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Needed - Capable Leaders...

Fifty six years have passed since the time world had witnessed an extraordinary phenomenon. The phenomenon wherein, people as different as Germans from Turks or Russians from Afrikaans, came together to create a country that is roughly half of Europe in terms of size and equivalent to the entire Asia put together, in terms of diversity. The fact that India has flourished even after countless attempts on her integrity, is a standing testimony to the people who inhabit her. However there is a nagging question that needs to be pondered upon by any responsible citizen of India. Could India have done more?
Looking back, we find that India had its own share of problems-burdening population, incorrect economic policies, bleak industrial scenario, wars and internal strafes to name a few. But all these problems are like the stars in a broad daylight sky, which get lost in the glare of sunlight. The Sun being, with due apologies to the now rather endangered species of honest politicians, the class of politicians together with the system that they have created for their survival. For if there is one class that has consistently failed the people, consistently failed to live up to the expectations, consistently messed up with the day to day running of the society ,it has to be the political class of India.
The problem is ill conceived, if we blame only the politicians for the mess in the country. For, the political system and the people also are equally responsible for this erosion. The people failed the system by electing leaders who are least interested in the working of the democracy than in working around it. The political system failed the people by denying them a way to steer clear of corrupt leaders. To top it all, the politicians used the inability of the system and the lack of interest shown by the people to further their own interests.
The solution to this problem, ironically, has been discussed so much as to evoke a feeling of apathy even from people who are normally inclined towards the art of discussion. Qualifying norms for politics, does increase the credibility of the leaders. But the major stumbling block comes in the implementation. How does one frame the norm? Does it have to be the now famously debated two child norm, there by, brightening the not-so-bright prospect of a child whose father chose to hide him from the society? Or does it have to be an academic degree, there by disqualifying a large majority of underprivileged.
Qualifying norm, for any selection process has to ensure that only the candidates who have relevant credentials are chosen. Norms for politics can be derived by taking a leaf out of the education scenario. Similar to the increasingly higher levels of education, with each level mandating the completion of the previous level, Political field can be divided into three tiers. The highest tier being the parliament and the lowest tier being the Panchayat bodies, with the state legislature coming as the second tier. Any citizen aspiring for a political career should first be groomed by a stint at the Panchayat bodies. At the end of a term at Panchayat bodies, he will be appraised for his work by the people of the respective constituencies, who will rate his performance apart from choosing the next leader. Thus a system of feedback gets established based upon which a rating system can be evolved. Based on such a norm, an aspiring politician can be chosen for increasingly higher levels of responsibility, from the Panchayat member to legislative assembly and then finally to the parliament of India. Along with such a performance based promotions, stringent clauses can also be enacted which make it mandatory for the Member of parliaments to achieve a stipulated minimum feedback score for them to be considered for the next term at the parliament. If they fail to achieve the same, they can be demoted back to the legislative assembly and Panchayat boards respectively.
No doubt, Indian democratic experiment is the most unique and probably the only one in the entire history of humanity, which ever came closer to the goal of achieving freedom in the real sense for its people. There have been drawbacks, pitfalls and failures in the course of this journey that we had taken, but just like the phoenix that grows out of its own ashes, we had outgrown all the problems and we will continue to do so in the future also. But in the Journey, We will be best served by leaders who are qualified enough to lead and this is where the idea of corporate governance with its feedback system can aid us critically.


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