As I put down Gurucharan Das’ book ‘The Difficulty of Being
Good,’ the question that arises in one’s mind is if we want to be good, why are
we not able to be good ? He has written on the subtle art of Dharma based on the
Mahabharata. He examines closely the moral idea the Mahabharata has thrown up
and how it relates to our daily life.
I was reminded of another well-written and researched book,
‘Bury the Chains’ by Adam Hochschild. This book is about the slavery trade — how
a few individuals fought to free the slaves. While slavery is reprehensible
today, it was an accepted practice in the 18th and 19th centuries. Both George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson were slave owners. Thomas Clarkson, Granville
Sharp and others led the fight for eradication of slavery which took several
decades to yield results. It was not before 1833 that the Slave Emancipation
Bill was passed in the British Parliament, although the matter had come up in
the Parliament as early as the second half of the 18th century.
The abolitionists had good motives but the difficulties that
they had to surmount were huge. Otherwise normal and sane people kept quiet when
the dehumanising slave trade was on and even demanded compensation from the
government when slaves were freed (Slaves being property, there should be
compensation for loss, was the argument).
63 years after Independence, what is the relevance of the
above books for India ? We want to be good, would like to fight for the right
causes and being human beings, would like to have fairness, equity and justice.
Given this positive mindset, can we resolve to make the changes that will impact
favourably the vast sections of the population ?
Take just three areas — primary education, health and water.
Only 66% of students complete primary education. More often
than not, teachers are not present in government schools. Classrooms are
crowded. Amidst the noise, it will be the child’s fortune if she can even hear
what the teacher says.
Maternal mortality is 450 per 100,000 live births (10 times
that of China). The under-5 mortality rate is 72 per 1000 live births.
People still have to walk some distance to get water. Potable
water is a far cry in many places.
To say that this is not a satisfactory state of affairs is a
gross understatement. Yes, there has been remarkable improvement in several
directions after the Independence. In the post-liberalisation era of last 19
years, benefits have reached far and wide.
Intentions of every government — central or state — are
honourable. Good intentions do not itself make for effective actions. Funds
allocated in budgets for education and health are increasing. There is no dearth
of new schemes. A report on Bharat Nirman scheme in Business Standard of 23rd
February, 2010 is telling. The targets achieved in 2009-10 have been
disappointing, whether for road construction, electrification or drinking water.
For example, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna has a target of 13,000 villages in
2009-10. Till November, 2009 it had covered only 1,643 villages i.e., about 13%.
Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Yojna has targeted 4,73,000 villages in 2009-10 — it
has achieved coverage of only 8% till October, 2009. In addition to target
slippages, sustainability and maintenance of assets created is a problem.
Can we move towards a situation where we can say with pride
that every child completes secondary education regardless of gender, quality of
education is comparable to private schools, potable water is available at the
doorstep and improved sanitation facilities are available to one and all ?
Education, particularly of girl child, and improved health care can make all the
difference to society. I was ‘volunteering’ in Bangalore in a school for
children of disadvantaged sections of society. Located in a crowded area on a
narrow road, this school caters to children who were once child labourers or
whose parents are barely literate. It was a pep talk for students taking 10th
standard examination. For their families, it was an important occasion as
perhaps for the first time someone in their family would pass out of school.
When I asked the students what they want to be later in life, answers came back
spontaneously — engineers, computer professionals, doctors (to my chagrin, none
said CA !) This school caters primarily to members of the minority community and
some students who wanted to be doctors were girls. This is what education does.
Can we ask ourselves the following questions ?
(1) Do we agree that everyone in the country should have
certain minimum entitlements ?
(2) How do we have elected representatives who work
altruistically to make this possible ?
(3) Can we depend only on the government to make this
possible ? If so, how do we hold the government accountable ?
(4) If we agree that we should not leave it to the government
alone to make this possible, can civil society take up this duty ?
(5) Is civil society equipped to do this ? Can it work
effectively with the government in bringing about the change ?
(6) What is the role of professionals like us ? Do we go
beyond management of our clients’ affairs ?
The freedom struggle produced men who were selfless,
innovative (take the case of Salt March) and importantly, produced leaders who
not only sent the British back home but made freedom possible in every British
colony. They had a common objective and worked towards achieving it.
The freedom struggle has lessons even today for us to arrive at a common
goal. Perhaps 50 years from now, posterity will remember what their forefathers
did in the second decade of the 21st century.
