Chanakya's New Manifesto
Author: Pavan K Varma
Publisher: Aleph Book, Rs295
The book, while seeking lessons on administrative acumen and security preparedness from Chanakya's Arthashastra, does an incisive dissection of the maladies that afflict India today, says Anuradha Dutt
As a former civil servant, presumably in the know of machinations within the corridors of power, writer and bureaucrat Pavan K Varma seems well-positioned to critique the edifice of governance, its deficits and achievements. Chanakya’s New Manifesto, while seeking lessons on administrative acumen and security preparedness from the Arthashastra of Chanakya — the brilliant treatise on statecraft by the fourth century BCE strategist and adviser who catapulted Chandragupta Maurya to the Magadh throne — does an incisive dissection of the maladies that afflict India. It also attempts to provide comprehensive course-correction remedies. Whether policy-makers take note of his counsel or not, his impassioned desire to see the nation attain its rightful place in the world impels him to expose the convoluted waffling that has prevented India from realising its full potential. Many see it as a soft, shoddily developed state, at the mercy of enemies and inept custodians alike.
The author, though not trying to be emperor-maker, is sufficiently experienced in the ways of officialdom and realpolitik to know how they derail lofty intentions. If the best-laid schemes of policy-makers go awry, like those of the proverbial mice, it is because of the lack of transparency and public accountability in the decision-making process, which tends to be a long, tedious exercise, commonly hijacked by vested interests. It often yields no result, being simply a pretext to postpone decisions indefinitely. Such procrastination on security and foreign policy concerns have cost us dear, as has the incessant kow-towing to coalition politics compulsions. In consequence, India has fallen far short of its regional superpower status and grandiose economic ambitions. Our troublesome neighbours — Pakistan and China — constantly thumb up their noses at us; the former via a plane hijack, instigating militancy and frequent Islamist terror attacks on cities, and the latter, through tactical outmanoeuvring. New Delhi’s response to provocations, even extreme ones, remains conciliatory, even weak-kneed at most times.
The need of the hour is robustness, combined with alacrity, be it in countering opponents and terrorism, quelling domestic turmoil and insurgency, implementing poverty-alleviation plans, or embracing growth. However, Varma finds that the same mediocrity, laissez faire approach, self-centredness, clannishness, narrow caste and community concerns, myopic vision, widespread inefficiency and corruption, and opportunism that kept the country poor and backward still prevail. The result is that the more things change, the more they are the same. Politics needs to be de-criminalised, and elections monitoring made fool-proof. His high regard for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cannot preclude negative assessment of the Congress-led UPA Government’s scams-riddled tenure. One might have thought that the leader makes the team and sets the line. He shreds the flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for failing to provide credible employment to needy rural people and instead becoming a means for corrupt officials and their accomplices to siphon off funds. Similarly, the Right to Education Act is reduced to a jest by the dismal condition of government schools, which are still too few and badly run to deliver on the assurance of delivering universal primary education.
A sense of déjà vu pervades Varma’s critique, which often descends into self-flagellation, overlooking India’s successes, even if they appear inadequate when judged by global benchmarks. Standardised ideals and growth paradigm, stemming from the ‘First World’, may not necessarily be in sync with the development imperatives of countries such as India, grappling with problems, unique to their socio-religious milieu and huge population. But Varma is a man in a hurry, since India has already wasted much time. He espouses the high-growth panacea, FDI and divestment route, fiscal reforms and use of technology in place of man power where feasible, besides making land acquisition less contentious. He also wants private and NGOs’ interventions in social sectors, be it education, healthcare or economic empowerment, and even agriculture and security/defence.
It appears to recycle the reforms agenda but not entirely as the book also focuses on the need to bring back India’s vast amount of black money, hidden away abroad. Simplifying tax laws to prevent money laundering and stalling infusion of black money into politics, especially funding of elections, should be prioritised. Setting up the lokpal and lokayuktas in States is integral to the new manifesto for building up an administrative edifice that is responsible, honest and efficient. What Varma passionately pleads for is firming up national character, and combating corruption in a determined and punitive way. He advises expeditious punishment for lapses of political representatives and government functionaries, and making them accountable for their actions. This includes judges who, under existing laws, usually manage to escape scrutiny and impeachment if charged with lapses.
The premise shaping this book is that India badly needs real change in the whole edifice of governance, democratic processes, vital security and defence apparatus, and political and social matrix. Inclusiveness must replace the identity politics that drives government agendas. The author painstakingly details the measures required to turn around the economy, polity, judiciary, defence and security establishment, and policy-making apparatus. His proposals clearly derive from close and prolonged observation of political and bureaucratic ineptitude, judicial prevarication, defence scams and populist posturing. It is rich food for thought.
The reviewer is a socio-political commentator