Serving vs ruling in a democracy: Rethinking attitudes to governance

Indeed, this is a Perry moment for India, but it is unlikely to be the last - unless we fundamentally rethink governance and adopt jana seva attitude toward citizens. Are people being ruled or served

Language renderings for a democratic government are redolent of “kingdom” rather than “people service”: Rajya, sarkar, arasu, rather than jana seva. India enjoys lively debates about whether Indians are being “served” or “ruled” by our legislators, regulators, and administrators. Since it is an issue of mindset, I advocate four attitudes to reduce the dense administrative miasma for common citizens. In a digital world, the state should be transparent to the public. The reality resembles the opposite: Citizens become transparent to the state. This view, expressed by Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s digital minister, in July 2021, is powerful. 

Our legal system fails to deliver timely justice to citizens. Our Election Commission ratings on “Don’t trust at all” have risen from single digits to the mid-twenties from 2019 to date (source: Lok Niti CSDS data). Until compelled by the court, the Election Commission did not deliver a list of deleted voters (in Bihar) to the public because “it is not bound to do so by law”. Law is about doing the right things but governance is about doing things right! When in doubt, disclosure is best. 

Though, at an extreme, the state can weaponise investigative agencies against people, citizens face enormous procedural pressures with normal activities — like renewing licences and opening bank accounts. Citizens submit multiple copies of the Aadhaar card and PAN (permanent account number) card to so many public agencies, banks, gas suppliers, and even couriers that they rightly worry about potential misuse. Can the recipients do anything useful with the paper other than hire warehouses to store them? 

Introducing Jana Vishwas Bills in Parliament accentuates the “ruler” mentality. A “server” mentality arises from four attitude shifts. 

First, deep within, the government system treats entrepreneurs as selfish people, who must be controlled, despite the top-level narrative to talk them up as national heroes. Continuous freeing of citizens is needed rather than periodic bursts. 

Second, our administration is ambitious rather than aspirational. What is the difference? Ambition is a desperate desire to be viewed by the public as fantastic. It is about social mobility. Think of how adroitly the G20 and ease of doing business were marketed, a public relations show to the public! By contrast, aspiration is about inner cleansing and transformation, a sort of chintan baithak. Is the government too adipose to look within itself? As philosopher David Brooks emphasises, the world applauds you “when you devote yourself to inner sanctification rather than outward impressiveness”. 

Third, a critical skill of public life, viz conscientiousness, seems to be fading. How can we as a nation bolster public conscientiousness, the skill of being dependable, disciplined, and emotionally stable? Do the administrative training and development system deliver such leaders? How do we get the next generation of leaders like R K Talwar of State Bank, T N Seshan of the Election Commission, and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw? Career isn’t just about knowing what your task is but to follow it through to finish. 

Fourth is alignment. While states and the Centre may be managed by different political parties, both must act unitedly in the administration of the country. Too much energy is dissipated in meaningless (to the citizen) rhetoric and barbs between the Centre and states. We Indians preach social cohesion to other nations but actively promote social dissension within. 

With emerging geopolitics, trade tariffs, and looming threats to Indian enterprise, pundits think, as T N Ninan put it in Business Standard, that India has a “Perry moment” (in the 1860s when Commodore Perry forced Japan to open up). India seems to get Perry moments periodically. During non-Perry moments, new and fresh obstacles seem to be introduced! 

We have witnessed several attempts to simplify procedures: For example, single-window clearance. Behind the new single window, there are multiple old windows. There are initiatives like administrative reforms, committees of secretaries, time-bound decisions, the Jana Vishwas Bill, and so on. 

Experiences of entrepreneurs as well as recent social media posts show that there are multiple licences and compliances ranging from core registrations, factory and labour compliances, property and infrastructure compliances, environment and sustainability standards, product standards, intellectual property, safety, and so on. I am not listing them here as it gobbles up newsprint and is demotivating! 

It is a marvel that India can still boast having a manufacturing sector. It also explains why manufacturing as a percentage of gross domestic product has been static for several years. No wonder that the growth of private-sector capital formation is sluggish. 

Indeed, it is a Perry moment for India, but it is not likely to be India’s last Perry moment — unless we fundamentally rethink and adopt a jana seva attitude for citizens. Are people ruled or served? 

The author’s latest book, JAMSETJI Tata — Powerful Learnings for Corporate Success, has been coauthored with Harish Bhat. rgopal@themindworks.me