THE INVISIBLE HAND IN CORRUPTION

This article picks up from where the last article ended. It is another example of the hypocrisy of the Indian elite classes. The issue of corruption is one that frequently pops up in many debates and discussions in the media and in other elite circles of society. I am quiet frankly dismayed over the criticism that is constantly showered on the “ruling class”, the bureaucracy and the political class, for the prevalence of widespread corruption in India. It seems like a lot of people are forgetting the fact that there are 2 hands involved in corruption and that the source of corruption is as much responsible for the existence of the phenomenon as the destination. Somehow in the eyes of most of these critics it appears as if one of the hands, that of the source, is often invisible. However it is not too difficult to understand this partial blindness exhibited by a majority of the elite classes. They fail to recognize the source of corruption because this social evil actually emanates from the urban elite themselves. In fact, it is extremely ironic that the people who are directly responsible for the perpetration and the prevalence of corruption in India are also its most vehement critics.

Let me cite a couple of examples to make my point clear. First let me consider one case of corruption which we get to see fairly regularly almost on a day to day basis virtually anywhere in the country. Take the example of the traffic constable. Here is a person who spends ten hours everyday in the heat, the dust, the pollution and the traffic daring harsh weather only to make a meager sum of money which fails to ensure a decent life for him and his family. I think this situation of his along with the power that is vested in him prompts him to misuse the power for personal monetary gains and considering his pathetic situation it seems quiet justified particularly when you also factor in his lack of quality education which restricts his knowledge and hence makes him too ignorant to contemplate/understand the consequences of his actions on society at large. On the other hand we have the “bade baap ke bigde bete” driving air-conditioned cars and sports bikes violating traffic rules and bribing the traffic police in a bid to save a few hundred bucks.

In fact bribing the traffic police is actually considered “cool” and any person who has any principles and thus, offers to pay the legal fine is perceived to be foolish among his peers. These are individuals who are educated in esteemed institutions and are well aware of the ramifications that their actions would have on society as a whole. Undoubtedly, they are the source of corruption in this case. However, the person who is always criticized most is the poor traffic constable who fails to provide a good livelihood for his family despite the kick-backs that he receives and the people who indulge in such criticism are those affluent individuals belonging to elite social circles who are actually the source of corruption in this case. Such acts committed by the affluent classes inculcate a culture of corruption in the minds of the bureaucratic class which leads to exploitation of the poorer sections of society. Ironically again, it is the people who not only can very well afford to live with corruption but also are the perpetrators of corruption who complain a lot more than those who are woefully exploited by this culture which is the creation of the elite classes.

Next, consider the case of more high profile corruption which exists in higher bureaucratic offices and which is not readily visible to most people. Take the case of the export driven industries and businesses in India. These are some of the most ill-managed businesses in the country. When the global scenario is rosy and the domestic currency is reeling under pressure, these industries make big bucks. The finances they make during these rosy periods are not effectively used to shield themselves from global shocks. Hence, when the global situation turns pathetic, they are left in the rain because of their incapability to hedge their risks. The industries which make huge profits at certain periods and pay fat pay-checks to their top executives fail to hedge their risks for difficult times and therefore, when the difficult times arise they seek solace from the government. They demand tax breaks and stimulus packages from taxpayer money to cover for extremely short-sighted managerial failures.

In these cases, the ruling class is virtually doing a favor to this section of the capitalist society and hence, expects to draw its pound of flesh in the form of kick-backs or favors from these large corporate houses in the form of election or party funding. This is precisely what happens, for example, with the gems and jewelry export lobby. This industry is protected by the government by providing them with undue and unfair advantages which hurt the average tax-payer and they in turn fund political outfits during elections. In this case as well, the blame squarely lies with the affluent classes of society just as in the earlier case. However, these corporate houses are the first to criticize the inefficiency and the rampant corruption which exist in the governing classes, virtually blinded of the fact that the practice of corruption stems from within them and that they are the sources of this culture which is devouring this nation. These cases cited reveal that in matters of corruption, it is the invisible hand in corruption which fuels this menace much more than the visible hand.

URBAN PSYCHE AND SYMBOLISM IN INDIA

After all the noise that has been made by a myriad of organizations about the importance of voting particularly in relation to the urban educated middle class, after all the awareness campaigns run by organizations like Jaago Re and all the media buzz around the ongoing elections and media campaigns on the importance of voting by the Times Group and other organizations, after all the drama surrounding outrage over terror and the rise of the “independents” one obviously expected that the urban, educated, middle-class voter will finally be “awakened” and will realize that voting is not just his right but also his responsibility, that the least he can do for the nation is to get out and vote. But hey, when have we ever carried out any of our social responsibilities effectively and why should this one be any different. The recently concluded second phase of elections have revealed that Bangalore and Pune, the constituencies with the maximum number of urban, educated, middle-class voters, have registered a voter turnout of 46% compared to the average second phase voter turnout of close to 70%.

All the elusive mirages and glass houses that one built around the “conscience of the educated, urban voter” have been shattered. With the voter turnout, were also shattered the dreams and aspirations of all those high profile independent candidates we talked about earlier because of their over reliance on the urban educated middle class vote. Dr. Narayana Murthy rightly pointed out that we are a nation which considers articulation as accomplishment. This is most true particularly for the urban educated population, which is why most independent candidates despite having done little to prove their mettle by way of social or public service expected to garner a sizeable chunk of the votes from this section of society merely by articulating their views and opinions in a fancy manner. We are a nation which has consistently indulged in preaching what we never practice barring a few exceptional individuals who have led by example like Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar.

We as a nation and as a people are incapable of relating to the difficulties of another human being. Perhaps this is not actually restricted to Indians alone. While pondering about a rather unrelated political issue I contrived of an unusual relationship between the psyche of the educated elite of India and “symbolism” or “preaching what we never practice” or “placing articulation over accomplishment” or hypocrisy. The issue I was thinking about was that of reservation for women in parliament, which is an issue that has consumed considerable bandwidth of the political class and the media. I was wondering why India with nearly 50% women population must have only 33% reservation for women in politics and why not 50%. Perhaps, we should have 2 members of parliament from each constituency, one a man and the other a woman. In the midst of all this I asked myself how this would help the women of India.

The only answer I could find is that even if we provide 100% reservation for women in parliament, only 500 odd women would actually be empowered and uplifted in a nation of over 500 million women. This is utter symbolism and hypocrisy. Strangely it is only in urban educated circles that such debates are given importance. The rural poor voter could not care less about issues such as this as they do not in any way affect their lives and livelihood. Also, despite these debates doing the rounds for many years now, no steps what so ever have been taken in regard to this issue which points to the nature of placing articulation over accomplishment. One defense sought in favor of this policy is usually that women parliamentarians would relate to the problems of their less fortunate counterparts and work for their upliftment. Facts, however, do not substantiate this argument.

We have had many constituencies in India which have consistently elected a “backward caste” representative and yet, the situation of these “backward castes” in those constituencies is in no way better than in any other neighboring constituency. Many constituencies have also had many women representatives and yet, the women in those constituencies are in no way better off than other women. Many constituencies have had representatives from humble backgrounds and yet none of them have witnessed any significant poverty eradication, barring of course the economic upliftment of their “representative”. It seems obvious; therefore, that reservation for women in parliament would empower and uplift 500 women but do nothing for the remaining 500 million women. This is precisely why this issue is never a poll issue in rural constituencies. It is only debated among urban elite, who in any case do not vote and merely indulge in rhetoric.

But perhaps there is a larger “human nature” at work here behind the indifference exhibited by urban educated middle class individuals towards real socio-economic and political issues. Even a person who has himself experienced the sufferings caused by poverty, after becoming rich, does not care much about the apathy of those who continue to survive in poverty. He is more concerned with reveling in his new found exclusivity. “Rich” and “poor” are relative terms and the existence of the poor is imperative for the existence of the rich. Hence, in all likelihood, the poor person who has been uplifted from poverty would tend to work to maintain the status quo rather than to uplift others in order to retain that exclusivity which gives him superiority over others. If everybody in the world possessed diamonds then diamonds would cease to be precious, wouldn’t they. This is perhaps what makes the people sitting in air conditioned rooms watching IPL on a plasma TV indifferent to the sufferings of the poor and deprived. We watch the sufferings on TV and we say “oh my god!” and we get back to eating our dinner and go to bed.

A similar example of hypocrisy and symbolism can be witnessed in events surrounding the latest on-campus deaths of students in schools and colleges due to various reasons. The only people seen actively and publicly voicing dissent are the near and dear of those who are directly involved in the tragedies and perhaps a few social activists. The same individuals never took to the streets when a similar thing happened in someone else’s family. Also, when such incidents occur, the only thing we are interested in doing is playing the “blame game”. No one is actually interested in addressing the larger concerns of systemic failure, review and reform. All they seek is “closure” without understanding that there can be no closure in life. So perhaps the only way to make a majority of the population relate to the sufferings of others is to subject them to similar suffering. Actually, even then, perhaps, instead of fighting it out they will blame and curse everyone else except themselves for the situation they are in and thus seek “closure”.

Elections and Inflation

This is about a thought i got recently, though it seems a bit off or crazy. Eventhough the Inflation has been on the brink of going onto the negative side for the past One and Half month (it touched 0.27% by the end of March 14th), it still is clinging on to the positive values (0.26% ending April 18th). Many analysts are infact surprised by this behavior....

      http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/storyShow.php?fileR=20090424115644194&dir=2009/04/24&secID=livenews&code1=&code=

I just thought that the reason for this might be Elections. Yup! Elections and Campaigning. Well, here goes my reasoning for this....

As i am sure, it is an open secret that the money political parties get for their campaigning is not only from their coffers in Switzerland but a majpr chunk of it is also from the Corporate world (though illicitly) . Many corporates in India have actually come out openly against it recently....

           http://news.in.msn.com/national/indiaelections2009/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2464648

Well, we are talking about the Bajaj's and the Tata's over here in the article. What about the small vendors and business men all over India? Can they afford to come open like this? Even they are not spared from this arm twisting...

I actually got this idea when i was talking to a shop keeper. He was actually worried about the very existence of the General Stores in the future :). Poor chap...

The prices of all the basic amenities have increased, even those items which have a MRP, in my case its fags :D. When i asked him why he is charging more, he simply said that he can't help it, he himself is being charged more as the vendors who are selling him the goods also had to pay money for the campaining...

The vendors and small business men are forced to pay money for the campaigning, which inturn leads to increase in the prices of all the goods they are selling. Actually its these small time vendors and business men who are worst effected. They are forced to pay each and every candidate fielded by the parties; as they dont want to be in the bad books of any political party.

Well, so.. whats happening over here???

The campagning and the funding required for the elections have actually indirectly increased the prices of all the goods and amenities, which helped us in keeping the Inflation above Zero!!! Yeah, i know that the inflation includes a lot of factors that the lame man doesn't know that well. But, i am sure that this will have an impact on it, however minute it may be. So...

          The Elections and our Politicians have helped the Ecomony by keeping the Inflation Positive. :P

Now, the politicians and their parties have another angle in which they can say they are helping the country and the economy :D. Whichever party has taken most funding illicitly from the coprporates has helped the economy the most :P. Another way to boost their chances in the elections :P...

Just a sarcastic take on how things are happening.. but i still feel that its worth pondering over...

Basic Common Sense

So let me start with a question to showcase our common sense...

Q) Which of the following is the right thing to do while going on the roads?

a) Stop -> Look -> Proceed

b) Proceed -> Look -> Stop

Yeah, i know that ALL of us will choose option A on the paper, but how many of us implement it on roads? Well, i don't know about you guys, but more than 95% of the people in our city actually follow option B while driving.

So this is going to be my premise in this post, how sensibly do we behave on roads!!!

I would really like to know what goes through people's mind when they do what they do; Let me just show you the example of what i've seen just five minutes back...

I really can't understand why he is driving like that. Is is because of arrogance or ignorance or senselessness or stupidity or a mixture of all these :P. Again, if another person drives like this in front of him, i am sure he would bad-mouth the other person.

Actually, I do have a reason to support this behavior...

All the four wheelers are supposed to go to ride at the center of the road while the two and three wheelers are supposed to be to the left of the road. :D

Even though he can still come to my right as i was on a Two-wheeler, the above statement not only supports this auto-wallah but also other many others in situations like this...

Or like this... :D


See what i mean, its not like these guys are irresponsible or senseless; its just that we dont understand them, Poor Chaos :P.

Sorry if my sense of humor is not of your taste, I just had to think of a REALLY dumb reason to explain this dumb behavior. Well, the word DUMB would have sufficed if it was just at this level, but as we all know people take it to the next level. Like this...
:P This might look like an exaggeration to some of you, but i have actually seen people doing this quite frequently, this is heights of............... I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. Its funny and frustrating at the same time. :)

And mix all this stupidity or whatever u wanna call it... with different people having different mindset...

> Old people going at 20 kmph in the middle of the road and actually trying to break traffic signals!!! :(

> Teenagers cutting their bikes on road as if they want to have a look at their butt.. and most of them actually don't have a license.

> Women (Most of them at least) getting scared at each and every sound of a horn.

> Middle aged men (especially on scooters), not even turning their necks to check if their is any vehicle that they are about to hit.

> People crossing the roads suddenly start running when they see a vehicle coming towards them. (Seriously can't figure out why they can't wait for a single second).

> Cars, especially travels and taxi drivers, driving as if its a bike...

>Last but not the least, Auto and Bus Drivers (Actually govt workers!!!) driving as if they own the roads!!!

Its total CHAOS once we get out of our office or home...

People who are thinking "Seriously..." I just have a request...

Please make sure you are not one of them!!! If you are already now, Great... That's all

This is my first post.. hope you've liked it

Signing off.....

Rahul

P.S: Even though the previous posts are shown as posted by me, they are written by Hydra/Venkat.

P.S 2: The most comic scene on the road...

"An auto trying to overtake another!!!"

Seriously guys, check it out once if u haven't, you will laugh your heart out.

THE RISE OF THE “INDEPENDENTS”

The 2009 Lok Sabha elections in many constituencies are witnessing an unprecedented number of high-profile independent candidates. Though I understand the sentiments and appreciate the intent of these high-profile independent candidates, I can’t stay away from asking whether they are doing the right thing and whether they are going about it in the right manner. First of all, some of these candidates are taking a sabbatical from their usual corporate jobs in order to contest an election sending out the message that perhaps this is a mere fling. If it is indeed a fling then they can go about it whichever way they wish to but if it isn’t then my view is that they are going about it in the wrong way.

It is possible that a myriad of factors ranging from the inspirational “change – yes, we can” campaign successes of Barack Obama to the shocking 26/11 attacks in Mumbai might have inspired these candidates to take the leap into politics, if indeed this is a “leap”. “Politics” can be defined in many ways. I define it as public service. There are a few things that these candidates need to come to terms with. Firstly, public service is not a part-time job. If they are serious about it, they need to devote their entire life to public service. Secondly, change does not happen overnight. They must be prepared to put in a lifetime in order to inspire or initiate change.

Take the example of the USA and Barack Obama. The fight against racial discrimination in America started with Abraham Lincoln well over a century ago and that change has not yet been achieved, despite the symbolic significance of the election of the first black president. One needs to know that 12% of the black male population in the US is in prison while this figure is perhaps 1-2% for whites. In some neighborhoods in the US, 1 in every 3 black men between 18 and 35 is in prison. The election of Obama is only a significant milestone on the long road to change which may take another century to fully materialize. The situation is not very different in case of India either.

Taking sabbaticals from well paying jobs to contest elections suggests that when (not “if”) they lose, they will go back to their air conditioned offices and fancy board rooms. Public service requires a greater commitment than a 2 month sabbatical. Also, these candidates seem to be expressing extreme confidence derived from the fact that the public is unhappy with the current political class. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the public thinks that these independents are a better, more competent and committed alternative. Talking and doing are two different things. I can bet none of these candidates are even fully aware of the constitution and of other governing machineries like the functioning of the executive.

They might argue that neither are the current politicians but that is no defense. When you are fighting them saying that you are different, you need to exhibit that difference. Being fully aware of the law, the constitution and the executive machinery would be a good place to start. The point is that just the fact that the current leaders are incompetent or ill-willed doesn’t make you trustworthy and competent. You need to prove before-hand that you are capable of bringing about change particularly when you do not have any loyal vote-banks. You have to prove yourself in social service and public service. A Lok Sabha constituency is not a low-cost airline firm or a branch office of a foreign bank. You might say none of the current politicians do this but then isn’t that what you are fighting against.

If they are serious about inspiring change in a society, once they lose the current elections, instead of going back to air-conditioned offices and boardrooms, they need to go back to the people. For the next 5 years they need to approach the people, talk to them and find out about their problems. They need to suggest ways in which the people can solve their own problems. If this is not possible, they must act as representatives of these people and approach the concerned authorities, bureaucratic or political, in order to report the problems that exist in various localities. They need to use the media effectively by writing articles in dailies about the problems faced by the people in the constituency in order to make the political class sit up and take notice.

They need to approach NGOs and social service organizations for help with various problems in regard to civic amenities or infrastructure or education and health care. Admittedly, only a few problems can be solved in 5 years in this manner. However, this will help them secure many more votes in the next election though in all likelihood not enough to win. After losing again, they must go back again to the people and offer to solve more of their problems in the next 5 years. This way, after a decade or two, they will surely garner enough support to get elected to the Lok Sabha and even during this period, despite not being in a position of power or authority, would have brought about significant change and acquired adequate knowledge about the nature of problems faced by the people and what approach to adopt in order to solve such problems effectively.

Once in power, with adequate knowledge and with substantial funds at their disposal, significant change can be brought about in a single 5 year term. This way, in a period of 20-25 years, one can bring about the change that one wishes to see. Patience, perseverance, dedication and a long-term, full-time commitment to public service are essential to bring about change. Taking mere sabbaticals for a couple of months in order to fight elections sends out the wrong message that one is not serious or committed to the cause and that this gesture is merely symbolic. If these high-profile independent candidates are serious and committed to bring about change, they need to take the “plunge” into public service and not merely “test the waters” with such symbolic gestures. You cannot convince yourself or anyone else that you tried sincerely by saying “I contested and lost. What else can I do?” Losing is only the first step.

Government and Primary Education

Let’s shift focus back now to the issue of government’s role in primary and secondary education. This is one area that has been grossly neglected by successive governments while it is also the one area where any government is supposed to play a pivotal and more active role. While India produces a substantially higher number of graduates and post graduates that our communist neighbor China, the literacy rate and the number of children availing basic primary and secondary education is far lower than China. This highlights the stark inequalities and injustices which exist in India’s educational system and government policies. It makes absolutely no sense why, despite these inequalities, governments have always taken a keen interest in higher education while exhibiting a blatant disregard for the vast illiterate population of India who are in desperate need of basic primary and secondary education. Perhaps it is because neither the media nor the general public regards this as an issue of utmost importance.

Before moving on to the immediate steps which are required to be taken on behalf of the government on this issue, it is important to understand the challenges they face. A majority of the illiterate and uneducated population of this country is comprised of the rural poor. The extreme poverty of these families leaves them with no choice but to use their children as commodities. At an early age children are sent off to work as domestic helps or as agricultural or construction laborers. As a matter of fact the number of children in rural poor households is usually quiet high because children are viewed as a potential source of income to the family.

This is precisely why, despite the existence of government schools in villages, the rural poor are hesitant to send their kids to school. Of course, there are other issues such as the pathetic infrastructure and faculty available at such rural government schools and the irresponsibility of the faculty appointed, which act as added deterrents. Also, most government schools in villages provide education only till class 5 beyond which, if the child is interested in studying, he would have to travel many miles in order to attend the closest government high school which is usually located only in prominent towns.

Education must be a basic right which no individual can be denied. The quality of government schools must be rapidly enhanced to levels which rival their private counterparts. As a matter of fact there must not be any private schools in the first place. All the private schools in the country offering education from class 1 to class 10 must be completely nationalized. The distribution of schools in the country must be altered based on the population distribution so that students do not need to commute hundreds of kilometers in order to study in a good school. The quality of education in all schools must be on par with the quality that currently exists in the best of private schools in the country. Well, qualified teachers must be recruited and trained by the government. They must be offered a respectable salary in line with that offered currently in private schools. Strict rules pertaining to attendance and other disciplinary issues must be framed for the teachers to follow and a discipline-performance based pay scale must be prescribed.

The fee charged for the students must be proportional to their family income while also taking into account other variables/factors such as the sources of income, existing wealth or property reserves, number of dependent members in the family, etc. For students belonging to BPL (below poverty line) families, tuition, books, clothing and food should be provided free of cost while also offering a nominal stipend of about 1000 rupees a month for each student. This way, the amount they make by coming to school would exceed what they might earn working as domestic helps or as agricultural laborers, which would be incentive enough to convince their families to send them to school. Of course, the stipend will be offered only if a stipulated minimum attendance criterion is met.

Division of society on the basis of financial circumstances of families must be revised. The current definition for BPL families is obsolete and outdated. These must be revised immediately. It is acknowledged in various circles that 10% of this country possesses 90% of its wealth, so it would only be fair that this 10% also bears the expenses of 90% of the country. A large proportion of government work force must be deployed to ensure effective functioning of the primary and secondary education system in India. A large work force will be necessary in order to keep a track on the financial health of each and every family in India. The issues of implementation and budgetary concerns or allocations for such policies will be discussed in ample detail in the following chapters.

Media

Moving on now to the more important segment of education, primary and secondary education, where the government is required to don a more active role. Since independence, this remains one area of social governance that has been grossly neglected by successive governments and, to a large extent by the media and the general public as well. At this point in time, let me depart from the issue at hand, in order to discuss the role of the media in a democratic society. It is widely claimed that the 3 pillars of a democratic system are the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. However, in my view the most important fourth pillar of democracy, which is essential for its smooth functioning, is a responsible media. If the 3 lions which are visible on the Indian national emblem represent the legislative, the judiciary and the executive, the hidden 4^th lion is mass media. The media, particularly the electronic media, in India is rapidly deteriorating into a tamasha. Freedom of the press is being blatantly misused, especially since the establishment of dedicated “24 hr news channels”.

The self regulation of media houses, which is professed and practised in the west, is absent in India. The gross undermining of the important socio-economic and political issues by the media is exemplified by the fact that on the day of the IPL auctions, most “24 hr news channels” gave close to 12 hours of coverage to the great capitalist tamasha of India namely the IPL auctions. While India is burning with issues such as communalism, terrorism, international tensions, domestic inequality, oppression, injustice and rampant corruption, the mass electronic media devotes half its time to report about a bunch of sleazy, insanely rich “Indians” indulging in an extravagant and shameless display of their wealth, paying millions to people whose only talent involves throwing a ball or wielding a willow in expectation of much greater returns on their investments, while the average Indian is burdened by poverty, hunger, unemployment and illiteracy.

This is just one of the hundreds of examples one can provide to highlight the irresponsibility of the electronic media. This is laughable. In Maharashtra, hundreds of thousands of farmers have committed suicide and are still doing so, while one industrialist is reported to have built a 40-storey building for his residence. I can say with certainty that the electronic media probably devotes at least 5 news headlines in a single day to the works of this industrialist whereas those hundreds of thousands of farmers are remembered by the media perhaps once in 5 years, most likely before an election. “Slumdog Millionaire” gets virtually 24 hr non-stop coverage whereas the slum-dwellers of Mumbai are conveniently forgotten in all this glitz and glam. India, perhaps more than any other nation, desperately needs a responsible, efficient and accountable media. The behaviour of the print media is also slowly but surely becoming lax as they are forced to keep up with their more glamorous counterparts in the endeavour to profit at all costs.

The problem primarily stems from the fact that these “24 hr news channels” believe that they are supposed to telecast only news for 24 hrs a day. Hence, any event no matter how trivial or unimportant is sensationalized by the media and telecasted repeatedly for hours. This trend is more common with entertainment or sports or business news but not quiet the case when it comes to important national and international issues. This is not a nation which, in these perilous times, can afford to be obsessed with Kareena Kapoor’s diet or Shah Rukh Khan’s abs or Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s hair style.

The media has to start diverting their attention from such petty issues and focus on the pressing socio-economic and political problems of this country and demand accountability from politicians and bureaucrats and educate the general public about India’s history, its polity, its economy, lacklustre political policies, lax implementation and rampant corruption. “24 hr news channels” can become dedicated education channels which apart from telecasting news from time to time, shifts focus onto educational documentaries, when there is nothing worth reporting in terms of news or to avoid incessant repetition of the same news story again and again. Also, it wouldn’t hurt the media to once in a while appreciate the few good policies which are drafted by politicians, rather than taking a rigid stand on all issues. To mention a few, the RTI, the NREGA and the proposal to add a fundamental right which provides “right to education” are commendable steps taken by the incumbent government, which haven’t received adequate media attention or praise.

Future of Higher Education

So, i will be continuing with the topic of Higher Education, but this post is about its administrative aspects an the role of government in it...

The role of any government in education must be restricted to a very active role in providing primary education to the entire population of this country at any cost and in case of higher education, to only don a regulatory role. Providing quality primary education will provide adequate mental maturity to the children, from where on they can in consultation with parents make their own choices on higher education. The government of course can continue to provide financial assistance to poor students. However, funding higher education endeavours of a substantial number of students irrespective of whether they need financial assistance or not, by funding several institutes of higher education, without at the same time making them accountable to produce students who serve the nation is unwarranted and unacceptable.

All higher educational institutes currently funded or managed by the government like IITs, IIMs, NITs, IIITs and state funded universities such as OU or SVU in Andhra Pradesh, Anna University in Tamil Nadu, Delhi University, etc. must be privatized with immediate effect. No funding must be provided to the institutes themselves, and FDI must be welcomed in the higher education sector. The collective brand name on which these institutes have banked for so long would then cease to exist. This will lead to competition among domestic institutions (hopefully privately owned) and also competition with other foreign institutions which will force the institutes to come out of their shell, rapidly expand and dramatically improve the quality of faculty and infrastructure. This move will also relieve the institutes from the shackles of bureaucracy, inefficiency and corruption (The bureaucratic environment prevailing in these “autonomous” institutes is well exemplified by the recent death due to negligence of hospital authorities in the IIT Kharagpur campus).

One might ask, what of those students who cannot afford to fork out lakhs of rupees every year in order to avail such education. It is well known that foreign institutions of similar calibre charge tuition fee around $5000 per semester for bachelors and masters programmes. Withdrawal of government funding owing to privatization along with the profit making motive and the expansion overdrive into which these institutes would fall would result in a similar fee structure in India as well which would mean that it would cost students 2-3 lakh Indian rupees per semester in order to cover their tuition expenses for graduate programmes.

Here is where the government can play an active role. On the basis of the financial circumstances of a student and his family, the government themselves must provide educational loans to these students with minimal strings attached. The government can either directly provide cash to the students to pay their fee or issue government securities to them which can be encashed in banks or sold in the bond market for cash. The students of course will have to provide proof that this money is being used for the payment of fee. The students who wish to avail such a loan will have to sign a bond which requires repayment of the loan in EMIs starting 2 years after they complete their education. This would churn out profits for the governments akin to banks since the government would charge interest on the loans offered. If students fail to repay the loan within a stipulated time period they will have to work on a government job for a nominal salary for a stipulated period of time in return of the loan waiver.

In order to ensure, however, that these individuals perform well on the government job, they should be provided with a performance based incentive system ensuring more money and access to government loans at low interest rates for competent individuals. This way no student who is smart enough to receive admission into these institutes will be denied education due to financial constraints. At the same time, the institutes themselves would be much better off as they would work towards profiting, work against competition, to provide high quality education. Not brand name but results delivered on the ground will then be used to judge these institutions. Their profitability and survival would be determined by their performance and competence. The government can still play a regulatory role ensuring smooth and corruption-free administration in these institutions, while also capping their profit margins at a reasonable level in order to avoid exploitation and exorbitantly high cash reserves. A separate regulatory authority can be set up to regulate the functioning of the higher education system in India. This way, the government also can effectively use the human and monetary capital otherwise used to fund and monitor these institutes in other areas of social governance.

Considering the fact that most students from such prestigious institutes land in high paying corporate jobs, the number of defaults in loan payments, one would expect, would be considerably low. Also, the government sends out a clear message that one needs to be accountable when one expects to receive generous help from the government. The inclusion of such educated talent in the government execution machinery, if they fail to repay the loan offered, can do wonders for the corrupt and inefficient bureaucratic system which currently prevails. The message being sent out to the educated youth of this country by adopting such a stance would be that the state is more than willing to offer generous help to any individual in need, however the individual would also be expected to be accountable and reciprocate by offering his services to the state whenever and wherever necessary. One of the greatest world leaders in human history, John F Kennedy, once said “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. The message to send out today to the youth of this country would be “Demand from your country for whatever you need and offer to do for your country whatever you can”. Signing blank cheques to these institutes of higher education without making them accountable to the nation for providing leaders to serve this country is absolutely unjustifiable and must stop immediately.

Well, we will be going a bit off-topic in the next post, which i thought was necessary.

Reservations in Higher Education

Now, I would like to move on to offer my opinion on the issue of quotas or caste based reservations in “autonomous” institutes of higher education. Reservation is essential for the upliftment of a backward section of the society. However, a nation cannot have reservations forever, since the existence of reservations is a symbol of inequality. Reservations are a short term solution, to bring about equality among different sections of the society, while in the mean time we look for a long term solution. The great Babasaheb Ambedkar realised this early and vouched for reservation for the SCs and STs to be repealed/reconsidered after a period of 10 years. Today I am sure he is rolling over in his grave looking at how his noble intentions to uplift the backward sections of society have not only failed miserably but have actually created political vote banks for the politicians of this country to exploit.

The politicians want the backward classes of this country to remain backward and uneducated since otherwise, they would lose their loyal vote banks. If the masses were educated or enlightened, they would begin to question the legislature and the executive about their functioning and demand for developmental policies and competent governments which cannot be offered by any of today’s political parties. This is perhaps why instead of implementing a viable long term solution to bring these sections of society on par with the others; they are still clinging to the short-sighted, short term measures called reservations which, after 60 years, have been proved a failed system. The reason for this is simple. Reservations can never actually uplift the backward classes but will deceive these backward classes and win their votes.

In order to make my point clearer, consider the following illustration or example. When we are affected by a bacterial or viral infection, we usually tend to have fever as the main symptom. It is necessary to treat this symptom, using an antipyretic, while the doctor diagnoses the main problem (which is the infection) and finally prescribes as antibiotic to kill the infection. However, if the doctor were to only treat the symptom, fever, using a crocin, while ignoring the underlying condition, the patient will not get cured for a long time. As a matter of fact, after a certain point of time, he might die. Social and economic backwardness represent the infection in our case, whereas, crocin represents caste-based reservations. Crocin is necessary but not sufficient just like reservations. We need to subscribe to a policy which cures the underlying condition, while resorting to reservations to only keep the symptom in check temporarily.

The reason why reservations can never uplift the backward classes is that certain individuals belonging to those “socially backward” classes, who have availed the benefits of reservation and have prospered, can offer better education to their wards, who also are entitled to reservation, since reservation here is caste based and not based on the economic situation of the party in question. These wards of prosperous individuals avail of reservation benefits once again denying the benefits from reaching the poor and downtrodden of that section. This leads to successive generations of a small proportion of families belonging to these “backward classes” benefiting from the reservations. This is precisely why only a small part of SCs and STs have been uplifted after over 60 years of reservations. Most of them, even today, are illiterate. However, the reservation policy gives hope to the multitude which never can avail these reservations and thus, they cast their votes in favour of the politicians who vouch for reservations. This is precisely why no political party in India has ever opposed reservations and no party has suggested an alternative, feasible long term solution to the education problems of the backward classes.

If the true goal is the social and economic upliftment of backward classes and economically challenged families, what is the use of providing reservations in IITs and IIMs and other higher education institutes to these families which cannot even afford quality primary education? How can someone who does not get quality primary education due to poverty, discrimination and negligence even aspire to get into competitive top tier institutes like the IITs and the IIMs even in the presence of reservation? Even amongst the backward classes, students who get into the echelons of these institutes are those who can not only afford quality primary education but can also afford tuition fee for private coaching for the entrance tests of these institutes.

In essence, these are people who do not deserve or need reservations. Reservations, therefore is by no means a long term solution for the upliftment of the weaker sections of society. The only plausible solution to this crisis is for the government to play an active role in providing the poorer sections of society, irrespective or caste, religion or sex, with free, compulsory and quality primary and secondary education till class X and beyond this point, financially assist those who wish to proceed to higher education. Reservations have not solved the problem in 60 years and they will not solve the problem in another 600 years. The sooner the public, the media and the government realizes this undeniable fact, the better it would be for this country. We need to resort to antibiotics fast to prevent the death of this nation.

Or so i feel, and am expecting a lot of comments as its quite a controversial topic.. so, will be continuing with higher education in the next post as well...

Expansion of "Brand IIT"

Well, this post is on IITs (the evergreen topic) and the Government... lets get serious...


I take up this topic first since, being an alumnus of IIT Madras myself; it is a topic close to my heart. Not long after a great man by the name of Dr. Manmohan Singh announced his intent to set up 8 new IITs, did lively discussions centered on this topic ensue in campuses. A lot of IITians I knew were against the move on grounds that it would lead to brand dilution. This is a very capitalist view. No particular brand is more important than the general welfare of a nation and its citizens. If creating more IITs leads to the collapse of brand IIT as we know it while at the same time providing high quality education to a larger population, then so be it. Arguing against setting up of new IITs on grounds of brand dilution is nothing but promoting inequality. If the country has the resources to provide quality technical education to all its citizens, then by all means it should do so.

A lot of people feel that the IITs will slip in educational rankings simply because they will not remain the coveted dream, which never becomes real for many, if more IITs are set up. Setting aside the argument that even if this were true, we must have more IITs; let me also say that this is in fact not true in the first place. A brand is successful and duly acknowledged if it provides quality in terms of infrastructure, faculty, course content and employment opportunities. As long as the IITs provide the same kind of education and infrastructure that they have provided in the past, there is no question of the brand name deteriorating. Setting up more IITs, it is expected, would never hinder the development of already existing IITs nor does it imply that the new IITs will not be on par with the older ones. As long as these criteria are satisfied, the brand name will never be diluted or deteriorated.

Do not get me wrong. I am against this move to set up new IITs as well, but my ground for opposition is very different. The most important issue against setting up more IITs is the fact that we do not at this point of time have the adequate infrastructure or faculty to extend quality education to a larger audience. First of all, the existing IITs themselves, despite being the epitome of quality technical education in India, fail to live up to the standards of the MITs and the Stanfords. Brand IIT is much hyped in India but one must realize that when it comes to infrastructure and faculty, the IITs are far behind even second grade institutes in the US and Europe. If we cannot find enough talent to teach a handful of students at the existing 7 IITs then it is highly unlikely that the 8 new ones can provide quality education on par with the existing ones.

The new IITs at first started operating from the campuses of the old institutes itself since the infrastructure for setting up of the new IITs was still not in place. Despite the fact that even the location site was not finalized for some of the proposed IITs, 6 of these proposed 8 IITs were made operational with immediate (June 2008) effect with blatant disregard to the difficulties which would be most likely faced by the students, merely in order to appear populist and gain political leverage. I wonder if the right adjective to describe this is hilarious or pathetic or just sad. The Indian institute of Technology, Hyderabad, operated from the campus of IIT Madras. First of all, the infrastructure at IIT Madras is inadequate to support a larger intake than the existing one. The faculty is not only inadequate on a quantitative level, but also on a qualitative level. More importantly, these students would be totally confused. They would not have a sense of belonging to the campus in the first place.

I still remember how I felt when we were told that we had no department for Biotechnology as yet when I joined IIT madras and when I was told that we will be operating out of the Mechanical Sciences Block. I along with 50 other young, enthusiastic individuals were totally clueless and confused as to what it means not to have a dedicated department for the major that we were going to pursue for the next 4-5 years. Imagine the plight of these kids who study in IIT Madras and are referred to as students of IIT Hyderabad! Shocking! Imagine the problems they would face involving relocation at a later point in time to another temporary setup. Comprehensive infrastructure and faculty arrangements commensurate with the reputation of IITs cannot be setup in less than 5-10 years. Until this time, perhaps, at least a couple of batches of students would have received their convocation degrees in a temporary buffalo shed. They would not have dedicated classrooms or labs or computing facilities much like us, when we joined the “Department of Biotechnology” at IIT madras in 2003. How lost, unwanted and deprived would one feel in that kind of an environment?

With new IITs operating out of the old campuses itself coupled with the OBC quota, the intake would certainly increase by over 50% in each of the existing IITs. However, when it comes to the number of faculty and the quality of faculty, it only keeps getting more abysmal by the day, with senior professors retiring and no one as good to replace them. With young, talented professors looking for greener pastures abroad or in the corporate world where salaries are unmatched even by “iconic” institutes like the IITs. The compensation offered to an Assistant (entry level) professor at IIT madras, who is a PhD holder, is less than that offered to a clerk in a PSU bank. Preposterous! How can the IITs expect to attract and retain quality faculty with such abysmal incentives on offer? The quality is being robbed out of the “quality education” that is promised by brand IIT.

This is where I have a problem. If we can provide quality education to a larger population then we must do so by all means. But, robbing the “quality education” of its quality and providing low quality education to a larger pool of highly talented individuals is not acceptable. It is nothing but cheating those dreamy eyed young, enthusiastic leaders of tomorrow in the garb of socialism and equality. The bottom line is that we are not ready yet. We first need to reform the higher education system in the country in order to attract and retain quality faculty. We need to setup adequate infrastructure before taking the plunge forward. The choice comes down to having 7 high quality technical education providing institutes or having 15 mediocre/average technical education providers. I vote for the former. I hope I have convinced you to do the same.

We need to move ahead one step at a time. In the last 40-50 years we have seen the addition of only 1 new IIT, IIT Guwahati (IIT Roorkee which was already an established center of educational excellence was merely granted the brand name of IIT). IITs cannot be setup overnight, not in the kind of bureaucratic environment which prevails in this country at this point in time. The goal must be more sobering and realistic, like setting up one new IIT every 2 years from this year forth until each state in this country has an IIT campus. This in itself would be a challenge of gigantic proportions, a goal which would require immense dedication to the cause of promoting higher education in this country. The quality must not be robbed from education, instead it must be enhanced and every new IIT established must become a role model, a benchmark for excellence, which the already existing IITs too must pursue to reach.

I guess that was enough seriousness for a post :P; and if any of you has a difference of opinion, please do comment on it, so that we can probably have a small discussion where we can share ideas.

The next post would be on a topic which we've started but left unattended... Reservations!!! (Another hot topic :D).

Till then... tc... ciao

Government And Education

I would like to post a series of articles (as putting the whole thing in a single post would make the reader sleepy, which is not my aim) which present my views, ideas and suggestions on the role of the Government in Education. These series of articles discuss about education in the present scenario, and lead to a finale I've come up to.

Here i go... :)

I lay grave importance on education since I honestly believe that it is the most powerful force, something which is capable of inspiring change in any society, in any nation. It is an absolute necessity for the social, economic and political upliftment and equality of every individual, although in isolation it might not be sufficient. It has always been one field that has never attracted adequate attention from either the government or the general public, since it is a long term solution to the problems of this nation and not one that can be achieved in the immediate term, not something that can win votes in the upcoming election. Education not only provides a consistent source of income via employment to an individual, but also improves vastly the productivity of a nation as a whole, and more importantly makes us better human beings.

The education I refer to here does not merely end at acquiring knowledge of the various fields of life such as sciences, social or natural or geographical, nor does it merely mean literacy, but more importantly refers to the imbibing of moral values and ethics in individuals. It is not a surprise that more educated societies and countries in this world have a far better life style and life expectancy, neither is it baffling that these societies are far less corrupt and more humane compared to ones where there is a drought of quality education. It is surprising however, that a force as powerful and important as education is often neglected. Free power and construction of temples win elections in this country, but never will someone who vouches for quality primary education be taken seriously. Well perhaps not “never”. I guess that is the hope with which I write this piece.

Off late one has seen a substantial amount of participation from the current government at least on the higher education front in this nation. Quotas in higher education for various communities in IITs, IIMs, NITs, IIITs, etc and the establishment of a large number of new institutes (read IITs) that promise to perpetrate top quality technical education are some initiatives that have been much talked about. However, like most governments in the past, this government has also not given adequate importance to primary and secondary education.

I hope this sets up the mood well for the coming posts... will continue with Higher Education (read IITs et.al.) in my next post.