Accountability and responsibility are very important in today’s scenario and it is the price that a nation must pay to achieve greatness. But the tragedy of India is the tragedy of waste — waste of time, energy, manpower and taxpayer’s money. This happens because India has, so far, been shying away from accountability and responsibility.
It is easy to do so but a country cannot shy away from the consequences of dodging its responsibilities. Therefore, it is high time for India to wake up from its deep slumber and realise the damage that is being caused by lack of accountability and responsibility in the system.
The need of the hour is to have in our public life, men and women for whom politics is not their bread and butter. But there is a huge lacuna that needs to be filled in this respect. Recent happenings in India have moved us many steps backward. There are four crises which India is facing today and without resolving them, full accountability and responsibility can never be achieved. The four are:
Character
With progress, we have reached a stage where the only threat to a man is man himself. Man’s selfishness does not allow him to help fellow humans.
Identity
How can India grow when almost every issue today boils down to caste? The poisonous weed of casteism has spread across the length and breadth of the country. We have enough religion to hate one another, but not enough to love one another. Another division which is holding India back is the division of States. Today we have very few “Indians”.
Underutilisation
Most of the economic ills of the country are the direct result of underutilisation of human and material resources available. There had been a clear failure in bringing the limitless economic potential of the country to fruition. There is a painful contrast between India’s tremendous potential and depressing reality.
Inadequacy
The country is facing an inadequacy of leadership and administration. We need men of great vision, integrity and honour to lead our country. Only these men can bring accountability and responsibility in our system.
To save our country from “professional politicians”, the following steps should be taken urgently: No political party should be recognised by the Election Commission unless the party is willing to maintain audited accounts of all its receipts and expenditures.
Some minimum qualifications should be set for those who seek election to Parliament. There should be a provision for sending representatives to Parliament who would not be elected on the basis of voting but would be elected by professional bodies, universities, minorities and other significant sections.
Only when people start participating in the process of demanding accountability can India leverage its independence in the true sense.
We, as the citizens of India, must not forsake the ship just because we cannot control the winds. It is impossible to believe that this nation has lost its greatness forever. The time will come when India will redeem itself. And that day is not far away.
(The author is a final year MBA/PGDM student at Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship, Bangalore. The views expressed are personal.)
