DailyPost 2973
NATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSE ACT
If you obstruct a public servant from performing his duty even if it is during a run of the mill protest, you are in for trouble. You land in a criminal offence and you have to keep battling it out for years. Governments have organisational strength and deep pockets to make you realise the gravity of law. What if he does not perform his duty? As all of us would agree, we are not talking of exceptions, we are talking of the norm. Leave aside not taking any action, he does not respond at all. Non-responsive. No communication. We are not talking of a single public servant, the same applies to departments, ministries, agencies, governments themselves, at times this ailment hits the legislature as well.
The governments and the political executive will keep shouting from the rooftop as to how responsive they are, and why and how they sacrificed everything to serve the people. This is the farthest and worst positioning from reality. You miss out on a tax payment or some flimsy compliance and see how the government comes hounding you. Added to that if there is a vested interest of any kind, you had it. You might never even come to know of it. This is primarily because of the reason that your response / interaction with the government is mandated by law, the opposite does not hold good.
We can keep sermonsing and invoking their conscience that it is never going to happen. The only way out to get out of the unbridled power / zero response, paternalistic democratic imbroglio is the enactment of the National Governmental Response Act. It can state variants too. It should cover all wings, organisations and agencies of the government. Besides the nature of response prescribed, it needs to have penal provision as well. More often than not the government gets into an adversarial mode once any agitation starts, it forgets the fact that it is the government’s responsibility to resolve it or decide upon it or both. Instead of legally methodically responding with responsibility, they start battling it out incognito in the social and the electronic media.
A governmental smokescreen is created so that they don’t know where to go and buckle down in frustration. Pressure tactics of every kind are used, police as a regular and at times the legislature as well. What is required is for every nature of activity, problem or request, the method of response, timelines and nature of final outcome has to be legally mandated. It can be a RK Kar type of a situation / agitation or Manipur imbroglio or the farmers agitation, or a single person’s battle for fundamental rights. The governmental functionary or organisation and the person representing, his level shall be neatly spelt out. Functionaries who have the power to decide and deliver will only be covered. What about the right to privacy after 7 years of it being declared a fundamental right? Penal provisions or deemed solution or presumed acceptance as the case may be, if not attended during the legally provided time period. One odd exception cannot negate any law, even if that is the case.
IT IS NOT THE DUTY OF THE PEOPLE AND PROBLEMS TO KEEP BEGGING FOR ACTION / RESOLUTION / SOLUTION ENDLESSLY. IT IS THE SUMMATION OF ALL FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.