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