The imperative of reforming state intervention

?Impropriety.? That is what the BJP is going on and on about, as they reduce parliamentary debate to endless accusations that lead nowhere. What is incomprehensible is that the presently loud and demanding BJP does not display a similar vigour to ensure propriety in the daily lives of us Indians. The party neither protests the negative, destructive intrusions and corrupt interventions of the state machinery in the public as well as private space, nor does it set the standard within itself. The opposition in a democracy is expected to play the role of a watchdog, not one of a spoiler.

Unfortunately, this is a fundamental malaise of all political dispensations. They are all slowly and steadily becoming parasites on the state, instead of being reformers of a corroded system. The utter waste of time over the Volcker report, that should be addressed by some other forum, that is of no consequence whatsoever to the lives of the constituents of India, who are struggling desperately to lead a life of dignity, and who are being neglected in a sea of anarchy, is an example of how real issues are put on the backburner with the peripheral stuff highlighted. We always try to diffuse the serious realities only because a restoration of decency in functioning will take much effort and hard endeavour, something no one at the helm of power wants to commit to.

The press perpetuates the flimsy and superficial for the same reasons ? its easier and sensational copy can go unsubstantiated, on speculation alone. Yes, there has been a dumbing down, a disrespect and disregard for the intrinsic intelligence of Indians, both rural and urban, illiterate and literate, by those chosen few, the communicators. Who are themselves a trifle vacuous about the changing energy across this land. This limited arrogance is evident in the mindless television programming, in the sound bite culture that has overwhelmed us. The limited intellectual ability to judge the consumer and downgrade him to the lowest common denominator, because it happens to be the easiest of options that requires no hard-nosed and empirical assessment of the huge change happening around us, is unacceptable. The privileged, both the communicators and those who support them, are responsible for serving India up as an unthinking, stupid nation. We are not that, thank you.

Those who cannot read or write can see, hear and speak. More often than not, they happen to be the custodians of the best in values of this civilisation, as well as the repository of human skills. They are the living treasures in our polity. They number close to half a billion. They have been let down and isolated by those who can read and write, the so-called literates, who have lost all sense of propriety in their quest for a strange kind of greed and a peculiar definition of ?growth.?

Until India empowers these citizens with a dignified infrastructure and moral professional support, they will be exploited by anarchist and extremist groups that will use them to create confrontational situations that will, inevitably, lead to militant movements. It is already happening with the growth of naxal politics. This energetic, resourceful and creative India wants to be productive and better their lives. They have never been given that opportunity, nor has their skill been respected. Administrations have treated them in a subhuman manner, ignoring their basic needs. No one has been made accountable for the horror meted to a majority of Indian citizens.

Government should be looking at that end of the spectrum, instead of constantly interfering with the organised sector, fiddling about constructing road blocks at endless points and writing laws, regulations and norms with limitless addenda. Thereby building a maddening maze of red tape that does one thing alone?generate corruption. Successive governments have managed to stifle honest and productive endeavour in the private sector. They have spent taxpayers? money on futile policing, based on archaic colonial laws, constantly harassing honest individuals. They have set the parameters for an amoral functioning that goes against the grain of human beings. As an economist and a pragmatist, Manmohan Singh should make sure this monster ceases to injure entrepreneurship, productivity and creativity. If he manages to stem that rot, this nation will bounce into its most positive growth phase and never look back.