Taking the cue from O146;Neill

It will be no surprise if you get a few mails taking you to task for publishing US Treasury Secretary Paul H. O8217;Neill8217;s observatio...

It will be no surprise if you get a few mails taking you to task for publishing US Treasury Secretary Paul H. O8217;Neill8217;s observations on the Indian economy 8216;Without good governance8230;8217; IE, November 25. I am sure some of these will hint darkly about US plans to control our economy. If what he prescribes for India8217;s ailments benefits the US too, so be it. We must not begrudge that as long as India also benefits. Here8217;s a quick run-down on what ails the country and what should be done8230;

PRODUCTIVITY: The productivity in government administration is abysmally low. The World Bank report on the UP state administration complains about this malaise spread all over the state. What are the causes? The government sanctioned policy of recruiting and promoting incompetent persons to high offices of the state. This is worse than the Parkinson8217;s law. Persons so promoted suffer from low self-esteem which translates into lack of respect for the positions they hold and the public does not have any respect for the office holders. Productivity suffers.

However, since a large majority of the population has come to enjoy the benefits of this policy, it will be difficult to scrap it without provoking a political backlash. Hence the media should push the government to reform the policy as it applies to the three vital sectors of the judiciary, police and defence establishment.

CORRUPTION: To root out corruption, the government should actively solicit public support to shine the light on corrupt practices and persons, whether government officials or elected politicians. The Parliament should pass a law providing strong protection to those who come forward with data on specific cases of corruption. If the corrupt persons are convicted, a monetary award to the witnesses could be considered. Severe punishment should be meted out to corrupt persons who are convicted.

LEGISLATURE: Criminals and convicted felons have found a safe haven in India. If they get elected, they find that they have immunity from the police. Nothing would suit our criminals better. Today, therefore, they stand for elections and when they are elected they spend their time planning their future in the safety of the legislature on how to loot the public treasury.

The media should put pressure on the Parliament to pass the law recommended by the Supreme Court about convicted felons being barred for life from standing for public office.

EDUCATION: The quality of teachers recruited in the universities has declined steadily over the past 30 years. Most of the state universities are churning out poorly-trained graduates, apart from the few centres of excellence like the IITs and some IIMs. Again, we should not force ill prepared students into tough programmes on the basis of quotas. We should also not hire and promote persons with questionable academic credentials as teachers merely to meet quota requirements.

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If we take these measures, there is a chance that India may reverse the decline it is currently experiencing and even start making measurable progress in the welfare of its people.