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Being a citizen of a country is a full time job. One that we conveniently choose to neglect. The basic things are the simple ones: we follow the traffic rules, pay our taxes, abide by the law, stand in lines and avoid killing each other and we’re there. But the list of duties of an ideal, law abiding citizen runs deeper than that. It includes many other things that are our serious responsiblities, to put it mildly.
Recent events have showed us some major shortcomings in how our government functions. It is now safe to conclude that the systems that have been put in place as tools of administration over many, many years are frail and flawed, by any standard. Blame it on negligence, inadequacy or sheer oversight, the bottom line is that as a country, we are failing. At a time when protocols and preprogrammed proceedings should have automatically fallen into place, all we saw was chaos and more chaos. The question is if it is just the government to blame for this disaster inside a disaster. Or have we, as citizens, somehow failed to make the government function the way it is supposed to?
The answer is simple. Good governance is as much the responsibility of the residents of a country, as it is of the government. And it is not just about the elections and voting. The thing is, our everyday lives run smoothly because of various systems and arrangements that we take for granted. And we are part of those systems. In fact, we are the ones running those systems. When something fails, something stops working, we complain, we steer around the problem, find a solution and apply it and make the system work again. We do it everywhere, most of the times without realizing it.
So when a system fails, who is to blame? Is good governance an end in itself or is it a means for a well functioning society? Is it only the responsibility of the government? Do we have a role to play in good governance? Do we share the failures with the government?
The hard truth is that we all know there are things we can do but aren’t doing. We have a tiny little share in every single failure of “the system”.
So when a system fails, who is to blame? Is good governance an end in itself or is it a means for a well functioning society? Is it only the responsibility of the government? Do we have a role to play in good governance? Do we share the failures with the government?
The hard truth is that we all know there are things we can do but aren’t doing. We have a tiny little share in every single failure of “the system”.
Somehow, it has failed to seep into our mind, an understanding of the rudimentary duties of a citizen and a human being. Some realise the cycle of action & reaction at some stage although most people remain oblivious of the consequences their passive actions might have produced. We comply with laws yet fail to realise the most important obligation.
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