Does India have a conscience?

Now that we are well into 2004, the time is ripe for introspection 8212; to look at the state of India. The murder of Satyendra Dubey, an u...

Now that we are well into 2004, the time is ripe for introspection 8212; to look at the state of India. The murder of Satyendra Dubey, an upright engineer with roots in rural Bihar, is one issue that should arouse India deeply. The BJP will, of course, treat this incident as a minor irritant; the recent assembly elections and the forthcoming General Elections are far more important issues from its point of view. The views of parliamentarians, legislators and bureaucrats 8212; they each have their own axe to grind 8212; are also unlikely to consider the murder of the upright engineer as an important event. After all, he was merely an engineer.

Apparently bureaucrats and politicians have begun to believe that all problems will go away provided they make the right noises and respond intelligently. In their cynicism, individuals 8212; however capable 8212; are unimportant 8212; unless, of course, they hold 8220;positions8221;. The murder of say an SDO or a police sub-inspector becomes an important event but not the death of an engineer who was merely doing development work. This cynical attitude is obvious from the reactions of the political leaders or bureaucrats involved. Witness the reaction of the Bihar chief secretary, for example, when castigated by the High Courts in Patna for not performing his duties.

To say that the bureaucracy in general is insensitive will not be incorrect. The politician and the bureaucrat believe that they are indispensable and rule because of high intellectual capability. Nothing can be further from the truth and to act upon this attitude so that it results in the murder of an individual whose life was probably worth more to society than that of all the politicians and bureaucrats put together is a matter of national shame. What we need is a committed bureaucracy 8212; committed not to the political leadership but to the people whom they are supposed to serve and who are their paymasters.

Mention of a few subtle points may stimulate the minds of thinkers. Consider the engineers from IIT Satyendra Dubey was one. A large proportion of them quit the country once they pass out and work abroad. Many people question the legitimacy of spending public money on institutions such as the IITs and ask why those who have been educated largely at public expense should be allowed to use their talents abroad. Satyendra Dubey8217;s murder provides part of the answer to this conundrum. The other part deals with the 8220;psychic8221; income that any such engineer is entitled to. This may be illustrated with a simple example.

Satyendra Dubey 8212; if he had not been murdered 8212; would probably have risen to the rank of, say, a chief engineer by retirement time and would have probably taken instructions from some young bureaucrat 8212; say 40 years old 8212; who probably became a bureaucrat because he could not qualify for admissions to IIT or some premier medical college or institute of management. This is where the concept of psychic income comes in. Professor P.V. Indiresan, former director of IIT Chennai, has made this point.

We need to ponder awhile on this issue.