The audacity of hope!

A new government will take charge in Karnataka. The last five years have been tumultuous and painful. Three chief ministers from the same party; one of them sent to jail on corruption charges; a family declaring an independent Republic in Bellary; growth rates plummeting and the State’s reputation taking a beating.

Yes, many good things did happen — our cities got good funding for the first time in 60 years, health insurance for below poverty line families, improvement in the road network, Namma Metro starting in Bangalore, and so on.

But overall, a sense of disappointment at another lost five years and massive increase in corruption.

The new Government has its task set out. The most important need is to set governance right. It should give automatic permission to prosecute officials charged with corruption and pass a law to confiscate property acquired through such acts. The Lokayukta should be appointed and given a free hand. Fast-track courts should be set up to try corruption cases; Sakala, the portal for grievance redressal, must be expanded and e-governance made more extensive to improve citizen services.

Speedy justice

A major reason for the challenges we face as a society is the lack of justice in our lives and a slow judicial process. The justice system needs massive investment. We need three times the courts we have today, an increase in the capacity of prosecuting agencies, use of technology and action to ensure justice within three years to every litigant. This one act will radically change society, as citizens will be guaranteed justice and evil-doers will know that they cannot use the justice system to evade the law. Speedy and certain justice is the bedrock of a good society and it is this we lack the most. Our women and children need special protection from our courts to ensure that any crime against them is swiftly tackled. The Rule of Law should prevail over the Rule of Man.

Our police system is in a shambles and needs urgent reform. All postings and transfers, except at the senior level, should be in the hands of the police establishment. Senior-level appointments should be done in a transparent manner. Any corruption charge must be investigated immediately with swift punishment. Along with a huge increase in prosecuting capacity, better training should be imparted in detection and solving criminal cases. Use of technology needs to be enhanced for better policing, with global norms being achieved in the number police per million citizens. Citizens need to feel safe again, especially our women and children.

Economic realities

Sadly, the State has failed in its most fundamental functions — good governance, protection of life, liberty and property of citizens, and delivery of swift justice. This needs to be set right first by the new government or all will be lost! In the economic realm, Karnataka has slipped in its growth rates and this needs a remedy. But the State Government is financially strong, with a debt-to-gross state domestic product (GSDP) ratio of around 23 per cent, recurring revenue surpluses, interest-to-revenue ratio at around 10 per cent, tax-to-GSDP ratio in excess of 10 per cent, and so on. But Karnataka and its leaders lack a vision to make the State a developed one. Karnataka should look at itself akin to a country in Europe and plan accordingly. With a population of 6.12 crore, it is bigger than most countries globally!

We need a target to increase our GSDP four times over the next 10 years, bring down poverty below 10 per cent, create one crore good jobs, and dramatically increase the quality of life for all. This needs massive investments in infrastructure.

We need to have access to at least 40,000 MW of power capacity by 2023. For this, the State has to tie up with power producers to buy power all over India, privatise its thermal power plants and distribution companies, and retain only the hydro plants and the transmission company. The existing policy of State control has been a disaster and has only ensured power cuts for 30 years, not good power. We have a good regulator; so consumer protection is ensured.

We also need to invest in massively expanding our road network. Our roads are of poor quality. All villages should be connected by all-weather roads; all taluk towns connected to the district headquarters by four-lane roads; all district towns connected to each other and with Bangalore by six-lane roads.

This will open up huge areas for development. We need a 1,000 km eight-lane Suvarna Karnataka Growth Corridor, with space for high-speed rail in the middle, linking Bidar with Bangalore. The North has land, power, water and labour, but is poor; the South is rich, with huge markets. Every 50 km, a 5000-acre industrial estate in a dry land location can create employment. This one project will radically change the face of Karnataka and create at least 50 lakh jobs over 15 years.

Manufacturing has suffered in Karnataka due to bad power, bad policy and lack of care. We need a manufacturing vision group, like the Karnataka Information Communication Technology (ICT) Group 2020, to create the vision and roadmap to improve manufacturing. The North can be the new location linked to the ports of Karwar and Mangalore. The KIG Group recommendations need to be implemented in full to increase jobs in IT to 20 lakh by 2020.

Student-centric policy

Skill development needs investment to train at least five lakh youngsters a year. We need to open up our higher education sector as per the HE vision group of the Knowledge Commission. We need to take up our gross enrolment ratio (GER) to 35 per cent by 2020 by a student-centric policy. Of course, our political leaders know very well that the policy of entitlements will take care of the poor, but what we need now are jobs not doles!

Above all, Bangalore needs to be radically transformed. Without the cash cow, which gives 65 per cent of State revenues and makes up 60 per cent of GSDP, there is no future. We need a full-time mayor, a more representative City Council, separation of planning from execution, better citizen interaction, and improved infrastructure. We need 100 per cent of professional taxes, 50 per cent of road taxes and registration taxes to come to the city.

The Agenda for Bangalore Political Action Committee needs to be implemented to improve governance. Namma Metro must be expanded to 250 km by 2020 to improve traffic. We need new water sources, better water distribution and a functioning sewage system. The KIG has estimated that Bangalore needs Rs 2,55,000 crore in investment by 2025 and has drawn up a plan. This needs to be executed well, as Bangalore is, indeed, the key to the future of Karnataka.

Well, the new Government has its task cut out and needs to break ground. We are hopeful; we have lived with hope for the last many years. If they fail, we will vote them out and keep our hope! It is the only asset we have!

(The author is Vice-President, Bangalore Political Action Committee.)

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