Wanted: Responsible citizens as well as officials

Nagpur: Are officials paid up to not act on an illegality? They are. This was the opinion of a number of panellists in the debate. Madhukar Kukde, president of social organization Citizens’ Forum for Equality, said the lure of money prompted government officials to act in connivance with violators. He claimed a linguistic institution had been turned into a hospital in the city and its ownership had also been illegally changed with a lot of money changing hands.
Dinesh Naidu of the NGO Parivartan said that corruption apart, inefficiency and political pressure were also at play. “The last factor is especially true in case of hoardings of politicians,” he added. Ramesh Borkute, member of Jan Manch, cited another example of how the court had to step in when the authorities were dilly-dallying to open a government medical college and hospital in Chandrapur. “Shouldn’t the government be concerned about public health in a severely polluted place such as Chandrapur,” he asked, adding, “Will the court have to run the government now?” He added that just like ministers are shunted out or dropped due to non-performance, inefficient officials should also be given the same treatment.
Courts have intervened in many other civic issues concerning the general public. “There have been many judgments on issues such as illegal vendors and encroachments. But most are not followed, as we can see in the case of vendors on Sitabuldi Main Road,” said Ravindra Kaskhedikar, secretary of NGO Jan Akrosh. Authorities had cleared the encroachers from this busy road, but lack of follow-up has resulted in things going back to square one.
MBA student Randhir Singh Chana blamed officials for not being concerned about the general public. City coordinator of Aam Aadmi Party, Devendra Wankhede, said many times, officials said their hands were tied. “When influential politicians are involved, officials are helpless,” he said, adding that successive governments made no effort to break this culture.
Mohan Nagar resident Jigisha Naidu said senior officials should support the junior staffers who actually take action against violators. “There are enough provisions in the law to protect them,” she said. Many times, citizens reach out to their local corporators to deal with illegalities. “However, even the corporators can’t afford to make too many enemies in their wards. After all, these same people are going to vote for them. So, the corporators sometimes adopt a neutral stance,” Jigisha said.
Lawyer Surendra Kumar Mishra said violation could not be justified. “Illegal construction is a cognizable offence but how many cases for this offence have been registered? Similarly, in development control rules, there is a stage-wise inspection and work cannot go ahead unless the previous stage is inspected and okayed. But this seldom happens,” he said. Mishra, however, added that officials should not be blamed for all violations. “So many of us make unauthorized changes in the structure of our homes. Almost 90% buildings do not have occupancy certificates,” he said, adding that by being a party to these violations, we legitimized them.
Kaskhedikar cited another example of people’s apathy towards following the law. “When the city police were implementing the helmet drive, most people did wear the protective headgear. But, the moment the drive stopped, we stopped. It seems we need the crack of a whip every day. Our nature has become like that,” he observed.
Borkute said most commoners did not take up the mantle of an activist and looked the other way in the daily struggle of life. “It is our leaders who need to set an example. Besides, there is no place for honest men in our society. In such a system, an honest man gets suffocated,” he said. This remark evoked a strong reaction from some panellists. In an animated rebuttal, Kukde said he strongly differed with this opinion and that this wasn’t the proper thing to say for an activist. “Look at Anna Hazare. He is a lone crusader,” Kukde pointed out.
Dinesh said that in any society, not everyone would be an activist and only a few people had to do it. Jigisha said another deterrent for citizens was local goons who often were the violators themselves. “Once I complained about an illegality and found my car windows smashed the next day,” she recalled. Wankhede called for holding the government equally responsible. “We are fined for not wearing a helmet, but what about that big pothole on the road? Who should be punished for it,” he asked.
The discussion turned to whether the courts were also lenient in pulling up the authorities. Mishra explained the first mandate of the court was implementation rather than punishment. Kaskhedikar, however, cited a judgment by Justice Daga from 2010 about restaurants running in shops under the railway station flyover, in which the court had called on the amicus curiae, NGOs and citizens to bring forward credible evidence of any violation. “The judgment had empowered citizens to act,” he added. Kukde reiterated that even an individual should not shy away from fighting for rights and it was the duty of those around him or her to lend their support.