Bose We Indians have a strange mixed attitude toward government officials.
By and large, we want to see our children and nephews as government officials, envy the authority they enjoy, and cherish the over all security they enjoy during their service career and even later.
But, those who are not in those chairs do not miss any opportunity to run down the government officials as a class as corrupt, good-for-nothing, arrogant parasites who produce little but consume a lot at the cost of the poor and tax-payers.
Unfortunately, both the pictures of the average government officials are true, and we abuse those whom we seek to emulate.
We, especially, resent the latest pay hike of which they are the main beneficiaries, and usually blame the government for maintaining a bloated bureaucracy.
However, have we ever asked ourselves whether we are really maintaining a large army of government officials, more than what we need? A comparison with the number of officials most advanced and well-governed states have will make us realise that we actually have very few officials to run the administration whether as policemen, or as ordinary civil servants, or as judges.
Till the end of the year 2007 we had 125 policemen for every 100,000 people.
It is believed that the number has considerably increased since then.
Still, the figure is much smaller than what most advanced states have between 209 policemen, in Australia and 556 in Italy for a populatic on 100,000.
Let us take the case of the ordinary civil servants, the so-called regulatory staff who take care of the day-to-day administration.
While we have 295 central government employees for every 100,000 people the federal government of the US has 889.
As regards the number of state government officials for every 100,000 people U.P., the largest state of India, is the worst with only 352, while Gujarat and Punjab, 6314 employees of the state the local governments.
These contrasts will appear sharper when we take into account the fact that compared to developing countries, like India, the police and the common administrator in advanced countries have much fewer problems to face.
Few Western states or Japan face the problems of cross-border violence or Maoist menace, or even common place crimes, like burglary and banditry, as we do.
Besides, we expect our administrators to take care of state-sponsored social services and development projects.
Wide-spread poverty, age-old superstitions, and a high per centage of illiteracy do add to the problems that our administrators daily face.
Still, they are so few compared to the staff strength of the advanced countries.
The situation in the judiciary is probably the worst, and has been highlighted by the media.
Daily we hear of crores of cases that remain unheard in lower courts and of hundreds of thousands even in different High Courts and the Supreme Court.
While archaic rules guiding the hearing of cases and their adjournment over trivial issues add to the prevailing mess in the courts the main reason for delay in the dispensation of justice and the accumulation of lakhs and crores of cases awaiting disposal can be found in the acute paucity in the number of judges at every level.
While the US has 11 judges for a population of 100,000 Sweden has 13, China, 17, Belgium 23, and Germany 25, India has only 1.2.
How can so few judges meet the demands of so many? Besides, we all know that the law and order situation in India is far worse than what obtains in advanced countries.
Yet, we are content with having less than a tenth of judges that even as Asian country, like China, retains.
And, it is universally accepted that the judiciary along with the police and the army provide the people with that basic sense of security they need the most, and endows the state with the legitimacy that persuades its citizens to pay taxes and to abide by its laws and regulations.
The situation with the army too is not much better.
While most countries have much larger and better-equipped armies compared to their population it is well-known that our armed forces are short by over 12,000 officers than what their number demands.
So, our security is in the hands of a relatively smaller army which, in its turn, is short of officers who are expected to take care of and lead their men.
How can we therefore expect our officialdom to deliver what their more fortunate and numerous counterparts in most other countries do? All these, however, are not meant to justify the proverbial Chalta Hai attitude that guides our officialdom.
In a developing nation with a colonial background, immersed in the age-old tradition of looking up to the rulers as Mai Bap, the officialdom has a very large role to play.
Right from the day one after independence it was the government of the day that took upon itself the long-neglected task of development by fighting poverty, pestilence, illiteracy, age-old superstitions unemployment and the conservative and divisive forces.
Obviously, it was the bureaucracy through which the governments of the day sought to frame their policies and carry those out.
Naturally, for good or for bad, the bureaucracy had to and came to play the expected virtual role in our quest for national development.
So they had to play the roles of the policeman, the judges, the teacher, the economic planner, the social activist, the engineer and so on.
Unfortunately, neither by our earlier tradition nor by their training under our colonial masters were they made ready to shoulder the huge responsibility that was thrust on them.
The shadow fell between what was expected of them and what they expected to enjoy.
Hence the low esteem they enjoy as individuals in our society, although it is they who wield the ultimate authority and must accept the corresponding responsibility.
But, not much can or should be expected of them unless we equip them, as a class, with the required resources in terms of number, training, operational facilities, and of course pay and allowances.
I know it is a rather tall order for our government already pinned down by demands from numerous directions and sectors.
But, it has to be done at any cost.
Our security, day-to-day administration and development programmes cannot be left indefinitely in the hands of relatively untrained, unmotivated, ill-paid, and under-staffed officialdom.
Since we cannot do without them we have to keep them fit, satisfied and motivated.
Necessary steps must be taken without further delay.
Since they are to take the lead in almost every field, we must train and equip our leaders properly to fulfil the role they must play.
There is hardly any option.
Water Scarcity Better management imperative Dhurjati Mukherjee Water demand will be the highest in the world in the next two decades and the crisis is expected to get worse.
As far as India is concerned, demand for water will double by the year 2030 from 700 billion cubic metres to 1498 billion cubic metres, according to the study by the Water Resources Group, released recently.
The biggest deficits will be in the most populous river basins - Ganga, Krishna and Indus.
The demand is nearly double of China's projected 818 billion cubic metres demand.
The majority of the requirement, around 80 per cent, will be in agriculture as farmers plant more rice, wheat and sugar to feed the country's growing population.
The shortfall can be prevented, the report pointed out, by adopting basic conservation measures, specially in the agricultural sector.
Drip irrigation, where a pipe delivers water directly to plant roots rather than over the field, and no-till farming could conserve water to meet the future demand.
It needs to be pointed out here that conservation technology which exists in the country should be put to proper use and around 40 per cent wastage averted.
The study estimates that it would cost around $ 6 billion (Rs27,000 crores) to implement enough water conservation strategies to meet the projected demand.
But since agricultural income could increase to $ 83 billion (Rs385,950 crores) by 2030, water management and wastage control would have to be given top priority.
The dwindling availability of water in most parts of the world has become quite severe and certain experts have talked about 'water wars' taking place in the coming years.
In India, the water crisis has now become a reality with per capita availability declining from 5150 cubic metres in 1947 to 2200 cubic metres in 2000 and is expected to be anything around 1600 cubic metres by 2015-16.
In most parts of the country, the crisis is quite severe and effective conservation measures and stoppage of water wastage has yet to be implemented in all seriousness.
Apart from this, unrestricted groundwater usage, stimulated by electricity supplies below cost or even free in some States has led to groundwater depletion, diversion to water intensive crops and growing salinity of land.
There is no national watershed development programme, checking dams, irrigation canals and judicious water pricing.
Productivity for most crops are falling and climate change may make matters worse as water scarcity looms large.
Meanwhile, the issue of the major rivers drying up in the country has emerged as a major issue.
Moreover both the Ganga and the Yamuna have become extremely polluted.
As regards the Yamuna is concerned the Supreme Court had set three deadlines - 1999, 2003 and 2005 - for the authorities concerned to ensure the water was able to meet the lowest potable standards but nothing tangible has been achieved though Rs 1800 crores has been spent on various schemes.
As per the Ganga Action Plan (GAP), formulated way back in 1985, the water was to be kept clean by setting up primary treatment plants for treatment of tanneries of all types of sewage, including water flowing from tanneries and industrial effluent from 29 major and 23 small cities as well as 48 towns from Uttarakhand to West Bengal.
But the Comptroller and Auditor General had taken a poor view of the Clean Ganga initiative as he thought that Rs 1000 crores had gone down the drain without any tangible improvement in the river's water quality.
According to reliable reports, nearly 2600 million litres of untreated sewage and effluent get into the Ganga daily out of which not more than 20-30 per cent gets treated.
The issue of water management and keeping the water bodies clean are no doubt a big challenge before the country.
It is indeed quite strange that 19 to 20 per cent of the population in the country still do not have access to potable water for drinking.
Thus groundwater contamination has to be resolved by careful analysis of actual groundwater conditions followed by accurately positioned monitoring boreholes to provide a detailed view of the spatial distribution of the pollutant.
Once the extent of pollution is assessed, an action plan needs to be evolved to control the sources of pollution and take necessary clean-up measures though, however, it would be necessary to have a clear understanding of the geology of the region.
It is in this context that the reported decision of the Government to set aside Rs 4000 crores for the Repair, Renovation & Restoration (RRR) Scheme, a joint Centre-state project to restore and/or increase the capacities of lakes and ponds and freshen their water, assumes significance.
It is expected to reduce water shortage and various types of illness caused by the use of dirty and contaminated water.
The first-ever census of the country's water bodies, believed to number more than 13 lakh, is expected to be completed by the middle of this year and about one lakh chosen for restoration in the first phase, according to sources in the water resource ministry.
Although the census will cover every water body, only public ones will be restored and this task would have to be carried out by the panchayats and the municipalities.
The restoration job will primarily include de-silting, repair of the conveyance system (through which the water is replenished), strengthening of banks, prevention of soil erosion and the like.
It would be better if the non-governmental organizations working in areas of scientific development and environment and having expertise in the field of water and sanitation are entrusted this task by the panchayats.
It is a well-known fact that community water bodies are significant to the preservation of ecology and well-being of the users.
Community participation in cleaning these bodies and preservation and maintenance of its hygienic content can be possible only if the NGOs and CBOs wholeheartedly join this campaign.
This would also ensure that water borne, water-based and water-related diseases are brought down in the community as clean water is a sure and tested remedy for good health.