Open Forum
New Delhi, 6 May 2009
Public Confidence
EFFORTS MUST TO RESTORE IT
By Dr. Manmohan Kapur
In the long history of this planet, the arrival
of the Industrial Revolution (1775) produced profound effect on the
meaning of progress and life of the people. It set into motion a
competitive growth games’ season between nations. During the same period, the
earth’s population burden grew from 900 million to 6.5 billion. In the past 30 years
there has been an increase of 2 billion people. This large population is being
sustained through growth economics and exploitation of the earth's
resources which remain finite.
However, today confidence is a recurring theme coming
up in our discourse repeatedly. Many articles discuss market
confidence as a subject, focused on economic analysis and so also
both consumer and investor confidence. However, public confidence in the
State and governance is the basic prerequisite, if any confidence is
to return to the other areas of human activity.
Public confidence is based on perceptions
of citizens of the changes in the world around them, in
particular the performance of governance in the field
of public affairs and human welfare. Confidence as an entity is
intangible and evanescent, but if based in your
mind, it has a powerful effect on your behavior
and actions. It is the direct outcome of actions
(inaction's) of Government and other diverse public entities
that influences your life and living space.
Though impalpable, confidence is lodged in your mind and affects
all your responses in the material world. It colors
your perceptions of all subsequent events, and induces
tranquility and self confidence. Indeed, abiding faith, hope, and
expectations are the internalized contours of confidence. It sustains
an internal coolness, balance, and imperturbability of the mind.
Thus, the core qualities that create this confidence are perceived
fidelity, reliance, trust, and credibility in governance and
transparency of functions of service providers, and the Corporates. Once lodged
in your mind, it is difficult to dislodge this confidence. However, it
can dissipate over time when there are recurring events that induce
negative change in the life and living space of citizens.
Lack of confidence has been observed worldwide. Today, markets are
stagnant and people have come out on to the streets in protest
even in the developed nations. Among the recent events observed were
the vote for change in the US
and street demonstration against bailouts, and protests in Greece, the UK,
France, Iceland, Thailand
and Madagascar.
In South East Asia, insurgencies and wars of
ethnic independence are in progress and unabated acts of terrorism
are an every day event. In Africa, the
struggle for order in tribal societies has led to
brutal tribal wars transforming into genocidal solutions.
For the realistic, these are all evidence of dissatisfaction
and loss of confidence in the current order and dispensation. The
underlying cause for urgency and anxiety among citizens is the observed
environmental effects on human living space. Clean air,
water, and food are scarce and expensive. Climate change affects all
in different ways. Floods, melting ice caps, rising sea
levels, and droughts are only some of the disasters known
to us all. Thus, life is under threat and the dooms-day scenario
seems real.
Citizens through access to media are aware
that many of their woes are related to the pursuit of
unlimited economic growth. In fact, they are convinced that the ever-
increasing economic growth paradigm is faulty and unsustainable. Yet
it is the unrelenting pursuit of all nations.
The past year, the citizens have learned of
the downturn in markets of the world, to say in some
countries recession has arrived. Banks are almost the four letter
word and faith, hope, confidence in financial institutions is waning. They
have also observed that the political leadership in countries, in
both hemispheres, has opted out of non-profit areas of citizen’s
welfare (health, education). The prevailing wisdom that has guided
them (the leaders) is “that if it makes a profit it must
be the right path”. This has lead large numbers
of citizens to conclude that this is a similar set of
values as held by CEO’s of Corporate Houses. Sadly, the social content
of governance has decreased.
The above has been a major cause of loss of public confidence. There
has also been an observed rise in the numbers of the ‘very rich’
and the ‘very poor’ in the world. Thus, equity in governance is
called into question, leading to plummeting of confidence. If
confidence is to be reinstalled, a two-pronged intervention must be
adopted.
One, we need bail outs for financial institutions
as survival packages in the short and medium term. Two, for the long term
we need a major input in security of life and property of
citizens, health-care and universal standard education for all. Thus, it
is through these efforts, which have a social agenda that we must
wait for return of confidence. Clearly, public confidence is crucial for
the retail investor to return.
In India,
the infrastructure for health care and education already exists in
form of schools and 22,000 Primary Healthcare Centres and 4,400 district
hospitals. But the Government needs to provide resources to full staffing
and supplies for patient care. The PHC must be linked to district hospitals for
backup, upgrade of knowledge and skills. Only then will these inputs
convert the low-performing assets into high-performing service units.
Likewise, security agencies need to change
their mindset from the existing disaster management role, to a
more proactive disaster prevention agenda. This requires major inputs
in creation of a high technology intelligence gathering organization,
linked to a new counter terrorism unit for quick and effective preventive
action.
The environment damage and climate change can be mitigated by firm
adherence to reduction of carbon footprint in our development
effort. The scientific community can use its ingenuity to achieve
our development goals within these parameters. This will require a
larger investment in renewable energy research and product development through
use of indigenous material and manpower. The use of house top solar
photovoltaic cells, for domestic consumption of energy will reduce load on
the national grid, and cut transmission losses.
However, all these efforts may require subsidy. But, at the
end of the day confidence is bound to return. Only if the citizen is convinced
that Governments are working in the interest of the Aam Aadmi, both here and around
the globe. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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