How well do you know your government?
"This Government sucks!"
"The Prime Minister is a mere puppet!"
"Scams in billions of dollars when half the people are still starving"
We've said it, heard it, read about it on papers, seen it on news channels. And I am, in particular, one of the leading proponents of spreading such 'political awareness' on Facebook and Twitter. Yes, its all true. This country is slowly crawling into a hole. As citizens, we have every right to rant about it. But today, I paused and asked myself a single question:
"Do you know the name of the municipal councilor of your area?"
And I was left with no answer. Worse, I realized the actual implications of the question. It isn't just about that single question. Its about knowing what your responsibilities as a citizen are. Its about knowing the backbone of our country. Its about knowing the very ministers and politicians WE, the people, elected. We hire them and pay them to run the country for us. And they suck at it big time! Not just this government, but almost every government that we've had since Independence has been equally bad.
So where does the fault lie? If the politicians are taking the country for granted, isn't it time the tax payers stepped in and do something about it? If a company hires under performing employees all the time for years together, who is to be blamed - the bad employees, or the company itself? Yes, we citizens really don't have many choices - we either get corrupt politicians, or even more corrupt politicians. Unfortunately, we have to make the best with what we have, rather than whine about lack of choice. No matter which government comes to power, we have to remember that we are the ones getting screwed badly! The honest, tax paying citizen is taken for a ride, and the corrupt politician with criminal cases pending against him piles up millions after millions of our money.
As a citizen, we not only have a duty to vote, but also a duty to make sure that people we elect are doing their jobs properly. Election isn't only about going to the booth every 5 years, but to keep track of their performance and to make sure that whey they suck at it, they bloody well know how badly they suck! And what better way to inform your area councilor or the panchayat incharge that something isn't the way it's supposed to be. Yes we will be ignored. Yes, we might even be shouted upon or abused. But look around! The world can't get any worse that it already is. People are turning into animals. Common sense is neither common, nor does it make sense to a whole lot of people! We get the same treatment from people on the roads, in buses, in shopping malls, and in beaches. It really cannot get any worse. If nothing does work, we will actually have the satisfaction that we tried. And if a hundred people keep trying, things might just improve, considering elections are around.
Thankfully, the Tamil Nadu Government sites are pretty informative. So I finally found out that my area comes under the Maduravoyal municipality, found out who the department heads are, and more importantly, got a number and an email address to forward my complains to. Will it work? Probably not. But should I still go ahead and do it? Absolutely yes! The lesson learnt from this epiphany - Don't rant about how bad things are if you aren't going to try and change it.