. but Das said the system is equally responsible. for eg, ppl pay more money to get things done faster as it takes way too long for the same things as per the current govt. procedures. the Indian system is a different case in point as the same public never dares to pay a bribe in other countries where the system is more transparent and the government officials themselves would have the bribe-paying people arrested! (we must keep in mind that these countries have faster procedures for all services provided by their govt.)
when i took a turn to ask questions, i enumerated that why cant we modify the system so dat all the processes for availing govt. services would get speeded up through reforms! perhaps, major reforms!! Das appreciated my point but dint follow my question completely n thot i was trying to suggest that people wid means can legally expedite their process by paying more, for eg, a tatkal ticket or speed post. so govt. should hav two price slots, one which is slower which costs less money n another which is faster which could cost more.
i really wish to take this up as an issue where we could bring about another set of reforms, vis a vis 1991, where we look into the reasons for the slow moving pace of the processes in our governance system. where in many countries it takes 3 days to start a company, in India, it takes 45. same goes for gas connection, telephone, passport and many others! would be a gr8 idea to simply do away with all those time consuming procedures by way of expediting the specific activities which cause delay in the entire process. say, through computerization and faster flow of information for processing and verification, and many more for which the administration must chalk out ways to find out how!! that might just be the way ahead!!
when i took a turn to ask questions, i enumerated that why cant we modify the system so dat all the processes for availing govt. services would get speeded up through reforms! perhaps, major reforms!! Das appreciated my point but dint follow my question completely n thot i was trying to suggest that people wid means can legally expedite their process by paying more, for eg, a tatkal ticket or speed post. so govt. should hav two price slots, one which is slower which costs less money n another which is faster which could cost more.
i really wish to take this up as an issue where we could bring about another set of reforms, vis a vis 1991, where we look into the reasons for the slow moving pace of the processes in our governance system. where in many countries it takes 3 days to start a company, in India, it takes 45. same goes for gas connection, telephone, passport and many others! would be a gr8 idea to simply do away with all those time consuming procedures by way of expediting the specific activities which cause delay in the entire process. say, through computerization and faster flow of information for processing and verification, and many more for which the administration must chalk out ways to find out how!! that might just be the way ahead!!
we really need reforms to curtail the scope of corruption altogether. if the process is fast on its own, we will not need to pay extra money or use influence to get things done for ourselves. rather, it has to be instilled in the system itself. hoping to see all govt. processes work superfast someday! those who have benefited from the current system (babus, public, etc.) may not like this change. and perhaps the govt. may initially charge a lil more for speeding up the process, but let people have options in the beginning. and once the cost of modernization is recovered, start making the faster processes cheaply available to people from all economical strata.
Isnt it simple ?? :)
PS - kindly excuse the lack of coherence in the post, as this was merely a draft but i couldnt wait to share my ideas!!
Isnt it simple ?? :)
PS - kindly excuse the lack of coherence in the post, as this was merely a draft but i couldnt wait to share my ideas!!
http://literati-iitd.com/events/Flagship-events/ - In conversation with Gurcharan Das.
Other highlights of the talk
Das credited Amarnath Verma, principal secretary to PV Narsimha Rao, for the Liberalization - Privatization - Globalization reforms of 1991. this has also been mentioned in great detail in the book "India Unbound".
To IITians, it was his message that they must pay back to the nation as they are getting subsidized education. However, they shudn't compromise on their passion in choosing their profession for the sake of only serving their country. They must contribute to the growth of the nation through whatever they chose to follow with passion. People can even change their professions after the age of 40 or 50 to pursue their true calling! for instance, Das himself quit his job as MD (Strategic Planning), P & G, to become a full-time writer.
Leadership Qualities - a leader must be more determined, rather than being simply intelligent, in order to enforce the positive changes he wishes to initiate and bring about anywhere.
As for the Indo-China relations, Nehru didn't foresee that the friendship initiative of 1960s would lead to the Indo-china war and our country would have to pay a very heavy price! While Indira had determination, she was more inclined towards winning elections, rather than bringing about economic reforms.
In this context, he blamed political parties for following the policy of catering only to the victimized. Their apathy towards development for the masses (middle classes) is disdainful. Minorities, Dalits or EWS have captured undue attention for the sake of vote politics, while overlooking the progress of the masses in general.
Outreach towards the middle classes is what he appreciates most in Anna Hazare, whose methods are not very impressive according to Das, but Hazare has succeeded in letting the voice of the middle classes be heard through the mass anti-corruption protests! In a way, he is equivalent to Gandhi (law-breaker for the British) in mobilizing and uniting the people towards a good cause: making India corruption-free. Despite corruption and lack of initiative from the government, the regular Indian will continue to strive towards his own betterment, which will eventually help raise the overall per capita income.
He criticized negative envy in terms of bilateral relations between china and India. while positive envy can be a driving force towards better performance, it should not be the sole purpose of getting ahead. both the countries should go beyond simply trying to become the richer nation in terms of per capita income or GDP and aim for long term growth, removal of corruption, etc. While India is liberal, it lacks good governance. on the other hand, china has good governance, but people have little freedom in terms of liberty! both must be balanced for better growth.
In this context, he blamed political parties for following the policy of catering only to the victimized. Their apathy towards development for the masses (middle classes) is disdainful. Minorities, Dalits or EWS have captured undue attention for the sake of vote politics, while overlooking the progress of the masses in general.
Outreach towards the middle classes is what he appreciates most in Anna Hazare, whose methods are not very impressive according to Das, but Hazare has succeeded in letting the voice of the middle classes be heard through the mass anti-corruption protests! In a way, he is equivalent to Gandhi (law-breaker for the British) in mobilizing and uniting the people towards a good cause: making India corruption-free. Despite corruption and lack of initiative from the government, the regular Indian will continue to strive towards his own betterment, which will eventually help raise the overall per capita income.
He criticized negative envy in terms of bilateral relations between china and India. while positive envy can be a driving force towards better performance, it should not be the sole purpose of getting ahead. both the countries should go beyond simply trying to become the richer nation in terms of per capita income or GDP and aim for long term growth, removal of corruption, etc. While India is liberal, it lacks good governance. on the other hand, china has good governance, but people have little freedom in terms of liberty! both must be balanced for better growth.
among other interesting topics, he also discussed fiction vs. non-fiction, his recent posts for the Wall Street Journal, his book 'The Difficulty of Being Good' ("Achhaaii ki Kathinaaii") and then the programme concluded with the launch of a book, titled "7 Deadly Sins", an anthology.
to wind up, i can only say that while most of the above stated points are quite obvious and known to us, it was amazing to listen to the stalwart himself in his captivating and overwhelming, yet down-to-earth presence! a highly stimulating and enriching afternoon it certainly was!!
