Arvind Kezriwal is one of the
members of Team Anna. Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, Prashanth Bhushan, Shashi
Bhushan, Gopal Rai, Manish Sisodia, Justice Santosh Hegde, Kumar Vishwas, are
some of the other members. All struggling for Jan Lokpal, their version of an anti-corruption
bill. This bill had been first tabled in 1968 and has yet to become a law.
Team Anna consists of band of
non-conformists who seem to want the impossible - A handful of people demanding
that the Indian government listen to them. Who gives them the right to enforce
their amendments on the whole country? Making laws is the constitutional right
of the parliamentarians. No outside organization has right to influence them.
They should leave the law making to the political institutions and make
suggestions through appropriate channels. No one should "blackmail"
the government.
Moreover, a good anti-corruption law
is not possible in India. The entire country is full of corruption. It will
never get passed by the lawmakers. All these guys are simply wasting their
time. There is no point to spend time here. We would rather utilize our time
more effectively elsewhere.
Team Anna consists of people from
various affiliations and priorities. There are poets, religious leaders,
legals, social campaigners etc. Difference of opinion in the group makes the
organization's future doubtful. Some of the differences and opinions made
headlines in past year. Will they all stay for a long time? Who is the most
powerful person in the group? Does everyone follow what the head of the group
says? Who knows which direction it takes next?
It was a great organization a year
ago when there were a lot of followers. Now, it has fizzled out. It does not
have that many followers. What's the point of such short burst of enthusiasms?
The strategy employed by the Team is
not right. They are thinking that they can influence the politicians from
outside. The only way to fix this is to join politics and then change the laws.
And so on....
All the above are astute
observations to follow status-quo. Don't do anything and let us see which way
things go.
The implicit assumption is that we
are spectators in this tussle between "Team Anna" and the ruling
political establishment. It is as though an effective anti-corruption
legislation might help only "Team Anna" and we, the common people, do
not care either way. We fail to understand the impact the corruption has on our
laws and the state institutions. Maybe we understand it but somehow do not
connect with the impact it is having on our lives. We should understand that
every aspect of our lives and the lives of our loved ones depend on a common
socio-economic infrastructure governed by the laws created by the political
establishment.
The food we eat, its quality and
distribution are directly affected by government legislation. They are managed
by government institutions.
Water distribution is controlled by
government. The quality & treatment depends of efficiency on government
institutions. In places where there is no usable water, which is pretty much
the majority of the country, we have to depend of bore wells. The regulations
that govern the number of bores to be dug, the depth, the methodology, and the
safety measures are all controlled by state regulations. We know the sensation
that was created recently when Mahi, a four year old, was killed after falling
into an unsealed bore well.
Energy efficiency, planning to build
future infrastructure, power distributions, safety at various levels, policy
etc are all government responsibilities. My aunt died because she stepped on a
live electricity wire lying on the road.
Air we breathe has been constantly
degrading year after year. In Hyderabad, you cannot even sit in an
auto-rickshaw without wrapping your face completely. There is so much smoke and
pollution that has increased the incidence of lung diseases. Who should take
care of it? And what do you do when no one takes care of it?
Providing effective sanitation
facilities to all, managing the policies, keeping it safe and effective are
state responsibilities. Every year I hear of incidents where a person walking
in rain in some of the main cities falls into an open manhole and dies. The
rivers have become raw sewage and industrial waste dumps. Ganga and Yamuna are
becoming dead rivers. How can we call ourselves remotely religious when we
cannot even voice an objection?
Lack of basic medical facilities is
making it difficult to tackle diseases that we should not have in first place,
we have seen news of infant deaths in public hospitals, lack of beds for
seriously ill, etc. This too is state responsibility.
When the terrorists struck Taj in
Mumbai we were taken by surprise. We faced horrific death and destruction. This
episode, however, exposed the basic infrastructural deficiencies - Fire brigade
running out of water, NSG commandoes getting delayed by hours & hours
because there was no plane available, lack of co-ordination, absolute lack of
equipment for brave police, etc.
Individual bravery was spectacular
but infrastructural preparedness failed miserably. We celebrate the greatness
of these individuals but do not punish the inefficiency of the people who
govern. How many more sacrifices have to be made?
Traffic regulations, Road
infrastructure, Rail infrastructure, Education, Public safety, Environmental
laws, Housing regulations, Safeguarding religious establishments... The list
will go on and on.
Every aspect of our lives depends on
efficiency of government institutions. However, the corruption has a
stranglehold in every stage of our lives. Corruption gets inefficient people on
the top or even if they are efficient their priorities are different. In either
case, corruption makes the whole system inefficient. And as a result the social
infrastructure suffers.
If our government's interest is to
think of schemes to make more money out of power infrastructure then the
minister becomes rich and the country does not get any power. Corruption is not
just about the millions in losses that show up in newspaper headlines. It is
about how those millions in losses erode the basic necessities from the common
man.
So, it is not about Team Anna or
about Arvind Kezriwal. It is about us. What do we think is right for the
country? I know that Jan lokpal alone is not the solution. It is only the first
step. There has to be many more steps. Our duty as patriots of India is to make
sure that effective laws are in place to make our country better.
There was a time when our country
could be considered poor but today our country is very rich. We have the best
doctors in the world; best engineers, best teachers, best students, best
software, best principles but we have the worst political leaders.
This is a country of greats. This is
a country of Mahatma Gandhi, Subash Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhai Patel,
Pandit Nehru, Moulana Azad, Rabindranath Tagore, Lal Bahadhur Shastri, Mother
Terissa, etc.
If anyone wants to call himself
leader, then if you can't become like them at least try to follow the ideal.
Unfortunately, the country is ruled by extremely high caliber brains with
extremely low moral values. Our country lacks moral leadership.
And to a great extent, the fault
lies in us. We have allowed this to happen. We, the people of India, have to
rise and face this crisis of moral decrepitude. We have to save ourselves and
try to leave a good country for the generations to come. We, the children of
our mother India, have to come to her rescue.
Come and join the struggle for a
better India. Jan Lokpal is achievable and we will get it.
Jai Hind.
