IT’S BEEN a terrible week, I often got phone calls from many, saying ‘Let’s do something’, ‘Now or never’ kinds. And then I asked them, what should we do? Surprisingly, no one had the answer. I am really shattered to see what this system has made out of us. The so-called ‘educated’ people, who are born and brought up in a free democratic country, are helpless and clueless to the core.
I enquired from several people, "Do you know which ward you live in and who is your collector or ward officer?" No one, who was asked the question, knew the answer. I am not any expert in politics or constitution or the administrative system. But what I learnt in school was "in a democracy, we, the people, elect certain people from amongst ‘us’ to make new, better laws for the benefit of the society".
Well, for last 60 years we have been electing people for ‘legislating and amending laws’, without knowing what these laws are! We had a subject ‘civic science’, which could fetch us maximum 20 marks. I think the first thing that this system has done is that it has created a sense of helplessness in us. They have kept us out of the system, from the very beginning, by making a point that ‘awareness about law and the system’ is hardly important for you, and you can easily get away without knowing it. You don’t have to study it, seriously. You may study history, do some mathematics, physics or economics, go for French or German or even Sanskrit, as these are scoring subjects. Earn yourself good marks and then you will become a doctor, engineer, MBA or if not, at least a clerk. This is what they needed.
The system is so designed that it does not wish to have citizens with knowledge about the system, no matter how small. And that’s what we did. Let it be any institution you join (school/college/company), the first thing that they should give you is a prospectuses / agreement along with by-laws. But in democratic country that we are born in, we do not touch a single book of law, which actually defines and explains how the whole system functions. After any incident like Mumbai
terror attacks, we blame the system and cry for changing it, without even knowing what changes we are talking about. In a lay man’s language, what are we to change, from what, to what?
Today, we may pressurise the government to take some concrete actions (for having elected it; for our votes) but that will not going to solve any problems in long run. If we have to build India into a real superpower democratic nation in the next 100-150 years (forget about the 2020 dream, we are neither worthy, nor prepared for it), each and every Indian must be literate and know how this system runs (before changing it). It’s not only civic science, but every person must know all the basic laws of the land and know how the system runs. Every citizen, before reaching their age for voting, must be aware of these laws of the land. Only when we know it, shall we be in a position to change it for the better. Such changes would last long and build generations (unlike ours) who would elect better responsible leaders. These leaders, in turn, would lead India to its superpower status.
Democracy where only lawyers, IAS officers and politicians are aware of the laws and the system is pseudo-democracy. After creating pressure groups, we Indians might feel secure for sometime, leaving India insecure. We will pay a heavy price in future again, similar to what we have done now.
Let’s understand that we were used and fooled by this system just because we were ignorant and unaware of the system. With today’s ‘anger turning into action’ along with other immediate actions required, that we demand or seek, we also need to look forward in the future and make this democracy a real democracy. We should ensure that each and every citizen of this country is not only literate, a doctor, engineer, MBA, farmer or clerk, but is an informed citizen of this nation, who knows the system and laws of the land, before he or she decides to vote. Only then we will be able to make the desired changes.
This is my belief. The conclusion is, here I demand that LAW & ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM must be a compulsory subject in colleges to produce the next generation, of empowered people. Our dream of democratic India as a superpower shall be realised, within a few decades.
4.5 / 2 votes 
