Our Role as Responsible Citizens

I have been thinking for some time now that we are too docile and leave too much for the government and do too little ourselves to make our lives less miserable.  I shall explain this with an example.  Suppose a road is under reconstruction in our area.  This road is our lifeline because we use it daily.  So, while it is under construction we are subjected to a lot of inconvenience.  We get sick of reading “Work in Progress” without seeing any perceptible progress. Suppose further that the completion of the road is delayed by a year or two, or even longer.    Moreover, suppose that the quality of the road construction is not according to the specifications laid down for such roads (by, for example, the Central Road Research Institute). Who is going to suffer most?  Only we.  Under these circumstances, do we not have a stake in the quality and timely construction of this road?  If the answer to this question is yes, then should we not be a party, at least as observers, to the agreement between the contractor and the authorities?  Should we not demand that we should be presented a periodic report on the status of the construction work?  At the end of the work, should we not demand a certificate, duly endorsed by the responsible officer of the authority concerned, attesting to the specified quality of work?  I am sure that your first response would be skepticism.  Your thoughts would be: it has never happened in the past and it does not happen anywhere else.  I do not know the answer to the second of your thoughts, I can only say: well, in other countries such problems may not arise and in our dear India things happen differently.  As to your first thought, our efforts should not be held back because such things never happened in the past.  Special circumstances can lead to new and unheard of solutions.  If we overcome our skepticism and come to the conclusion that we really are the stakeholders and the matter should not be left only between the contractor and the authority, mechanisms can be devised for the intervention of stakeholders (for example, by involving local chapters of bodies like the road users association).  Let me clarify, our aim would/should not be to interfere in any manner in the work being carried out; our only concern would be to ensure that the work being done is of specified quality and is according to schedule.

Many may claim that concern outlined above falls within the domain of the authority.  I agree, but has any authority ever done to enforce quality and pace of such works?  If they had performed their duty competently, the need for our intervention would not have arisen.  Moreover, for every deficiency in quality and every delay in the completion of work, we suffer and not the authority. 

There are many more urgent problems around us which the authorities do not/will not care to   notice, where, I think, our intervention is desirable.  I think democracy does not amount to being able to vote once in five years; it also involves standing up when our basic rights are trampled.