MALA FIDE
The heat scalds the skin. North India is reeling under a severe heatwave, and Delhi is suffocating because of the intolerable weather and inordinately high pollution levels. The capital city, which was set to become a 'world-class' urban hub, has descended into being a symbol of the worst kind of urban management. How can we be an emerging economic power with such abysmal town and city planning as well as inept urban and civic facility management, which has been corrupted on account of the lack of enforcement and accountability? It is as though the system has staggered and ceased to function, taking our public domain to a point of no return. We need the ruling authority to urgently extricate us from this dark and airless abyss.
Meanwhile, the ugly tussle for the ownership of Delhi continues unabated as the chief minister indulges in unruly, unprecedented banter with the lieutenant governor in public. The spat exposes the new government for what it is - a motley crew of activists who do not comprehend or are unable to work with the tools of governance. The shift, from street activism to state governance, needs to take place so that Delhi can move on under its elected government. Under this fragile, somewhat unhealthy, condition - with a juvenile but brutal battle waging - it is scary to imagine what is in store for this ancient, layered capital that has always been the core of cultural excellence and a storehouse of India's extraordinary legacies of thoughts and ideas. The attempts to unravel the salient features that had put Delhi on the world map in the early years of this century are being undermined recklessly.
Greed rules
The attitude towards excellence in this country is frightening. High standards are associated with the 'elite'. Consequently, the deserving go unrewarded. Mediocrity is the comfort zone for the majority and is, therefore, celebrated. This mindset is nothing but perverse. It will keep India in a chaotic muddle with the parameters of the necessary infrastructure disregarded. This is because they remain beyond the comprehension of those who lack the experience and the knowledge of where the world is in circa 2015.
Experts are not elitist. They are blessed with professional expertise. They must be allowed complete freedom and the meddling babus who find ways to stall or change course midstream should be thwarted. Politicians who are reluctant to set up the mechanisms and processes to deliver good governance should also be resisted. Systems need to be turned inside out with a radical, ruthless overhaul so that the people can be delivered from this terrifying bondage of mediocrity.
The battle for Delhi is based on a rapacious greed for land. Who will control the land is what concerns those who have been elected. The time is right to find a solution to this ridiculous state of affairs by embracing the American model. Turn the New Delhi Municipal Council zone into a separate entity like DC in Washington, and accord statehood to the rest of Delhi. Get it over and done with so that the constant stream of excuses by those responsible for governance gets exposed to the citizens. This tradition of passing the buck has aggravated the ongoing misgovernance, forcing anarchy to take root in the capital of India. To have the seat of government wallowing in rot is untenable.
I write this column from the heart of New Delhi, Connaught Place, where the electric supply is erratic. Power theft and faulty transformers have adversely affected the delivery of electricity. There is no way India can compete with other nations if it cannot administer its towns and cities, regulate its civic services, and provide dignity to its own people.
