One of my good friends is doing her residency in US medical school. The US medical school system work little different than India. Here a student has to do regular graduation before going into medical school for their MBBS and then they go for residency where they finish the specialization in one field. Medical residency is a practical experience that all the medical doctors have to take in a teaching hospital after their graduation from medical school. In all it takes at least twelve to thirteen years of education and practical experience before they can set up their own clinic. In India, students go to medical school right after 12th grade and the count of years before he or she can set up clinic is still at least five years. Of course no one sets up clinic with on MBBS. All of the students do MD or MS. So, adding these three years of further education means at least eight years for a medical student in India before starting private practice. All these years are necessary and to be honest if my doctor tells me that he finished his graduation through an online course in eighteen months then I would be having seizure right there.
A Phd in engineer similarly ends up studying at least eight to nine years. Even in a Phd in Economics studies for at least seven years. And after finishing the highest possible education no one appoints them as CEO of an economic research firm or of an engineering firm. The graduating doctors’ still has to slog for hours at an hospital for valuable experience before embarking on private practice. In short expertise in any field not only needs countless hours of education but also needs substantial experience. Well this ain’t no secret. Talent, hard work and perseverance are some of the basic qualities absolutely required to succeed in any field. So if this is a general rule then why on earth we let stupidest mofos run our country? The Indian political class is probably one of the most corrupt ruling classes in the world. They are like leeches. They want power so they can make more money and that money in turn allows them to stay in the power. These politicians usually don’t have expertise in anything. I have never seen any Indian politician (except for Manmohan Singh) with solid resume. For example, the guy had meritorious grades in schools and made money by opening a local business. Or that the guy went to IIT for higher education and then became a political party member and then served as a mayor before embarking the life in state politics graduating into national politics. The only example, apart from Manmohan Singh, among modern politicians to have stellar resume is Mr. Parrikar, a graduate from IIT Mumbai, chief minister of Goa for few years.
Of course, education of any sort doesn’t mean the person is of highest integrity. We have highly intelligent IAS class officers who are equally corrupt as our politicians, if not more. But as our democracy is consistently failing in providing elected representatives who reflect our ambition and our goals. We can not have the legislative branch of democracy unchecked and with absolutely no bar to enter. There has to be a criteria, there has to be some sort of exam and some sort of relevant experience before assuming seat of power. It’s not just holding our politicians accountable for their actions and policies but making sure only accountable people gets elected at first place. It’s high time we tinker our democratic system and align it with national objective. If we aspire to be a developed nation with basic living standard for all citizens, better opportunities for young generation, equality and a nation of good character then our current system that elects corrupt and myopic ruling class. If our vision is grand then we want our leaders to make that vision grander. We don’t want aira-gaira, natthu khaira, as our member of parliament, cabinet minister or our Prime Minister. We want an honest, hard-working, intelligent and patriotic individual with ample administrative experience as our representatives. It’s not too much to ask. Seriously!
Most of the national level politicians have experience in state politics but that because of the ability to pull crowd rather than good administrative record. I understand that pulling crowd is not simple thing. But then these people aren’t leading these crowds towards development. Most of these local politicians are elected because of caste or religious equation. In short the only experience they garner on their journey to national politics is dividing society for garnering votes. Obviously their electoral rhetoric is not about development but rather about some sort of perceived injustice. There are no known criteria to enter politics and worse, there is no bar to get elected. I understand this is democracy but just because one can get votes doesn’t mean he or she is capable of administration. I also know that we have a extremely talented (as well as corrupt) Administrative class selected through rigorous process of IAS examinations. But their presence is no excuse for not having any bar to be a politician.
How about having some sort of criteria for elected politicians? We will have incremental criteria. Basic education like graduation will be required for all elected officials irrespective of the office they are running for. For a person running for state level office like cabinet ministry in state government has to have at least two years of administrative experience at lower level offices like running a city council. Or, the individual should have administrative experience as a junior cabinet minister. Eligibility for chief ministerial position will be little more stringent. A person should be a full cabinet minister running a department for at least three years. In short a Chief Minister will automatically have at least five years of administrative experience – two years of city council or as a junior cabinet minister and then full cabinet level experience of three years. An individual running for Lok-Sabha should pass some sort examination. This examination will cover basic tenets of Indian constitution, workings of legislative assembly i.e. Lok-Sabha and Rajya-Sabha, working mechanism of national government. The course material will also cover current national issues. The exam doesn’t need to be hard. In fact, make the exam open book. The purpose is not to fail a student i.e. an aspiring Member of Parliament but prepare the individual for better functioning of legislative branch of the government.
A cabinet minister in the national government has to be a Lok-Sabha member i.e. an elected individual. He or she has to have three years of junior cabinet level experience or he or she needs to be fulfill eligibility criteria for a Chief Minister Position. Thus a cabinet level minister will have at least three years national level administration experience or he or she has five years of higher level state administration experience. Now, eligibility for Prime Ministership should be most stringent. He or she should be a full cabinet minister in a national government for at least three years. He or she should be a member of Lok-Sabha. And, he or she should be declared, either by the individual or by the party that individual affiliated to, as a candidate for Prime Ministerial position before election. In short no horse trading after voting is completed. We can’t afford another Devegowada or worse, another V.P.Singh! And most importantly that individual should have exposure to armed forces. If that individual is an retired army person then that’s okay but otherwise, there should be a six month course that will cover workings of armed forces, internal security forces and the security issues faced by the country. The course should be available for any member of parliament. The current security situation is grim and constant back stabbing by vile Pakistanis is too much to bear. Our Prime Ministers, right from Nehru to Manmohan Singh, has consistently let nation down when dealing with Pakis. This has cost India humongous amount of resources and countless innocent lives.
I understand enforcing all these criteria will be impossible. And 99.99 people will say that it can only in ideal state. But I have high hopes from my country. In spite of all the troubles we have not only managed to survive but progressed quite a bit. It’s not easy for a country of 1.2 billion people to move but it is possible.
In fact it is necessary if we are ever to achieve our dream.
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