Daily Post 1387
GOVERNMENT ON THE EDGE
Governance equilibrium delivering both in crisis and fair weather with different levels of government, agencies, centre and state governments working in tandem still remains a mirage. Governance equilibrium connotes to a nature of synthesis, enabling seamless operations and delivery of what has been politically promised and also what we should be provided with, as a beneficiary or citizen of this country. A bit of a mismatch is bound to happen but the whole system getting out of gear on a near permanent basis in large number of governance geographies, called states, is unacceptable. The Mickey Mouse Parade in Election Disneyland keeps happening somewhere or other in this country and with electronic and social media being truly national, it gives us a feeling that we are permanently in the midst of the US Presidential elections.
Government on the Edge is a current description of the political mechanism, which translates into government, tries desperately to remain in power and in case of a revolt, deals it with an iron hand. The internal democracy of political manifests the way it does, and these machinations leads to the making or unmaking of a government, the present sordid saga is being played out in Rajasthan. The team and team spirit which we talk about is so evident in times like these and there is not dearth of these situations. Does the Govt of the day manage these situations or deliver governance? Can governance happen in these situations? The governance mechanism, law & order machinery and expenditure on the dramatis personae gets covered as part of good governance.
Even a life and death existential crisis like the COVID-19 does not warrant a wait and watch approach. Life somebody feels seems to playing a subservient role to power. They rule. Nobody is even ashamed of the fact of what the constituents would think, might be they have lost thinking of these things long time back. They don’t have any choice. That the events have to covered is the thought process of the TRP media. That there is nothing called Fourth Estate left in this country has long been understood. When government itself fights an existential crisis, where is the scope of citizen’s life taking precedence. Where does all this all fit into the democratic process and checks and balances that was supposedly created.
At the end of the day, the citizens are left to fend for themselves, the ultimate being they declaring lockdowns on their own. And on the side of the spectrum has been the plight of the needy to their distant homes, away from big cities sometime back. Timing, response, intensity, communication and availability, the criticals of basic governance, is their prerogative. You cannot demand for it. Becoming bystanders and spectators is the name of the game. It’s the same as citizens at an accident site. Mistakes are bound to happen in handling complex issues but it will never be accepted. Hence, improvements are so hard to come by. By quirk of fate, at times the government is not the edge, but governance always is.
WHICH GOVT. WOULD APPRECIATE THAT PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS ON THE EDGE!