No party confronts the most pertinent question- why is our nation mired in corruption at every level of governance? Why is there no action plan to rid the country of this cancerous menace? Why is no body questioning the expenditure of lakhs of crores of rupees by candidates and political parties in the elections? Why has every political party failed to present a road map before the people to correct the poor health and education system and the critical problem of unemployment ? , writes former IAS officer V.S.Pandey
By the second week of June we will have a new government- a government of the people, which has pledged to work assiduously and honestly for the people. Every party in the fray has made humungous promises in their manifestos , as they have fraudulently done in the past too. Going by past experiences, barring a few achievements, no significant transformational changes have been made by all those voted by the gullible people to power.
Millions still remain below the poverty level, millions remain illiterate and jobless. Our public health systems remained as abysmal as they were decades ago. The income disparity remains extremely worrisome with chasm between the haves and have nots deepening and widening. Despite myriad problems bedeviling the lives of hapless voters, electioneering continues to be centered around issues unconnected to the daily lives of the people.
No party confronts the most pertinent question- why is our nation mired in corruption at every level of governance? Why is there no action plan to rid the country of this cancerous menace? Why is no body questioning the expenditure of lakhs of crores of rupees by candidates and political parties in the elections? Why has every political party failed to present a road map before the people to correct the poor health and education system and the critical problem of unemployment ?
The famous adage that a liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood sadly resonates. Our nation has suffered immensely because of the willful inaction and callous attitude of the political class. For years, many such false narratives have been colorfully and extravagantly woven by almost all the political parties . They commenced with emotive issues to garner votes- like the language disputes propagated by some , then came the all favorite, perennially popular caste issues, reservations- pro and anti , the uniform civil code , article 370, the populist polarising Ram mandir issue and this manipulative trend of duping the people continues. The latest political card being deviously played is the misuse of investigative agencies , washing machine concept of laundering dirty politicos, democracy in danger etc-etc. All these issues have consumed the nation’s precious time , energy and resources ad infinitum. Did the nation succeed in reducing leave alone eliminating its abject poverty, or improving public education and health ,or reducing/eradicating the all pervasive corruption? The answer is a big resounding “NO”.
It is our nation’s misfortune that it is saddled with unprincipled, unethical, venal and untruthful politicians who exercise an octopus like grip over our public life. They set a false narrative which is ably supported by a pliant and collusive media. Every election ,variations of these kinds of false narratives are perpetuated and the resultant electoral harvests reaped bountifully, leaving the victimised people dejected and disillusioned. Divisive caste politics had promised the quick emancipation of the population, but even after decades of such political promises we, the people , remain one the poorest countries in the world. More recently, yet another disingenuous liar appeared on the political horizon of our nation , creating a fresh and totally false narrative of a “Lok Pal” being the panacea for all our miseries. He played on the imagination of the vulnerable public and rode to power triumphantly with a halo of honesty .This masquerade could not last. He is now in jail on serious corruption charges. Behind bars, he is still playing the ‘victim’ card- successfully propagating the false narrative that “Liquor gate” is fake and that he is the most honest politician around . Ably supported by the corrupt media , his lies are being propagated as truth and it will not be surprising if his truth is ultimately buried under the mammoth heap of sustained untruths. Such lies and false narratives concocted by wily politicians define our political landscape and successfully befool the people endlessly . “Kamandal” in response to “Mandal” was yet another narrative which resulted in a rich bountiful electoral harvest for the creators .
The question before us is how long will we be subjected to these falsities and when will our political class leave this unethical path and start acting in the larger interests of the people honestly. Many nations on this planet were poor and under developed at the time we gained our freedom and took our destiny in our own hands. Nations, like Japan and Germany , which were totally devastated during the Second World War are today fully developed and successfully dominating the global stage. We, however, still remain a developing country even after seventy six years of attaining independence. We have the dubious distinction of having the highest number of poor people in the world. India has the highest arable and irrigated land in the world, is endowed with very salubrious climate throughout the year and has enormous mineral wealth conducive for economic growth and prosperity and a young energetic population , but despite these favorable conditions we are still bracketed amongst the poorest countries of the world. Clearly we have not succeeded in using our advantages to resolve pending issues. It clearly exemplifies the failures on the part of those who ruled our nation earlier or are helming it today. Had our ruling class – politicians and bureaucracy included, worked honestly and diligently, we would certainly have become fully developed today. Now it is time for us to expediently clean up our act by putting in place a political class which is principled and sincere. This is the path to our future, to our finally attaining the goals set forth by our founding fathers. Let’s not fail them again.
(Vijay Shankar Pandey is former Secretary Government of India)
