Changing India – One Step at a Time
Continued from Part I: Who is B Shantanu?
To be very honest, the “next steps†were the hardest part.
We all know how easy it is to theorise and preach…but when it comes to practising what we preach, we tend to get nervous, anxious, unsure…and end up worrying too much.
I passed through these stages…Every day for the last few weeks, I thought about this…How does one actually make it work?
There were some obvious challenges…The big one was the question of survival…
What do I mean by that? Here I would like to reproduce a short extract from Sanjeev Sabhlok’s recent comment on my blog:
“I completely detest anyone who claims to live first for their country. I want nothing to do with such hypocrites. I want everyone to live for themselves first and foremost. That is the surest way they will take India to greatness. Anyone who desires to ‘sacrifice’ his or her self-interest for the wider society is either a hypocrite or a totally irresponsible person, and we want nothing to do with such people.â€
Those words echoed what I had felt for years…that one cannot really give up one’s responsibility under the excuse/pretext of serving the nation.
During discussions with some close friends with whom I shared this dilemma, I used to constantly emphasize that our challenge is to do something worthwhile/gainful (that enables us and our families to continue to enjoy a certain standard of living) while also contributing to the improvement of our society and our country (and I don’t mean simply by giving to charity).
I do not want to pretend that I have solved this puzzle.
But, for the moment, I think I have found a way out… Here I have to make a major confession. There is one person – without whose unstinting support and faith in me, all of this would have remained on paper…and only in my head…
That person is my soul-mate (and my wife!)…For the last five years, she has given her complete support to my blogging and related activities. If you think blogging comes easy to me, it does not…usually each post involves quite a lot of work to ensure that the content is high quality, readily referenced and something that I can defend (– and of course something that I would not mind my daughter reading – or my parents…)
As I wrote in an earlier post on my blog:
Without her support, this would have been impossible to do…I thank her for sacrificing countless hours while I was busy at the keyboard or doing background research. I also thank her for being patient with me through my “dark periods” and the occasional writer’s block.
To me, her support was crucial…and she did not hesitate for a moment when I mentioned my ideas to her…
So what exactly do I plan to do?
First, I am reducing my hours of “paid employmentâ€. Starting this December, I will be working part-time on two or three different ideas/companies. Most of this work will have to do with innovation, entrepreneurship, venture capital…
It will involve working with start-ups (on a consulting basis), mentoring entrepreneurs, conducting workshops (on business plans, presentation and getting financed) and possibly seminars for entrepreneurs, students in various cities in India.
I will also be taking up public speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Globalisation and of course Politics and Governance in India as well as abroad.
Second, I am setting aside at least two days a week to do things which I loosely combine under the umbrella of political reform/ political activism. This would essentially involve:
- Working on developing the foundations of a political ideology for tomorrow’s India (at the moment, this is loosely based on the premise of freedom and rooted in India’s “dharmic†ethos and culture; I need not mention that “Dharma†does not mean “Religion†here)
- Creating public awareness on the need for reforming India – beyond contributing to charities, NGOs or doing individual good. It would involve getting more people interested in active politics…it would also involve helping people understand the the fundamentals of politics and governance in India. In parallel, I will be working on creating a large group of policy-experts in various fields (e.g. economics, public health etc) who share a common desire to change and improve India
- Raising funds for what I would like to call the “Hope Summitâ€Â Some of you have heard this idea from me before…I intend to devote more time to actually make this happen
- and finally, working and advising some of the new political formations on a pro-bono basis. I hope to bring to this all my experience as a Board member and advisor to companies and businesses start-ups…In many ways, what we are attempting is very similar to starting a new company with a grand idea to change the world – think two students in a garage, 1998 and Google.
There are many more ideas than what I have listed here…Some of them will go away, others will be refined…some may never see the light of the day…
But one needs to start somewhere…and I see these as tentative first steps…
This will not be enough though…It just cannot be…We are up against a challenge of monumental proportions….A lot more will need to be done…and clearly it will be impossible to achieve any of this without your support..
I would like to hear from you about what else can be done…where else should I be focusing my energies on…Remember, there is nothing like a stupid suggestion…
So please do write in with your thoughts – either via comments to this post – or you can always email me personally (jai.dharma AT gmail.com )
Those of you who know me will guess that in the end, I may actually end up spending quite a lot more than two days a week on all of this….but that would not be bad at all…In the end, this has to be a full-time activity…
Eventually, the objective is to get actively and fully involved in the political process…and I don’t mean all by myself …but with all of you together…
I hope to be in a position within the next five years (and much sooner, if things so well), to be able to devote myself full-time to this activity.
How can you help and what can you do?
You can create awareness, give speeches/lectures/talks and think about the issues I have raised…You can help by creating forums, platforms, forming like-minded groups and talking amongst yourselves…The wider the discussion, the more creative it gets and hopefully even better ideas will emerge from this.
and most importantly…you can help by becoming financially independent (and beyond that, by having enough resources to contribute directly to this cause) – because unless you are financially secure and your family is well looked after, you will not be able to devote time to this.
Between ourselves, I have no doubt that we are significantly better “qualifiedâ€, committed and passionate about changing India than many of our “leaders†who claim to represent us.
As Babu Joseph wrote in an earlier comment on this blog:
We have only 2 options:
- Locating patriotic people who are willing to stand for elections on their on with the active support of other like minded people and trying to influence the political process directly and
- Trying to create public opinion in favor of good policies,programs and their implementation by whatever way possible so that politicians and decision makers are kept on track
I hope my efforts and these activities will strengthen and complement each other and I hope I can begin to draw people from my networks and relationships into this initiative. To me, this was actually the final reason for going public. I realized that the time for leveraging the relationships and the network I had was slipping by…If I leave it for too long, these two parts of my life will begin to get in the way of each other and eventually the synergies will begin to diminish…This was what prompted the decision to “come out of the closet”
For too long we have been saying this is someone else’s problem..
For too long we have been trying not to think about it..
For too long have we been finding reasons not to do anything
For too long we have been pretending everything is fine.
It is not.
We need to wake up…
I am throwing down the gauntlet…
Please join me in this effort..
- Contribute
- Support
- Spread the word
- Contribute with your skills
- Contribute with your ideas
If you have read this far, you deserve a special thanks…You have given me hope, courage and strength to carry on..
This is no ordinary struggle.. We are dreaming the impossible…but we have truth on our side.
I am now looking to your support, encouragement and help in this endeavor…It is a mammoth task…but one has to begin somewhere…I have taken the first step today.
Will you join me…in changing India?
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
***
P.S. I would like to end this with the remaining part of Sanjeev’s comment:
In brief, I detest those who pretend to ’sacrifice’ themselves for the country. Such people are almost invariably knaves or fools. Who really believes that the Nehru dynasty ’sacrfices’ itself for India? After Nehru who was an honest person, the rest have been knaves who have infected the country badly with the virus of corruption and who partake in illegal activities each day of their life.
Similarly we don’t want rich people who have no idea of the problems faced by the common man to allegedly ’sacrifice’ for us. Such people (e.g. erstwhile aristocrats and ‘Rajas’) are largely fools whom we can do without.
…The point being – by ignoring the financial costs of contesting elections, we have created a monopoly in the parliament for knaves and fools. No sensible or non-corrupt people are to be found (there are still a few, luckily for us). This is not the way to run any society.
***
P.P.S. I am grateful to Varnam for spreading the word.
Next in the series: Some sensible and some wild ideas. Please read Step One and Changing India – Step 2
Related Posts
What is stopping you from joining active politics? (and Part II)
Fixing the “system†– getting down to the nuts and bolts
Dear Shri. Shantanu,
I have been an occasional and passive visitor to your blog. Congratulations on your venture. In my humble opinion, it is a step in the right earnest and direction.
My longstanding interest has been to know what India (Bharata) truly is, including her history and peoples. After years of reading and thinking, i have come to the conclusion that India has been kept out of its glory by both its invaders and its own populace. I see that we are slowly emerging out of the long habit of looking, knowing and understanding ourselves through outsider’s eyes which more often than not have prejudice and contempt for us. We are slowly starting to look at ourselves through our own eyes. That is a heartening and welcome sign.
To my mind, any comprehensive solution to the maladies facing India should come from withing the frame work of Indian thought with regards to the concepts of Nation (Rashtra), State(Rajya), National Security, Economics and so on.
Hence i have reservations about concepts such as Globalization, Secularism, Multi-Culturalism, tolerance, which are Anglo-Saxon/Western concepts which are floated by the West to bring other Non Western nations under their domain and subservience. Even as we speak, the Globalization model is collapsing. It is unsustainable. Please see the brilliant presentation on the Global Imbalance and the Coming Collapse of the dollar by Shri M R Venkatesh of Chennai at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4343898391323537541&ei=3mkLScWLBYeQrALwkM2nDA&q=mr+venkatesh&hl=en
India has to use its own depth, substance that comes from its unique vision of life to solve the problems besetting her. It is heartening to see the caption/title for your blog “Satyam Eva Jayate” comes from the Mundakopanishad. So also the approach to solving the current problems of India lies in its own deep intellect which has clear ideas about Nation, State, Economics and National security. Perhaps an insight could be available from works like “Artha Shaastra”. We should learn lessons from the coming collapse of the West. Yes, Patrick Buchanan is right. The West is Dying. It is going to be India’s moment. But India has to deal with all the Intellectual Subversion that has occurred for more than two hundred years. Some of the people on your blog may have already seen Smt. Radha Rajan’s video on “Intellectual Subversion in India”
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6864335520571762844
Best of Luck.
Best Regards,
Guru Charan
Yes, I will join you in changing India. I will support, spread and contribute. I would like to take some time to write about what else can be done and how can I contribute my skills and ideas.
Jai Hind!
Thank you for acknowledging my last mail.I cant confess to having any solid ideas, as yet, to further this important endeavor, however I do agree with Shri Guru Charan. The foundational thinking must be correct for any successful attempt at correcting the current course of the National Ship. The underlying sentiment HAS to be a Love for this Nation, ALL its people, all its regions and a TRUE respect for ALL its varied cultures and religions. I sincerely believe that the tools, for the Indian people to reoccupy their political and cultural space, so shamelessly usurped by the main political parties, already exist in the collective Dharma, history and culture of Bharatvarsh.
Without this foundation any attempt to commence a movement to re-establish pride in our Nationhood may come a cropper.
With all my heart ,for the sake of all Indians who deserve better, I wish you succeed and that I may help in some small way.
Regards
Ashutosh Kumar
Shantanu,
The decision making for the transition is one tough step followed by a mountain to climb. It is nice to read someone you know (at least via blogs) to make the transition, a sign that there are still individuals capable of viewing things in perspective and I salute you for that.
I am hopeful that your efforts will enable me some day to give my 2 cents to society.
Carpe diem my friend.
Dear Shantanu
My best wishes…..i am working on becoming financially independent in 3-5 years and join in the revolution full time that must happen. india will lead the world tomorrow and all of us in some way would participate in that.
It is important as you have said…
Again my best wishes to you and all the concerned patriots to come forward and do their bit……
regards
Dnyanesh
Nice to learn more about you. I can empathize with how difficult it is to write blogs. Especially when you are bogged down with regular work and with the “on-road doing” part of things.
@ Sanjeev’s comment: “I completely detest anyone who claims to live first for their country.”
I agree and disagree with this. There is a time and place for every shade; Life is gray scale, binary only looks good on circuits. I agree in the sense that there is no place for such feelings while designing policies. When the seeds of our political structure were being sown, the predominant frame of thought was “Country first”. The shadow of such feelings has lead to a very shabby framework in terms of accountability, remuneration, and electoral process. For example, “Country is first for every politician, defence person etc etc and hence they will be expected to work for peanuts”. On the other hand, if we completely let go of “Country first” feelings among all citizen, you run the risk of creating a loss of reference for the common man, and a geographic disconnect. There is a necessity to have “Country first” feelings among every citizen. We need to get to a stage where every citizen believes that country first is equivalent to creating a better tomorrow for himself and his family.
@ your comment “you can help by becoming financially independent”
It is nice to suggest/recommend financial independence before an individual gets into politics. However, it is very dangerous for political parties to allow someone to work for them for free. Parties and policies have to draw strict lines of what is voluntary and what is not. Else sooner or later there will be a day when the free-loader will be driven to an ulterior need. Remuneration, accountability, and punishment go hand in hand. If I am self-sufficient enough, there will be a day when I will not perform. To quote from the niti-shastra “Discontented brahmanas, contented kings, shy prostitutes, and immodest housewives are ruined.”
Dear Shantanu
Best Wishes for your new venture .
India is an Idea which will change with time ..we can contribute whatever we can by our intellect , however Sanjeev’s comment was arrogant one .. Swami Vivekananda lived for an idea and saved our souls .. he made India as the purpose of his own existence .. we wasnt a fool .
Dear Shantanu,
It gladdens my heart to see that others are also thinking along the same lines. I tip my hat (turban?) to you on taking the first step and wish you all the very best in your endeavor.
I have also read all the comments and I am happy to see that there are no spoil sports around and that all your readers support you.
I believe that the only way out for India is Education. The idea mentioned by you and some of your readers that one needs to join politics to change the system is fine but in it itself is neither a self sustaining model nor a viable long term model. We will always be faced with the chicken and egg problem (very few people are joining politics to change it and politics is not changing because very few people join it). To solve this problem, we need people contributing in the millions in their own way (not necessarily by standing for elections). Politics / elections is just one small part of the problem.
I am an entrepreneur and have burnt my fingers by trying to work with the govt. It has become so miserable today that the current elected ministers have absolutely no control over the bureaucracy. It has gone to such an extent that a minister who was incharge of a project that i was suggesting said that he has no control over his officers and that i have to work the file thro the channels myself and once it gets to his desk he would clear it. This is because the bureaucrat would have paid to come to that post and hence his main aim would be to recover his investments first.
This is why i feel that the entire population (or atleast a sizable chunk) must arise to meet this challenge and the only way that can be achieved is by educating our people and enlightening them and letting them take actions to improve their lot. This is the only scalable model and sustainable model.
We educated people should only act as facilitators in helping people help themselves. As one of your commentators said once people start looking after their own good then that means that they are also looking after the country’s good. Our population (of enlightened people who want to change the system) is very small and hence as a typical entrepreneur would think we need to judiciously deploy our resources in a manner that it would have the maximum effect.
Today lawlessness and corruption can thrive because our people dont know better. To tackle this problem the main weapon we have at our disposal is education. Once every man woman and child start thinking about improving the system that is the only time some effect can be seen.
So please I would like to request you to deploy your strengths like your experience in the VC field, your background in the administration etc to first find a scalable solution to make our populace educated first. I sincerely believe all other problems will get solved on their own once this is achieved.
Also please do let me know how I could be of any assistance to you.
Regards
Dear Shantanu
You are truly a charismatic and talented leader. It is just a pure joy to see your passion in your convictions. You have the great skill of connecting with people and infect them with your passion. I will be more than happy and proud to help you in whatever way I can. The least I can do at this moment is to spread the word.
You might already be in touch with Avinash Dharmadhikari (ex-IAS official) who is doing a great deal of totally dedicated work along similar lines in Pune. Thought I would mention this in any case.
All the very best wishes.
Mahesh
Dear Shantanuji:
I read through your “coming out of closet” post yesterday and patiently waited for this post “One step a time”. For me personally this has felt like déjà vu. I had gone through precisely similar mental agony about 3 years ago. See:
http://www.newindia.org.in/A_New_India.htm (some of the links within the page are not working so scroll down to the sections to read thru)
I have come to know about you through our association with FTI (http://www.freedomteam.in/). And personally I came to know about you in our conversation about a month ago. It is good to know that you have taken some decisive steps.
I have to differ with Sanjeevji for the very reasons given by Surya in comments. Without some passion for our country we would not be here on this blog.
I have also liaised with Guru Charan Das ji and Sanjeev Sabhlok ji for last over 3 years. I have also met JP from Loksatta and had contacts with Alok Singh in UK. I do think there are a lot of individuals and organizations who want to bring decisive change to the Indian politics. By the mere fact that so many of us are dreaming the same dream, we will be able to change this into reality.
I am looking forward to working with you as part of FTI and any other way to bring about this change.
Kind Regards,
Anil
Dear Guru Charan: We share at least one passion: “…My longstanding interest has been to know what India (Bharata) truly is, including her history and peoples…” On a more serious note, I liked your idea that “…any comprehensive solution to the maladies facing India should come from withing the frame work of Indian thought with regards to the concepts of Nation (Rashtra), State(Rajya), National Security, Economics and so on…”
Well said. The challenge is to articulate these and use them appropriately in the current context and milieu.
I understand your reservations about “Globalization, Secularism, Multi-Culturalism…etcc”…Some of these labels are presumptive when applied to India (we have known globalization and multiculturalism for several thousand years)…
I have seen M R Venkatesh’s presentation. It was also mentioned in a comment by Mahesh Patil on another post…and I have great respect for Radha Rajan-ji even though I do not agree with everything she says.
I completely agree that there is lots that is of value in our heritage and traditions and that must be understood and well applied (e.g. “Arthashastra”
)…
In doing so, I need your help and support…and I trust I will have that. Thanks.
***
@ Indian: Thank you and I will wait to hear from you…You can leave a comment here or email me directly if you prefer.
***
Dear Ashutosh: Thanks for following up…I dont think any of us have a final answer…we are all trying and searching…Discussion and dialogue helps this process so all thoughts must be welcome and respected. And like you, I too would like to believe that “…the tools, for the Indian people to reoccupy their political and cultural space, so shamelessly usurped by the main political parties, already exist in the collective Dharma, history and culture of Bharatvarsh…”
***
@ Dirt Digger: Thank you for your kind words…I am sure you are doing what you can…and I am certain you will do more in the years to come.
I will wait for the moment when you are ready to join us.
***
@ Dnyanesh: Thank you and I know you will be with us…In the meantime, we must keep our spirits high.
***
@ Surya: I think you may have mis-understood Sanjeev’s comment…But I should let him clarify that…Clearly we all have an extremely strong sense of duty towards our country…otherwise we would not have been discussing these things here…
I agree that we cannot let go of the “Country first†feeling/ passion for India that we all feel…Otherwise, we will be rootless and as you say, “without any reference….and a geographic disconnect.”
I also agree with you (that) We need to get to a stage where every citizen believes that country first is equivalent to creating a better tomorrow for himself and his family.
As for working for free for political causes, you have a good point…Clearly something to think about…
Loved your quote from the niti-shastra “Discontented brahmanas, contented kings, shy prostitutes, and immodest housewives are ruined.â€
***
@ Raj: Thanks…I will let Sanjeev clarify his comments…Like you (and I believe Sanjeev too), I have the greatest regard for Swami Vivekananda, his thoughts and deeds…His life is a true inspiration.
***
@ KC: Thank you for your kind words. I will come back to your point about “Education”…I would like to give it some more thought.
Having been part of the “system”, I know and understand your frustrations first-hand.
There is no accountability left…and very little commitment…but then we all know that…
How can this be change?
We do need to think like entreprenuers…(as I had mentioned in my post too)…for we have limited time, limited resources and we face severe risks..
and as you said, we will need to “…judiciously deploy our resources in a manner that it would have the maximum effect.”
More on this soon and I may send you a personal email to discuss this further.
***
@ Mahesh: Thank you for your kind words. I knew I could count on your support…I have heard of Sh Dharmadhikari but have not met him yet…I may get a chance to meet hin in December.
***
@ Dear Anil: I have been very late in follwing up on our last conversation…Now you know why!
I agree with you that “…By the mere fact that so many of us are dreaming the same dream, we will be able to change this into reality…”
I will be in touch with you soon.
Dear Anil and folks who are a bit surprised about my statement: “I completely detest anyone who claims to live first for their countryâ€, here are a few comments.
I have an insistent and incessant demand for the truth and so I expect the following order to be observed by every rational human being: I expect people to care first for themselves, then for their children and family, then for the country, and lastly, for the entire world. This is called enlightened self-interest.
Taking care of the nation is a vital part of taking care of ourselves, and I’ll come to that in a moment. But when someone turns this order around and claims to live FIRST for your country, I say, “Ha!! Halt! That’s rubbish, because you are a hypocrite and I don’t want anything to do with hypocritesâ€.
In an aeroplane the first thing taught is that when a plane hits turbulence you must put on your oxygen mask FIRST, before putting it on your child. The reason is that is you can’t breathe yourself you simply can’t take care of your child. That applies to our entire life. There is a very important practical message and moral there.
You must demonstrate the ability to take care of yourself financially and socially first, before advancing a claim to take care of your country. If you can’t even look after yourself and your family what qualifies you to look after the country FIRST? Indeed, how can you possibly do so?
I’m attaching below some extracts from my draft manuscript (Discovery of Freedom) to clarify some of the underlying arguments:
===
“While we do not have broader responsibilities than those towards ourselves and our families, we do have a joint responsibility (together with everyone else) to ensure that the social contract and the law is upheld; we have a responsibility to be a good citizen. …
“[W]e are responsible, jointly, with others – for maintaining the integrity of our social contract or governance system, and thus for ensuring the quality of our society’s governance. We are responsible for engaging with our society. … Indifference to this responsibility simply cannot be an option.â€
“Let us say that I meet a handicapped beggar while walking home after shopping for my family. What is my responsibility towards the beggar? First, I did not bring him into this world. Second, I did not steal his property nor hurt him in any way. Third, I have not traded anything with him either. Therefore I am not accountable to him in any way. However, despite that I may experience empathy for the beggar and give him some food – without being committed to his lifelong care. More importantly, I would aim to build a social contract in which no beggars will ever exist, through a social minimum which guarantees equal opportunity.†(My specialisation is public policy and governance, and so my contribution would be towards a social contract which gets rid of poverty entirely (something which I have shown how to, in great detail, in “Breaking Free of Nehruâ€)).
“Thus, if India’s poverty (arising from misgovernance) is reduced even slightly as a result of my efforts, then I will be able to share in the prestige of being a member of a well off nation, and the cost to me of my efforts would have been more than compensated. Thus I will get great personal value from India being a better off country, even though it may appear at times to me (when I review the personal cost of my efforts) that I have over-paid for this potential feeling. More importantly, altruism is an expression of our values, of things we value, things we care for, and thus vitally represents our self-interest.â€
===
I care very deeply for India because avoidable poverty and violence bothers me a lot. It bothers me to have been forced to leave my own country mid-way through my life because of its stupid and corrupt leaders. I want India to revert to the relative status of greatness it occupied in the past (note: I’m talking about relative status, not in absolute terms. A person who cares a lot for himself will care deeply for his country. That is a natural corollary as I will demonstrate shortly below.
In my view it is because people don’t care much for themselves that they don’t participate in the political process in India. They think of themselves as subservient sheep, not as proud citizens who will demand and set standards for their country. They believe they are destined to be tame followers of the corrupt scoundrels who govern India today, not leaders who can change the world to suit their DEMANDS.
Only if you care for yourself and your own ethical principals sufficiently will you participate in your country’s reform. I care for myself and respect myself TOO MUCH to spend my life working with dishonest and corrupt politicians, or living in an environment of bigotry and moral decadence. I respect myself TOO MUCH to care to work for peanuts. It is through my personal self respect and demand for my own sovereignty and moral standards that I can hope to reform India and set similar standards for India and its politicians. I want nothing to have to do with a corrupt India, so I demand a Great India instead. To suit my needs, not to suit my country’s needs (what is a country if not a bunch of people like us?).
In other words, how much you care for yourself spills into how much you care for your country. I DON’T CARE for a corrupt and intolerant India. Let me be clear on that. I want a different India, and will not compromise my integrity or needs for anything less than the best.
We must begin our journey as a nation towards greatness with a discovery of the truth. The truth is that political representation is a job. We citizens hire representatives to take decisions for us and govern our country, not to sing and dance patriotic songs for us. They are not film heroes and heroines running about trees singing patriotic songs, but our policy leaders. We pay them as we would pay our SERVANTS – in return for good services; else we must dismiss them. We want them to be accountable to us, not make a song and dance about how they care for India. Running India is not a nautaki. It is serious business where the best must enter and lead.
We seem to be attracted by any idiot who falsely says he cares for India FIRST. That is why those who come to us claiming to care SO MUCH (!) for us fleece us at the first available opportunity and transfer our country’s wealth into their PRIVATE Swiss bank accounts abroad. So much for the love of India! I’ve seen enough of such people in my life as a bureaucrat in India and I will have no more dealings with such scoundrels. Hope that clarifies my statement.
In the end, I ask – when are we going to grow up into becoming sovereign citizens of a sovereign country?
Regards
Sanjeev
Dear Sanjeevji:
I have very high regard for your intellect and experience. In fact I have learned a lot from your experiences and writings. Your elaboration is flawless but these views, in my opinion, are abstract, philosophical, idealistic and very analytical. Not that there is any thing wrong with that. But I would categories them as more of left-brain analysis. Some times with left brains unending analysis paralysis we do tend to loose focus of the bigger vision. This also makes one to backtrack from that grand vision when going gets tough.
My take on this is more of a right brain approach. My driving passion is to see India as the best country and to work towards that vision we would need to be self sufficient first. As they say lead from the right brain and manage from the left. I think we need a good balance of both.
Kind Regards,
Anil
ShantanuJi,
Can i correspond with you in email? I want to know how i could be of help to you in your mission. Please let me know.
Regards,
Guru Charan
@ Guru Charan: Of course. Pl. feel free to email me at jaidharma AT gmail.com
***
@ All: Pl. feel free to directly email me with your ideas, suggestions – and of course you can share them here too.
***
More on various ideas in a forthcoming post.
When u r looking for political reform, u’ll need the support of the mass populace. Now, how do u intend to garner it? Again I mention the comment I mhad made earlier.
Currently, there are two so called national parties who have wide audience in most parts of the nation. Then, there are region based parties who are concentrated only on certain amount of people. In the current political context, the region based parties have more power at the centre because of the inability of the former two to garner majority at the centre on its own.
Now, from where do u intend to attract ur audience? The region based parties focus on their vote bank or their limited are of control. When the populace is concerned abt making their ends meet or from where they will get food for the next month, it is not relief in ten years that will attract them, but immediate relief. The region based parties can promise more because their concern is not national well being, but regional well being. They have a strong hold of the centre because of the realities of coalition politics, so they can demand resources of other states (that are in the opposition or have lesser votes) and get it. Votes recognise this and flock to them in election time.
Consider this, four states which contributed to 18% of Indian GDP i 2006-07 (As obtained from http://mospi.nic.in/6_gsdp_cur_9394ser.htm ) provide 32% of the Lok Sabha. The four states can capitalise on their political bargaining power, while the rest can use it to blame the states for sufferings in their region. (This has not yet happened as a direct quote, though in essence it has). Moreover, the region based parties, be it DMK on Sri Lankan Tamils, TMC on Singur, Thackereys on Marathi, have all looked towards their region, not putting national interest as a priority. (This is also why I mentioned population is becoming a bane for India in my earlier comment, something that may not have been relevant in the 90s)
Fortunately, the current situation has not yet gone out of control and can be kept in check. But by whom? The two national parties are impotent in handling their coalition partners because it is a question of government stability. Five years from now, the situation will further worsen, with the region based parties gaining ground over the national ones.
This is why I reiterate on the need for a Presidential government in India. Give the right to the executive to govern the entire nation (and not in parts) without the constant concern of a falling government. It may be a far fetched idea, but this is the best I could think of (considering my limited experience in this context). Any method that can have put the “centre” back in central government will do.
Arby: Thanks for your thought-provoking comment…This is a quick response…I will write more later..
First of all I would I like to invite you to consider joining the Freedom Team of India on google groups…
Secondly, I am not clear how fundamental change can be brough about unless like-minded people (like you and me) come to a position where you can actually change policies and/or amend the constitution…
You cannot bring a Presidential form of government from outside…You will need parliamentary majority to get anywhere close to that…which means you either drop the idea or co-opt the national parties in this effort..
A more practical (and incremental, and slower) approach might be what I described in one of my ealrier posts:
https://satyameva-jayate.org/2008/09/01/politics-nuts-and-blots/
In particular, pl. see point # 1.
Arby,
While the two-party system may look appealing at first glance, if you examine the US political system in detail, you will find that it has many flaws which make it less appealing.
The two-party system results in people voting with their fears and not with their true interests as they fear the other party coming into power. This results in people supporting a candidate with whose platform they don’t completely agree with and are forced to dilute their stand or put it on the back-burner to agree with their party candidate’s stand, and then vote for “lesser of the two evils.” This phenomenon happens among the supporters of both parties, and results in shutting out the voices of people who support or want to support Libertarian, Constitution or Green Party policies because they agree much more with the platform of these parties than the two major ones. Effectively, disenfranchisement and not proportional democracy. In a true democracy, people should have more choices, not less. India has a better system in that respect as it gives more choices to people to express their views.
Second point – since both major parties know the above phenomenon and take the votes of certain principled sections of their supporters for granted, this results in increased corruption. Once elected, they are free to do whatever they want instead of representing their constituents. I won’t even go into the issue of huge amounts of money that these politicians take from big global businesses and then make laws that don’t take into consideration concerns of individual citizens. It’s institutionalized corruption which goes by the euphemism of “campaign contributions.” Having such vast amounts of money corrupts the democratic system and leads to cynicism.
I could give you some more points like the polarization and cultural wars that happen here in the US, but this is a good start.
My point is not to defend the Indian political system – it needs an overhaul, but to suggest that if you are interested in democracy and reforming the democratic system in India, then a two-party system and that too along the lines of the US, is probably not a solution, let alone a better solution.
But if you’re thinking more along the lines of one party being in power and implementing its agenda without any opposition and without any regard for the views of nearly 50% of population, then yeah, we have the Bush presidency as an example.
By the way, what will you tell TDP and SS leaders that would convince them to let go of their regional identity and merge with a major national party? And what makes you so sure that a national party will be amenable to the unique demands of a region once there are no regional parties? India is quite different from US in that respect.
Instead of implementing a two-party Presidential system (which would be quite a herculean task), it might be a better solution to float the idea of honest politicians. Maybe a party with an explicit platform of running candidates who:
1. Don’t take bribes.
2. Refuse to take all unnecessary and outrageous privileges that come with the position of an MP (travel allowance, perks etc.) thus saving taxpayer money.
3. Are committed to Indian Constitution first and party second.
4. Consider themselves public servants and not masters.
and so on.
5. Do not contest election if there is a criminal charge against them.
From what I’ve read, Modi seems to embody many of such qualities. Either it could be a party platform, or it could be a pledge that politicians of all parties could adopt.
What it comes down to is that honest and principled people start to contest elections and keep trying till they are successful.
Dear Sri Shantanu,
I am absolutely with you. You have reflected much of what I wanted to say. Yes we the educated, unbiased and neutral people should get together to defeat the evil designs of the self-serving politicians. We must also focus our attention to the terribly biased media who only project what their masters (either in India or abroad) want to project. Many times what they project is not only one-sided & highly exxagerated but also UNTRUE. They will go to any extent to achieve their evil designs. Unfortunately they do succeed in poisoning the minds of gullible public.
Let’s include this point in our agenda.
Wishing our mission the best of everything.
Very good wishes
N. RAMANATHN
@ Kaffir (Comment 18) : A two party system is flawed and I do agree that the people will have no choice left beyond th two parties to raise their voice. I do not recommend it as long term prospect either. But if there be a multi party system, let it be based on idealogy and not on region. The current political system can and will eventually lead to the breakup of the country because:
1) The power is in the regions and not at the centre. The central government is dependent on region based parties for its survival and cannot make bold decision without them. I don’t want to give a history lesson here, but never in the history of mankind has there been an occasion where a nation has survived with stronger regions.
2) Region based parties have started focussing inwards, antagonizing other regions. The centre is unable to react strongly because of coalition arithmetic.
The best way to move forward as a nation is by giving power to the central government, to rein in the regions. At the least when we vote for the legislature, let us have an executive that lasts the term without being worried abt losing majority all the time. This will empower the govt to make national centric decisions, rather than region baased ones to appease their coalition partners.
Regarding how to get region based parties to support this, it doesn’t need their support. All that is needed is for the two national parties and the people of the nation to work for the better interest of the nation.
Arby: “…All that is needed is for the two national parties…to work for the better interest of the nation”.
This will probably be the *hardest* part.
Arby, simply having a two-party system will not get rid of dishonesty and corruption that is so rife among the politicians of *all* parties in India. If you can name one party that is honest and principled, and its members don’t take bribes, I’d love to support it.
Instead of focusing on changing the system to a two-party one, I’d prefer changing the people to more honest ones – either of their own volition, or by setting examples (Modi, E. Shreedharan), or through laws (e.g. can’t run for public office if convicted of a crime, can’t accept campaign “donations”).
It’ll take a long time and sustained efforts to bring about a positive change.
All: I spoke to Prof Trilochan Sastry of ADR (Election Watch) yesterday…
I will share the details of our conversation in another post…but the one thing he did mention is almost similar to what Kaffir said above…i.e. a lot of things will improve simply by having good, clean and honest people join politics – regardless of their affiliation…
I tend to agree with that.
Shri LK Advani website: http://www.lkadvani.in/
Let we all join hands to greet Shri LK Advani, Prime Ministerial Candidate BJP-NDA 2009, on the occasion of his 81st birthday on 8 November.
Janamdin ki Hardik Subhkamayeen!
Wish you a Very Happy Birthday, and Long and Healthy Life.
Bharat
=====
Shantanu, and we Indians don’t even have to reinvent the wheel. Here’s a template which can be modified according to Indian situation and used in India:
http://www.votersfirstpledge.org/about
In my opinion, any such efforts in India need to be NON-PARTISAN in nature and applicable to all, instead of supporting a particular political party.
One initiative of ours is to create a place where all the positive stories of India are showcased on a daily basis.
We have started The Better India with that aim. You can check it out at http://www.thebetterindia.com
Kaffir and Dhimant: Thanks for the links…I will have a look.
Dear Shri. Parekh,
Thank you very much for the link. It was a great site. Wish you all the best in your endeavours. I shall try to give you some inputs if I come across anything worthy of publication.
Instead of reading something which sometimes puts you off, this effort should be applauded.
One request, if I may be permitted, please do not make it “SECULAR”. Indian is filled with too many secularists!
Regards,
vck
@ Dhimant: great site..Pl. keep it up…I will be spending more time on it…
***
@ Kaffir: Had a quick look at VotersFirst…You are right that it has to be non-partisan to have any impact…I feel we are a long way from it…although I am aware that ADR (Election Watch) is thinking along similar lines…
Frankly, I am a bit amused by comments on your blog about how to correct the situations in India. Deriding the current system as corrupt and attempting to differentiate self by claiming the “incorruptible” card to gain votes is a herculean task.
First, how do you expect to convince majority of Indians that you are incorruptible and not waiting to become corrupt once you get the power.
Second, people are more concerned about what you will do for them and not whether you are clean or not. For example, a Marathi may not vote for you if you plan to revolutionize the industries in Bihar. From a national standpoint, it may bode well, because Bihar has a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the nation, but he may not see what it does for him. In turn, he may turn to somebody who promises boom in Maharashtra.
Third, by deriding the existing system, you alienate yourself from it, meaning you will have the burden of convincing the majority of Indians they should vote for you. This is important in the context that no political party has got majority votes for the past two decades.
In all likelihood, even if you garner the most votes, you will still have to be dependant on the other parties which will compromise your governance.
Banking on an “incorruptible” platform to get power may turn out to be impractical, but that is not to say abandon it all together. It can be adopted once you get the power. But how do you intend to get there. You seem to agree with me on this since you have mentioned it may be easier to infiltrate the system than to try and earn a free mandate. However, here arises my next concern.
With the Anti Defection Law in the Parliament, people of different parties will not be able to collude without the support of the party whip. (This is my understanding of the law. I have not been able to find any material to the contrary yet). So, you will need to infiltrate an entire party, either the Congress or the BJP, and replace it with like minded people to make conscious decisions at the national level.
Even if you manage to do this, you will still be dependent on the region based parties to garner majority in the Assembly. So, you will have to infiltrate some of the region based parties as well, since by definition their interests are their own, limited to their vote bank and not the entire nation. Only by turning them over will you be able to bring them to your needs. Though I dare not calculate the probability of the entire thing going on as plan, I can safely say it will take decades before this plan bears fruit. I hope my analysis is incorrect to this regard, but this is part of the reason why I keep tom-toming for a Presidential democracy.
The other reasons are historical and sociological in nature. Historical, because the record of large nations in history has been abysmal when the center is dependent on its subsidiaries for its power; Sociological, because of the human tendency to be selfish when faced with questions regarding survival.
Never in the history, save in Belgium, will you find nations surviving periods of weak central powers and strong regional ones without secession. Roman Empire is the classic example with the peripherals regions (France in particular) seceding whenever there is a confusion over who the emperor is (After Nero, Commodus and Alexander Severus). In all cases, a stronger Emperor was needed to rein in the peripheries and prevent further blood being spilled. I can give you more examples, but to summarize the basic tenet in history is that a weak central government will not be able to prevent its stronger regional subsidiaries from seceding. India has not reached that stage… yet.
We have a central government which is still strong, but increasingly dependent on region based parties for forming government. The region based parties as a result have reaped benefits for its vote bank and its region, as a result are chipping away the vote bank of the two national parties. This trend will only continue, since neither Congress nor BJP can get out of this system. In an autocratic system, the central government will be able to play one against the other, focus on national interest, so that the nation wins in the long run. But since the central government has to rely on the regions for its survival it can ill afford to antagonize them.
In case you consider, India is above concepts like secession, we need only to look back to our history. We have fought each other for close to four millennia before the British came with their armies. Then, it took the charisma of Mahatma Gandhi to unite our nation. Unfortunately, we have neither now.
The power imbalance among the regions (economical or political) is such that (Consider UP in the Assembly vs Maharashtra in the economy) it can be used by the regions to their own advantage. This is why we see parties playing the region card against other regions. The trend has increased recently and will continue to do so, since there is more political and economic power at stake than ever before.
For example, the people of Maharashtra will gain if they clamp down on the migrants from other states who may be taking away unskilled jobs of the poor in their state. Similarily, UP will gain by making sure the status quo remains. In the long run, the regions will be antagonized against each other, and the region based parties will be able to develop a clutch hold over their vote bank since they are seen as the guardians of the region. Congress and BJP will have to watch by the sidelines, since neither have a strong enough say in the either state (Substitute UP with Bihar, in case you think BJP has a say in UP). As a result, national policy gets compromised and economies of being a large nation are lost. Soon, there will not be many options in front of us. The inter-region antagonism may reach the extent of Yugoslavia, which broke loose after Tito.
This is why I am requesting you to consider Presidential democracy as an option forward. This will give the central government more political freedom to move the nation as a whole forward, rather than in parts. In this system, it becomes easier for few committed individuals to take charge and move forward. They need not be concerned about dependence on regional parties for forming government, since they have the mandate from the nation, not the political parties.
Arby: Great comment and very good points…let me attempt a response…
Re. 1] Convincing people that you are incorruptible…This will be hard but not impossible. As an example, even Sh Modi’s worst critics have not accused him of any corruption..I think in this actions will have to speak louder than words
2] Absolutely true…People are definitely more interested in what you can do for them and not so much whether you are incorruptible or not. So the challenge is to convinve them that a] a cleaner administration will be good for them and b] that the policies we propose will actually benefit rather than hurt them, This is by no means easy – especially when public debate is dominated by populism and when “basic needs” still determine electoral choices.
So the first priority must be economic development – in particular, access to education, healthcare and basic nutrition. Everything else will have to wait – in my view.
3] This is a good point but what else is the choice? Can any one of us honestly say that what we have is the best we can get? The task of voter awareness and education is the key to all this – and that is by no means easy. I am actually thinking of devoting the next several weeks to a set of slides/pamphlets/ brochures that can explain – in simple terms – why the status quo needs to be changed and how can it be done. There is no need to re-invent the wheel since many such documents already exist (e.g. look at some of Sanjeev Sabhlok’s writings and the 50 guarantees of Loksatta)
4] The “Trojan Horse” approach may or may not work but I still feel it is the most practical and viable solution…and I sometimes think it may be easier to convince existing MPs (at least some of them) of the importance of development and sensible policies rather than trying to uproot the entire system. I would be very interested in hearing others’ views on this.
5] Finally, you have made some very eloquent arguments in favour of Presidential form of democracy but you have overlooked the biggest challenge – that it will need a constitutional amendment (by majority) to achieve that…I see that as being next to impossible unless the Congress and the BJP both decide to throw their weight behind this…and even then it may not happen.
I had an idea on corruption long time back which I have not been able to follow through. May be someone else can poick it up if they like it …..There should be a public ‘register of corruption cases’ where anyone can post instances of corruption one has faced in his day to day life. As a follwo up to this there should also be a published rate list for corrupt practices and perpetrators. Having such a public register on net, even though it does not have any legal significance would put the fear of ‘Internet’ in the minds of the perpetrators. Any comments….
Aryan: I believe Jago Party has such a link on their website…Do have a look.
Respected Shantanuji,
I had been out of touch with your posts for the last couple of weeks. I just sat today & have just updated myself & am deeply humbled & inspired to know more about you & the task that you have now initiated. I have been eagerly waiting for you to start this work of national restructuring/reshaping. It instills hope in many of us who have feelings as exact as yours. In fact the expressions of your feelings are the exact ones that I have constantly felt & I feel a complete unity of purpose with all that you have expressed…
I am exactly a decade younger to you & it feels great to have a friend & guide in you. I had at one time an intense desire to join the IFS, the urge arose from a deeper one – that of serving my country & establishing her in the international sphere. Life has till now exposed me to interesting aspects, I have kept the objective of preparing myself in such a way as to be able to serve the nation, to be part of a change that must eventually come. I worked for a while with a senior leader from the NE who was a nominated member of the RS, again with similar views & now partyless trudging his own path, that exposure taught me much & brought me in close contact with the system. I moved on to further develop myself academically & presently apart from teaching & am into educational research – especially on alternative education in India etc. It feels so wonderful to think that you have come forward…
My unstinted, unconditional & humble adhesion/support to the mission, it would be uniquely great to be able work with you for, as you yoursefl so admirably expressed, ‘a proud, resurgent Bharat/India where each one of us – regardless of religion, caste, region, sex has the opportunity to be the best we can.’ You have always been part of my noblest thoughts & the fruition of the ‘Hope’ that you have expressed is what we are all looking forward to.
Warm Regards
Hi Shantanu,
Where’s the connect with Nature in all that about you? All I see is lots of text, pretty printed with bolds, underlines, italics and ellipses.
What are the roots of Satyameva Jayate?
With Metta and Maitri,
Rahul
Hi, You have taken the first step. Congrats. My list of ideas or reforms required to be made by all of us and by the elected leaders for a better India are:-
Charter Of Reforms:-
1] properly equip defence forces with clothes, shoes, arms. etc.
2] respect the soldier during his lifetime and after death take proper care of his family;
3] give autonomy to police forces so that they are independent from influence of political masters [ CM / Home Minister];
4] pay high salary to armed forces, BSF, Coast guard, police so that they are above corruption;
5) involve local communities / grass root persons in border security matters;
6) strictly patrol and monitor borders with Pakistan, China and Bangladesh to prevent infiltration;
7) any one with criminal background / even criminal case filed against a citizen, must be debarred from elections / cannot stand for public office;
8) illegal resident ship in India by Bangladeshis/Pakistanis should be weeded out and deported to their home country; and their names be cancelled /cut-off from voting list;
9) uniform civil code for all Indians;
10) MPs/MLAs must be accountable and file transparent & true Accounts Statement of use of public money/funds given by GOI to their constituency;
11) public must have easy access to MPs/MLAs and public is under a duty to monitor them and must also interact with them so as to prevent abuse of power;
12) MPs/MLAs must debate all issues in their constituency before voting in the Parliament;
13) Only educated, competent, honest, loyal, professionals to be eligible for the post of MP/MLA/Corporator;
14) stop 100% or full convertibility of Indian Rupee;
15) RBI must be Autonomous: interference from finance ministry must be NIL;
16) Banking sector must be strictly regulated and NOT open to foreign banks; foreign banks must compulsory lend to agriculture sector;
17) Increase Government spending in everything; sadak, bijli, paani, agriculture,
18) Reduce Import of Goods; Maximum obstructions/Trade barriers to be put up for Non-essentials goods in order to protect India’s interests;
19) Don’t privatize PSU/PSE and other government assets/navratnas;
20) cancel the 10 points Washington consensus; protect all local industries/banks;
21) all money transaction above Rs.4000/- must be compulsory made by cheque/credit card/debit card – no cash transaction be allowed above this sum;
22}hawala transactions must be weeded out and hawala dealers must get capital punishment & public flogging;
23) drug pedlars must get public flogging and capital punishment;
24) payment in land/house property transactions must be compulsory through banking channels and no black money transaction is allowed;
25) all land records must be computerized;
26) no person shall contest / stand for elections more than 2 times and no person shall hold public office for more than 2 terms;
27) no dynastic rulers/leaders for India;
28) vote bank politics should be eradicated / banned;
29) compulsory voting by every Indian citizen;
30) revive/promote/protect agriculture and become food sufficient; incentives for farming to be increased;
31) farmers must get best market price for crops produced; ban middlemen;
32)spitting, pissing, shitting, littering on public roads must be banned/enforced; offenders must be made to clean public spaces;
33) police must respect & assist women & children;
34) Sanskrit must be made compulsory in schools/colleges;
35] Respect and pay high salary to scientists/technocrats; encourage students to take up science research;
36] a Hindu cannot be converted to any other religion;
37] promote, protect and revive manufacturing / traditional Indian industries;
38] Kashmiri pandits must be rehabilitated in their original home towns & their original house/properties returned to them & must also be given high security/protection so that they can move freely, monitor/keep vigil & report to Army about the anti-India activities by locals;
39] Land must be granted in Kashmir for the Amarnath Temple Trust
40] All temples be restored in Kashmir and opened to public from India for pilgrimage
41] investigate source of funds of churches/mosques, deployment and title to property;
42] customs, excise, income tax, octroi dept, municipal depts.. should be under strict vigilance, surveillance & monitoring for corruption and illegal activities;
43] eve-teasers, rapists must be publicly flogged and get capital punishment;
44] ban TV soaps showing distorted /anti-indian culture;
45] compulsory military training for youth bet.18-20 yrs;
46] every Indian bet 18-60 years must be employed in job/business; ban begging;
47] ban gun/rifle/ammunition license for citizens; raid places where swords, etc. are stored
48] weed out corruption and black money;
49] revive Indian culture;
50] Driving licence test must be strictly monitored and license be issued strictly to those who pass both written & oral test;
51] poverty must be eradicated; resources of India must be equally distributed to all citizens; Food for all program to be revived; India must focus and become Self-sufficient in Food;
52] every child must be given a “chance or opportunity†to survive; & shall have access to good medical assistance, 18 yrs education, food, roof ; child abusers must be publicly flogged;
53] judgments in criminal cases must be delivered within 6-8 months of commission of crime;
54] all foreigners in Goa [& other states] must be kept under strict surveillance;
55] missionaries in Nagaland/North Eastern states/Orissa must be strictly monitored and deported if involved in anti-India or anti-hindu activity;
56] drug-dealers, slum-landlords, illicit liquor dealers, land-mafia, must be weeded out / disbanded and publicly flogged;
57] loudspeakers announcements from mosques must be compulsory barred and funds of mosques must be investigated;
58] youth must be encouraged in entrepreneurship & kept engaged in community service & be given compulsory military training;
59] low cost housing be constructed & slums be removed;
60] every citizen must pay a minimum income-tax & shall get pension at 60 years;
61] road contractors & public project contractors must be monitored & blacklisted & heavily penalized for lapses; Regulator for all sectors;
62] to boost morale and for risking life for country, Armed Forces must be paid more salary/perks than IAS / IFS etc…;
63] SIMI & other hardliner religious groups must be disbanded/weeded out/publicly flogged;
64] subsidy and other aid/assistance for HAJ must be immediately cancelled and withdrawn on permanent basis;
65] reservations for SC/ST/OBC must be removed; all admissions must be on merit only;
66] “No Vote or Negative Vote†Rule 49-0 of ECI be implemented in voting ballot;
67] primary healthcare at village level must be set up; Internships in village hospitals made compulsory for all medical students prior to award of medical degree; pay good stipend to Interns;
68] Town/city planning to be strictly monitored/open spaces reserved for public gardens/parks must be constructed and maintained;
69] poverty must be eradicated; resources of India must be equally distributed to all citizens; Food for all program to be revived; India to be Self-sufficient in Food
70] every child must be given a “chance or opportunity†to survive; & shall have access to good medical assistance, 18 yrs education, food, roof; child abusers must be publicly flogged;
71] judgments in criminal cases must be delivered within 6-8 months of commission of crime;
72] FCI & other warehouses to be monitored for food grain losses;
73] Paani, Roti, Kapda, Makaan aur Bijli for all Indians should be the main focus;
74] drug-dealers, slum-landlords, illicit liquor dealers, land-mafia, matka-operators, black marketers, food adulterators must be weeded out/disbanded, publicly flogged and capital punishment;
75] loudspeakers announcements from mosques must be compulsory barred/funds investigated;
76] water pollution [in lakes, rivers, wells/tanks, seas, etc.] to be monitored; harvesting of rain water made compulsory;
77] youth must be encouraged in entrepreneurship/kept engaged in community service & given compulsory military training;
78] low cost housing be constructed & slums be removed;
79] every citizen must pay a minimum income-tax & shall get pension at 60 years;
80] road contractors & public project contractors must be monitored & blacklisted/heavily penalized for lapses;
81] to boost morale/for risking life, Armed Forces must be paid more salary/perks than IAS / IFS etc…;
82] SIMI & other hardliner religious groups must be disbanded/weeded out;
83] every Indian must grow and nurture a tree; greenery & afforestation to be promoted;
84] protect/promote forests, tigers, birds, mangroves, and all other animals/birds/fish life;
85] citizens from rest of India should be allowed to settle in Kashmir & conduct/own businesses;
86] pavements be freed from hawkers; citizens must have free access to pavements without obstructions/hindrances;
87] flooding of Assam by Brahmaputra river {and Bihar by Kosi river] be stopped; join all rivers of India for equitable distribution of water;
88] Nuclear Deal be scrapped or debated in Parliament once again after taking prior consensus of citizens of India;
89] enforce 2 child norm per family amongst Muslims & Christians.
90] rehabilitate tribals/other locals who are displaced by construction of dams, mining & power generation, etc..
91] revive handloom and handicrafts industry;
92] Remove Z-Security and all sorts of security given to politicians & their families at the cost of Indian Tax payers; Make politicians pay up from their own pockets for their security;
93]1993 bomb blasts must be investigated and criminals/offenders be booked & sentenced to death;
94] Investigate the role of politicians & Customs at the Mumbai Port where explosives were off-loaded and Customs officials who gave clearance to the consignees;
95] Admission to professional courses [especially medicine & engineering] must be strictly on Merit basis; cancel / ban reservations for SC/ST/OBC in all educational institutions;
96] 2006 train blasts must be investigated promptly and offenders booked, charged & sentenced with capital punishment;
97] investigate funds and title to property of churches & mosques in Kerala;
98] cancel reservations on caste/minority basis in jobs in Kerala, etc..
99] tax evasion by citizens, businessmen, politicians, etc.. be investigated;
100] bring back to India all the money deposited in Swiss Banks/tax havens by politicians & businessmen and other citizens;
101] eve-teasers, drug smugglers, kidnappers, gun-runners, fraudsters, black-marketers, matka-runners, illicit alcohol makers, hawala dealers, rapists, child-molesters, desh drohis etc.. must be publicly flogged & given capital punishment;
102] primary healthcare, education, dignity of individual, food and shelter/house for all citizens should be made compulsory;
103] investigate and publish names of actual beneficiaries under the various social programs initiated by the government;
104] investigate and publish the names of actual farmers who benefited from the loan mela announced by the finance minister;
105] compulsory free legal aid for poor & vulnerable sections of society;
106] Protection & care for all vulnerable sections of society
107] Builders & all construction contractors must be Regulated; construction workers must get market salary and be organized;
adverse possession by squatters/persons without title of property to be weeded out and punished & public flogging;
108] Nexus between Builders, Land Mafia & politicians to be exposed;
109] All SEZs must be scrapped; agricultural land to revert to original owner-farmer;
110] Mining licensees to foreign companies be cancelled;
111] Education system to be revamped; Gurukul system to be encouraged; prioritize sports participation, hobbies, skills, extra curricular activities
112] Autonomy for Media; Responsibility of Media to be honest and truthful;
113] Every citizen must observe and obey his Duty to the country and contribute towards security [be alert, vigil, report to authority and compulsory military training], cleanliness [no spitting/littering, etc.], tax payment, prevent abuse of power/laws, must vote at elections;
JAI HIND
VANDE MATARAM
Lekha: That is a long list! I will respond with a more detailed comment later this week.
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Dear Yogesh, This blog has more than 700 posts on a range of topics/issues. Sometimes it may be hard to find a post on the exact topic you are looking for.
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My comment comes late into your decision to put yourself at the service of a better India. You are not alone, because as is obvious from all the comments made here, there are a great many well wishers which includes me.
I have followed the efforts of many before you who have wished the same. I am one such person. The media and the internet has created a new sort of reality and with it a new means of harnassing power for the greater good, a tool that we have never before had. It has equally made our challengers euqally if not more powerful.
The magnitude of changing the mindset of a 750m electorate is a collosal undertaking. A more realistic approach is to capture the imagination of a smaller more dedicated set of people. You have made a good beginning with your work as I can see. The challenge you face in dealing with the Hindu people, is that there are no models that have been successful in forcing or directing change. At best our achievements have been modest. China has successfully applied the communist model while in Hong Kong the capitalist one (where they were quite happy to be ruled by the British).
You will certainly achieve great things but your aims while have be modest for the greater project to come to fruition. A beginning could be made with establishment of a think tank. India has no shortage of think tanks but they will never change the muddled thinking of those that have written the narrative of India as pseudo socialist state, and Hinduism’s leaders who are too feeble to put together a coherent reposte to India’s left.
If India’s Hindu majority cannot even be aligned to assume the leadership of their own state, then the agenda set by its Hindu leaders have to answer their existential priorities.
Churchill unkindly remarked that Hindus maintained their power by the force of them out breeding competitors. We are not even managing that. There is now a danger that a minority Islam aligned with Christianity are by themselves capable of destablizing India, perhaps causing it split up further. So even before you know it, you are faced with having to make the sort of choices that revolutionaries had to make.
India’s independence struggle was not fought without great sacrifices made by some individuals, and I do not refer to Gandhi, Nehru, Patel et al. It was people like Bhose, Bhagat Sing, Navy rebels, Savarkar who was so harshly incacerated that he was a broken man on his release. The British made sure that Gandhi and Nehru got 5 star hotel accomodation. The only people to pay with the lives were dreamers of a better India who were not backed by their leaders. The RSS in those days aligned with the British, so how far they can provide an answer to India’s challenges is doubtful as it is with the Congress Party.
There are a great many way in which can demonstrate competence and earn the right to lead. Assume responsibility in matters in which others have shirked their responsibility. Why stop at governance? If everybody sacrifices a little, it would relieve the burdon of individuals having to make a full sacrifice. A strong and healthy individual makes for a strong state. Harness the talent and generosity of professionals to make the sort difference that really counts. It establishes a community which has right on its side. With that right comes responsibility. That is when real sacrifice are right and justified.
@ Khandu: Thank you for your considered comment. As you have rightly pointed out: “The magnitude of changing the mindset of a 750m electorate is a collosal undertaking.”
I am very conscious of this…and that is one reason why I do not consider this a 5, even 10-year project…It will take longer than that…but we do not have the luxury of time..and one must begin somewhere…
You write: “The challenge you face in dealing with the Hindu people, is that there are no models that have been successful in forcing or directing change.”
Well, I would disagree slightly…In the early part of the 20th century) and in the 19th century…we did have some great souls who attempted (and managed to bring about change).
One such great person was Swami Vivekananda…I am not even a tiny fraction of what he was…but as a source of inspiration, he is as good as anyone else.
I agree with you when you say this mammoth task has to be accomplished in small, measured steps…and perhaps, as you say, …your aims while have be modest for the greater project to come to fruition”
The think tank is a good idea…something that I (and many others) have been thinking for the past several years…Unfortunately we have not managed to take the step from thought to action.
I liked your last paragraph…It has forced me to think…I will give this some serious thought over the next few days…
Thank you, once again…for your support and for taking the trouble to leave a comment…It is easy to be a silent observer…so I particularly appreciate you and others who write in with their thoughts, suggestions and advice and encouragement.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
I would like to hear from you about what else can be done…where else should I be focusing my energies on
I can tell yourself(Shantanu) and other bloggers where not to focus your energies
1)Do not Join or form any new startups of political partys/groups which were formed in past couple of years
..its a waste of energy
2)Do not pay attention or stay away from people who talk about the phrase ” Join India’s second freedom struggle..against the corrupt politicians”
3)Do not join politics just by assuming you can perform well then the existing or be less or not at all corrupt then the existing politicians.. (most of the corporates are blood sucking machines ..and so is the corporate politics.. so dont claim yourself as the holy saints nor do fundas and parameters of corporates apply in politics)
4)INTERNET NETWORKING FOR POLItical purpose is totaly useless or to be more mild less effective even to form an organisation let alone winning elections (BJP LOSS in Lok2009 the best eg) hence stop wasting energy by dreaming of uniting india and forming an orgn over the internet
5)I think Shashi THaroor is a pragmatic and intelligent man unlike JP of Loksatta… Dr.Tharoor just entry into main stream politics has made him a MP and MOS … and after 5years of work .. JP has just become the lone MLA …
NOW WHO CAN DO MUCH GOOD FOR THE COUNTRY… you yourself think. WE HAVE JUST ONE LIFETIME – DONT START SOMETHING WHICH CANNOT BE REACHED TO A MEANINGFUL GOAL
FOR B-SHANTANU AND OTHERS WHO WaNT TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL IMPACT IN INDIAN POLITICS… THE ONLY THING YOU NEED TO BE CONCENTRATING ALL YOUR ENERGIES ARE ON TWO FACTORS REQUIRED IN POLITICS i.e. your 1)WINNABILITY & your 2)CAPABILITY … if you have both these qualities any big party will be at your doorstep with an election ticket…
you dont need to built a new rocket… all you need is to be that qualified astronaut
take a cue from Dr.tharoor
@ Mahesh: This is a hurried response…I will share my thoughts in more detail later on…
In the meantime, I think your last sentence captures most of what you are trying to say:
you dont need to built a new rocket… all you need is to be that qualified astronaut
The question is – what do you do if you know (believe)that the trajectory of the existing rocket is wrong and it will not get you to your destination?
Yes we all know that the trajectory of the current rocket.. in this case political partys have deviated from their path…. BUT as i have pointed out in my point # 3 ,
HOW CAN YOU/US ASSUME/hypothesize OR BELEIVE for sure THAT THE ROCKET(orgn/political party) THE NEW ERA OF POLITICIANS like us are in the process of building will put it on the right trajectory?..
Or to be precise..In due course of the tragectory how can B.Shantanu or any other person who is a human being hypothise he/she wont be corrupt/or misuse power . if we never have experienced power
(leader of masses &power attached it with are different from team leader in a company… hence on cant hypothise by saying if we can run a corporate we can run the country too)
Some might say ‘ATLEAST WE TRIED/trying’.. i would say unless it reaches a meaningful goal.. all the tries are waste of energy which could have been channeled somewhere else.
Yourself, myself and rest of us for next 5 years should closely watch, the work of Dr.Tharoor and JP(loksatta) .. who has impacted the people of India more…we ourselves will know who is the wiser Astronaut.
I am totally taken in by ‘how huge you are’,Shantanu! I read a lot from your given links.I feel 20 years younger after that.I too have so much in my heart and little in mind too ,to express. But the tool
is exhausted a little bit.I have been working with village poor with my Mom,who left for her permanent abode 5 years back and since then i am a fultimer in the cause of ‘education, culturwe, social and health awareness ‘ for women and children of the under privileged village and backward areas in Dewas and Indore.This my for last 45 years.I want to send you the details of our projects on your email id.Would love to hear more from you.Sooooooo very proud to be knowing you this way! I retired from KV as principal in 2004. I am running a women’s voluntary organisation named Mahila Adhyayan kemdra Dewas.
Pl. send me mail on my email id.Love you so much!
Nandini Chiplunkar
Thank you Madam…This work has just begun…It is going to be a long and hard journey ahead…
I need your blessings.