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.