The great expectations

Gurbachan Jagat

THE Aam Aadmi Party has stormed to power in Punjab on the back of a tsunami of votes and seats. It has overwhelmed all its opponents in all regions of the state and it has been a virtual Waterloo for all the giants who strode on the Punjab stage for many decades. It is really an occasion to say how ‘have the mighty fallen’. It was an election in which all religions, castes, creeds, rural and urban voters, workers and peasants, all combined to uproot the past and plant a new sapling. With such a massive mandate comes an equally massive responsibility, i.e. to live up to the expectations of the state’s population as a whole and not your voters only. The first and foremost duty of any government is to deliver day-to-day good governance at all levels but, somehow, this has always eluded us. Governance comes as a precursor to development and as I have always maintained, good governance does not cost anything at all. Good governance begins with the appointment on the basis of merit of the top leadership of the state administration starting with the Chief Secretary and the DGP. Further down, the postings of DCs and SPs have also to be decided on merit as these are very crucial field postings. Though it is early days to judge the new government, there is a sense that the appointments of senior officers so far have been based on merit. Young IPS/IAS officers have at long last been posted to the field. This had been seriously curtailed earlier and contrary even to the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. This is bound to have a good effect on governance, given the energy and idealism of youth. I myself have witnessed this in Punjab and J&K Police and its resounding success both in terms of professionalism and integrity.

With a massive mandate comes an equally massive responsibility, to live up to expectations. Good governance begins with appointment of key officials on the basis of merit and giving them a free hand. Claims are being made that corruption will be eradicated within 15 days. There is a long distance to travel from cutting-edge administration to middle and higher levels of bureaucratic, political corruption. It will require a sustained effort to remove this scourge. Politicians, people and administrators will have to work together

As a follow-up of these postings, it is imperative that the heads of departments both in Chandigarh and in the districts should be given a free hand in their internal administration. There should be no ‘Halka in-charge’ interfering in postings at the cutting edge. The SHO, the patwari, the BDO, etc, are posts where the common man interacts and it is here that they are not heard and given justice. If interference in these postings and in their functioning can be stopped, we will be on our way to good governance, which is the cornerstone of the edifice of any government. The government should consider providing an office to every MLA in the constituency and minimal secretarial help, and the MLA should function from this office and interact with his constituents. This would save the people the hassle of going to Chandigarh with their problems, complaints, etc, and the MLA would be able to monitor redressal. The MLAs could even interact with officers at the field level regarding development and other problems. However, the key is to interact as a feedback loop from the people and act as facilitators in the Assembly by bringing up people and area-centric issues, by-passing new Bills and laws, and not indulging in day-to-day interference or outright takeover of institutions.

For example, the police stations and its personnel are the hub of all police activity and the district SP constitutes the spine of the force. If the SHO and the SP are fairly chosen on the basis of professionalism and integrity, things will begin to change immediately. Today, transport, communication, manpower are much improved. However, the key factor, ‘the morale’, is low. It is here that leadership matters and we have the officers to provide it. The political leadership should trust them and, in turn, let them trust their men and lead them. Skills to investigate and maintain law and order can be sharpened and upgraded constantly. However, trust in district and police station officers has been eroded over time by political interference and it is important to re-establish this trust. At the drop of a hat, state governments, high courts, the Supreme Court transfer cases to the CBI, NIA or constitute SITs to investigate crimes. This erodes the credibility of the local police without commensurate gains. Transferring cases should be a rare exception and not the norm as it is today. This practice has already led to a tussle between Central and state governments, especially over handing over cases to the CBI. The impression is also gaining strength that this handing over of cases to Central agencies is done with ulterior motives.

It is the local police who have ground knowledge, whether we are dealing with serious crime, law and order situations or terrorism, etc. It is our experience that no other force or SIT can better the local police in this regard. We should revert to our well-tested roots and place the responsibility and accountability on the district SP and the police station. Today, they have become mere appendages and tools in the hands of the ‘Halka in-charge’. Free them from their clutches and back them from the state headquarters. There used to be a well laid out system of supervision; i.e. inspections, touring, crime records, visits by senior officers to scenes of crime. Put this together again, improve and adapt it to today’s situation and let SPs, DIGs and IGs begin touring and inspecting police stations and interacting with people. Let crime reports and inspection reports go regularly to the state headquarters through intermediary officers and let them give feedback and then ensure compliance as per instructions given on the reports. The law books and police rules are there for detailed guidance on every aspect of policing. Begin with the SHOs and SPs, trust them, give them responsibility and then hold them accountable.

What is true of the police is also true of the civil administration at the cutting edge. Here also, it is the District Magistrate who is the fulcrum of all administrative activity in the district. There should be no dilution of his authority. The DM is the representative of the government and should be given the responsibility of overall administration and also be held accountable. No parallel power centre should be established in the district. The secretaries of various departments should tour extensively and give on-the-spot guidance and evaluation rather than sending copious notes from HQs. In a nutshell, work lies at the district level, therefore strengthen the district officers and back them fully with logistics and finance. Senior officers should move out of the secretariat and go to the ground level more often. This will be an eye-opener and have a multiplier effect.

A major area of focus for the government, which the CM also has repeatedly stated, is providing jobs to the unemployed youth. Along with this, he has promised to stop or slow down the exodus to foreign shores. Employment generation is a major problem which cannot be resolved by offering government jobs alone. The solution lies with the private sector, along with creating strategic private-public sector partnerships and energising the cooperative sector. The greatest asset Punjab has had is its human resource and it is this which needs to be galvanised. Over the years, the youth and their families realised that hope of a better future lies in foreign shores. Today, the Punjabi diaspora is one of the most dispersed and successful migrant communities. It is not a question of stopping migration because people will go where they believe their future is, rather it is of creating a synergy between the ones who remain behind and the vast community which is spread across the globe. To create an environment which encourages trade, business and enterprise and does not throttle it. This does not need great investments, but a society governed by laws and rules and not one given to the enrichment of a few where mafias rule the roost. Government has to play its role as a facilitator and provider of a rule-based system offering stability and continuity to the entrepreneur.

One of the biggest problems in incentivising entrepreneurship is corruption and the bureaucratic/political obstacles that confront investors.

Successive governments have fed on this scourge. Claims are being made that corruption will be eradicated within 15 days — there is a long distance to travel from cutting-edge administration to the middle and higher levels of bureaucratic and political corruption. It will require a sustained and meticulous effort to remove this scourge. Politicians, people and administrators will have to work together to achieve this. TV advertisements and putting the onus on the people is not the way to remove this evil from our collective bloodstreams. A continuous dialogue between the people, the politicians and administrators is needed. The people they seek to serve should be a part of the process and not a by-product. The more transparency in government, the lesser the corruption.

There are many low-hanging fruits which can lead to quick results. Punjab, with all its diaspora, has very few international flights and Chandigarh (its capital) has just one to Sharjah. Kerala, on the other hand, has four international airports with dozens of flights daily — why this disparity? Punjab is a land-locked state, at least enable air connectivity to a populace which has to travel all the way to Delhi to find a decent connection. This will automatically generate revenue through trade, tourism and hospitality. We have a large agrarian base and talent. Incentivise agro-based start-ups. Gujarat and Rajasthan probably have 10 times the food processing units as compared to Punjab and these are states with a low agrarian base — why? What’s stopping the Punjabi entrepreneurs? The list is long and one can go on. It’s important that the focus remains on development and good governance. The mandate is great, the expectations are high and the path to success is through good governance and harnessing the youth in developmental initiatives.

— The writer is ex-chairman of UPSC, former Manipur Governor and served as J&K DGP

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