New Delhi, July 9 -- Recently, the Government of Tamil Nadu organised a conference of District Collectors, during which the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu gave a few instructions to the officials. Of them, two are the most important points that capture the attention of public intellectuals. They are: one, law and order should be strictly enforced without any political interference. The second, which is more important than the first one, is that the officials have to treat the poor who come to government offices with a lot of grievances and petitions, and during that time they should be treated with utmost respect and respond to their grievances in a responsive way. No one should be belittled or disrespected during the visit of the public.
In this country, there is a practice in the bureaucracy that whoever comes with a petition is treated either as a beneficiary or a petitioner, and if they are poor, they cannot receive the respect that the rich get from officials. What we find in the community, we find the same behaviour in the offices, as individuals are oriented in the community social practices. When Dalit or women goes to government offices, they meet with disrespect from the officials. Those who are in the offices are highly educated, and they speak about democracy, yet equality is the casualty. As a result, the poor never feel that they have a voice in the nation, and they feel that they are secondary citizens. The poor believe that the officials make and unmake things in the governance system.
This has been the culture of bureaucracy in India in the past seven decades. If the poor come with party men's support, they will be responded to, and that is why they join the party or go to party men for help to get things done in the government offices. They never feel that officials will look into the petition in the backdrop of the merit of the petition. If people go with ruling party men or women, officials will look into it, and even if the petitions do not have any merit, they will be considered positively. If the poor go to offices without the support of a ruling party functionary, they will not be treated with dignity. What the citizens need first is respect. Dignity of the citizen has to be restored as per the Constitution of India. It is not the fault of the bureaucracy, but it is the fault of the political class which failed to inculcate the value of respecting every human being irrespective of their status and position. But at the same time, if they could not get respect in the government offices, the political class would make a hue and cry, whereas in the case of the poor, even the political class will also do the same thing except during the time of election. It is not only the bureaucracy but also the political class that is responsible for the poor treatment given to the poor and marginalised. In a country like India, what is more important is the change of behaviour among the political class and bureaucracy. It is being emphasised in the meeting by the Chief Minister.
Secondly, in India there is yet another perception which is in the public sense. Whichever political party comes to power after the general election, be it for the state Legislature or National Parliament, people call it a party Government. It is not a party government. When they say it is X party government, party men and women feel, whatever we want to do, we can do. In such a way, the rule of law has been subjugated by the ruling party functionaries. Party men and women go to government offices and police stations and interfere in the day-to-day functioning of the officials and the police, and as a result, the rule of law becomes subservient to the ruling party's law.
For the above two things, the present government has put a full stop. There won't be any unlawful and illegal activity in the state, and if any, it can be dealt with firmly. There will be no political interference. By doing so, corruption will be eliminated; people will feel that they are being respected and they can claim their entitlements as their rights. Further, no party men will go to the police station to protect the miscreants and criminals. Police have been given a free hand to deal with wrongdoers without any political interference.
As a result, the culture of the ruling party law has been given a go-by through the strong decision of the Chief Minister. Secondly, the provision given in the Constitution of India is amply stated in the preamble to the Constitution of India that the dignity of the citizens will be protected, and it is kept intact by giving a strong instruction to the officials to treat the poor with dignity.
Views expressed are personal. The writer is a former Professor and Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, Gandhigram Rural Institute
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.