Media Driven Governance

Recent reactions of Chief Minister and Transport Minister of Delhi and crackdown of transport authorities in the wake of media report of killings by blueline buses shows the typical governance structure in our country. The Delhi edition of Indian Express (July 11, 2007) reports ‘Fearing crackdown, only 800 of 4500 bluelines hit road. 126 bluelines impounded, 604 challaned, 38 speed governors tampered’ Just see the numbers. Assuming that all those blueline buses stayed off Delhi roads don’t comply with the guidelines and all 800 buses on the roads are checked by 28 teams of transport department officials there are only 32 blueline buses complying to the guidelines of Delhi transport administration. The errant blueline operators find it beneficial to stay off road for couple of days. The government also didn’t initiate any measure to bring them back to road and punish. Tomorrow the media will report about the plight of passengers and the government will stop these entire crackdown business and things will remain as it is. It’s not the first time that people are getting killed by these killer bluelines. Anybody who has travelled in bluelines buses in Delhi can only understand the plight of its passengers. The media hardly writes about it and so it is obvious that the government doesn’t bother much about it. Moreover who travels in buses- neither the ministers nor the officials, not even the columnist or journalists? The government acts only after media make it an issue and for media it’s not an issue unless some people die. Is it that some our people have to be Sahid always for such basic services from transport to drinking water in a welfare state like ours? Can’t we expect our ministers and officials to take up these issues for the interest of the public? After all the perks and the privileges that these ministers and officials get are being borne by these very people who are being killed. I always remember one incident whenever I see any strikes or roadblock. Sometime in early 2004 I was waiting for bus in the main bus terminal in the capital city of a state. I saw around 50-60 people getting down from bus specially hired for the purpose. Police with a big police van and journalist with their camera men also arrived with them. This group of people then gathered there, distributed party flags among themselves. They have posed for photographs amid sloganeering in different places in the bus terminal and finally moved towards the national highway that passes by without disturbing anybody there. I have followed them curiously. They have also posed for photographs there and finally entered the police vehicle. The whole business was over within 25 minutes. Next morning I came to know from all the newspapers that hundred of activists of the youth wing of a national party blocked the national highway for bad transport services in the state and lack of amenities in the bus terminal and were arrested by the police. I don’t know whether one should feel happy for this so professional and stage managed strikes or feel sad about all the drama. Just think for whom that strike was meant for and also think why the media or journalists care to report this in their news papers. The irony is that these petty interests often influence governance decisions. In fact things are not always stage managed. But it’s a fact that media management has become an integral part of all political movements or mobilizations. This media centric movements and strikes are often not desirable in a democratic country like ours. The media has a greater role in pointing out anomalies in the governance and those responsible for governance shouldn’t always wait for media to show them where they have gone wrong.

Killer Bulelines and Quiescent Administration

The buses run by private operators in Delhi are known as blueline buses and the buses run by Delhi Transport Corporation of the Government of NCT Delhi are known as DTC buses or greenline buses. In last week itself around 7 people were killed in accidents by these blueline buses and media made a buzz of that and follows the government action. ‘Fearing crackdown, only 800 of 4500 bluelines hit road. 126 bluelines impounded, 604 challaned, 38 speed governors tampered’ (Newline, IE, July 11, 2007). Just see the numbers. Assuming that all those blueline buses stayed off Delhi roads don’t comply with the guidelines and all 800 buses on the roads are checked by 28 teams of transport department officials there are only 32 blueline buses complying to the guidelines of Delhi transport administration. This shows the abysmal enforcement and it can’t be said that all these happens without the knowledge of enforcement officials. In fact the non-compliance is a win-win game for erring blueline operators and rent seeking officials. It’s not the first time that people are getting killed by these killer bluelines. Ask anybody who have travelled in blueline busses in Delhi. I came to Delhi in 2003 and was shocked by the behavior of bus conductors and drivers. The way they treat passengers is terrible and I am sure you will lose your self esteem until you get familiar with it. It better not to say anything about the way they drive buses. The driver feels he is riding a scooter and can accelerate the speed or put breaks as he likes. When I used to stand or sit in driver’s cabin I feel as if it’s crushing human beings in every five minutes if it’s a busy road but fortunately it never happened before my eyes. Very often buses don’t go to the final destination of the route if they don’t have enough passengers and it’s always safe for the passenger to leave the bus quietly and look for alternative transport instead of going for any altercation. If you are calling the police to lodge a complain then you will be told to contact another number at least for three times (none of these numbers are toll free if you are calling from your mobile) and finally the police who will listen to your complain will quiz you for at least seven to eight minutes. And nobody knows what happens to these complains. The crocodile tears of state administration and subsequent kneejerk reactions in the wake of media reporting of death are not going to solve the problem. These crackdowns add to the plight of the passengers and government gets a ground to rationalize its incompetence in curbing the non-compliant operators. The solution lies in designing systems that incentivize compliance.

When our Prime Minister lose sleep?

The Prime Minister's confession of loosing sleep over the arrest of his citizens abroad for alleged involvement in Glasgow bomb blast made me to lose my sleep. Does he lose sleep because the country he governs is becoming a breeding ground of terrorist? Does he lose sleep because professionally educated and privileged youths of the country he governs embracing the path of jihad? The answer is no. His loss of sleep has something to do with the religion of the arrested youths. He moved one step forward to confess again that he knows how it feels to be a minority in the country he governs. I wonder whether the Hindus of our country have really any hatredness towards the Sikhs (the community which he belongs). In fact Hindus never have any hatred towards non-believers or those who believe in some other Gods or religions. There are some fundamentalist elements who often are accused of being spreading hatredness for some minority community. Even these Hindu fundamentalists never targeted Sikhs. The hatredness towards Sikhs was purely political and was spearheaded by the party which the Prime Minister represents in the parliament. Was he ever a victim of such hatredness? He has enjoyed all coveted positions of the country and could have been a popular candidate for the post President if he wishes so. So his feeling are hypocritical and I feel need not be debated even. Regarding his loss of sleep I would rather suggest him to see doctor. He never lost his sleep when people died in bomb blast in Delhi and Mumbai, when citizens are killed by terrorists in J & K, North East and other parts of the country, when fifty policemen were killed by Naxalites in Jharkhand, when villagers were molested, raped and killed by CPM cadres and police in Singur, when farmers were committing suicide, when the money targeted for the poor never reach them, when people die out of starvation…... I don’t remember anytime my Prime Minister have ever confessed of losing sleep for any of these things (please correct me if my memory is corrupt). The country had lot of expectation from the present Prime Minister when he was chosen for the job. What has he done for this country as a Prime Minister (expect running the Prime Minister’s Office)? I am sure if he will introspect on this he will lose sleep more. I won’t suggest him to think about the damages done to the country during his tenure as that may lead to loss of his job or loss of sleep permanently.