The adage goes, "If you throw peanuts, you only get monkeys" and no wonder then that the adage aptly applies to Indian Parliamentarians and can (more or less) be extended to the entire gamut of Indian Government employees. Government jobs (Teachers, Police, Judges and Bureaucrats etc.) including Parliamentarians are not seeking the same level of talent equipped to handle the job responsibilities to perfection. There have been exceptions but bluntly put the Government jobs in India today are means to get into a cozy permanent position without any accountability over lifetime. Add to that highly responsible jobs do generate nonparallel amount of extra income through corruption leading extravagent life styles, killing the social conscious attached to the job in the process. It's no surprise then that the most talented and highly self-conscious Indian youth is allergic to the Government Jobs and is looking for an alternative. Illustrious, lucrative and more meritocratic private sector careers then beacon leaving government jobs in hands of ill-equipped (I wish not to call mediocre) youth.
Members of Parliamentarians (MP) carry the most coveted and the most responsible position as policy/law makers in the Indian constitution and sadly many of our politicians are most ill-equipped and lackluster to justify their respective positions. Most of the younger generation - Supriya Sule, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Naveen Jindal and even Rahul Gandhi - that come readily to my mind should ideally fill the chest of all Indians with pride but given their family legacy, Indian politics scene appears to be a family run business. Veterans are no different as they are known to sleep on their chairs and most of them neither demonstrate excellence nor deliver performance/governance. One wonders what our MPs would do if they would not have been MPs? Are they equipped to run alternative administration or policy making management jobs with aplomb? Will anybody else other than their parties hire them? Why then these soles are demanding salary hike? Are they really worthy of it? Alternatively put, Will the Indian state reap the benefits of the amount of money it would be shelling on its policy/law makers?
Answers to these questions are not that black and white as any Politics but I do understand one thing "If you throw peanuts, you only get monkeys" and according to that rule, as a policy maker I would vehemently support the Salary hike for MPs and other Government officials. I prefer to increase the salary package of all the government officials including MPs to their private industry counterparts. I would prefer to do it with a trade-off though. The extra perks - car cavalcade, house and other fringe benefits - should be slashed vehemently and brought under control. Their social status should stay similar to that of a private sector employee. All Government organizations should be run competitively vis-a-vis their private counterparts ensuring good and timely governance with robust processes in place. In the process, government officials should be applauded for their good work and given the stick whenever they err as is the rule in private Industry. The good and honest work should be recognized and promotions and higher responsibilities should be conferred sooner in order to eliminate the otherwise sluggish government careers. All these reforms should be aimed at alluring the promising youth to take up and thrive in the governmental careers, be it a school teacher, a policeman, a Judge, a bureaucrat or be it a MP.
Imagine if India develops a school system as good as Singapore where a school teacher is paid handsomely and can enjoy the social status of a doctor or a lawyer. The talented youth with passion for teaching would never hesitate to take up such a huge job nation building responsibility ensuring good quality education fostering vibrant younger minds. Imagine a Policeman who would never take a bribe to offer a license (will not give license only because he expects a bribe). A traffic policeman who would honestly charge you without taking a bribe and then you would never speed up, break the traffic signal and will obey all legal traffic rules leading to reduced accidents on roads. Non corrupt policemen carrying all their duties with pride without succumbing to pressure from the rich, powerful and influential. Imagine a Judge who would always deliver impartial judgment without being allured to corruption. Imagine every district collector treating his district as his own project -a baby and delivers with par excellence improving thousands of lives. And above all imagine a brigade of young politicians - the status men delivering governance par excellence enticing the youth to actively join politics, more as a reformist...
All these are certainly possible with the beaming economy providing unimaginable opportunities. The need of the hour is to seize these opportunities and what we need is a right person for the right job. That will happen only if we recognize and reward the talented and honest workforce to realize their their true potential so that they fulfill others' dreams. But, one thing is a certain If continue to throw peanuts, we will only get monkeys...
Members of Parliamentarians (MP) carry the most coveted and the most responsible position as policy/law makers in the Indian constitution and sadly many of our politicians are most ill-equipped and lackluster to justify their respective positions. Most of the younger generation - Supriya Sule, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Naveen Jindal and even Rahul Gandhi - that come readily to my mind should ideally fill the chest of all Indians with pride but given their family legacy, Indian politics scene appears to be a family run business. Veterans are no different as they are known to sleep on their chairs and most of them neither demonstrate excellence nor deliver performance/governance. One wonders what our MPs would do if they would not have been MPs? Are they equipped to run alternative administration or policy making management jobs with aplomb? Will anybody else other than their parties hire them? Why then these soles are demanding salary hike? Are they really worthy of it? Alternatively put, Will the Indian state reap the benefits of the amount of money it would be shelling on its policy/law makers?
Answers to these questions are not that black and white as any Politics but I do understand one thing "If you throw peanuts, you only get monkeys" and according to that rule, as a policy maker I would vehemently support the Salary hike for MPs and other Government officials. I prefer to increase the salary package of all the government officials including MPs to their private industry counterparts. I would prefer to do it with a trade-off though. The extra perks - car cavalcade, house and other fringe benefits - should be slashed vehemently and brought under control. Their social status should stay similar to that of a private sector employee. All Government organizations should be run competitively vis-a-vis their private counterparts ensuring good and timely governance with robust processes in place. In the process, government officials should be applauded for their good work and given the stick whenever they err as is the rule in private Industry. The good and honest work should be recognized and promotions and higher responsibilities should be conferred sooner in order to eliminate the otherwise sluggish government careers. All these reforms should be aimed at alluring the promising youth to take up and thrive in the governmental careers, be it a school teacher, a policeman, a Judge, a bureaucrat or be it a MP.
Imagine if India develops a school system as good as Singapore where a school teacher is paid handsomely and can enjoy the social status of a doctor or a lawyer. The talented youth with passion for teaching would never hesitate to take up such a huge job nation building responsibility ensuring good quality education fostering vibrant younger minds. Imagine a Policeman who would never take a bribe to offer a license (will not give license only because he expects a bribe). A traffic policeman who would honestly charge you without taking a bribe and then you would never speed up, break the traffic signal and will obey all legal traffic rules leading to reduced accidents on roads. Non corrupt policemen carrying all their duties with pride without succumbing to pressure from the rich, powerful and influential. Imagine a Judge who would always deliver impartial judgment without being allured to corruption. Imagine every district collector treating his district as his own project -a baby and delivers with par excellence improving thousands of lives. And above all imagine a brigade of young politicians - the status men delivering governance par excellence enticing the youth to actively join politics, more as a reformist...
All these are certainly possible with the beaming economy providing unimaginable opportunities. The need of the hour is to seize these opportunities and what we need is a right person for the right job. That will happen only if we recognize and reward the talented and honest workforce to realize their their true potential so that they fulfill others' dreams. But, one thing is a certain If continue to throw peanuts, we will only get monkeys...
3 comments:
Your ideas of 'supporting salary hike with some stringent measures undertaken' is perfectly correct. Hopefully BABU's who make LAWS for themselves have a CLAUSE of this kind !!
Firstly, Well written article. I like the idea of including all the public sectors into the domain of salary hike. Secondly, I would be cautious in hiking the salary of the MPS's. This is not the first time the salary hike has been proposed to MP's.
Thirdly, in my personal opinion, instead of a salary it would be better to give them a package for 4yrs. I see that you have written the article with a mind set of a permanent employment to the MP's.( unbelievably, some how they are!). And moreover, in this package, all the expenses (like telephone,foreign travel,expenses for visiting the parliament..etc) should be included. Unlike jaylalitha who has a salary of 1 rupee per month but still can afford 33 ambassador cars. and when they leave the parliament, say after 4yrs, they could still be able to get a job in the public/private sector by offering them a quota. So that if they want to quit politics they could do so. instead of being stuck in a whirlpool.
Ganesh:
MPs setting their own salary is fundamentally apaling, isn't it? One should have negotiating powers and not the sole power to set a rule....LoL. In corporate framework too, CEO's salary is decided by Board of Governors and not by himself :-)
Hitesh:
I never thought the job of MPs to be permanent. For me, if one goes the other should continue the job.
Well, if I read your thoughts straight, you want to treat MPs more as entrepreneurs and want to extend to them the required freedom and infrastructure to be successful. Absolutely agree!!! No second thoughts!!! That's the advantage of establishing the Government Jobs including MPs vis-a-vis corporate framework.
Also, we do not want MPs with 1 INR salary. Get paid and deliver that should be the mantra.
But, providing them quotas to get into public/private sector after their tenure. Neah, Nooooo, Never!!! It would be fatal. Ideally, I dream to see a system where the best of the best falls into MPs chair. If they call it a quit, dozens should be willing to employ them on their shear caliber.
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