Once Too Often and No One Cares!

Once Too Often and No One Cares!

Ganga Prasad Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar


We Indians are habituated to many things – crowd, pollution, floods, noise, filth – to name a few. And yes, to fatal incidents - accidents and killings - as well. Not a day passes without the newspaper reporting a murder here, a shooting there and accidents on- and off-road. Living in a city with a population in the millions, any event with a diurnal probability of greater than one in a million is played out in real life and reported in the newspapers. If it is not death in the abyss of a bore hole, then it is asphyxiation in a sewage tank; if it is not a pile-up at a level-crossing or an overcrowded boat overturning, it is a bus that rolled off the hill or an accident at the neighborhood intersection on account of a faulty signal and hasty drivers. Nothing deadens attention and alertness as much as repetition. And if these incidents do not occupy the headlines on the front page, it just might totally escape attention in the 10 minutes one has to read the newspaper at the breakfast table. Ignorance is bliss, or is it?

Sure, there are rules and officials to take care of these mundane matters. Of course. Then, why do these incidents recur, and recur so often that the informed and risk-averse among us fear their turn in this daily lottery. Because, we as a society don't learn from our mistakes. We almost don't care when it is not our hide on the line. Elsewhere, notably in the US, even an isolated loss of life that should not have occurred is probed, a public outcry raised and the matter pursued by friends and relatives of the victim until it is rectified on paper and in practice. Why aren't our bureaucrats, civic service officials and workmen, and the general public more attentive to the accidental loss of lives amidst them? Why the administrative lethargy? I have heard the excuse 'Out of sight; out of mind', but here, we seem to have a case of 'Once too often and no one cares'! Could it be that the penalty for dereliction of duty or improper procedures/supervision is all too minimal? Perhaps, the ready, if minimal compensation pre-empts expensive lawsuits and perpetuates the risk? The simple fact, most of the time however, is that the public, or for that matter, workmen, do not follow rules and procedures even knowing the risks involved. They prefer riding their luck than to consciously abate or avoid the risk. With public officials not allotting the required budget (ostensibly, for lack of complaints?) and supervisors out of sight, or more likely, 'in the ring', corruption, dereliction of duty, carelessness and deceit take the reins of public life, leading to tragic loss of lives repeatedly – to the point of routine.

What we need, more than anything else, is accountability. We need to re-align the incentives facing both the public at large and our bureaucrats, civic servants and workmen to ensure that negligence is punished severely. Our public servants must feel the pressure of public angered by even a single loss of life caused by negligence of duty. We need watchdogs agencies and individuals monitoring and alerting, even inciting the public to seek justice when it comes to public safety (A nationally-advertised hotline for open borewells and wells, dangerously overloaded vehicles and boats, and the like?). By the same token, the public must be informed and, if necessary, punished until they follow rules for the larger good of the society. Life and general insurance companies too have a fiduciary stake in lowering risks to public safety. They could take the initiative.

Every life is precious. Let us not wait until someone chants:
"Unto that land of public safety, lead my nation to, O Insurance Behemoths"!