Service-Oriented Politics

Photo: Star File

Politics is a science of managing diversity within society to balance the needs and concerns of various clusters of population. As economists would put it, it is an unstable equilibrium where everything hangs in a delicate situation. Unfortunately, the severity of the disruptions that we have been facing has shaken up the entire system. Our political parties have not been able to reach any positive outcome by debating over their differences. Therefore, it's high time to shift the focus from the “she said, he said” monotony towards service-orientation in politics. As responsible citizens, it's our duty to voice our needs and concerns objectively and set the correct standard for those who take oaths to serve us in public offices. It might seem utopian, but what's the alternative? The present situation is a race to the pit-less bottom.
As citizens, our needs and what we want from our government varies widely, depending on our social and economic status, geographic location within the country, and our religious values and beliefs. But the one thing that each and every individual needs, is security. In this, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and Muslims are all united and so are the rich and the poor. It is the government's duty to ensure security of life for its citizens. Unfortunately, the present Awami-league government and the previous BNP government have both failed grossly in providing us with this basic necessity.
The government needs to take a strong stance against crime, firstly through “self-evaluation”. We cannot eradicate something in our surrounding environment as long as that same quality resides within us. This is the most difficult hurdle in bringing any kind of positive change. A policy of “zero-tolerance” must be adopted against crime. The government needs to be committed in removing impunity of powerful defaulters, also known as the collective “Big Fish”. It needs to harness laws within the police department to stop police brutality. It needs to put functioning institutions in place. At present we may have volumes of rules and laws on paper. I'm talking about simplifying them, and applying them! Only then will the government be in a position to address crimes within society and provide each citizen with the security that we deserve.

Photo: Star File

The second thing that is impacting people's quality of life in a big way is traffic congestion. This is particularly true for everyone in Dhaka city. The amount of time that we spend everyday sitting in traffic is not only frustrating but also extremely unproductive. The total amount of output of goods and services that we are producing as a nation is vastly reduced due to so much time being wasted idly. This affects business efficiency and production costs, and as a result it affects the final prices that we have to pay for everyday products. Thankfully, a number of flyovers have been built within the city over the last couple of years, but severe congestion problems still persist. There are some simple cost-effective and sustainable measures that can be taken to address the problem. For instance, improving the public transport system within the city. Currently, local bus service is extremely cheap but the service is so poor that most people avoid using buses. Since the cost of private transport has skyrocketed so much in the last few years, it would be cheaper for most people to pay a higher fare for an improved bus service. Better quality buses, which follow fixed schedules, would greatly reduce the number of cars, CNGs and rickshaws on the road during peak hours. Another factor that contributes to traffic congestion is the large number of people who are compelled to walk on the sides of roads due to lack of usable footpaths. Most pedestrians also cross roads incorrectly. Such things cause unnecessary hassle and delays for road traffic. Providing pedestrian crossings on roads at frequent intervals and improving the quality of footpaths and would free up a lot of road space for vehicles. This would be a relatively inexpensive way of reducing traffic jams. Also, improving the quality of the existing roads would allow cars to travel at an improved speed and further lessen the congestion problem. Lastly, the malpractice of blocking off entire routes of traffic so that political leaders can commute easily needs to be stopped. This causes a lot of difficulty for the general people. Our leaders need to be respectful of citizen's right to road space.
Over the last few years we have seen an improvement in electricity supply but the demand for electricity is continuously increasing due to the technological advancements taking place. Ensuring stable supply of electricity to meet growing needs remains a challenge for the government due to our limited resources. Unfortunately, domestic gas supply is also becoming irregular, although just a few years back we had ample number of unexplored gas fields. When it comes to providing these essential public utilities, the government needs to take strong measures to stop pilferage and increase the efficiency and transparency of the process (through use of information systems, like e-tendering etc.). We also need to emphasise on reducing pollution of land, water and air, place more effort to reduce industry waste and improve recycling. Since these things affect quality of life of all citizens, figuring out how to provide these services should be a priority for the government. Instead of fighting over different ideologies, let us start working on the things that everyone upon.
 

The writer is Lecturer, Department of Economics, North South University.