Let NCC be the watchdog...

 

 

The Budget for the financial year 2009-10 having been passed and the government claiming credit for pledging to spend a record Rs.10 lakh crore in a recessionary period, it’s now time to introspect about how much that would change India a year from now. While the government has committed huge sums for social sector spending especially in rural development, it can surely be said that if it is spent in right intent, it can change the very paradigm of India. Yet in essence the ghost of what late Rajiv Gandhi had said more than two decades back that for every rupee sanctioned by the government, only 15 paise eventually reaches the needy or the poor, still haunts India. The rest invariably gets eaten away in between. Thus higher outlay need not necessarily mean better outcome at least in India. For a country with more than 600 districts, to have physical verification of every project by professionals is prohibitively expensive. Auditing by CAG and other agencies happen much later and thus nullify the very effectiveness of the same. And then it’s time for the next budget and everyone conveniently forgets everything. Yet the bigger question is that if the system is rotten and if there are no quick-fix solutions to overhaul the entire system, isn’t there any other way out so that a physical verification of the same could be done most judiciously without much spending on the same? Well, ironically, no other country has such a huge army of youth at its disposal, the way India has in the form of National Cadet Corps or NCC. With a strength of 1.3 million (equal to that of Indian Army) trained youth and having presence in 607 districts of India, NCC can incidentally play a pivotal role in becoming the eyes and ears of the government, for monitoring the execution of all centrally sponsored projects of rural India. NCC cadets are generally students of schools and colleges, a phase of life when the minds are not yet corrupt and instead sanctuaries of ideologies, when passion and patriotism rather than money still guide actions. With a certain amount of training in monitoring projects, this disciplined and professionally trained powerhouse can alter the very contours of India and make sure that every pie of the money sanctioned gets spent with right intent. In western developed countries, getting involved in community development projects, for at least a year, is an integral part of education and plays a very critical role in giving an edge to the credentials while applying for the best of universities. In India, unfortunately, community development works are not given much importance. So while conscription need not be a necessity in India’s context, what actually can make a lot of difference is a compulsory stint with NCC, which can also help in bridging the mental gap between urban and rural India. It’s sad that while one India starves, a part of the other India has been brought up in such opulence and with such superficial idea of India that for them life is all about striving for a luxurious lifestyle, splurging money and aping the West. For them, poor India doesn’t exist and poverty at best is a romantic manifestation of lifestyle. It is the progeny of that India who should be taken to the other India through set-ups like NCC to change their perspectives. It would change India much beyond just bridging rural-urban divide. But does the government really want to correct the wrongs pointed by Rajiv Gandhi? Well, had he been alive, at least he would have strived for something similar for a better India of tomorrow.