linguistic majoritarianism in a diverse country like India is problematic. Hindi speakers mustn’t get any privilege
lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father and first Prime Minister, was once asked to share the fundamental rules of good governance. “That is quite simple”, he responded. “First, integrity, absence of corruption; second is meritocracy — the best people for the best jobs. And third is a fair level-playing field for everybody”, lee explained. He also added, “We were lucky in Singapore, because we started with a plastic, young society, so we chose English as our working language, which was a neutral platform.” Now, let us analyse the Indian scenario from this perspective.
A study conducted by Transparency International in 2005 found that more than 62 per cent of Indians had first-hand experience of paying bribes or influence peddling to get jobs done in public offices. In its 2008 study, Transparency International reports about 40 per cent of Indians had first-hand experience of paying bribes or using a contact to get a job done in public office.
In 2015, India was ranked 76th out of 175 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. In comparison, it neighbours performed much better: Bhutan ranked 30th, Sri lanka 85th, China 100th, Nepal and Pakistan 126th, Bangladesh 145th and Myanmar 156th.
The focus of the present Government is on providing a system-based and policy-driven governance and a governance structure that is sensitive, transparent and accountable. This has yielded some results — India has moved 12 points ahead in the comparative list of business friendliness and has now drawn the highest Foreign Direct Investment even surpassing China.
On the issue of meritocracy, first everyone must have access to free or low cost education, and based on his or her qualification, interest and aptitude, be allowed to compete with the rest on equal terms. This must be the goal and not caste- or community-based reservation for perpetuity.
In India, there is much social tension over the issue of merit versus reservations. Singapore and Malaysia are classic cases in this regard. Amid racial tensions and ideological conflicts, Singapore was expelled from Malaysia in 1965. Many worried that Singapore would not survive on its own, due to scarcity of land, water, markets and natural resources.
However, in less than four decades Singapore has transformed itself into a first world country. Meritocracy has been one of the guiding principles of the city state which ensures that the best and brightest, regardless of race, religion and socio-economic background, find a level playing field to develop their full potential.
On the other hand, Malaysia's affirmative action programmes that favoured its local Malay community are generally identified as the reason behind its failure to overcome the middle-income country trap.
The problem lies not in the poor being unable to access education but also in the the quality of education extended to the weaker sections. This is where the level playing field concept comes into effect. A level playing field assumes a situation wherein the odds are shared equally by everybody.
In a diverse county like India, this is problematic. Take language as an example. In offices where Hindi is the official language, better employment choices are available to Hindi-speaking people. To make matters worse, the three language formula has not been implemented in Hindi-speaking States; whereas non-Hindi-speaking people are required to bear the load of three languages.
More than half of India's population does not speak Hindi. India has always been a land of diversity. It has been held together by a set of values and traditions and, most importantly, a sense of solidarity. Each State is a unit of culture and language, and has a strong identity of its own. They do not need to be the same; they just need to be together. They don't need majoritarian muscle-flexing to be united.
Yes, there must still be an all-India language of communication. English is firmly entrenched in India. Further, today we boast that India has a competitive advantage because of its English-speaking population. But the most logical point is that use of English as official language renders a level playing field to all different linguistic people. This will also remove the existing crony-favouritism among Hindi-speaking people for monopolising jobs, promotions, awards and public funds.
(The author is a retired banker)