Post-Mumbai attacks, the fear and anger remain. The anger is at our government for being ineffective and inept, at our political class for being insensitive and callous and our bureaucracy for remaining slow and inefficient. It is hard not to sympathise and support this anger, but it is important that this anger is well directed and produces the desired results.
Barack Obama in his first speech after being elected the president of the USA mentioned that America has changed and that the Americans have changed for good. At this juncture of time I feel that there is a more dire need for change in India, than anywhere else. Change in the way we confront terror - our worst adversary in recent times, change in the way we perceive of ourselves in the wake of these terror attacks, change in the way our central and state govt. responds to this situation, change in the way the police and other law enforcement agencies are directed and politicised, but most importantly change in the way we seek things of ourselves. We are the biggest democracy in the world but little do we realise the power vested in us by the system. This is probably the reason for low voter turn outs at the elections year on year basis and the gross criminalisation of our politics. Various ads and informercials seek to address this issue, but all of them fail miserably. This is because we are trying to work only at the apex of the pyramid and not it's bottom. Changes manifest and realise only at the grass root level. To make the people aware of their power, we have to make them aware of themselves. Spendings towards the infomercials should be directed for poverty elimination, employment generation and mass modernization schemes. More than 70% of our population lives in the villages at mere subsistence level. These people are hardly aware of what is happening at the national or the international level. Special efforts should be taken to integrate these people with the mainstream. Empower and train the people so that they realise what they deserve. It is only demand that creates supply. By empowering our countrymen we will be able to put the much desired impetus behind every vote that is cast. It is our insurance towards a bright and a secure future. An educated populace will definitely be in a condition to appreciate the govt. decisions and make the best of the opportunities available to it. Drawing upon this power the people of our country would be able to call greater control over govt. policies and laws.
Apart from education and employment there are many other vehicles which can allow smooth governance. Just like our corporates the performance of our representatives should be available for periodic appraisals. It should be mandatory for every parliamentarian or legislator to apprise the constituency of the work that he or she has performed in the last appraisal cycle. The people should then decide whether they want to continue with the same representative or they want a new one. Such provisions for the replacement of the elected representative exist in Canada and Venezuela. It might be argued that setting up such a device will consume a lot of govt. funds, but the govt. earns through us and we should have a say in the way this fund is dispensed. Such changes will definitely put the power back in the hands of the people who elect our govt. and will serve as a harbinger of a brighter and a more secure tomorrow
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