Ok, so maybe its not a concept to be questioned, but what’s the point in having a blog if i cant discuss what i want. Considering the effect it had on a couple of friends, I am expecting much angst.
To begin with, let me make it clear that the idea of India still finds much appeal in my emotional side. I like the vastness and uniqueness of it all, and the fact that we have a shared history. But unfortunately, it doesn’t find favor these days in my logical side. I feel that we have created an entity that has become way too large to handle for anyone. The events in Mumbai and a federal agency having to enter the fray added to this belief. No, the resignation of two ministers at the state level doesn’t quite capture the responsibility that the state/city administration should’ve taken on.
Even though I keep in mind the fact that I dont need a passport or a visa to go to Goa or Rohtang, everything from the fuss over the TN number plates in Bangalore, to the language barriers, from the fact that my Kerala voter’s id is of no use in Bangalore, to the ‘Madrasi’ caricature in Bollywood, gives me the feeling that we’re just a forced conglomerate of states. And then we elect a couple of houses of MPs, from these states, so that the Communists, who can barely form the government in 2 states, play spoilsport to a nuclear deal. We form a central government which helps the state governments say that just about nothing is their responsibility. Once upon a time, we’d everything from shared memories to Doordarshan to give us a semblance of common identity. Do we have that now? And that’s when i ask, whether the gains from the concept of India are really more than the losses.
If each state had more responsibility than a Central government, a mandate of taking care of itself – security, finance, infrastructure and so on, wouldn’t we have more accountability to governance, an accountability which can then be better put to use at local levels. My friend said that this has nothing to do with scale, but I think that by just being such a vast entity, we are actually laying ourselves open to divisions. Like the SMS forward I saw ‘Politicians divide us, terrorists unite us’. And meanwhile, Mumbai perhaps has a few more weeks before it gets into the archives sections, with hardly any retaliation or concrete action to be shown for the trauma.
I agree that a discussion here won’t change anything, but humour me, what do you think?
until next time, state your view
Blog Post: The India concept http://tinyurl.com/9bbdw4
…and on the blog today ‘The India concept’ https://manuscrypts.com/?p=1431
umm yes, we all go back to Doordarshan together. Now, children growing up in diff states will not have anything to share together.
Manipur MPs always go with a begging bowl to the parliament as we send just 2 of them who always try to outdo the other in keeping quite.
“And then we elect a couple of houses of MPs, from these states, so that the Communists, who can barely form the government in 2 states, play spoilsport to a nuclear deal.” well said!
Is the issue governance and the piddly quality of politicians OR is it that the country is too big? Yes?
Sir, a perusal of Civics 101 will remind you that a very clear separation of powers already exists – they are respectively called the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List.
Governance will not improve by the mere rejigging the allocation of subjects. In fact if you care to follow the example of the Regional Development Agencies in a decidedly much tinier England (not even the UK), the malfunctions will demonstrate amply that in some cases, it is not more efficient to devolve more.
Having studied devolved administrations closely (the models in the UK, the US and India) for reasons I best leave unsaid, I have to say yet again that strategy is all fine, it is the execution that gives people the heebie-jeebies. And that is the single point of failure in the smartest of plans.
For more on accountability, well, pray that ChangeThis approves my proposal and you may have more meaty stuff to discuss 😉
It is my opinion that India will split up into its former regions eventually. “Unity in diversity” motto was more of state propaganda than based on Indian history.
I also am opposed to devolution. The stronger the regional governments gets vis-a-vis the center, the easier it is for the state to sever from the nation. History can substantiate it.
The mistake was done much earlier.The Britishers united India,so to say.It was an unmanageable group of princely states/territories then.Enmity towards them united the states.
Post independence,everybody was high on optimism and built a quasi federal state.Hey!Decide fast,federal or not!They chose a middle path, indecisive?
-Nikhil
arunima: exactly, in the case of many states its the begging bowl story
austere: i’m saying the two things are related
shefaly: Civics was only a 20 marks contributor in the ‘Social Studies’ 100.. anyway i liked history 🙂 but yes, the problem i have is that when farmers in kerala commit suicide, and when we talk of train connectivity, the state conveniently passes on the blame to the centre citing subsidies and ‘no allotment for us in the central budget.. also think that de evolving could bring in more local accountability and therefore better execution
Arby K: many times i get reminded of the saying “the herd is only as fast as the slowest deer”. we might be better off if each state was more responsible…
Nikhil: actually ashoka and akbar attempted it before too.. i agree on the indecisiveness – that was a recurring theme, as in the case of the mixed economy we decided to go with
The current system will work only if given a chance, a chance which will be denied until the power and money corrupt politicians rule the government. Look at TN, supposedly an upcoming state, its true colour was reflected in the debacle of the Thirumangalam elections. In TN, politics is a second and fall back career for uneducated, fame crazed actors suffering from a gigantic “hero” complexes.
I say execute the power corrupt polits in public. Make a lesson out of one, the others will fall in line.
I don’t know, if you know this info, but back in 1960s, DMK had hindi agitation marches and made a lot of noise about TN as a separate independent state. Thank god for the 1963 law and Nehru, TN is still a part of India.