DailyPost 3051
ZERO GOVERNANCE!
You would have seen the FMCG flamboyant advertisements of different governments. God knows how much of it has touched your life, making a similar difference, in the manner portrayed by the characters in the ads. Between the electioneering, manifesto and these ads is the whole life cycle of governance. We have heard of zero tolerance of a variety of things as the war cry of many governments, mostly on terrorism, corruption, may be communalism, naxalism etc, but there have been no timelines provided to any of these. Even the problem statement is not made known to the people, they feel they are not deserving of that information.
The reality is that the powers that be, firstly, they don’t understand the complexity of the issues and how to go about it, they lack any interest in doing so, so there’s no question of any gameplan or effort. Lip service to the cause, proclaiming responsive governance, and general grandstanding on everything is the norm. The results are all around us. It is exacerbated by the fact that what the powers that be, see, are told or experience, when they are out of their cocoon, does not impact them at all. The empathy, understanding, and bonhomie with the masses is only for the cameras, social media and public domain, which they have transformed into a drama factory.
The result of this whole make believe exercise is zero governance. In the recent Mahakumbha Stampede, how many of the next of the kin of the deceased would vouch for comforting governance cover. Saving dignity of the dead, and facing legalese of the government in such a situation becomes an uphill task. Who guarantees the best treatment for the injured and their safe and speedy recovery? Is there a website where the status of the dead / injured can be tracked? Does the government know the numbers? Whether the second stampede took place or not has to be investigated. Even the poorest pay indirect taxes. The great people who make the political component of the government have no time for governance.
You can make out for yourself as to how much time the political executive of the country, centre and states spend on governance. Government and governance is for dictating terms. When have you found any elected representative or government official by your side in times of need? What is the quality of government education and government healthcare? God forbid if you have gone through experiences in these institutions. Outlook published an edition with cover that stated “Govt Missing” during the Covid-19 pandemic. Zero governance, means that no succour needs to be provided to crores of toiling masses, some free grains and small money in direct cash transfer, under welfare schemes, has been made their fate. Governance is being subsumed in ads, electronic, print and the ever booming social media. Does the government exist for itself, all within have done good for themselves.
HAVE WE GRADUATED TO POST GOVERNANCE STAGE, SAME AS POST TRUTH?
Sanjay Sahay