The Hindu Business Line : A new challenge awaits Mr Ratan Tata

As the world watched with bated breath, Mr Ratan Tata drove the one-lakh car, Nano, onto the stage of the New Delhi Auto Expo earlier this month. It was a proud moment, considering the number of sceptics, over the years, who doubted whether this would ever happen. And not to mention all the jokes about the engine and tires being extra at that price.

Better alternative

Foremost among those cheering the car must be Mr Tata himself. He has said that the sight of a whole family delicately balanced on two-wheelers on Indian roads made him work towards giving them a better alternative. So now we have a car that is priced just a bit more than the auto-rickshaw, to provide safe transportation for all those two-wheeler users. They are all cheering him too, and looking forward to safer travel.

There are several fallouts from the arrival of the Nano. Other manufacturers, including Bajaj Auto and Fiat, now being shown what is possible, are following in the wake with their own versions of small, cheap cars. The Japanese, in particular, must be worried that their reputation for reliable, small, and cheap cars is in for a serious challenge. But the biggest fallout that is worrying is Tata’s dream of converting all those two-wheeler owners to car drivers on Indian roads. Will they drive it like a two-wheeler?

Learn to drive

So even as we pop the champagne bottles, we need to take note of the consensus among the auto experts of the world: Every report that I read about the event in the international press stresses that now that the Indians have access to cheap cars, they must first learn to drive! Of course, they do not mean the technical skill of driving but knowing how to use the road when behind the steering wheel, a fact that seems to have missed the majority of Indian drivers and the transport offices that issue them the licences, going by what one sees on the roads.

That traffic problems are reaching crisis proportions in India would be an understatement. Already, environmentalists, who I’m sure do not want to go down in history as the ones who pricked the dream of the masses are fearing what the upsurge in car ownership would do to pollution levels. But let’s get back to the traffic. Visitors often wonder at how Indians juggle chaos with order effortlessly. Even the launch of the Nano, according to some, was chaotic with many more crowded into the room than the fire chief would have allowed. Nowhere is the peaceful co-existence of chaos and order more apparent than on Indian roads.

To his credit, Mr Ratan Tata himself has pondered about the possibility of his creation worsening the situation. He is quoted as saying that he would be concerned if the Nano “created absolute chaos across India” and stressed the need for more investment in mass transit systems.

Clearly, he is a conflicted man — wanting to give the Indian car aspirant a real alternative, while at the same time aware of the potential impact. One solution of limiting one Nano per ration card holder may not work. So rather than be a part of the problem, Tata can also be a part of the solution to the road crisis.

Mr Tata is near the retirement age usually followed for corporate chiefs within the Tata Group and had indicated that he would step down after the launch of the one-lakh car.

I invite him to take up the challenge of better traffic management. Here is something he can do that will further strengthen his legacy. Mr Tata, take the lead and champion the effort to reform India’s roads.

Traffic management

It must be obvious to any casual observer of Indian roads that traffic management is too serious an issue to be left to the government.

Weak infrastructure, corrupt RTOs and inept police enforcement all point to a government in absentia. Moreover, when it comes to reforming the traffic chaos, the typical governmental response has been to resort to structural solutions when the problem also needs to be addresses behaviourally (Business Line, September 17, 2007).

For example, the authorities prefer to put speed breakers or barriers every 100 meters which worsen the traffic flow, rather than teach people about road etiquette and enforce speed limits with better policing. Another is to convert roads into one-ways, making people stay on the road burning fuel longer and with wider roads to misbehave in. And, yes, when there is a contractor nearby, they build flyovers.

Well-meaning groups such as the Rotary and Lions Clubs have tried to help by funding projects. But putting up signs that say “Follow lane discipline” in English do not make sense to the public who don’t know what that means or translates to.

Moreover, when there are no lanes, what does lane discipline mean? Road safety campaigns on one day in the year can only lead to litter from discarded posters. Piece-meal approaches will not work for a problem that is crying out for a comprehensive solution.

Private sector Participation

It is time for the private sector to get involved in a more coordinated manner. It is in the self-interest of manufacturers such as the Tatas that road conditions be conducive for them to sell more of their products. Mr Ratan Tata should head a private foundation with participation and contributions from the other automotive companies for a holistic effort at traffic management.

There is more to better traffic than lane discipline. A multi-pronged approach calls for many areas to be tackled, and requires a systems view. For instance, traffic flow patterns need to be studied, parking rules enforced, commercial/residential zoning laws reviewed to ensure that malls do not come up on narrow roads.

This involves working with governments to provide good roads, working with regulatory authorities for better enforcement of traffic rules, clearing pavements of encroachments to allow pedestrians to get off the road, working with insurance companies to provide incentives for accident-free driving, and so on.

Creating awareness

The biggest area that the foundation needs to work on, and one which has been ignored in the past, is to educate the public on road usage and etiquette. This has to be done with full use of available multi-media, through educational institutions, owners of vehicle fleets, bus transport corporations, driving schools, and so on. Even the enforcers of traffic discipline need education and training about what is to be enforced.

It is not an easy task. It will take time and patience. It requires proper funding, creative programmes, wide reach, liaison with various levels of the government, monitoring and control. It is almost as complicated as designing a people’s car from scratch. What do you say, Mr. Tata? Are you up to it?

(The author is a professor of international business and strategic management at Suffolk University, Boston, US. He can be reached at cgopinat@suffolk.edu)

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