From: sgs@ucs.usl.edu (Sudhindranath SG)
Subject: Re: Why does India always miss the bus, YOUR COMMENTS PLEASE.
Keywords: India, Nehru, Socialism, Economy.
Organization: Univ. of Southwestern La., Lafayette
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 05:26:54 GMT

In article <1992Nov6.163016.27626@csrd.uiuc.edu> ghosh@sp1.csrd.uiuc.edu (Sanjoy Ghosh) writes:
>(Sudhindranath SG) writes:
>
>>Assuming that this was true in the Indian context, may I ask why 
>>there wasn't any major change in the bureaucratic set-up that we 
>>inherited from the British ? Why don't we, till this day, have an 
>>administration that is responsive to the people's needs ? Why does
>>the administration treat our people in the same way that the Britishers
>>treated them ? Why ? 
>
>You have obviously given the matter much more thought than I have.
>This seems to be a pet peeve of all patriots.  The British ruined 
                                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>us while they were in India, and even after we threw them out, they 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>still hinder our progress with their legacy.  
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There is no point in blaming the British. Once we got our
freedom, we were really on our own and had the power
to decide how we would be governing our country. It is astonishing
that we decided to adopt the system left by the British,
considering the fact that our leaders themselves had raised such 
a hue and cry that the British administrative set-up in India was 
designed only to exploit India, her people, and her resources. 
Probably, our leaders discovered that it worked to their own advantage
to maintain the status quo...

>Certainly we need a 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>bureacracy of some kind, someone to administer the country.  So tell 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>me what kind would meet with your approval.
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>

It is not as simple as something meeting "my" approval or anybody
else's approval. It has to meet with the people's approval.
Obviously, we are talking of a system that has to EVOLVE with time. 
There are no off-the-shelf solutions. This is the blunder that our 
leaders made in the early years of independence ---- a blind mimicking
of the British systems of bureaucracy and politics that was simply not 
suited for _our_ people's needs.

We could even have got away with that, provided our leaders were
men of substance who were willing to accept the feedback and were 
also willing to change the system in accordance with the people's needs. 
Obviously, they didn't want to do that. They were more interested in 
enjoying the fruits of freedom. It was foolish on our part to tolerate
such "leaders". 

We had our share of bad luck too. Men of sterling qualities like 
Sardar Vallabhai Patel vanished from the scene too soon, while impostors 
like Jawaharlal Nehru stayed on. Indeed, Winston Churchill must have been 
very happy to see his prediction come true. He had stated that India will 
fall into the hands of "men of straw" and that would eventually ruin 
the country. 


>To me this complaint has always sounded like junta cribbing after
>spoiling a test that the whole examination system is rotten, means 
>nothing, and prevents them from realizing their true potential.
>

I suggest you try talking to a few of the numerous entrepreneurs 
in India who have tried to set up small-scale industries, and have
been thwarted by the system from doing it.  You will then be able 
to see for yourself whether their complaint is in any way similar to 
the "junta cribbing after spoiling a test...".

>Sanjoy Ghosh

Regards,

--Sudhi.

-- 
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Sira Gopinath Sudhindranath. 
email : sudhi@usl.edu, sgs@ucs.usl.edu
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