DailyPost 1677
POST DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
While we all believed that we are wedded to democracy and the present governance mechanism would be our permanent governance mechanism, the Pandemic Purge has forced us to rethink. Elections are at the center of our democratic universe and not the citizen and the elector. The de jure status of citizens and the de facto one, are two different worlds. That the number of seats and thumping majorities of elected governments are no commentary on the quality of governance they will deliver. It is now a fact that the eternal wings of Indian democracy have not delivered for the welfare of citizens and there is no likelihood in the foreseeable future. The legal circus between them displaying fairness and justice could not even amount to a flash in the pan. Unfortunately, we get euphoric over it.
While the Pandemic Purge keeps on escalating and we are reaching a stage of emotional numbness, the TV channels are busy with the exit polls. Elections have made us mad. It has become the opium of the masses and led to the delirium of the rulers. The finesse with numbers of the election lifecycle; caste breakup, religious breakup, the influencers, minute geographical detailing till the booth, voting patterns, exit polls, research of last few elections, comparison with the current one, the swings, patterns and what not, can put the best data scientists to shame. If we could use even ten percent of this expertise for data modelling and projection for the pandemic, with trends and research data being widely available, it would have done yeomen service to the masses, who were running towards a virtual minefield.
Our obsession with elections has to stop. Party allegiance and victories are above everything. The administrative machinery is either busy with the elections or catering to the elite who have come out of it. It is no brainer to find the connection between the elections and the biggest humanitarian tragedy hitting the country now, which is yet to peak. The comical level of health infrastructure is seen to be believed, rural India especially and that too to sort out this pandemic. The second causality is education anyway. How can you instill love for education in a ruling class, which is there despite of it. With health and education in shambles, whatever we do with our democracy will not stick. Do we remain cattle fodder for all times to come?
Internet runs without democratic governments and it remains to be the best regulated public resource in the world. Social media has been helping way beyond the government helplines and claims. Life would have been much more unbearable without it. A well thought out and operationalized privately managed social media based all-inclusive helpline system would do wonders. Reach and mostly knowing the person or group where you ask for help can really be reassuring in these times. Cryptocurrency is proving to be a better medium of exchange compared to fiat currencies. Govt. has also become a third party now. A professionally organized conglomeration of hospitals and their expert hospital infrastructure and treatment visionaries would not have let us down. The epidemiologists and data scientists organized in a non-governmental manner could have guided healthcare conglomeration with data and trends to success. In the post democratic governance, we have to find our own ways to live and live well.
21st CENTURY PANDEMIC SCARRED INDIA WILL HAVE TO LOOK FOR NON-GOVERNMENTAL ROBUST SOLUTIONS.