Nation of queues - Mindset is the culprit

India is no longer the land of snake charmers. Rarely do we find one on our streets these days. But we are a nation of queues. Wherever we go, we have to stand in a queue and wait for our turn. Almost every service provided by the government, like issuing a passport or a driving license, can be availed only by standing and waiting in a queue. It looks as if queues are mandated by the constitution of India. Queues get even longer at our temples, it is not uncommon to see people standing in queues for hours just to catch a glimpse of their Lord. Buying any kind of a ticket, be it a train ticket or a cinema ticket, is even worse; we stand in queues without any guarantee of getting one. We wait to get our things billed at a retail store; the days of shopkeepers waiting on customers are gone. When we go to withdraw money from an ATM, a queue welcomes us. Go to deposit your money at a bank branch, another queue awaits you. The only way to consult a doctor is through a queue; the more famous the doctor is, the longer the queue gets.

We got so used to queues that we don't find them odd any more. A generation ( probably more than one) grew up in queues, pardon the pun. It all started at the school in the name of assembly. We can even be proud as no other nation on earth can match us in queues.

People, in general, do not like to wait for their turn. That is why societies find ways to get rid of queues. I wonder why we as a nation did not make much progress in that direction. One can dismiss this as a consequence of having more than a billion in population. That is probably one reason, we do not have 'enough' of anything to serve such a huge population. I think there is a bigger reason. I am afraid it stems from our mindset, which is characterized by the urge to get ahead of one's neighbour, no matter how silly that race might be. We rush, pushing others aside, to get into a bus even when there are only 10 people boarding an empty bus of 45 seats. It is this mindset that causes so many mini-stampedes in our country. It is this mindset that necessitates queues. We can get rid of many a queue if we can change this mindset.

There is also another reason. Only when there are queues, there is demand for 'short cuts'. More demand for short cuts means more bribes, more power to those queue creators. So the bribe seekers, read public policy makers and implementers, would want to create more and more queues. It is for the people to realize and  resist any such attempts. Any politician framing those policies,   welfare or economic or citizen service related, which create more queues is in reality doing more harm than good to the society.

Telangana - What will happen after December 31?

The committee headed by Justice Srikrishna is expected to submit its report on the Telangana issue to the Union Home Minister on or before the 31st of December this year. There is a lot of speculation in the local media on what will happen after that day? December 31st is projected as the D-day on which a decision on statehood for Telangana will be taken. Some pro-Telangana politicians dramatically declared that they would create 'earthquakes' and 'tsunamis' if that decision doesn't go in their favor. All this hype has created some sort of 'countdown' to December 31st.

I predict that nothing will happen on that day. Going by the history of committees and commissions in India, the committee may not even submit its report on that day. Even if the committee submits its report in time, it is just a report, not a decision. The union government is in no way bound to act on the recommendations of the report. Forget acting on its recommendations, the government might never even make the recommendations public. The reports of many committees appointed in the past by the Government never saw the light of day.

We don't know what the committee is going to recommend. It might recommend against bifurcating the state of Andhra Pradesh. It might even recommend trifurcating the state. Somehow I feel the committee is not going to recommend exactly what the pro-Telangana groups are demanding. If the report contains some 'hard to digest' facts or if its recommendations go against the interests of the ruling party, this report also might find its way to the dustbin in the office of the union home minister.

Even if we assume that the recommendations are in the interest of the nation, of the ruling party especially, a decision can not be taken overnight. The government has to table the report in the parliament and we all know it will be a long drawn out process. The earliest session of the parliament after December will be in February to discuss the railway budget and the union budget. The chances of the Telangana issue being discussed in that session are very remote.

So nothing significant will happen after the 31st of December. At the most, there could be one or two 'bandhs'. All this hype around that date is just a media gimmick to keep the people glued to their TV sets.