There is a story in Mint today from the Naxalite-affected province of Chhatisgarh that I advise my reader to read in full. It is only after you read it that you should read the rest of this post.
What do you make of it?
Doesn’t it sound like The Bhateeja State has lost the plot? People like me study “civil government” – but here we have a quasi-military one; or a “police-backed State” if you prefer. The police building roads? Whatever next?
And people dying for the sake of building the road?
And this road is a “prestige issue” for the Top Cop?
And the chief minister saying he will “push for governance” – with the State police leading the march?
What is “civil government”?
Note that the Top Cop got his job after sitting for a “civil services” examination. These dudes are supposed to be “civil servants” – of a “civil government.”
Instead of that, what we have is internal civil war.
And the plunder of mineral wealth.
And a ban on mahua.
It was perhaps a decade ago that a young IAS officer from Chhatisgarh came calling upon me in my then office at the Economic Times. He was a fan of my writings on bureaucracy, and wanted me to autograph one of these columns. After that fuss, we had a small chat, whereupon he presented me with a CD on what the Chattisgarh government was planning to do to develop the state. The entire CD was all about highways and urban development. Obviously this never happened. What actually happened is what the story in Mint reveals: “Bridges, roads, hand pumps are all built on paper.” I recall that the new state was under a Congress government then, whose “dynamic” chief minister, Ajit Jogi, later dropped out of politics because of injuries suffered in a road accident. Someone told me that Jogi is a former IAS officer.
Looks like the IAS-IPS chaps have totally lost the plot too. Since they are a “constitutional bureaucracy,” this must be looked upon as a “constitutional crisis.”
One phrase rankled: “prestige issue.”
In other words, “dadagiri” (bullying).
The British would have sent in a young “political officer.” He would hold parleys, drink their mahua, dance with them to their jungle drums, sign a treaty and establish local independence under the overall suzerainty of the British raj. Someone like the young Captain James Tod.
Any Indian “civil servant” out there capable of carrying out this delicate mission?
Hey Sauvik, My take is a bit different. Perhaps this is the only way in these areas to build roads. Whatever the past state of the "civil government" is, this one road itself is going to make a difference. And like you, i very much believe that the key problem in this country is lack of roads and transport networks. So whether the police builds it, or PWD does, bottomline is that a road was built. True enough though that the thinking behind it is flawed because it has some wierd notion of prestige and bravado, as opposed to sound economic thinking.
ReplyDelete@Bhuva: Should roads be built like this, just as they are being made in Afghanistan? This is a huge civilian revolt, and a constitutional crisis for any civil government. I have provided the political / diplomatic solution. You have also studied these things. Is the latter path not better? After all, a government that is civil only comes about to "maintain the peace." It cannot happen that it establishes a peace through war! If this happens, the province is dead for many decades. I also blogged an earlier story in which the Top Cop is quoted as saying, "Give me 5 years and they will leave this place." Wake up, girl!
ReplyDeletePlease pardon my lack of knowledge in the intricacies of decision-making at the district-level, but, first, are the IAS/IPS officers given enough powers to plan and decide on such matters? On paper, Constitutionally, I believe they have a lot more autonomy than they can execute in reality.
ReplyDeleteSecond, when the problem spans over more than a handful of districts (considering the current level only and leaving the past as past) or even states, Civil Servants unite and coordinate much less than the tribals ("Maoists"), may be because the latter have much more in common than the former. That's probably where the problem to devising a diplomatic solution may be. Do you agree?
@Satish: IAS-IPS district officers have more than enough powers, alright.
ReplyDeleteAbout your second point, IAS-IPS men cannot co-ordinate because the Maoists-Naxals are spread out over many adjoining states. However, this does not make a new diplomatic solution more difficult. Rather, it makes it easier, as different pockets can be tackled, one at a time.