As Delhi concentrates political power, privilege and prescriptions at the time of the Indian Renaissance, so did the Vatican a few centuries ago, at the time of the European Renaissance. In 1633 Galileo, after much research, published his findings, proving that our earth revolves around the sun. For his initiatives and efforts, he was promptly condemned by a Roman Catholic inquisition for stating a position contrary to church dogma, which was holy writ in those days. Three hundred and sixty years later, the Vatican had an `official' change of mind and celebrated Galileo's findings by issuing two postage stamps in his honour. Given the protracted procrastination, also referred to as `official apathy', Galileo was unable to attend the celebrations in his honour. Here is a clear case of irrational specifications and a clearance delay imposed by concentrated power play, creating a situation far removed from reality.It was in this climate of Roman Catholic fundamentalism that the breakaway Protestant reform movement pulled ahead in science, technology, economics, commerce and other fields. Much the same appears to be happening in India, as other countries more open to tested ideas, that have produced a higher quality of life for more people, surge ahead.A tested idea that has worked elsewhere is the concept of capital, regardless of its source. Besides money, it injects the discipline of time and the rate of growth. Also, transparency and accountability are required. It is a package deal. The penalty for disregarding these details is delay and its attendant inflation, and what's worse - it's exponential.The people in India have had a lot of exposure to inflation. The 250 million figure of post-partition India is now close to 1,000 million, fifty years later, and that was accomplished with a mere three per cent annually averaged net rate of growth. Now, we all know that when it comes to cash (capital), we are confronted with much higher rates (costs), and the impact is a correspondingly higher burden over time. So who pays? I wish I could say 1,000 million are sharing the burden equally, but we are familiar with the acutely skewed distribution. The cumulative burden is astronomical already. So, why make it worse with unnecessary delays? Although India officially began de-regulation in 1991 and knew precisely what was needed before 1991, here we are in 1997, still groping for practical policies that will encourage investment and create jobs.Last year, the UK-based Economist magazine, in an editorial on `The hidden costs of red tape', stated ``.the politicians (and their support system - my addition) have two ways to spend your money. They can take it from you and spend it directly, or order you to spend it yourself on something they have decided is good for you. Many economists believe over-zealous environmental regulation contributed to the great productivity slowdown in the industrialized countries after 1973.'' The key issue that emerged in this long editorial was: How can we deter governments from resorting to regulations as if they cost nothing, when in actual fact they cost an astronomical amount, through irrational specifications, clearance delays and lost productivity?We are all familiar with individual procrastination. It is one way to provide steady, reliable stress relief. However, when the monopolists in government, vested with authority, indulge in official apathy or procrastination, the astronomical cost in terms of delayed basic infrastructure is a crippling legacy for millions of Indians. No sweet-sounding patriotic songs or stirring speeches are going to relieve the stress from such a legacy of partisan power politics. Stress relief, in this case, is achieved by stress transfer to the rest of us. Fifty years of ad hocism, adnauseum, betrays a feudal past rather than a progressive democracy.
