First Published 15 May 2014Elections to the Lok Sabha are over. After a few hours, the counting of votes shall start all over India, and expectedly, within twenty-four hours from now, it will be clear which group is going to take charge of governing the country.
All parties have released their Election Manifestos, promising lots and all of us know that whichever group takes the charge, they will try to achieve some of the promises, yes, some of them, not all. The promise list will have to be divided between short term and long term; between micro level and macro level, between social and economic, etc.
As a concerned citizen of India, I am worried about what will happen and, on my part, would like to pen down certain basic micro-level desired achievements which can change the Nation, in a very short span.
Let me itemize what I think as the most important on micro-level actions.
FIRST
The Police Force: India has a very bad reputation for Police forces, its corruption, lack of training, insensitive behavior, inefficiency, and yes, sometimes some persons do talk about deficiency of personnel. As per note of the Press Information Bureau, India has a pathetic low ratio of 142.69 police personnel per lakh of population. This, viewed in comparison to other countries Italy (559.0), Mexico (491.8), Saudi Arabia (386.5), and Belgium (357.5) which have a much higher Police-Population ratio than India.
Just consider that with a population of 12000 lakh plus, if India targets to have a ratio of 300 police personnel, the police force itself will need to recruit 157.31 persons per lakh, which means employing 1,887,720 persons.
SECOND
Education: Pupil-teacher ratio in India for Primary education is more than 40, whereas it is desired to be in the range of 20. In plain terms, it means that number of teachers in Primary needs to be just doubled. The same is the case for secondary education. In thousands of villages, the number of teachers is sufficient only to complete administrative work, distribute lunch and that is all. And with the abolition of examination and evaluation of the progress of pupils, it is much easier for teachers to spend time in schools without educating the children.
However, in both these sectors, appointments, and also subsequent postings and transfers, are plagued by heavy corruption with rates ranging from Rs. 100,000 per appointment to Rs. 500,000 per appointment. In addition, for transfers, the rates go up to any amount depending on the lucrativeness of the target post.
I wish that to start with, the new Government should recruit all police personnel and teachers and take suitable steps to complete the recruitment without any bribery. Besides, the land revenue, these two are basic departments that teach us to be corrupt. The teacher tells me that if I do not enroll in his private tuition, I may not pass with good marks, and my friend tells me that I need not worry about traffic or any rules for that matter because his father is a policeman!
This has to change and change on the first day of the Government.
Let us wish for the change, the change at the grass-root. Let our students pass out with knowledge, let the public feel safe with policemen. Let the end of corruption begin at a basic level.
SECOND
Education: Pupil-teacher ratio in India for Primary education is more than 40, whereas it is desired to be in the range of 20. In plain terms, it means that number of teachers in Primary needs to be just doubled. The same is the case for secondary education. In thousands of villages, the number of teachers is sufficient only to complete administrative work, distribute lunch and that is all. And with the abolition of examination and evaluation of the progress of pupils, it is much easier for teachers to spend time in schools without educating the children.
However, in both these sectors, appointments, and also subsequent postings and transfers, are plagued by heavy corruption with rates ranging from Rs. 100,000 per appointment to Rs. 500,000 per appointment. In addition, for transfers, the rates go up to any amount depending on the lucrativeness of the target post.
I wish that to start with, the new Government should recruit all police personnel and teachers and take suitable steps to complete the recruitment without any bribery. Besides, the land revenue, these two are basic departments that teach us to be corrupt. The teacher tells me that if I do not enroll in his private tuition, I may not pass with good marks, and my friend tells me that I need not worry about traffic or any rules for that matter because his father is a policeman!
This has to change and change on the first day of the Government.
Let us wish for the change, the change at the grass-root. Let our students pass out with knowledge, let the public feel safe with policemen. Let the end of corruption begin at a basic level.
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