Pandemic and Political Communication: Oppurtunities for Transformation

Pandemic and Political Communication: Oppurtunities for Transformation 

This pandemic has inflicted substantial damage to the existing stock of knowledge, besides bringing out both the best and worst part of human nature. Theologians, Godmen and Spiritual leaders are clueless. State's apparatus' helplessly watch their essential component population disappearing en masse. The unpredictability of the virus's behaviour, lack of data, and lack of institutional infrastructure to respond to the change to the external environment had put humanity into a crisis with no clue. The multiple identities of the pandemic as the first wave, second and subsequent waves are challenged. In the absence of concrete data, the efforts of the Indian Government to share what it had to other developing countries under the rubric of its traditional South- South Cooperation has drawn flak in domestic arena. Armed with a social media handle/platform, we see a never before venting out of individuals against the political order, Government and establishments, often with self-contradicting yet aggressive postures. Vaccines against the pandemic were criticised initially with a few takers, and as the death toll raises exponentially, crowding is seen at the Vaccination points (based on my experience in Pondicherry).   

Regardless of the social control factored as physical distancing, wearing masks, maintenance of a standardised personal and public hygiene protocol and other similar actions which ought to come out of social conditioning, India is no exception of being a liberal democracy with its baggage of the largest population with a lesser degree of participative civic culture compared to her estranged western neighbours. These arguments have their legitimacy in the canvas of liberal democracy, and as per the consensus arrived among the world countries, democracy is the best form of Government. Given the current pandemic situation at a disproportionate scale threatening the basic fabric of the stability of the democratic state, I wish to argue for a calculated remodelling of the essential functions of practical politics, the need for incentivising the change and the importance of structural change from the top. Those who counter-argue that changes should come from below may answer me if in the past 24 months, did one single Panchayat President/ Mayor of Corporation have raised this question or passed a resolution: "What is the status of National Disaster Management Plan? What is the role of local bodies in COVID 19 pandemic?"  

The modern interpretation of practical politics of a liberal democracy pays due credit to political communication, which forms the basal line of contact between the leaders and the followers. Election-related campaigns, canvassing, graffities, banners, posters and all form of traditional means of communication require (1) resources (2) a Network of men on the ground and (3) concerted efforts. Even casting a vote warrants gathering of men and women in a given place, which is unthinkable in a situation like a pandemic in addition to the cost involved. Hence why not the change begins? A transformation starts to replace these traditional means of political communication with a digitised model, thanks to substantial internet penetration in the vast subcontinent country. The 3D roadshow managed by Narendra Modi in the 2014 elections though was not found in the 2021 elections, could have been a wonderful mitigator of community spreading of the deadly pandemic. Social Media platforms, online meetings, memes, discussion forum in social media could make a constructive change that can put the country in a better position provided they get incentivised by the political system. By incentivisation, I mean the seed for a drive for adoption as a motivation. Even in developed states such a Scandinavia, one can find how electric cars are incentivised with a free parking lot and charging points. in about a decade, the entire Scandinavia is now green energy conscious.   

Is this not the time for the Election Commission to work on standard operation Protocols on quantifying the political communication during the days of model code of conduct and incentivise the political parties if they increase the digital part of the campaign and do away the conventional forms of communication? A pandemic can lead us to light down the tunnel. Will our Political parties think? Election Commission be assertive to believe in this line?  

( I thank my PhD candidate Ms Aswini Varna V V, doing her PhD on Political Communication for throwing light on the issue which sparked this post)   

 

 

A Prelude to Critique On Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant by Anil Swarup

A Critique On Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant by Anil Swarup

Human life, as I observe, is filled with sudden surprises, pain, joys and sorrows, moments worth sharable and not sharable and as well as mysterious. The object of the most significant curiosity and attraction for a human being  is human him/herself, which forms the basis of the birth of social sciences. The inquiry on Human Beings by Human Beings seeks a pinnacle when the research gets self-directed. Scorates claims an unexamined life is not worth living. Here I find a person in his mid-sixties, not only have withstood the test of Scorates, but also shares it. I see the book as a fragment of his autobiographythat unrolls the screen -both of an individual life and contemporary life of a Civil Servant.

                   Anil Swarup has intuitively raised specific fascinating questions and also answers them. I see the answers in the 239-page narration, which is the most candid presentation of memoirs I have read in the recent past. Incentivising ethical behaviour, the book sends a strong signal to the fence sitters who are in ethical dilemma justifying thesmelves as , "Bribery is of course unethical, but I follow "Don’t ask, Don’t Refuse” Philosophy, which in a superficial level, very smartly covers up an ugly disposition. More than audience of this kind, the book sends a powerful message to both the “real honest ones and bogusly honest ones”, who shut the system to brag their honesty and remain in service with enormous contempt and curses of all around. At the end of the day, both the cathegories (Displaying Honesty without flexibility keeping the core objective on mind and the other category, filled with enormous negativity, shooting from the shoulders of the Boss and 24X7 waiting to spit venom and hault the system and usually justification being past bad memories) according to the author are a liability to the system. These "Honest people", rightly identified by the author are the ones who consider the "Trophies of Victims", as their professional achievements (Pg.16). Any one reading this would recall from their memories, such individuals who find a saddistic pleasure in haulting the system and trumpeting that they are honest and straightforward. 

             To quote something I came across very recently on the second category of "Honest people", a retiring clerk of a Publccly funded autonomous Institution, before a month to retire after serving the organization for forty years, applied for LTC (Leave Travelling Concession) and also performed his travel. We all know that this is  Corona pandemic period. The approving authority, knowing that the incumbent is retiring, and have already perfoemed the travel and also hardly a week for returnig from service raises queries  on the file sich as “Is this not Corona Period? Why did he go? What was the compelling need for him to travel? Did he apply for E pass etc.? The poor retiree approached me to vent out his mental agony and enormous contempt.These specimens are not only a liability to system, but a perennial nuisance and the system had to wait until they leave on "Ëmployee Attrition". 

With this as a prelude, I shall place my commentary to the five sections of the book of Anil Swarup viz., (1) Why he considers a Civil Servant must be ethical with certain empirical examples, which makes this book very special for me (2) His experience in Ground Zero and struggle between rational choices – I have to shoot, but the birds have to be saved as well at the same time. (3) Just as the attorneys dilemma is different from those of Judges, his experience on central deputation with Government of India, where he admits Yes, I crossed lakshman rekha of established rules, but at the end of the day, I justified the spirit behind framing such rules. 

I shall be writing my commentary on select portions that captivated my attention in the days to come. I am sure this book will be carried by me when I visit India’s coveted institutions where Civil Servants are trained.

Pandemic, Social Control & Social Audit: The Indivisible Linkage II

 Pandemic, Social Control & Social Audit: The Indivisible Linkage II 

 Indian Administration is a mixture of British and Mughal legacy. While the land revenue related arrangements of Mughal period was continues without any disturbance, the written rules and regulations were heavily brorrowed from the English. Once you get to used to the colonial English ( Most Government communications have that flavour), not only one understands only such a style, but also starts behaving. I shall write about a senior Officer of 1958 batch IAS separately. Under Indian Administration, anything and everything that exist is supported by written rules and procedures. Bureaucracy is all about written rules and procedures, but what is more important is application of mind when such rules and procedures are initiated. Just because an in-patient of a Government hospital  is prescribed with sedataive for sound sleep, a duty nurse should not splash water on a him, wake him up and make him swallow the sleeping pill and say, "I just followed what is written in the prescription. I have to save my skin. I have to do my duty and do justice to my salary and so on". This is the subtle example of written rules and regulations and application of mind. If you come across mad colleagues, born with a mandae of " Surgery success, Patient Died", think of this example. I pity you for having such colleagues. 

Lets now continue our yesterday’s discussion of the two challans displayed at the end of the blog. Those who haven’t read it can access it at https://nkkumaresanraja.blogspot.com/2020/07/pandemic-social-control-social-audit.html

The source for the Challan is a Government Order issued by the Union Territory of Puducherry by way of GO Ms. No.5/LAS/2020 dated 28.06.2020. This was issued by the Local Administration department of Puducherry Government. Please have a quick look at them.

 

Since, the costables in the streets of Puducherry are with these challan books in a rampage of collecting Rs.100/- for six types of offences, which can be found in the challan . Please see below.

Further, I came across a victim a genuine merchant who pays his taxes properly, treats his workers well and inshort a good Samaritan who owns a utensils shop. He  was telling me that everyday by 12:00 Noon two personnel  will come in a two wheeler and find out couples inside the shop and say that these two are not maintaining social distance and issue penalty to the shop keeper for the spouse, who live in the same house, standing close to each other and examining a consumable for purchase for their home. He allowed me to take a picture of the two challans yellow in colour. 

 

After seeing these two different colours of the challan, Blue and yellow, I was much more fascinated that one is issued by a Government department and the other by a Municipality ( A local body).

Under 73^rd Constitutional amendment, a Municpality is an autonomous body and under business rules of Government, except where the Act, empowers a department cannot levy penalty by way of cash. Revenue generation cannot be the aim of Government, The Revenue Department is not for Revenue generation but collection. The subtle difference is that the Revenue Department enforces certain written procedures guided by Act and regulations and levies tax, penalty and surcharge not with an intention of fund raising, but as a soverign function of State. This action cannot be equated by the Local Administration Department printing challns by itself and started to collect fines. Some one must have hinted and then the challans are now getting printed by the Municpalities.

 It was then I started my probe on the Government Order for collecting the fines based on Rules which supplements the Government Order. This is again a peculiar arrangement since only Act passed by the legislature can have rules under the principle of delegated legislation, whereas there is supposedly a G.O and that links to a set of rules called “Puducherry Municpalities [Prevention of Infection and Corona Virus disease (COVID-19) Amendment Rules 2020. Though the G.O is available in Government website, the rules are not in public domain. I am curious to know the person who had a welding machine to link a standalone set of rules to a pre exisiting G.O, instead of either enacting an Ordinance or amending the extisting G.O. This requires the approval of the Cabinet/ Ministers. I am to have a comprehensive understanding since the Chief Minister of Puducherry was insisting the civilian administration not to harass people with the challans, whreas the Police personnel and select municipality personnel were levying the fee.

            It is at this point, I had to examine the G.O very carefully. I have come across men, resembling police personnel (they usually hide their name plates with a pen and lift the flop of the right side shirt pocket, as this morning I came across a  constable orally informing me that he is from Orleanpet Police Station, with another person without a name badge but bearing PHG( Pondicherry Home Guard) shoulder badge. It is pertinent to mention that these constables along with persons bearing SHG shoulder badge have been in a reckless collection of fines in various parts of the City. Since I am aware that constables as per established procedures are the equivalent of Group D (This comparison is now made because of the GO referred above) and I have not found anywhere in CrPC or Police Act that a constable can collect fines, when this is the fact since the inception of the Police force in the country, the very first question that came to my mind is,

1)      When a higher instrument ( CrPC, Police Act or a notification by the MHA, GoI ( in the event of extreme exigency citing Disaster Management) has not conferred a magisterial function on Police constables,  can an executive order taking shelter of Municipalities Act 1973 can confer such a jurisdiction? If so, that is the source of empowerment to all executive organ and first of its kind in the administrative history of India!

2)       On the contrary, even if that is a decision by the Cabinet, it can be only a draft and should receive the consent of the President, before it is implemented. Please correct me if I am wrong.

3)      I understand that the rules were supposedly framed in line with the amendment is not in the public domain, and I am curious if the rules stand the test of rules framed under the Act. I am only afraid that this should not be a bad precedent.

4)      Very strangely constables who are graduates can collect fines has been mentioned in the GO, thus an elevation has been done at a stroke of a pen, making them “qualify” to exercise magisterial powers that is usually vested with a person not below a Tahsildar, who is a Sub Divisional Magistrate in erstwhile Madras Presidency. This decision of discriminating constables between those graduated and those not ( thre recruitment rules prescribe it is only 12^th standard) and is not in a good taste.

While these are my concerns about the GO per se, the following are my apprehensions in the manner I see them implemented.

1)      Whether any security press is indented to print the challan books? How sure is the administration that there are no duplicate books?

2)      Based on what precedent, consultation, the challan books are printed? Who vetted the draft challan copy, as it is without any head of the account? I see different types of challans issued under the name of the Local Administration department and the Municipalities. Is this based on any written rules, and if so, should not those rules be in the public domain?

3)      What is the Head of Account in which the realized amount is to be credited, which is missing in the GO or the supposed rules, that is not available in Public Domain?

4)      What is the standard operation protocol of bookkeeping since every leaflet is an exchange of cash? Does the Department of Accounts and Treasuries maintain the

5)      Interestingly the Challan does not have a definite amount of cash mentioned. Since the denomination is not specified, how sure the personnel collecting fines from an outstation moving crowd, crossing Puducherry will confine that the counterfoil will carry the same figure mentioned in the Challan issued to the public?

6)      How sure I am as a citizen that the money collected from me goes to the State Exchequer? Are there evident proofs in the public domain?

7)      What is the deadline issued for remitting the cash collected to the Treasury? Who is designated for collecting the money and how long can a police constable retain the money raised by him, how long the SHO can keep the money given to him by the constables before remitting to the Treasury? What are the SOP (Standard Operating Protocol Issued?) Do the rules contain these issues and permit them?

8)      Which department supervises the auditing and accounting at the field level organizations? How many teams from DVAC (Directorate of Vigilance and Anto Corruption) have so far conducted surprise checks?

When the above are my ideas on the manner it is implemented, the following are my observation from the field.

1)      The GO Notifies that constables are entitled to collect the fines, but the SHO’s sign the challans and give them lamented a constable.

2)      The Challan’s office copy  does not have the entry of the penalized person or his signature – This is my observation based on Challan Nos.007424 and 007423

3)      When the entire exercise is done in the name of COVID 19, the Challan has a space for the penalized person to sign the space, before it is separated from the counterfoil. Then where is the social distance between the Constable and the penalized person? Is this arrangement does not put the constable or the fine levying personnel under an avoidable risk?

4)      The constables usually come with another constable or a PHG person in a two-wheeler (Social distancing?) and charge a shop keeper for allowing a couple to inspect things before buying (Challan No. 007423 & 007424 dated 18.0.07.2020) charging couples were standing close to each other. This creates unpopularity to the elected Government, and in my opinion, Indian bureaucracy supports elected representatives. This scene is witnessed by not less than ten person per Challan.

5)      The personnel of Lawspet police station ( two of my colleagues from Pondicherry University share their challan with me in blue colour) catch holds of every vehicle passing by and instead of charging them of over crowd, just that a child was in the lap pf the mother, it become the fourth traveller to violate social distancing. Whether it is a violation of one way or any other, a challan is recklessly issued, perhaps there is a competition among the police stations for higher collection. At the cost of making the Government and the administrative system unpopular?

6)      When the Government of India encourages payment by UPI ( Unified Payments Interface). Our  Hon’ble Prime Minister has introduced BHIM App, and invariably, everyone has a UPI |enabled smartphone, why not a cashless method of collection of fines be introduced?

7)      There are six types of offences are found in the Challan, including (1) Spitting (2) Spilling of phlegm or blood or nasal fluid – How sure a constable can differentiate between the two and what is the operational definition of these items. If they are deemed to be in a public place, what defines public place? The challan reads without Mask or Hand kerchief, not spelling how the hand kerchief should be presented.

8)      I can see the challans from those who are penalized for not maintaining social distancing? How many constables have their vision lastly checked? By whom? What is the yardstick to find that a person is violating social distance norms? This is certainly not a trivia.

The father of public administration Woodrow Wilson says, writing a constitution is easy than running it and justifies the existence of a discipline called Public Administration. To a question of what is public administration Wilson responds, “Public Administration is detailed and systematic application of law. Every particular application of law is an act of Administration”. Max weber the proponent of bureaucracy that the authority wielded by bureaucrats should be legal and rational.

Thus to see the contents GO. Ms. No.5/LAS/2020 dated 28.06.2020 and the way it is implemented hastily.This would not only make Woodrow Wilson and Max Weber feel sorry but even a citizen like me. I have always equated Puducherry as a City State like Singapore, which can be a model City/ UT for the rest of India in terms of Governance, and all related indicators.

But, I am exremely happy to convey to the readers that after this has been taken to the Chief Secretary of Puducherry Government by me, I was ovwewhelmed that the Top bureaucrat is nterested for a proposal from my end for both social audtiting immediately and later after a lock down is over to conduct an assessment of UPI payment acceptance among the Public of Puducherry. The ended very at a happy note 

Students who read this blog may identify the supportive rules of atleast ten actions by Government they see around them. The best reply will be awarded a good Public Administration text Book 

 

 

 

Pandemic, Social Control & Social Audit: The Indivisible Linkage

Pandemic, Social Control, & Social Audit: The Indivisible Linkage

Introduction

My senior colleague, a well-established Professor of History, has been on a rampage with his blog writing, pounding social media every day, thanks to the pandemic. Taking a clue from there, let me restart my blog from an epidemic related issue itself.  

The pandemic in the eye of the commoner has been observed as a situation where his usual routine as a Citizen has been affected to a very great extent. In other words, there has been a curtailment of one's free choices (not to be confused with freedom). The country as a whole was not prepared to embrace the pandemic of this proportion, where the extreme randomization of the distribution of mortality and the lack of availability of data on the virus, each and everyone is terrified for his/her life. 

Thus, we enter into a Hobbesian state (a medieval idea) where self-preservation gets paramount, and all conditioned values get vaporized at no time, where a human being is afraid of a fellow human being for the first time since modernity. This fear of human to human necessarily gives scope for a greater force to plead salvation, and there the instrumentalities of Government such as the service sectors get a never before attention. However, since Government is nothing but a human enterprise, while the relevance of Government is upheld, glorified and worshipped, the humans who run the show are detested. 

I never imagined that western philosophy, together with the entire western civilization, is undergoing a deep crisis. Most of what those "great" philosophers write is more or less pointless. In the words of my bosom friend and philosopher Predrag Cickovacki, a Baltic philosopher, the entire paradigm of western civilization has collapsed. It could hardly be of any inspiration for anyone, in the West or outside." Thus, the Globe as a whole is under crisis. Just like the earthquake of 1755 on November 1 when Feast of All Saints was celebrated, pulverized the churches together with the beliefs of the believers of Church, this pandemic had made even Temple Gods boycott the Dharshan of people, which had made several people introspect whether Gods in Temple have no control over the epidemic? 

The recent report that scores of priests of the sacred Tirumala Tirpathy Devasthanam have been infected with the Novel Corona Virus leaves the people clueless.It is demotivating to people how come their saviour as well as an assured guarantor of money flow can forsake them. Temple Dharshans cannot be done via Video Conferencing because the experience is missing along with the tasty Prasadham.This holds good for hour-long meetings through video conferencing ,where both parties have to arrange their refreshments.There is no explanation for this fear, hopelessness and above all even a discussion is not possible because each one if afraid of every one. 'Homo Homnus lupus' (Hobbesian expression). Well, there are exceptions too, who feel that haven taken AYUSH recommended medicines  they are like Mahabarata Karna, with his Kavach, but let me not disturb them or their beliefs, I being a person with such a feeling. 

With the above as the setting, I wish to explore how this crisis has factored in our day to day life to me as a Citizen and then as a Teacher of a reputed University and as a man with a family of intimidating members with their skills of introspection both young and old. I being the sle point of contact to outer world, is forced on a domestic quarantine, which I feel right. Fear is universal.

To begin with let me start from today onwards with incidents what I see and hear around me in Puducherry, a federally controlled territory that has been located in the South-Eastern part of India, a former French settlement (Colony is offensive in the diction of my French Diplomat friends, so it is a settlement). The Treaty of Cession was signed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Plenipotentiary of France in India S. Ostrorog on May 28, 1956. By the Treaty, France ceded to India in full sovereignty the territory of the Establishments of Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe and Yanam with effect from July 1^st  1963. 

This transfer, in my opinion, is an unfinished agenda, which was not taken up seriously by the then Government of India and the elected Governments of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Today we can see Puducherry Union Territory as a legislature without legislative power, the executive side-lining the state's elected Chief Minister and a judicial system that is understaffed and rudimentary. The Lieutenant Governor is designated as the Administrator of the UT parellel to the elected representatives. That the Madras High Court has jurisdiction over the Union Territory of Puducherry, the situation is better. Thus with these genetic infirmities, the Union Territory has been functioning under the UT Act 1963 and rules binding thereof, which was conveniently updated for the past 50 years. Therefore, my narration on the administrative issues of UT of Puducherry should be viewed on this aspect, and I have nothing against any individuals in the system.

I shall be writing the rest tomorrow on an exciting aspect of Police Constables collecting fines with a bill book at every junction for the Local Administration Department. I am giving two copies of the Challans for your perusal and let me see if you can get my questions on them. I shall continue tomorrow, the rest ... Have a Nice Day ahead ....

Apollo Hospital Treatment of Jayalalitha and the Visit of AIIMS Doctors - Documents accessed by RTI act 2005

Treatment by AIIMS Team to Dr. J. Jayalalithaa, at Apollo Hospitals  

Against media propaganda that it was the Central Government that despatched AIIMS Medical Team, documents accessed through RTI Act 2005 indicate that the AIIMS Medical team were sent only on the request of the Government of Tamil Nadu. There were also accusations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spying on the health conditions of Dr.J.Jayalalithaa through AIIMS Team. Media also endorsed this sensational angle to the ailment of the Honourable Chief Minister.

Thanks to RTI Act 2005,  the reality remain something else as under:

It was Dr.J.Radhakrishnan, Principal Secretary to Government, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Chennai  who have requested the services of AIIMS Doctor.

The email sent by Dr.J.Radhakrishnan IAS addressing Union Health Ministry is obtained through RTI Act 2005 and the same can be seen below.

 Based on the request of Government of  Tamil Nadu, received through the Union Health Ministry the AIIMS have permitted the doctors to attend to the Chief Minister at the expense of AIIMS.