Today I attended a talk by Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, president of Loksatta party and a former IAS officer. To say the least, it was a great learning experience for me. His insights on our problems, solutions to those problems and the road blocks in implementing those solutions were really well thought out.
He made a very important point while answering a question on uplifting the poor. He said that policies like food subsidies were needed in the short run, but they are not a long term solution. To make India a developed country, in true sense, the areas we need to focus on are education, health care and developing skill sets (vocational training). I think this point is a practical implementation of the very famous quote, "Give a Man a Fish, Feed Him For a Day, Teach a Man to Fish, Feed Him For a Lifetime". But for this to happen these areas need to be viewed more than just as money making machines.
Another point that I really liked was regarding politics. True politics is not a profession or a career. It is not a source of income. You come to politics because you have a vision of solving a problem, of doing something good. It is a means to help improve the system, the governance, the organizational structure. And once you are done, you leave it quietly. This is politics in true sense. You come in only when you see that you can improve something, make something better. You come in with a sense of belonging which motivates you to do your bit to improve the system. This feeling of belonging should be the foremost inspiration in any field, not just politics. If this feeling of belongingness is cultivated in each and every citizen then many problems will be solved. Say, for example the problem of cleanliness in public places. If people have a sense of belonging, they wont spit, they wont throw garbage anywhere. It will make a huge difference.
Another point that I really liked was regarding politics. True politics is not a profession or a career. It is not a source of income. You come to politics because you have a vision of solving a problem, of doing something good. It is a means to help improve the system, the governance, the organizational structure. And once you are done, you leave it quietly. This is politics in true sense. You come in only when you see that you can improve something, make something better. You come in with a sense of belonging which motivates you to do your bit to improve the system. This feeling of belonging should be the foremost inspiration in any field, not just politics. If this feeling of belongingness is cultivated in each and every citizen then many problems will be solved. Say, for example the problem of cleanliness in public places. If people have a sense of belonging, they wont spit, they wont throw garbage anywhere. It will make a huge difference.
He also talked about the decentralization of power. Giving more power to the local authorities, because they really understand the ground situation very well and usually have a better understanding of what needs to be done. You need to increase the number of decision makers. Of course, those decision makers have to be competent enough and should have vision and leadership qualities. But local issues should be handled locally.
These were a few key points that I could remember from the talk.
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