India to awaken itself to responsible citizenship and responsive governance

Ahead of 72nd Independence Day, an eminent academician broached me with an idea of flagging road accidents issue for major reforms to save lives and aftermath tragedies afflicting victims’ families.

He was ostensibly oblivious of the fact that my own family is smarting under perpetual agony and pain for five years after my elder brother’s talented son, who had come from Singapore after completing his business management course and was getting prepared for a lucrative job in India, was fatally run over by a speeding car.

The DPS RK PURAM pass out Parth Bajpai was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead. The case was dismissed as hit and run incident, and the killer driver is still at large. Surprisingly, street cameras mounted near the central market, accident site were removed same evening and no footage was traced.

My elder brother Pankaj resolved to bring unknown killer to justice, and hooked all his financial resources. His pleas to various bodies to find out the fleeing driver virtually fell on the deaf ears and nothing happened.

 Alas! His chase was futile, and he too passed away in agony a few months back leaving behind his wailing wife and elder son to find out the fugitive driver and untraced vehicle. In the hit and run cases, only very paltry compensation is paid.

On the Road accidents’ issue, eminent academician Professor PB Sharma, founder Vice Chancellor of DTU and immediate past President of Association of Indian Universities says---

“As India inches towards its 72nd Independence Day on 15th August, would it resolve to put its house in order? Would it also recognize that the democracy it had chosen at the midnight of its eve of Independence Day, is not freedom infinite, rather liberty at a cost! The cost was the responsibility of every citizen towards guaranteeing liberty of its fellow citizens and responsiveness of its governance to safeguard its people and assure their welfare. 

 Unfortunately, it is this sense of responsibility that had been forgotten by its citizens and by its successive governments and its leadership he says.

If it was not so, how could it be that in the 18th year of the 21st century, there is no driving sense on the roads in India and no civic sense as well. In the mad rush to move fast in the slow lane and commit all wrongs seems to be the rule of the law, on roads in India, including in the capital city of one of the greatest democracies in the world.

The prime question is, how long India and its people can afford the luxury of moving fast in the slow lane?  The prime function of governance in a democratic society revolves around creating a society that is self-disciplined, law abiding citizenship and the governance system that assures compliance of law and provides security and safety for its people. 

For us in India, road safety has never been the prime agenda nor has been the security of a common man. We seem to be living under a disguise of the misconception that if we are able to secure our leaders and our establishments, we all shall be safe and secured! Why else our leaders and top functionaries are so well protected and guarded, while the common man is left to be hit on the roads and on even the pavements. After all, India records the highest death on roads in the world, 1, 50000 deaths each year in traffic incidents, approximately 400 per day and that too the National Capital topping the list of its mega cities.

Traffic crashes kill more than 1.25 million people around the world each year and they also take a huge economic toll, with so much human potential being lost. Investments in road safety pay for themselves many times over, and hopefully this new report will spur governments to take actions that save lives,” says the World Bank study report, “The High Toll of Traffic Injuries: Unacceptable and Preventable,” funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies (2018).

It finds that reducing road traffic deaths and injuries could result in substantial long-term income gains for low- and middle-income countries. The World Bank report further says that “Curbing road traffic injuries would not just be a victory for the transport sector but a significant milestone for global development, with immediate and far-reaching benefits for public health, wellbeing, and economic growth.”

The message is loud and clear that it makes a good sense to accord priority to road safety and traffic management.

Can we resolve on the coming Independence Day on 15th August, 2018 that road safety will be on the top agenda of the government of India and government of each state .  After all, our roads are good and they have been made much better during the last 4 years of Prime Minister Modi's government, but no one bothered about setting up high tech motor driving training schools that would have created traffic sense and assured road safety.

 I remember visiting US for the first time in 1986 while I was a professor at IIT Delhi. Even at that time in US, simulator based driving practice and computer based examination for traffic rules was mandatory before a learner license was doled out.

We are late by 32 years in introducing high tech driving training to our motor drivers but then let us not forget that getting a driving license in US, UK, and Europe was and still is just as difficult as obtaining a degree from a reputed University. Apart from strict compliance to driving test, the regular fitness check of the vehicles was another measure for assuring road safety. Here in India vehicle fitness test is still not the agenda of planners of road safety. Intelligent traffic systems are even the least priority for a country where road accidents traffic jams are making headlines every day.

 Can we mend your ways even now to assure a bright future for our generation that is still at schools and colleges? 

My grandson, who is in class 10 in a reputed school in Delhi assured me that his generation is the hope for the India of our dream,  as they feel fed up with the kind of nepotism,  lethargy and the utter loss of civic sense, the three arch enemies of democracy. I have to take him seriously, but still the civic society must awaken itself to usher a new era of responsible citizenship and responsive governance

Let us hope that as we rise on this 15th August morning, we shall commit ourselves to make India a safe and happy abode of a responsible citizenship and good governance.”

Note: the views (within quotes) expressed in quotes are the personal views of the author.