This post isn't really about cooking. But cooking as a metaphor seems to be so well suited to describing the situation and hence the strange juxtaposition of cooking and governance - two very different skills. Though, you could always say that it is not so. Why else would an earlier prime minister be said to have had a kitchen cabinet?
Well, the story goes like this. A bad cook once thought, "If I can't give them good food, let them have more." So instead of improving his cooking skills he started forcing huge helpings down everyone's throat. Of course you can't fault his intentions. Let them miss the taste but not go low on nutrition! That is what he thought. Perhaps the cook wasn't aware of the consequences of overfeeding or, may be, he didn't care.
You could also think of a doctor who knew that the patient had a bad nurse and that the nurse was sure to miss out some of the prescribed doses. So the doctor doubles or triples the dose in the hope that it will average out to the prescription.
Our governments seem to be functioning like this cook or the doctor. The policing and the judicial system, all directly or indirectly controlled by the politicians, do not seem to be delivering the desired results. Crimes and indiscipline are on the rise. Yet, hardly do you find a politician who would talk of reforming the police or the judiciary. Instead they will all agree on increasing the penalty. It is exactly like the cook forcing more down hapless eaters' throats or the doctor tripling the dosage in the hope that every once in a while the nurse will remember to give the medicine to the patient.
The recently proposed revision of fines for traffic offences to astronomical sums is a step like this and will only worsen the situation. What is required is efficient implementation of existing rules and penalties, and better documentation on the roads and a better design. If something needs to be increased it is not the penalties but the quality of design and documentation and enforcement of rules. We all know that, more often than not, you will either find no signage telling you that a road is one way or find it at the exit! Our roads seldom have a signage telling one whether an U turn is permitted or not; the rule exists only in the head of the policeman if one is there. A four-way stop or rules determining the right of way are nowhere to be found. And since there are so many ambiguities, whenever a VIP is on the road all traffic is stopped and rules given the go-by. Doing away with this practice could be one single big reform so the VIPs could understand the problems created by their inefficient implementation machinery.
The proposed revision also gives rise to an unholy suspicion. Is the government trying to emulate some of our industrialists who pay for all the resources, including the human ones, at very Indian rates, but want to price their products at par with those made in US and priced in USD? Of course, they don't bother to bring the quality at par too. You will notice that most of the proposed fines are closer to the fines levied in USA or Europe than the capacity to pay of an average Indian. And there is no effort to improve the quality of enforcement and the roads.
Click here to read an earlier blog post to get an idea of the state of affairs today.
Executive Summary - We want GOOD governance and not more of the governance that we already have!
Well, the story goes like this. A bad cook once thought, "If I can't give them good food, let them have more." So instead of improving his cooking skills he started forcing huge helpings down everyone's throat. Of course you can't fault his intentions. Let them miss the taste but not go low on nutrition! That is what he thought. Perhaps the cook wasn't aware of the consequences of overfeeding or, may be, he didn't care.
You could also think of a doctor who knew that the patient had a bad nurse and that the nurse was sure to miss out some of the prescribed doses. So the doctor doubles or triples the dose in the hope that it will average out to the prescription.
Our governments seem to be functioning like this cook or the doctor. The policing and the judicial system, all directly or indirectly controlled by the politicians, do not seem to be delivering the desired results. Crimes and indiscipline are on the rise. Yet, hardly do you find a politician who would talk of reforming the police or the judiciary. Instead they will all agree on increasing the penalty. It is exactly like the cook forcing more down hapless eaters' throats or the doctor tripling the dosage in the hope that every once in a while the nurse will remember to give the medicine to the patient.
The recently proposed revision of fines for traffic offences to astronomical sums is a step like this and will only worsen the situation. What is required is efficient implementation of existing rules and penalties, and better documentation on the roads and a better design. If something needs to be increased it is not the penalties but the quality of design and documentation and enforcement of rules. We all know that, more often than not, you will either find no signage telling you that a road is one way or find it at the exit! Our roads seldom have a signage telling one whether an U turn is permitted or not; the rule exists only in the head of the policeman if one is there. A four-way stop or rules determining the right of way are nowhere to be found. And since there are so many ambiguities, whenever a VIP is on the road all traffic is stopped and rules given the go-by. Doing away with this practice could be one single big reform so the VIPs could understand the problems created by their inefficient implementation machinery.
The proposed revision also gives rise to an unholy suspicion. Is the government trying to emulate some of our industrialists who pay for all the resources, including the human ones, at very Indian rates, but want to price their products at par with those made in US and priced in USD? Of course, they don't bother to bring the quality at par too. You will notice that most of the proposed fines are closer to the fines levied in USA or Europe than the capacity to pay of an average Indian. And there is no effort to improve the quality of enforcement and the roads.
Click here to read an earlier blog post to get an idea of the state of affairs today.
Executive Summary - We want GOOD governance and not more of the governance that we already have!
