BSF jawan's Facebook video raises uncomfortable questions about governance

Solving problems on social media is not governance but the placebo of governance

If Twitter popularity was to decide who India’s most efficient cabinet ministers are, then there would be a tough competition between minister for external affairs, Sushma Swaraj and the minister for railways, Suresh Prabhu. While Swaraj has often come to help Indians (at home or abroad) in times of distress, Prabhu has been more than willing to help resolve issues that passengers may face. They revel in their roles as customer service executives and Twitter can’t appreciate it enough.

Yesterday, we saw disturbing videos posted by a BSF jawan of the 29th battalion, Tej Bahadur Yadav of the kind of food that jawans are served on the border, even as they work in really tough circumstances. The jawan asked social media to help take his messages to the prime minister. He asserted that while the government provided everything and the stores were full of provisions, these were not provided to serving jawans by corrupt officers of the BSF. Yadav’s video juxtaposed the tough conditions - sub-zero temperatures - that he (and others) had to serve in with the kind of food they were served. The videos rightly led to an outrage on social media and the home minister, Rajnath Singh sought a report from the BSF on the issue.

Social media has helped many an Indian get government departments, private companies and even ministers to respond to their troubles in real time. Even the private sector in the service industry in India, is infamous for its lax approach to service quality and redressal becomes even harder with unresponsive customer care. Social media helps shock the system, by putting poor service delivery in the public domain. It enables a customer to get the backing of the social media mob. Companies and institutions concerned about their brand then act quickly to deliver a solution and please the customer. In management speak, it is known as service recovery. An aggrieved customer is satisfied and the brand reputation is saved.

We have seen examples of government servants, whistleblowers take to social media to highlight instances of corruption or poor working conditions or how they are being prevented from discharging their duties by a “corrupt system”. IAS officer, Ashok Khemka is one of the prime examples of such behaviour.

As social media outrages over the deplorable conditions in which Tej Bahadur Yadav (and others) are serving, and as BSF and the government rush to control this public relations disaster, solutions and suggestions are flying on those platforms. Soldiers serving and dying at the border have acquired a more important role in public discourse in India in recent times. Yadav’s video has exposed the hypocrisy of government leaders using this very plight as a trope in political arguments even as they do nothing to improve it. But is that all to it?

There are two reasons that make this a difficult case. Tej Bahadur Yadav’s act of releasing video on social media, alleging that his senior officers are corrupt and attempting to use the social media mob to shame his organisation into acting has other, dangerous implications. Yadav is not complaining about poor customer service at a bank or poor facility in an Indian railways train. He is not another government servant either. He is an armed soldier serving in a paramilitary force that performs a tough role for the country and which can work only when the command structure is followed, orders from superiors are obeyed and indiscipline is not accepted. The character of the military and paramilitary forces and the function they perform set them apart from any other government department. Yadav’s videos could end up opening the floodgates and we may have more jawans posting videos, trying to gather public support against their superiors. Forces work on the principle of juniors acting as per the advice and orders of their superiors or lives are lost. This might not meet the demands of the social media echo-chamber but satisfying this echo-chamber is not the reason these forces exist.

The other reason this video complaint is problematic is because it reduces governance to a game of perception management rather than actual policy making. Sushma Swaraj or a Suresh Prabhu might be excellent customer service executives but are they efficient ministers? While Swaraj gets a favorable rating on Twitter, India’s management of foreign affairs has been patchy in the last two and half years. Suresh Prabhu might be called an efficient minister by coming to the aid of passengers who have a complaint, but his primary job is to ensure Indian railways runs efficiently. Ministerial intervention for brownie points on social media is not the alternative to the hard work of policy and process formulations.

A complaint to a minister by the privileged lot who are able to use social media, shows that the system is broken. Governments are not corporations and ministers are not CEOs helping customers in distress. This is not governance but the placebo of governance.

Tej Bahadur Yadav and others like him ask for ministerial interventions on social media because the administrative apparatus that is supposed to come to their aid is broken. Yadav’s case now requires deft handling by the authorities who need to ensure that soldiers serving in tough conditions do not suffer due to the apathy or corruption of their superiors. It also needs to take extra care to ensure that the command structures and discipline that are the bedrock of a well-functioning force are maintained.

What can not be acceptable though, is the sight of jawans using social media and other media platforms to seek redressal for their real or imaginary grievances. Yadav’s example shouldn’t embolden others to break the command structures as it would destroy the efficiency and capability of our forces. Social media deals in blacks and whites. It does not understand nuance and Yadav’s case is all about the greys.

In May, 2012, army jawans and officers posted at Leh came to blows. Reports said that the mutinous jawans ransacked a BRO guesthouse and took control over the armoury for a while.

The government and BSF have a tough choice now. If Yadav’s grievances are not addressed, it will lead to a feeling of being abused by superiors and another Leh like situation might emerge. If Yadav’s complaints are addressed, it could open the floodgates and destroy the command structure. India can afford neither.

Twitter: @bhayankur