Wednesday, September 27, 2006

From the Indian heartland

Friends,

I am on a tour of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in search for some answers. I am going to different districts meeting social and political activists to understand local issues, perspectives these people have on state and national issues and, above all, what is the guiding force behind their political activism? Why is that important? It is so because we at Young India feel that only a nation whose polity is in tune with the issues of the people, thinks about policy solutions and their implementation will be able to sustain democracy. A polity that exhibits intellectual letharge will perish. And these facts are in evidence here.

One reads about law and order situations being bad in northern India. Today I visited a district just outside the state capital, Lucknow, and asked a group of political activists what they did on a daily basis. I was expecting that they would mention certain issues that they work on or do some organizational work. Invariably the response that came back was that we help people get out of trouble from the police. The activists took pride in their connections that they had with the police to get innocent people free. It is a very telling commentary on the real problems being faced by the people of India. Most political workers are involved with their parties for self-promotion and to increase their sphere of influence. Work on issues like education and employment generation is scarce. That has been left to the NGOs, who surprisingly are loathed by the locals.

Young India had consulted the National Advisory Council (NAC) in India on many pieces of legislation last year. The NAC is the body that reviews important legislation before it is introduced to the Parliament for debate. We were pleased to see the progress policymakers and policyshapers had made to create laws that would truly impact people's lives. Two of the most prominent among these laws were the Right to Information Act and the Rural Employment Guarantee Act. These two laws address two fundamental problems - corruption and employment for the poorest. In Uttar Pradesh these laws are not even close to being implemented. Funds that have been released by the Central/Federal government are languishing with State authorities. I can now understand the frustration of activists with the government structure here.

We don't believe in suspending optimism. There is a new breed of leaders emerging, albeit very slowly, who are genuinely interested in addressing problems more than they are in getting a post in a party hierarchy. But overall the political activists do not believe in any meaningful intellectual exercises. They want the top leadership to guide them. That may be fine in matters of state-wide and national importance. But the local political activist must address the local issues. This lack of desire to do so is disturbing. They want leaders to come to their districts, do a show of power so that they can impress upon local authorities that they are associated with someone important. Patronage is still the name of the game here. Hence, our challenge to get the locals involved in policy discussions is tough. But we like such challenges.

My tour will continue for another week. My internet access will be sporadic but I will write as and when I get a chance. Before I close I want to share with you the most positive experience I have had so far. This was far removed from the glitz and glamor of politics. I visited a shelter/home for destitute children where my local host's wife runs a school for these children who have no guardian and no home. These kids were filled with love, hope and ambition. I talked to my friend's wife about the larger education scene in Lucknow itself and I was very troubled to learn that the access to public education is so terrible that they have a school running in one corner of a cemetary! If this is the condition in the state capital then I don't want to imagine the situation in the interiors. There is a tremendous battle to be fought here. And we hope to be a part of it.

Till next time...

Peace.

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