India’s UID project – discussion needed

On November 13^th, Wikileaks released the confidential working paper for India’s UID number project. The paper discusses UIDAI approach and provides high level numbers for enrolment, costs etc.

In its ideal implementation, there are potential benefits of a UID number; however given the scale of the program and its potentially invasive use, there is need for discussion in the civil society in the planning and design stage. Extracts from the paper and questions/concerns for discussion below.

Is India moving towards a civil war?

Every time I see a crush of (near) destitute men (waiting in long lines for handouts of food; lunch hour in a factory area etc), I get a sense of foreboding. There’s so many, impoverished, teeming like ants, in tedious/exhausting exploitative jobs or without, living life in penury, aware, either through stark juxtaposition or mass media, of extreme disparity. I wonder if it’s only a matter of time before these ant-like people will be overcome with rage at the hopelessness of their life, and instead of turning inwards direct their rage at me, and what I represent (self-absorbed rich Indian, occupied in consumption, selling “value”, unseeing the dying).

The Bully in the Mercedes

bully 1 |ˈboŏlē|
noun ( pl. -lies)
a person who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate those who are weaker.

On the streets of Delhi (or Mumbai, Bangalore etc) one can find the complete historical timeline of land transportation: pedestrians, animal and human-powered transport, mechanized two-wheelers, automobiles, even trains (where the tracks intersect with roads). It’s worth a parenthetical aside to reflect on the frustrations and consequences of living in the 21st century with the tools of the nineteenth century. Automobiles of course run the gamut, from the little dinky Maruti 800 to large luxury imports of BMW, Mercedes, Audi etc.

Driving in Delhi sucks: crater-sized pot-holes, overcrowded roads, which narrow unpredictably (’cause of Delhi Metro (subway) construction), transportation modes of vastly different speeds, and brash lawless drivers (I didn’t feel like a competent driver in Delhi until when someone cut across me, I could scream at him/her in Hindi swear words with practiced ease) and crap parking spaces. It’s nigh impossible for cars to remain unscathed after some time on Delhi streets.

Against this backdrop, we have Mr. Ram Prasad (the resident Have_Not in the story) sitting in his beat up 1990s Maruti 800 at a traffic light. Up pulls a shiny new Merck with tinted glasses. When the traffic light turns green, and everyone is raring to go, and Mr. Have in the Merck presses Ramu, what should Ramu do? What will he do? Our Ramu can’t even afford the side rearview mirror on the Merck. If both charge ahead, the cars will touch, and the ugly red Maruti color will transfer on the gleaming Merck like cheap lipstick. 

Slumming its way to accolades

Enduring love

Finally saw Slumdog. Here’s my two cents (potential spoilers ahead).

The movie is good, but not outstanding. The story seems contrived. As a viewer, I’d be willing to overlook the contrivance, if the format was merely a vehicle to showcase “reality”, but like the bastardized Indian food most Americans take for the real thing, this movie is not faithful to reality. Despite the horrors of their life, the protagonist retains his unblemished innocence, and his love for his childhood sweetheart endures time, absence and distance. His steadfastness is duly reciprocated – their love is their destiny. It is this that makes our hero emerge victorious – the two crore rupees is incidental (he risks all on a flippant guess).

Some corruption is inevitable with age and experience. Corruption maybe, not of one’s action, but the loss of naivete, the acceptance of everything at its face value. Those who insist on safeguarding their innocence do so at the peril of ignorance and passivity. The goodness of our protagonist (Jamal) never falters in the face of evil, and they dwell not on the motives, or any desire to eradicate once they themselves have vanquished/escaped their own personal representation of evil. The scars on their person don’t seem to penetrate their psyche. This is not a display of resilience, but a hallmark of fairytales.

Change has come to America. And India?

Two million braved sub-freezing temperature to watch Obama's inauguration

Can we imagine this scene in India? This kind of national euphoria over the swearing-in ceremony of the head of state? What a joke! In a country riven by regional politics, overt power-broking, and endemic political apathy. Of course, had this been Shahrukh Khan (an actor who once danced in his underpants at a wedding on a paid appearance) running a contest for one week at his house, the Indian public would have trumped these numbers and more.

Sure, Obama owes, at least in part, the almost religious fervor for his leadership, to Bush. For the indisputable screw-ups that created the the kind of perfect storm national emergency that made many overlook Obama’s color (democratic party: blue; his race: black). But the fall from grace and the growing economic insecurity that spurred Americans towards change are still aspirational goals in India. We hit bottom a while ago, and are now digging ourselves into a hole. The poorest amongst us are living like animals, debased to their lowest physiological and safety needs, and the financially secure Indians overwhelmingly lack sophistication, choosing peripheral self-interest over basic common good, consumption over creation, and frivolous entertainment over real culture.

India *is* in a crisis.

India Shining? Meet Shaloo

Shaloo is the hired help in my house.

Background: Originally from Bihar¹, she came to Delhi as a little girl after both her parents died within a span of two months. She doesn’t know her age at the time, and uses her hand, palm parallel to the ground at around 4-feet to indicate relative age. How did they [the parents] both die, I asked, envisioning a flood or epidemic. They were both sick from black magic was the serious answer. Of the now orphan children, only two were married: elder brother and sister. The parents left behind extremely meager resources, and the eldest son kicked out the younger ones. Shaloo was then brought by her brother in law to Delhi, and put to work in a “kothi” (rich person’s home, large and usually stand-alone) as household help. This was some 20 years back. In some years, she got married, had three kids: Vikas (13 years); Kavita (11 years) and Suraj (9 years).

Now: Shaloo makes Rs. 4000/month. Her husband is a rickshaw puller², and makes a daily wage between Rs. 70-150, depending on the number of customers. His monthly rent for the hired rickshaw is Rs. 900. The family of five live in a jhuggi³ (small soul-sucking tenements, usually illegal). While Shaloo’s story is typical, she is exceptionally disciplined and saves roughly 30% of the monthly income. She also sends her children to school.

Monthly household income: Rs. 7000 (~$150). Budget highlights:

The Indian Babu-dom

A recent New York Times editorial notes that the ” [US] Army has had trouble meeting its recruiting targets since 2004 and fell short in 2005 by about 8 percent, or 6,400 recruits. After that, national targets were met, but only by lowering standards”. For instance, in the middle-class community of Sgt. Clayton Dickinson in Patchogue, N.Y., the young people “who express interest in an Army career, roughly 70 percent do not qualify, he says. They either have criminal charges against them, cannot pass the drug test or cannot pass the military qualifying test, which measures math and verbal proficiency”.

The rank and file members of the US army come predominantly from the poor and marginalized sections of the society, who have few other opportunities in the society. These kids were then armed, and sent to poor countries (Iraq, Afghanistan) and given enormous power over the citizens of that country. Is it any wonder that Abu Ghraib happened? Sure the harsh interrogation tactics sanctioned by Bush/Rumsfeld played an enormous part, however so did placing poorly equipped people in authority positions.

There are parallels in India (apart from the obvious human rights violations in Kashmir, Indian jails). We have an omnipotent state, yet the implementers of the administration are predominantly poor and undereducated (entry-level government jobs aren’t first choice for most Indians). In addition, the positions themselves, while affording power over residents, do not empower the position holder (the traffic cop, the “babu” in the dusty offices, et al – have uninteresting and tedious jobs with little potential for advancement, and enormous vulnerability to abusive/demeaning behavior at the behest of superiors etc). Further, they are confronted daily with the expansive riches of some sections of the society. They then have enormous incentive to encash any/all power they can exercise over the hapless citizen who comes under their purview, especially when “everybody is doing it” and corrective/punitive action is not forthcoming.

Mere overhaul of governance and external accountability measures cannot solve our creaking and corrupt bureaucracy – we must also upgrade and empower its people with requisite education, training and advancement opportunities.

Combating terrorism in India

Some 400 people died in terror attacks in 2008. In 2005, 94,985 died in road accidents in India. Delhi alone had 2169 casualties (source below).

The poorest in our country live in perilous conditions every day of their life – their daily commute is fraught with danger, their underpaid jobs provide little safety or security, and there’s seldom any mention of their names in the news when dozens die crushed under the giant wheels of a bus, or a drunk rich kid’s car. The daily terror of being poor is ignored. Yet there is disproportionate angst after the Mumbai attacks (or the misnomer 26/11) since for the first time the rich and powerful were targeted.  Addressing and combating terror is clearly an important priority however as a country we need to keep perspective with respect to the focus, mindshare, and resources we attach to it. Moreover to combat terrorism, we need both a short-term response and long-term solution.There’s a lot of talk (and pseudo-action) on the short-term response. Some are no brainers: we need to fix accountability (yet stay away from reactionary politics), plug our security holes (while understanding the constraints of India’s size, multi-ethnicity, its stated secularist ideals, and civil liberties of its citizens and residents) and improve our emergency response apparatus (more NSG hubs etc). Other initiatives like the anti-terror law are unproductive: unlikely to deter the terrorist who comes to kill and be killed, and more likely to to be misused to violate civil liberties. Terrorism in India isn’t an isolated problem of  dealing with an errant neighbour, and it cannot be addressed simply in crisis management mode. We need a social solution, an interlocking framework of symbiotic initiatives. Terrorism in India is both homegrown (e.g., SIMI, Maoists, ULFA) and (forcibly) imported from Islamic extremists (Pakistan supported LeT, Jaish e Muhammad etc).

The homegrown terrorism can never be crushed without mainstreaming the marginalized (the poorest, and/or minorities) of the country, those without opportunities of education and vocation. While there are cases of middle class ideologues (e.g., the Bangalore IT guy), overwhelmingly, on the ground recruits hail from backward communities (the Hindu fundamentalists are unique in that they are actively cultivated by some of our highest politicians (think Narendra Modi, Advani)).

As for the insurgency created by Pakistan – we absolutely need to find a peaceful political solution to Kashmir. What we have now is a stalemate – Kashmir cannot possibly be hundred percent either with India or Pakistan. Even Ehud Olmert, the outgoing prime minister of Israel understands that lasting peace in Israel is possible only if Israel cedes some territory to Palestine, including parts of Jerusalem. In India we grow up indoctrinated in to self-righteous avows that Kashmir is ours without ever going into the details (as is undoubtedly the Pakistani public). India and Pakistan were carved out of one country, with the 560 princely states under allegiance to the Brits told to join India/Pak based on their geography and religion of the residents. The ruler of Kashmir dithered until Oct 1947 to sign the instrument of accession to India, but only after Pak army had come marching in to stake control. Both Pak and India brokered a peace agreement to confirm the accession based on a referendum (which never happened). Given this backdrop, does a two-state solution really seem that far out the realm of reasonable? Yet no politician on either side of the LoC will advance this idea, ’cause of the insurmountable public opinion against it. However, as we sit in Delhi, Mumbai or any other damn place other than Kashmir, what right do we have to continue a stalemate that is destroying the people of Kashmir. Also, we are losing moral authority  with every human rights violation by Indian forces there, which creates a tide of bad feeling against India in the minds of Kashmiri residents.

India can’t possibly afford the rhetoric of a war with Pakistan. War is expensive (we are already running one of the highest fiscal deficits in the world) and it will further destabilize Pakistan and increase its military’s might. Which country, however mighty its armed forces has been able to control guerrilla insurgency (US cannot in Iraq; Israel can’t with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian suicide bombers). These suicide bombers, these men on a mission to kill (and be killed in the process) cannot be stopped merely by waging a war. It’s their very sense of marginalization that finds solace in extremist ideology. After eight years of waging a costly and unpopular war, the US too is rethinking its unilateral recourse to military action. The US Defense Secretary Robert Gates writes in the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Foreign Affairs. “But not every outrage, every act of aggression or every crisis can or should elicit a military response… [military action] “should be subordinated to measures aimed at promoting better governance, economic programs that spur development and efforts to address the grievances among the discontented, from whom terrorists recruit.” It is India’s self-interest to focus on development at home, and its neighbouring countries, like its current efforts in Afghanistan. We should also resume cultural and trade ties with Pakistan – suspending the much looked forward to cricket tour served no purpose. The Pakistani civilian government is weak, and we shouldn’t play into its military’s plans by irresponsible rhetoric from our government or our news media.

As a country, we need to actively start thinking about concerted action – we can’t selectively target the problem of terrorism and hope to fix it in isolation. Long-term development plans don’t incite the same kind of passion as war rhetoric, or gotcha! investigation of the government do, but objectively that’s our only hope.

Source: World Road Statistics, 2007. The data is a little dated; however it will likely be comparable (if not more) in India given the increase in cars on Indian roads  died in Indian road accidents

About

This blog is about India, my perspective on its people (including me) and their defining motives. To me, India feels eminently bourgeois: the intoxication over rising prosperity; the single-minded pursuit of self-advancement; incongruous consumption; baffling adherence to outmoded conventions; mediocrity of mass media; and general political apathy (in the world’s largest democracy!)

Yet in its middleclass is India’s potential – we the people of India, of privileged homes and social safety nets, educated, well traveled, with firsthand experience of countries with engaged citizenry – we can actually do something to change India, the spirit-killing poverty, the corrupt and inefficient state, and woefully deficient public services.

Increasingly, I feel that the big idea is not in any private initiative, but increased government accountability and performance. Government services are more than just the prioritized distribution of tax rupees. These services are the promises the legislature makes to maximize the good intentions of the collective conscience and pockets of its people. And our administration is failing us! The cost of our public systems not working is enormous: there is of course, the cost of duplication, but more importantly the tens of thousands of discrete initiatives can never create the sea change that India needs. No one problem (poverty, illiteracy, disease, gender inequality, economic disparity) can be addressed in isolation – we need a whole mesh of symbiotic initiatives targeting social issues in parallel, the success of each feeding into the other.

Yellow Journalism

Much has been said about the stumbling state response to the terror attacks in Mumbai, however we also need to question the role news media, and its commercialization has played in the run up to the status quo. Our government has yet again proved incompetent, but the media is equally culpable because of its fitful coverage (typically post-fact) of systemic lapses, and growing shift to mercenary reporting. Our news media has become irrelevant, derelict in its obligation to the society to serve as a platform to voice citizen concerns and shape public opinion, and has lost its moral authority as a watchdog of the administration and establishment.