Some say, from where India sat at the stroke of midnight on August 15th 1947 to where it stands now after almost 75 years of independence, we have come a very long way. This statement is not incorrect. We have developed rapidly, brought millions out of poverty, steadily increased our stature in the world, sent men to space, won historic wars and most importantly remained a democracy throughout. A mere 16.7% of our population were literate and the average life expectancy was 32 in 1951. Now our literacy stands at 74% and life expectancy is 69 years. In 1951 for every 1000 infants born, 147 never made it beyond the age of 1. Now, the number is a mere 32. These kind of giant strides are visible in almost all spheres of development be it economy, social, human development etc.
So, as a 29-year-old, born in the 1990’s these stories fascinate me. It makes me proud of what our nation has achieved in the past 75 years. However, these remain stories in my eyes. This may be because our generation has not lived through the transformation and it is difficult to feel these intangible achievements, first hand. This is coupled with the fact that we are witness to certain tangible realities from the ground today. What we see, is what we endure day in day out and ultimately that is what shapes our reality of India.
For instance, can we avail a government service from a local body in real time, without the need to wait or pay bribes? Can we enter a police station to lodge a complaint without any second thought about the nature of treatment inside the station and awkward questions that will be posed to us? Can we approach the courts and expect speedy justice if our fundamental rights are taken away? Are tenders awarded to the worthiest, without any corruption? How is it that 1000’s of people under trial are rotting in jail, while VIP’s get bail within minutes? Critics may call these questions pessimistic in nature, but nobody can shy away from the bitter reality. From birth to death, from getting a certificate/license to even getting a place in a college we need to know people or splash money. For that matter, one wonders whether there is even dignity in death when we need to know people or pay money to get a proper place in the burial ground, without hassles.
Now, all of the above is not a figment of my imagination. Various reports and surveys support these assertions. For instance, let us consider the latest corruption and bribery survey carried out by the renowned International NGO Transparency International. India is characterized with the highest rates of bribery and use of influence/personal contacts to get access to public services in Asia. Out of the people surveyed around 42% had experienced bribery with the police and 46% of the people used personal contacts to get access to public service. A similar study in 2019 pointed out that 1 in every 2 Indians had paid a bribe in the preceding year. At the macro level, various studies (between 2009-11) pointed out that India’s black money bucket was estimated at around 71-79% of our GDP.
With so much glaringly wrong in our motherland, how can we look otherwise? How can we be happy by stating that we have come a long way, when access to basic services need influence or bribe? How many big politicians have we seen convicted for corruption? The bigger joke is that the rare ones who are convicted for corruption, still continue to play a part in active politics either from prison and through proxies. One argument put forth by intellectuals is that “Why do people bribe officials, to get their work done? It is the people who are morally corrupt.”
This line of argument amuses me. The system in the first place should be transparent, fair, unbiased, technology driven and efficient. Unfortunately, the system is none of the above mentioned and is instead a cobweb of complexities and a difficult maze to navigate. It is pitting our fellow citizens against one another, in a survival of the fittest framework. You can follow the rules, wait for a long time in the line and the system will work at its own pace. Else, you can skip the line, clear the clutter, get your job done with a few bucks. The important point to be noted is that, if there was only one option available for all citizens, i.e. to wait in the line for an inefficient system, people may still choose to wait. The problem here is that there is a class of elite, influential, VIP’s who can game the system or buy the system to skip the line. In fact, there are two lines. One for the ordinary common man (Line 1) and another for those with power, influence or money (Line 2). So, the system in the current form irritates and, in a way, incentivizes the common man to search for means to skip the line, or in other words move from line 1 to line 2. Now, tell me. Are the people at fault or the system and those who run the system?
Indeed, India’s achievements on the face of it are phenomenal. With a country torn apart by partition, characterized by large scale hunger, homelessness in 1947 we have come long way. However, our country and our story is peculiar. We are capable of sending people to the moon, but our High Courts make mathematical errors in cases of public importance. We are the largest democracy in the world, but politicians continue to pay cash for votes. We are a country with more than 1.3 billion people, but unable to find 10 capable men and women, train them to win gold medals in Olympics. We are a 2 trillion economy and aim to be 5 trillion one soon, but don’t have the will to solve massive corruption which affects our citizens. We are unable to solve the most pressing issues that plague a common man’s day to day life. Who do we blame for this chaos? Who is responsible for this large scale corruption? Is it the people, as some suggest? Is it the system? Is it the people who run the system? Or is it God? In fact, even our Gods have 2 ways to meet him/her. One normal darshan and another a paid, quick, influential close to God special darshan. This is India, this is the tale of contradictions.
(This article was originally published at ecoreya.wordpress.com and has been republished in The Commune with permission.)
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