"Sir,Indian Democratic system has not changed with the changing times.Even some one tries to change(honarable ex-Prime Minister Sri.Ataljee)our parliment will not allow to do so.That is India, MERA BHARAT MAHAN.regardsS.SubramanyamIGNOU-Alumni"
This was the comment posted by Subrmanyam to my last post.
Indian democracy has indeed changed with times. The politicians are a reflection of the people of the country. The society has changed a lot during the past quarter of a century. The joint family has broken to nuclear families, whose first inclination is on self preservance as they dont have the support offered by the joint family in the event of any difficulties. Added to this, both the parents are working to make a good living, and they have limited the children to at best one or maximum two. The family doesnt have time for anything other than their day to day activities. They do not get involved in civic problems nor to they have active participation in nation building. They feel their role is limited to paying taxes, even that they do grudgingly. The motto of life is to get ahead in any way, damn its impact on the society. Hence, garbages are thrown out, plastic is used indiscriminiately, bribes are paid to get things moving, waste is prevalent and the kid is pushed to his limit so that he undercuts his classmates and comes ahead in the rat race. Is it any wonder that a kid, who was brought up in this environment, and who is of votable age now, gives a damn about the society and the country. The schools and colleges that should have developed the civic duty in the kid are doubly bad. The child sees in them the pinnacle of everything that is wrong with the society - Teachers who are underpaid but who have got the job by paying capitation fee, Teachers who depend on private tuitions to get the money back, the school management that squeezes the money at every opportunity, poor quality of teaching, obsolete methodology, and education limited to text bookish knowledge. When I studied, we had strong students union that used to raise protests whenever the society errs. At times, they exceeded their limits, but they served a purpose in kindling our interest in national issues. We had elections in the schools and colleges, giving us a dose of the democratic set up. It too helped. Finally, the NCC, NSS, Scouts & Guides were very active in the schools and colleges (the first too). We developed a vegetable farm in the school, did kar seva during Gandhi Jayanthi day, collected money from the motoring public on Flag Day the collections going to the Jawans and we raised money in the event of a national calamity. Today, all these things are passe. I see kids going around with ticket books for School Carnivals!!!! Do I have to say more?
Our society is made up of this generation and their self serving parents. I do a regulary quiz at my MBA class, asking my students (mostly in the age group of 23 - 45) to name all the Prime Ministers and Presidents of India. And 99.99% of them can't nor do they care. This is just an example of the malaise.
People get the Government they deserve. This is an old saying. The apathetic people of today, who are confined to criticising sitting in their arm chairs, without doing their duty of going out and vote, getting involved in the societial issues, deserve the kind of MPs, MLA's, Presidents, Governors that we are seeing today.
Subramanyam erred in one thing. Our democratic system has changed, it has changed for the worse. But this is a transition period and it will take a turn for the better in the coming decades. For that people of this great country has to awake and arise, stand up and be counted.
