Anant

Strange ways in which our Government works

A brilliant piece by Shashi Tharoor in The Indian Express, explaining all that’s wrong with an 850-seat Lok Sabha. More IIMs, more IITs, more AIIMs, more MPs. For a Government, not exactly known for its nuanced policy making, this is par for the course. Big is beautiful, more is merrier. And then there’s this fetish for ‘One nation one X’ template, replace X with whatever you want.

I have one word for it- Governance by Gut.

Gut instinct is essential in certain situations, but that seems to be the dominant mode under this Government- demonetization, COVID lockdowns, the Farm laws, CAA- a fairly long list. The most recent in that ignominious list is the ‘High powered task force on examination reforms’- the notion that if you bunch up a group of worthies, they’ll set things right.

Reminds me of this snippet from a mushaira snippet shared on X- and how collectively we have decided to trade off substantive for the performative. All’s well, until reality comes knocking.

But one does feel for this government. People like Arun Jaitley and Manohar Parrikar, who could have been the head or someone like Sushma Swaraj, who endeared us with her qualities of the heart in her stint as the MEA, are long gone. What’s left, too often, is an overdose of gut.