When governments lose character, citizens getting crushed becomes the new normal. Stampede to the nature we saw last week can be termed as the most visible manifestation of the same. Bangalore Stampede is not only symptomatic of the governance paralysis, which on a regular basis is very meticulously camouflaged, but by what is spoken and on record in public domain, it manifests the total lack of character of the government and its bureaucratic component in entirety. Is the purpose of the government and bureaucracy is just to garner accolades with no skin in the game?
With no effort and just few orders here and there, the achievements are hard coded and publicised in a manner that it gives the impression of a Herculean task and keep chest beating till the time the people are forced to accept. Given this persistent character which the governments have, how could Govt. of Karnataka miss on the opportunity of a lifetime; RCB winning the trophy. It gives a feeling that the government had to toil for this trophy for 18 years. This was at the genesis of the whole issue. Who had the time and inclination to look into crowd management and other logistical issues.
They were all ready for the photo-ops and so they did. Generally, with time on your side, security arrangements are put in place, this time it did not happen; paucity of time, no clear communication, or cross communication, no time for planning, arranging resources was turning out to be challenging etc. Foolhardiness is the running thread and a conspicuous trait in the loss of character process of governments. The tragedy is that they don’t make mistakes, it is here the nemesis of governments start. Without relevant education, training or practice, the superheroes, with vested interests, mental baggage, attitude and ego, are convinced that they take to governance as fish take to water.
Power: crude, brazen and for instantaneous gratification is what they extract out of democracy and legalese, process, limitations etc are alien to them and political executive and governments are able to manage without it. Namesake is the game. Effortless wonders they are. Documentation is at its lowest web and respect for documentation even worse. They did not pick up even a bit of governance capabilities from the bureaucrats but the other way round, the bureaucracy gave away professional decision making and the capability to hold ground against the political masters. Where does the character of the government remain as designed? Today anything can be decided and most shabbily implemented, and the governments can get away with it. Rest can be done by media; electronic and social.
TO RULE IS LAW AND GOVERNMENTS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT, IS WHAT WE ARE BEING FORCED TO BELIEVE.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.