ENCROACHMENTS IN INDIA - A Systemic Failure (version: DNA, 8/2/'10)

ENCROACHMENTS REFLECT SYSTEMIC FAILURE:

One illegal vendor on one street, one unauthorized food hawker in one area, just a part of one footpath with a shed without permission and other such one-of-its-kind transgressions of the law can be termed as odd grassroots level stumbling, rare in nature. They can therefore be addressed and solved quickly at grass root level. However, when one sees a multitude of illegal vendors on every street, unauthorized food hawkers in every area, each pedestrian footpath with kiosks that have no permission, all doing brisk business for years, all over the country, then there is one phrase that sums up such a situation. Systemic Failure.

Encroachments have come to sustain themselves in all kinds of shapes, forms and permissions too! I write this piece as a humble foot soldier of the Professionals Party of India, to highlight the situation in one such city, a wannabe metro, Pune. Sadly, peeping outside the window of your home, you will be able to identify with a similar situation in your city too. So is the case in every other Indian city.

Sample this:

•Eateries, vendors, other petty services gnawing into precious motor carriage width and footpaths, many thriving with the blessings of local goons & politicians
•Sudden display of sympathy by administration towards every immigrant into the city/area to carry out business on the road never mind even if it is at the inconvenience of thousands of domiciled citizens
•Bringing religion on the street in the form of places of worship at rickshaw & tempo stands
•Authorities turning a Nelson’s eye to the blatant use of basement parking for commercial businesses
•Unwise permissions doled out by municipal bodies to high rise commercial buildings in serene residential areas and on roads having tiny widths, by sheer manipulation of the rule book
•Corrupt practices of governing bodies/departments in connivance with builders/developers for cheap gains
•Political hoardings especially those conveying birthday wishes and felicitations
•Untimely and delayed take over of open spaces by municipal authorities from area developers and delay in commencement of civic benefit projects that snowball into complex legal cases
•Massive backlog of civil/land cases currently in courts actually benefit the perpetrators of encroachments
•Govt. high-handedness, VIP-ism…the list is tiresome.

So what are the solutions? Solutions to any problem, anywhere, in any matter always need to be addressed at two levels. These are to be implemented professionally at both levels. So also in the case of illegal and unauthorized encroachments.

1.Firefight: Existing encroachments to be removed forthwith with no discrimination. Rule for one is rule for all. If it cropped up illegally it must go lawfully. As soon as a new encroachment is noticed by authorities or brought to notice by citizens, a swift series of action need to be initiated in a sustained manner to the extent that the encroacher never dares to get back. Not here and not anywhere in the city. Nowhere in the country too.

2.Systemic: These solutions can be brought about only through professionally motivated governance. Its attempt is forever directed towards ensuring that the same problems never resurface. This is ensured through introduction of checks and balances, ethical conduct, transparent accountability, revamping outdated laws making them more contemporary, laying down deterring rules, implementing them thoroughly without vested interest & bias and by finding time-bound alternatives (In the encroachment scenario, by finding an alternate site / solution for vendors to do what is their constitutional right i.e. earn a living respectfully and legally).

PPI believes that if a ‘thoroughly professional code of conduct’ approach is taken by existing officers and public servants at every level, not just encroachment but all civic issues can be tackled with ease, thereby improving the quality of life of each one of us in every city. Further, by getting enlightened people to leadership positions the need for citizens’ forums - that are forced to be formed as a result of poor governance - will reduce substantially. The energy pool thus released can then be sharply focussed on higher-end socio-psycho-economic development issues to get our cities a first world status. The elementary question is: Is the attitude of the middle class, the empowered class, ready for a collective make-over before our country gets one? Get Involved!

Girish Deshpande
Member, Core Group
Professionals Party of India (PPI)
www.ppi.net.in
Motivated for Better Governance!