The recent Mumbai bombings by the terrorists have pushed me to ask questions. Questions which I felt should have been asked well before. I saw lot of people accusing the Politicians, Defense, and Intelligence. I no doubt agree with these accusations. It becomes the responsibility of these people of establishment to ensure the Safety of its Citizens. But is it fair to blame only these for whatever happened? I have been asking this question to myself many times. Do I, being a citizen of this country, share the responsibility of whatever happened? I think yes. One main reason for that is I have, till now, confined my responsibility towards my country for PAYING MY TAXES and nothing more than that. My question is Can we, being Citizen of this country, play more important role than just being an annual tax payer? We all have been paying our taxes to government and our country has been viewed as one of the strong economic power of this world. But still why is Infrastructure of our country in this pathetic state, Why is poverty so rampant here, why do our Defense System lack the sophistication for handling any emergency. Every time there is a terror strike we see ourselves very much at the mercy of the terrorists. Why is this helplessness when our Politicians claim that India is growing?
Here are few points I felt could bring in some change to the System we are living in :-
- On Security : Problem - I see a serious lack of ownership among all the personnel involved in Security. It starts from the constable on the streets to any higher official. The Police men taking bribe from the street shop is a common thing now. I myself have seen a police man taking a bribe of 3 rupees. What reason might be compelling them to do this? The salary of a Junior Police person is as low as 4000 – 5000. Can any person, given the high cost of living, fulfill the basic needs of his family with this paltry sum? If I am passionate about my job and I try to excel in my job it is only because I am always aware of the fact that it is only because of my job that I am able to take care of my family. Why would any Police man be duty conscious to his job when his salary is of hardly any help? This is the scenario of a junior police officer but the condition remains same at higher level as well. At the same time we see our MLA, MPs leading life king sized with all the comforts in the world. Why is this disparity prevailing? Why can’t there be a balance.
Suggestion:
- We all pay taxes. We should learn to question our government about the consumption of our taxes. This is essentially making the effective utilization of RTI.
- One has to follow a strong approach to bring in the above change. And so I feel having a Separate Panel set up which will asses the tax consumption is very much required. Based on the assessment of this panel one can always hold the government accountable. Currently crores of rupees are being spent as a Party fund by different political parties which are going completely unaccounted. With this panel we can ensure that the money is being put to right use.
- This panel should be set up not by the government but by the corporates of each state. There by ensuring that the panel is clean. People like RK Mishra, Narayan Murthy or Ratan Tata are some of the names I can remember now. These people have the potential to bring in the change because they have already done that by rising to the position where they are today. I have always felt that these people have more important role to play than to just run their company. Also by doing this they will also get the clear picture of how their tax is being utilized.
- I am sure that with this we can, to a great extent, achieve some amount of economic equality and the problem of Bribery which has grown to a monstrous size can be contained to some extent. The money can then be appropriately utilized for improving the current security establishment.
- On Politicians : Problem - How many of our current politicians, at central as well as at state level, are educated? We can see the goons and gangsters and illiterates contesting the elections and even winning them as well. How far rational can these illiterates be? What skills these peoples might be applying to make their constituencies a better place? Can we expect any loyalty from these men towards our State, Country or Society?
Suggestion:
- Let us not allow these illiterates to rule upon us.
- Pressurize the government to make the education mandatory in any field of Politics. Any person contesting the election should have completed minimum education.
- Currently Politics is the only job where there are absolutely no qualifications required for a person to contest the elections. Pressurize the government to come up with specific qualifications for the candidates.
- There are chances that people might come up with fake certificates but a detailed validation of these papers for their authenticity should be carried out.
Problem2 - I read an article in the news papers few months back where they highlighted that our MLAs and MPs are very poor for the Tax they pay even though they are very rich. A MLA’s or a minister’s salary might range from 20000/- Rs to 30000/- Rs per month. This is the money for which they will be paying the taxes. But at the end of month if one looks at the allowances they get and the other perks they get their monthly income crosses well over 1 Lakh. Is this valid? What special responsibility are these people taking for which they are getting this benefit?
Suggestions:
- No special benefits to be given to the MLAs and MPs unless and until they show good progress in their work. The benefits they get should be strictly attributed to their performance.
- No money should be spent in providing the extra security for these men. We are as much important as these men are.
- On Nationalism : Problem - I see a serious lack of Nationalism among most of us. How many of us do truly feel passionate about our Mother Land. Few months back when I went to Houston, US Tx, I saw the US Flag in front of almost every house. Why don’t we see something similar here? How many of us do really see our Mother’s face whenever we think of our Country?
Suggestions:
- Work towards spreading of importance of Nationalism. Conducting a Street play highlighting this factor is one of the way I see right now. We can dissolve the boundaries of Religion, Region, Race all if we can induce the Nationalism among our fellow citizens.
- Government can come up with a rule to have Military training to all the Youth of this country after he\she reaches certain age. I feel this will not only induce the required passion towards our country but also make a person self reliant and rational.
- Work with the Educational Institutes and closely interact with the Teachers to come up with special programs highlighting the Nationalism. Because Teachers have a great importance in grooming any individual. It was the strength of teachers of Takshashila alone which overthrew the Greeks Rule (of Alexander) in India and built the first Indian Empire – Mouryan Empire.
The prime reason for all this as I see is the disparity between the Rich and Poor. And this has only increased after the Independence. I feel our country never acquired Freedom. We all are still stuck in the clutches of Poverty. An independent India, without removing poverty, would be free only in name. How could political freedom mean anything without economic freedom? How is having freedom in a land where the Poor are only growing poorer? Bringing about economic balance among the people is the call of action now.
I feel at this juncture when many are saying that we should Bomb Pakistan, start the war etc I feel there is a WAR that need to be fought not just with the terrorists but also with ourselves. There is a battle to be fought and won with ourselves. The system is as what we ourselves are. We all should become the Change in order for the System to change. There has to be a Internal Revolution among each individual of us. Yes it is the Revolution that our country needs now. Let us bring our Mother freedom from all the Anti Social elements we have in our country, let us work towards building a Bharath, A SUNEHARA BHARAT.
Kabhi who din bhi ayega
Ke jab azad hum honge
Yeh apni hi zamin hogi
Yeh apna aasman hoga
Shahidon ki chitaon par
Lagenge har baar mele
Watan par marne walon ka
Yahi nam-o-nishan hoga
UTTISHTA BHARATHA HA
