How to contribute to nation building in our own quiet way

Every time we excel in our work, every time we perform our work diligently, no matter how menial, we contribute to nation building.

So the vigilant soldier on the border and the good doctor in our neighborhood, the teacher who inspires, the journalist who uncovers the truth and the shoemaker who makes us smile with his good work, all contribute to nation building.

The reverse is also true: when those in power, such as politicians and bureaucrats, fail in their duties and responsibilities in nation-building, they are actually dishonest. Therefore, when our politicians and bureaucrats, despite their enormous power, fail to solve the fundamental problems of health, education, municipal administration and public transportation, they are betraying the nation.

We Indians have some of the best brains in the world and that is why our scientists and software engineers, doctors, nurses, academicians and students are sought after in developed countries.

Born to Indian immigrant parents, Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Similarly, Kamala Harris may well become the first female President of the United States. There are countless other examples in the Indian diaspora where ethnic Indians are leading leading institutions and multinationals and where Indian engineers have made breakthroughs in space exploration and computing.

Their adopted countries have been able to offer them a society based on merit, a system of law and order that does not spare the rich and powerful, decent public infrastructure, good public transport, health, hygiene and sanitation services.

Take the example of the huge losses suffered by the nation over the decades because our politicians and bureaucrats failed to provide public transport in our growing cities. Until the 1970s, Pune was known as the bicycle capital of India, as thousands of people – children and adults, men and women – used to cycle to school, college and office.

Over the next two decades, the city’s economy grew and Pune became a major hub for IT exports, manufacturing, education and services. People now needed to travel to work and school faster, and so the district headquarters became the “two-wheeler capital of India”, with the largest number of motorised two-wheelers of any Indian city.

Our urban planners, politicians and bureaucrats in the state and national governments have failed miserably to plan for the future needs of Pune by putting in place a robust multi-modal mass transport system. The nation could not afford a metro system in the previous decades and civic activists like the late Sujit Patwardhan, Chandmal Parmar (who lost his daughter in a road accident) and Major General SCN Jatar (Nagrik Chetna Manch) were clamoring for an expansion of Pune’s bus fleet.

In 2004, Sujit invited Enriqué Peñelosa, former mayor of Bogota and pioneer of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), to speak at the Pune Traffic and Transport Forum (PTTF). And so, bowing to public pressure, India’s first BRTS was launched in Pune in 2006. Unfortunately, BRTS was poorly implemented and all the efforts and investments were undone when politicians latched onto their new fad.

Politicians like Sharad Pawar and Suresh Kalmadi could have made BRTS a success, but they were busy pursuing big political dreams at the national level.

Today, traffic problems in Pune have worsened as an average middle-class family with a working couple and a college-going child needs at least three vehicles: two scooters/motorcycles and a car or two cars and a two-wheeler. As a result, there is heavy congestion on the roads, especially during peak hours, aggravated by the construction of metro lines at major junctions like Pune University Chowk.

Most offices are open from 9am to 5pm or 10am to 6pm and as employees rush to maintain their work time discipline, they spend at least an extra hour in traffic jams. Not only is there a colossal waste of petrol and diesel as fuel-guzzling vehicles get stuck in daily traffic jams, but there is also a loss in national productivity due to the stress, frustration and pollution that commuters experience due to traffic jams.

This is the case in all major cities in India. One must therefore consider the colossal losses in terms of wasted fuel, lost working hours and the negative impact of vehicular pollution and daily stress due to traffic jams.

What is the solution?

Some organizations have smartly changed their office hours to accommodate off-peak hours. Remote working during the Covid pandemic of 2020-22 brought a huge relief as people did not need to travel to work. Today, our organizations need to design a combination of remote working and office presence as a routine. This is already happening in the IT sector without any loss in productivity.

Most importantly, employee productivity should not be measured by their presence in the office from 9 to 5, but rather by metrics such as outputs achieved and tasks completed. Also, employees should be given the flexibility to come to work for the full day or half day on Sundays and other holidays when traffic is extremely light on the roads.

A number of organizations are already implementing many of these innovations and a study will most likely show that employee engagement and workplace happiness index are higher in these organizations than in those that insist on a pre-Covid work ethic.

For our own sake, wherever and whenever possible, we should walk, cycle and use the stairs on at least a few floors, rather than waiting for the elevator.

Try some of these suggestions and do your part in nation building.

The author is a journalist and works for a policy research think tank. He tweets at @abhay_vaidya