Gov 2.0 to India 2.0: The Greatest Challenge for our Generation
India’s governments have through the years have failed in providing the most basic services to the population at large. A radical rethink is needed on the role of government and the government-citizen interface. The time has come for us, the citizens of India, to help in fixing government and governance in India.
The challenge is to rethink and re-architect India. The first version created in 1947 was doomed to fail because of its origins in continuing the institutional legacy of the British Raj, combined with flawed economic policies by a political leadership that should have known better. Those fundamental mistakes have hurt us badly and continue to do so. Without a recognition that we are on the wrong path, we cannot hope to make any changes.
India needs Gov 2.0 to create India 2.0 – because the first experiment has failed. We need to come together to define the country we want for our children – much like the Founding Fathers of the US did during the American Revolution. It is time we had an Indian Revolution.
That then is the great challenge to each of us – the generation born in independent India. We need to put nation before self, and change the construct of the government, and its relationship with the citizens. And in doing so, we need to create an environment and mindset of continuous thinking and improvement. This can be the greatest gift we can give to the next generation.
