I have noticed a trend amongst the younger generation of Indians, especially the male. They do sloppy work in the beginning, delay the work for flimsy reasons, and finally patch up the whole issue and dump it on the Manager's head just a few hours before the deadline (or even after the deadline), leaving the Manager with no option than to either accept it, or correct the mistakes himself.
The youth take cue from what is happening around them. They see inaction and substandard work by the leaders of the Country.
Take the example of the Common Wealth Games. We had more than 4 years to develop the infrastructure. India's bid document for the Commonwealth Games in 2003 estimated the cost of hosting the event at Rs 1,899 crore. After several revisions the estimates now range from an official figure of Rs 10,000 crore to independent experts at an astounding Rs 30,000 crore. Even by official estimates, the cost has gone up 5 times. There is an interesting Comptroller and Auditor General report that chronicles changes in the Games' budget. Originally, in May 2003, when the government allowed the Indian Olympic Association to bid for the CWG, an expenditure of Rs 296 crore was indicated towards upgradation of sports infrastructure and conduct of games, with expenditure on security and Games Village to be incurred by the government and Delhi Development Authority. The report moves on to reveal that the updated bid document of December 2003 estimated the operating expenditure alone at Rs 635 crore and other expenditure at Rs 1,200 crore. The first budget for the Games approved by the Cabinet in April 2007 estimated the total expenditure at around Rs 3,566 crore.
Some cost escalation is understandable, but not 5 times, definitely. Despite this splurge, we are nowhere near having the world class infrastructure or city development as promised. All that can be seen is substandard work, crashed bridges, cracked buildings, potholed roads, unfinished stadiums, last minute patch up jobs, giving additional tenders to the guilty contractors in the guise of meeting the deadlines - a situation caused by them in the first place, and Delhi praying that it wont rain during the CWG games, as it has been noticed that 3 hours of rain shall bring the city to a standstill. It is obvious the real reason for hosting this wasteful games (by the way, why the hell are we still hanging on to the concept of Commonwealth - a relic of the colonial past that only serves to assuage the ego of the British, who are paupers in the World Power rankings now) are to make the political parties and individuals rich through massive corruption.
The motto is - do substandard work, delay- delay-delay, and then get rewarded for it through additional funds, that is used to line one's pocket.
'Yadha Raja, Thadha Praja'
