65 years, yet not (re)public friendly!

[Caution – This might be a bit long and boring, but you can participate in a healthy debate in the comments’ section and make this entertaining. Please continue to read only if you have some 20 odd minutes in hand, else you can click the red cross at the top right hand corner and then continue cribbing that the Govt. is useless…]

In the actual sense of being a republic, though the power (indirectly) is in the hands of the people, the people itself should take some responsibility for worsening the conditions in few areas. 65 years are normally enough for one generation of human kind to structure itself into a lifestyle that is respectful, healthy and enjoying to live. Can we see that in our nation? Or will we ever see it in our nation? I doubt. Many factors have and will affect this – orthodox religious beliefs, old immature mentality which believes that what was good before will be good after, power in the hands of a few self-declared leaders, British’s tactics which the Congress fell prey to, minorities who thought and still think that they can get everything via reservations and the list goes on and on. Books and manuscripts have been scribed on these topics, and I can still see a future where these books will still be sold like hot cakes. Seldom does someone want to do well; everyone either considers that they have one life and if they have to get their work done by shelling out a 100’s note, what’s wrong in that?! People just want to blend in and those who stand out are outcast by the goons, politicians and their relatives – all for whom crores are being stacked in foreign banks.

Speaking about the condition to foreign NGO owners – Krishna, Buddha, Shiva, Mohammed, Emmanuel and others – they were all found busy collecting candles, human hair, incense sticks and coconuts. They said that as per their accountants’ graphs, till current date, people have donated so much of this wasteful stuff whose worth could easily feed the Indian sub-continent for an entire generation. They are sad that people, who cannot buy grains for a meal, spend twice the amount at the praying houses. The other day when I met Krishna, my heart went out to him. Coughing his chest out, he said to me, “Dear, these incense sticks will get me Asthma for sure, but people still keep bringing in more and more. Is there a way to stop this?” The Christian NGO run by Emmanuel was of the same view; to start something new, they have installed placards requesting the devotees to just drop the candles in a basket and then those are donated to light-less houses in the villages. More importantly, when I asked these people about their second trip to India, everyone either said that they misplaced their visas or lost it. Mohammed was deeply hurt and reacting to the sight in the country, he just burnt off his visa. No one seemed to be in a mood to visit the nation even in the next 1000 years or more.

Looking at the NGOs’ views, I imagine – Hasn’t our country risen above from scenes seen in Slumdog Millionaire, Salaam Bombay, Chandani Bar, Page 3, etc.? Or is the dirt still unexplored just like the ice glaciers that have only their tip visible. We need to bring in a change and let me do my bit. If I were one of those asking for votes, I would put forth the following points in my manifesto –


1. First and foremost – Reservations should exist only for the poor, irrespective of their religion. Ok – who should be considered as poor? As per me, the one who earns below 80K – 1L per annum can be under this umbrella. Not just the salary, the additional point here is that the family should not have more than 3 children. If a couple has more than 3 children, then they would be strictly exempted from this favour. You cannot keep reproducing and have 10 mouths to feed and then consider yourself financially unfit. Family planning is important here. We need to increase awareness about having a small family which will help the citizens and the nation too.

2. We see that most of our brothers are talented yet unemployed. Additionally, there seems to be a lot of concern about security, for women or otherwise. Why not combine these two and have a strict, vigilant, concerned, trained and organized street police in place? Every person, man or woman, below the age of 50 and having studied till the 10th grade, can register themselves to be the Street Police. 3-4 months of strict and adequate training with well-equipped body suits and uniforms should help. There would be one personnel roaming at all time in a small region assigned to him/her in a neighbourhood. People would directly report to them of any suspicious activity, be it naxal or terroristic in nature; people will follow traffic rules, less spitting on the streets, less rapes and (eaves and adams) teasing in public (at least) – there would be fear that the StreetPol is watching. Just like some countries have, we can have the same model implemented here too. (Hindi – start) Jobs ka jobs mil jayega, security ka security bhi hoga! Ek teer, do nisshane! (Hindi – end :P) Moreover, there would be a vigilance officer to whom a group of StreetPol report and who would monitor if the StreetPol are doing their job correctly or not.

3. Recently we saw a haze of No-Tax fundas floating around. Without stretching that debate here, one point on this – There should be no paper work for tax filing. There would be just an online portal at each corporate house and one maintained by the Govt. of India (for the ones owning a business). Every document should only be scanned and there should be nothing submitted in prints. Corporates would validate the data from their employees and submit an online report to the government. For the individual filers, the Govt.’s site would suffice. We could save a lot of paper and reduce our carbon footprint. Moreover, getting a bank account or passport should also be done paper-free.

4. We need to have responsible leaders and not those who distribute laptops, mixer grinders, Akaash tablets or upma-shira to gather votes. People asking for a slab of steel should also be shown the doors; we need strong steel buildings and bridges here, not statues. Saying so, the Chief Election Commissioner should ban those parties, for a minimum of 10 years from contesting the election, who donate electronics, a day’s food or breakfast, roses, brooms or anything in material or of monetary value, directly or indirectly, to the population to collect votes. People should choose their leader based on their wisdom, experience, leadership and sane qualities. If someone wants to donate clothes, food, etc. to the poor, an NGO should take the responsibility to distribute the stuff to the needy and no leader will personally go the area and do it himself. Leaders should contribute to the society in complete anonymity. Also, there should be no signs, placards, posters, flags, decorations of any kind relating to a party symbol or any worker or leader put up on any public pole, wall, compound, transport vehicle in any kind in a city or town. This would ensure there is less printing and less paper and plastic used. For a candidate who is being given a party ticket and an election ticket, the candidate should at minimum be graduated and should not have any criminal record.

5. Eliminate gender and caste inequality in every form. Every form that has a box asking for one’s gender or caste should be banned. There should not be any seats reserved in the parliament, any board, buses, hotels, educational institutions, bureaucratic offices or anywhere else for any gender or for a particular caste. Seats should be reserved for only those who are ill, pregnant, carry a child or aged. If one gender can withstand the toil, and when you speak of equality, we are humans first and then men or women – the only difference being the position of projections on our body; one’s thinking should be indifferent of one’s sex. Yeah, some may say – There are still people who do not allow their girls to study and don’t promote them. What guarantee do we have that even after reservations the parents will have their daughters educated? very slight, which is no good. Moreover, every police station should have the system to register an FIR against a parent who denies a girl to pursue what she likes; every child should be made aware of registering a case in that context. For your sexual preferences, you should be free to be a homosexual or a heterosexual as this would be your private choice. No court or govt. should have interest in your personal choices.

6. When people are placed in a job whose vision is to provide security to their fellow countrymen, they need to be healthy in mind and body. There should be a strict rule where police and security men should be no older than 55 years old; after which for the next 10 years they would be in security management or advisory committees or pick up a job outside the security field. For people aged less than 55, there should be a weight restriction of 75 kilograms with an added condition of a flat belly. No police official should display flabs jumping over their belts. Strict discipline should be provided; every police station should have a small well-equipped gym. They should possess a stature with which our thieves should shiver to be encountered with.

7. In this new age, when people carry so many mega pixels in their pockets, why not donate a few mega pixels to our Govt. offices? Every Govt. office should be equipped with an all-time working security camera in all important cubicles and cabins. If there is a complaint against a person denying service, asking for bribes and troubling the aged, data captured in the lens would serve as proof!

8. After a person’s birth or death, things should be taken care in a month.

a. A weekly report can be sent by the hospitals to the Govt. offices specially designated for a citizen’s registration and de-registration. Within a month, the birth or death certificate should be issued, names should be appended or deleted from the family’s ration card, a dedicated bank account can be opened or closed, and a PAN card and an election card can be provided as well. Having a bank account is not only beneficial for the young but for the old too. For children less than 18 years, a minimal amount of Rs. 10 can be deposited in the account a year so that the account is kept functioning. For the old, there is no need to make errands to offices requesting a money order for their pensions; every month their pension would be deposited in the account. PAN and election cards would be functional only when the child attains 18 and would be put into the shredder when one dies. Under a guidance of an NGO, the day the child is born, instead of distributing stupid sweets, a fresh sapling can be planted in the child’s house premises.

b. To make an additional point here, the child should complete all essential immunity and disease prevention doses within the a month’s time. The parents can register for one piece of child-friendly clothing which can be used to protect the child from cold. Also, every child and mother should register for a free monthly check up for a period of 6 months, where free medical checks and advice is provided and a pack of good protein rich food is given to the mother and child to recover from any weaknesses.

9. Cleanliness is one topic on which blogs can be written but the space could be limited.

a. Garbage bins from every city lane should be eliminated. These make breeding ground for diseases and for pests like pigs, stray dogs, mosquitoes and flies. For the households, awareness should be created to have an environmental-friendly plastic lining in their house bins. Littering, spitting, urinating on streets would attract a fine of Rs. 1000 and would be collected by the StreetPol then and there. Spittoons and garbage bins would be installed on a pole in every street and lane of a city.

b. Every house should be encouraged to have a proper drainage and urinal system. Plunging in the open should be banned and fined. Villages should have a shelter of urinals. Every educational institution, office and public place should ensure that separate and clean latrines are maintained for the men and women.

c. Heritage sites, buses, public places, restaurants, hospitals, educational institutions should be no-smoking zones. Moreover if any individual is found inscribing love scripts on any monument then such a person would be put behind bars for 6 months or more based on the importance of the heritage site. For advertisements pasted in buses, the contact numbers provided there can be used and tracked to visit the owner of the product and such person can be fined or arrested for causing damage to public property.

10. When I see the schools in the city I live, I feel terribly sad. Grocery shops, garages on the bottom floor; schools, junior colleges on the top floor. The buildings look worser than service apartments and have very small rooms with no proper ventilation. Most of the schools don’t even own an open ground and these are approved by the State Govt. through money making schemes. To stop this, no college and school should be approved by the State or Central govt. if it does not have a sufficient open space for a playground. Also, any canteen present in the premises should not be selling any fried items, colas or soft drinks and toffee or chocolates. Milk based drinks or juices would be a welcome though. Breakfast, healthy snack foods should be encouraged. Every student should compulsorily register for one sport’s training classes and take part in the practice sessions. One hour per week should be dedicated for school exercise drills and students should be encouraged to play outdoor games during breaks.

11. Finally, making a point for our ailing planet – Vehicles whose age is more than 15 years should be banned from running on the roads, unless they have passed strict pollution control tests. Every corporate office, public or private, should provide for open window systems to allow natural light and air to pass through and reduce consumption of electricity in the day time. Usage and manufacture of fireworks should be completely stopped. Riders should be encouraged to switch off their vehicles at the traffic signal.

The list is endless, and many more useful points may come up. Let us start to ponder on these. Instead of spitting on spilled milk, we can easily organize healthy discussions between parties and their candidates in their election constituencies to debate on issues that they would cover when in power. Let us make our country a completely developed one, where the UN works under our finger tips, where the world speaks of our military power, where our neighbours leave our rightful borders to us and we all live in peace and harmony in the best country of the world.

Good Day,
Blabberer, Ally 🙂


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