Lessons from Harda Train Disaster

Harda train disaster

Few takeaways from the experience of Harda ADM(2010 Batch IAS) 

07-08-2015
06:58

Few take aways from our disaster management relief work:
1. Personal rapport with sarpanchs is more beneficial when mobilisation of volunteers is required. 
2. When departing for such operations, it is helpful to carry a. Powerbank b. Nokia 1100 or similar low battery consuming phone. C. Dry fruits, snacks, drinking water, torch, raincoat, umbrella. D. Extra pair of DRY socks. E. A polythene to protect your electronic gadgets. (I learnt D and E the hard way this time). 
3.  Don't use all officers/staff at a single  place/time. We need to plan for support teams as well replacement reserve.
4. Railways have institutionalised arrangements  (Medical relief van, breakdown van) which have all ready to carry support systems, including satellite phone.
5. We too should  think of having ready to carry shipping container, having all necessary facilities. It can be moved easily  using a trawler.
6. We should appoint a RESPONSIBLE and COMPETENT employee to report PRECISE figures of dead bodies recovered. 
7. Either collector or his authorised PRO only should talk to media to counter rumour mongering.
8. After  whole night rescue operation don't think of chance to get sleep next day even if rescue works  are over. We will have to be  prepared mentally and logistically  for high profile movements. 
9. At the end, the whole event may just turn out to be a major paperwork exercise. Numerous reports and lists. Faces becoming figures.

Communication
Bsnl failed . Idea was thankfully working. 
Portable battery operated loudspeakers were huge help in guiding crowd and ensuring safety of over enthusiastic  rescue workers.
Railways provide muscle but needs coordination by local administration. They are endowed with physical resources but are sometimes in need of coordinating hand

Documentation
However, there was no predocumented or preplanned strategy as such. All decisions happened on spot as and when required. The district disaster management plan helps mostly as a telephone directory.

UTTARA

Universal Transparent Tracking of Applications and Responses to Applications (UTTARA)

The quantum of transactions that happen in public offices far exceeds the capacity of these offices to handle using the pen and paper method that is in vogue as on date. Every public office needs to have a credible system of addressing the applications received and give a response under the extant rules, regulations and accepted way of life in the society. The citizen has a right to response, which forms part of the right to dignified life. Also, there is a need to augment the ability of offices and functionaries to properly chronicle the applications received, to track them effectively and to inform the citizens on the response of the public office in a transparent easy to access manner. The responses could be of four major types

1.       The matter was found to be genuine and has been completely redressed

2.       The matter was not found to be genuine and has been therefore rejected

3.       The matter was found to be genuine but would require time till <date> for appropriate closure

4.       The matter was found to be genuine but requires work from another office where it has been referred.

UTTARA - Universal Transparent Tracking of Applications and Responses to Applications tries to provide a solution in this regard. Finding that the Office of the Collector is often bogged down by applications which needs to be addressed by offices like Gram Panchayats, Tehsils and other Government Offices, UTTARA tries to open up the inward register of all Government offices in the district for common citizens to write into - real time.

 The digital identity of all Government offices is made available online where citizens can directly enter their applications. The citizens would get a text message on their mobiles about the registration of the application that they make in the kiosks online. They would also be able to track the responses to applications which are made by the public office. This would mean that there needs to be lesser amount of applications under RTI and so on, as the information would be automatically available to people enabling administration to concentrate on other important activities. Again, since the application entered at a particular level would also give a text message to the concerned officer – say a village officer or a gram panchayat secretary, he would need to access internet only when he has an issue to address and need not be synchronously available online.

The pen and paper method would not be completely done away with. The registration of application on the software would be a consequence of pen and paper not yielding the desired results in getting the application registered at the appropriate level. This would mean that there is a registration of the transaction between Government and Citizen as and when the citizen wants the same. Also the Government office would be able to migrate to the system completely according the manpower available to make all transactions online. Since the applications would be registered by the applicants themselves there is a lesser probability of malafide or bonafide mistake in marking that happens in higher offices. Making applications at higher level when the matter can be resolved at a lower level will only contribute delay for the application – as it would require some other human intervention for appropriate marking – thereby ensuring cooperation of individual citizens in making the applications at the appropriate level.  The applications and the responses would be properly chronicled and filed automatically saving on time for public offices .

When a citizen is not satisfied with the response, he can prefer an appeal with the reference which is readily available and since all pertaining record would be available on line the higher authority would be able to arrive at a decision expeditiously. Again, there would be no requirement for higher authorities to merely function as inward registers for lower authorities which will save on their time to decide on more pertinent issues.

For the lower functionaries, who do not have ministerial support, this system would help them to systematise their work. Also it would save them from motivated complaints which could be foisted against them. If some one makes a complaint that the concerned functionary is not properly registering applications, it is often one word against another. Also, this would clearly bring out the pendency at various levels and thereby help senior officers to plan the work distribution appropriately. They could reinforce a particular office which is found to have a lot of pendency.

Thus apart from the common man, the system would be of advantage for all stakeholders who do not have vested interests in lack of transparency and in the asymmetry in access to resources. Corruption, defined as the market mechanism for priority in access, should go down with more transparency and efficiency in public transactions. This could be part of the answer that we are seeking.

Attached is a presentation giving the technical details which could be suitably modulated.

Please see uttara.nic.in. Contact  for technical assistance

Yogesh Kumar Singh
Scientist-"C"
National Informatics Centre
M. P. State Centre,
Vindhyachal Bhavan, Bhopal
Phone - 0755 -2551265

on Scholastic Aptitude for CSE

Paper on Korean Study Tour

Human Resources Management in Government

-with Special Emphasis on Recruitment.

Outline of the Policy

Korea has an enviable tradition of merit based democracy which dates back to the Shilla dynasty of 57 BC – 935 AD. The merit based system consolidated itself during the Koryo and Choson dynasties[1]. To this date, it is the norm in the Korean society which values competitiveness. This is a life philosophy to them much in contrast to nations like India where we are yet to fully base ourselves on competition as the key in every aspect of life. Koreans take pride in the shift of their dominant paradigm from one of laid back accommodation to competitive realism. This philosophy finds expression in their economic thought, rural development process and is quite well weaved into the general fabric of the society. It, therefore, is of little surprise that the Human resource management in Government is again based on this core idea of competitiveness. This finds expression in the system of performance appraisal, promotions and of course, in recruitment.

Recruitment into the Korean Civil Service primarily is through competitive examination which results in selection to G9, G7 and G5 grades, with the rank of the civil servant progressively increasing from G9 to G1. Though the Vice Minister and Minister above the G1 grade are political posts, here again the present working of the system brings in persons who have earlier been in the senior levels of civil services (from G5 to G1). The key feature of the Civil Service Examination is that it is open to everyone irrespective of their educational qualification. Though most of the qualifiers are graduates or post graduates from the various Universities, the examination is by design inclusive and gives a channel for rapid social mobility based on one’s merit. This social mobility would ensure that the avenues for civil service was open for all strata of the society and was not restricted to elite who were able to garner a particular form or location of education. The fairness of the examination is also given high importance in the Society. This has been so from the years of the dynastic rule which is suggested by the final phase of the multi-phase examination being conducted in front of the ruler himself. There is great amount of recognition to the winner in the examination and the participation in the examination being so wide, there is great emphasis on the accessibility to higher social echelons through the examination.

In year 2010, there were discussions on setting some criteria as entrance qualification for the Civil Service Examination in Korea[2]. There was wide spread resentment to this move as evinced by the newspaper reports of those times available on the internet. The value of keeping the high social mobility opportunity tag on the examination was considered important and the basic examination system was left untouched. There is also a flip side to this widely participative examination in that it being a huge opportunity for the youth, it is a major contributor to the youth distress. Newspapers report as if the whole nation comes to a standstill in the high stakes examination which would not be the most ideal scenario for an economy where other opportunities are available in the form of global firms offering private jobs. Here again, the general level of allegiance of Koreans to their firms is very high in that they do not flip their jobs as frequently as in other countries. For a nation which attaches high importance for the availability of highly skilled manpower to match the requirement of its export oriented industrialization, engaging the youth in a dream of social mobility may also be seen as a deliberate choice. By having an open examination, it incentivizes early specialization of the workforce for those who need to pick up a job.

Policy Alternative

The recent policy shift in this realm is the introduction of the Civil Service Commission as an independent body with a mandate on comprehensive personnel management in Korea in the year 1999. Earlier this was one of the functions of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs. Now, with an independent Commission organized as a statutory body, the Commission is bringing about changes in all spheres related to Public Service Management with special focus on the competitiveness of the new age civil service. The crisis of 1997 in Korea is seen as a trigger for this radical change. This also brings about changes in the civil service examination pattern being based on skills and performance based in comparison the one being based on education which usually translated as rote memorization. Korea, which had tasted success with its State led development Policy, the opening up of the Civil Services to the concept of New Public Management was a novel idea though it might have been too dated in comparison to other OECD countries. The new paradigm was deemed necessary to make the public services more accountable/responsive and merit-based/competitive. This included the Open Employment System in which senior echelons of civil services in Grade 1 to Grade 3 were opened up to lateral entry from the business world. This would be carefully managed by the Civil Services Commission to obviate chances of Public-Private collusion.

Traditionally, the Korean Civil Service Examination, Kwa-go involved written test on English and major subject areas followed by an interview which had relatively less weightage in the process. This is being radically overhauled in that internationally reputed tests like TOEFL, TOEIC, TEPS[3] are being used to measure English proficiency (to ensure competitiveness in a global world) followed by a standardized PSAT (Public Service Aptitude Test) and an interview (blind). The PSAT would have two sections – measuring intelligence and knowledge broadly. Included under the Intelligence head is the comprehension ability, Mathematical and logical reasoning, history et al. In Knowledge side, emphasis is on Law, Economics, Public Affairs and research methodology. The emphasis is on skill and competency than scholastic attainment, which distinguishes itself from the present system in India where there is still a huge premium for rote memorization and coached answer writing. The interview is conducted in a blind fashion in that there is a situation that is given and the background of the candidate is not disclosed to the evaluators helping them to avoid bias and base themselves on the creative solution seeking ability of the candidate in a simulated setting.

Policy alternative in Indian Scenario

India has a constitutionally mandated Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) which conducts the recruitment process into the Civil Services for the nation. Though a Civil Service Commission which has mandate to look into the entire management of the personnel in Government is not available and would be difficult to set in given the federal structure that exists in India, the recruitment mandate of the Korean Civil Service Commission is quite similar to the UPSC. The constitutional status of UPSC is above that of the statutory entity in Korea. The change that has been recently moved in Korea in view of reorienting its civil service in the global competitive scenario, however, holds a policy alternative for India which needs to be looked into detail.

Though there have been incremental changes in the Civil Service recruitment system of India, the base model established to recruit Civil Servants during British times remains unchanged to a great extent in that we still value scholastic achievement in the recruitment process. This system was well suited in the Victorian era where there was only the limited elite who had the leisure and inclination to man the higher civil services on behalf of the British masters. However, the modern democratic and competitive scenario is quite different. The Indian Civil Service Examination is arguably, the toughest examination to crack. This resulted in the best being selected into it from the aristocracy in the pre – Independence era and the logic held even in pre liberalization era where the opportunities in the private sector was low. Even during this phase, a concern on the general social strata of candidates being selected into the Civil Service was present. With a liberalized economy and a competitive environment, if a person was available to compete in a leviathan examination at the age of 21, he or she was probably not the best of the lot who would find opportunities elsewhere. Again, by emphasizing on scholastic achievement rather than aptitude, premium was on time available at the age of 21, which was the primary scarce commodity for those who are the most brilliant and did not have the financial and social backing to take a break, risking their fledgling careers.

Scholastic achievement based examination for Civil Services Examination has the following negative effects as observed - 1. Scholastic achievement gives an edge to those who devote more time and energy even with lesser scholastic aptitude. Time and energy being asked for at the age of 21 gives an edge to those who have no opportunity cost for that. This eliminates the best from the race.                     2. Scholastic achievement gives an edge to rote memorization which is not a skill with great dividends in the Civil Service career. If anything, analysis is more important (if not synthesis). This is given lower preference in an examination where cramming facts gives an edge 3. Scholastic achievement gives a huge advantage to the “funnels” of processing information and synthesizing answers – i.e. the coaching institutes. This means the less financially well off are successfully avoided 4. Scholastic aptitude would have been an asset in keeping a person current with the latest developments during the Civil Services career and would help in learning new frontiers which would keep the Civil Services current and competitive – an imperative in a competitive global environment 5. In an effort to even out the advantage in one discipline due to scholastic achievement, many subjects are offered which leads to the problem of comparing apples and oranges when it comes to final result. As such, comparing two individuals on the basis of a single test is difficult and UPSC achieves the impossible of comparing Pali literature and Mathematics – not withstanding what use it might be in the career of a Civil Servant. 6. Making the examination tough and dicey dissuades the best from attempting it with such an opportunity cost. Those who succeed would have invested heavily in time, energy and money would have an inclination to harvest it as early as possible by endorsing illegitimate “funnels”, putting a price tag on in the marriage market if not indulging in down-right corruption from the earliest opportunity. 7. The examination keeps the youth of many thousands if not lakhs hooked on to the Civil Services dream ruining their alternate careers – perhaps leading to a lot of unavoidable awe about and grudge against those successful.

There are some counter arguments[4] which essentially compare the CAT scores with Civil Services result and compare the representation of socially disadvantaged sections in the list of successful candidates. This question might be addressed by comparing the social stature of the successful candidates not at the entry level of the examination, but at an earlier level – say intermediary. Again, the absence of rural representation in CAT success is not a function of it being an aptitude test, but the opportunity cost of completing two years of management studies at a critical juncture of the careers of those have got the base qualification. This is perhaps the reason why there is no such urban bias is found in engineering colleges which primarily have an aptitude based entrance examination. On the issue of the scholastic aptitude examination favouring engineers and science graduates, there is a clear distinction between quantitative or mathematical aptitude and scholastic aptitude. The examination could be offered in multiple languages to neutralize the language bias. As in Korean system, the aptitude test could measure the scholastic aptitude in subjects which are most critical for post selection use in Civil Service Examination. Another argument is that the examination ensures that hard working and dedicated people get into the service when it is based on scholastic achievement. This argument is double edged, as scholastic achievement is no guarantee for continued dedication after the selection. If anything, the criticism on the present Civil Servants is that they cease to learn once inside the Service.

However, in the recent years when the UPSC took steps to move towards a more aptitude based pattern, there was stiff resistance in the political context. The move was seen as favouring English speaking elite. Korea’s developmental experience with the Civil Service Examination could be a pointer for the necessary reorientation in this regard. There would be a need to 1. Bring out the facts and logic which back the decision more clearly so that there is no misunderstanding regarding the contents and reasons of the change that is being attempted 2. Need to do reassessment to ensure that the scholastic aptitude test is not biased in favour of English speaking elite or any elite for that matter. This could be ensured by having the examination in all languages – same question being asked in all languages.

Such a change would improve the opportunity of the very best to appear in the examination and take an opportunity of serving the nation without much of an opportunity cost. Again, even with the limited move towards scholastic aptitude it has been noticed that the same candidates (who had earlier been selected into other services than IAS, IFS etc.) get selected in the examination. Though this is indicative of the integrity of the selection process, this could be prevented by capping the number of attempts. Life needs to move on. Here again, Korean experiment of allowing OES (Open Employment System) which provides lateral entry at higher levels would keep the opportunity alive for those who succeed elsewhere apart from keeping the Service more nimble. A freer exchange between sectors would certainly add value to the functioning of the process of governance where there would be a realization of politics and finance as two arms of the same supreme sovereign trying to achieve results for itself. However, this move needs to be carefully guarded against the possibility of private sector collusion, especially in the present stage of Indian Polity where we are way behind nations like Korea in being favourably indexed on the aspect of corruption.

The new globalised world requires us to seriously rethink the different aspects of Civil Services to ensure that it remains competitive and vibrant. Recruitment is the earliest intervention in the life cycle, but certainly not the only one. The idea of competitiveness needs to be pushed forward, with due concern over arbitrariness and oversight spoiling the game. Capability to identify the right measure and ability to do the measurements rightly would hold the key behind suitably tailoring the services to the new age. The Gandhian idea of opening the windows to the world while refusing to be swept of the feet is crucial here.

---

[1] Kwago: The Civil Services Examination Hur Joon, Sogang University

[2] South Korea: Civil Services Exam Removed, Years of Studies wasted? Lee Yoo Eun on www.globalvoicesonline.org

[3] Human Resource Management Reform in the Korean Civil Service Pan S. Kim, Yonsei University

[4] Acknowledging the contribution of Mr. KG Jagdeesha IAS in a personal interview.

Samvad

Paper on Innovation in Public Service Delivery - SAMVAD

The objective of this document is to chronicle the experiences that one came across in implementing an effort in decentralising decision making as District Collector. 

Ensuring transparency and accountability at the grassroots level, ensuring participative decision making, moving on from participation to leadership and ownership are cliches we are at best able to achieve in controlled laboratories with scaling at the level of a district being difficult. SAMVAD is an attempt to ‘reinvent’ this wheel.

‘SAMVAD’ in hindi means a conversation. Here it stands to mean a conversation with the supreme sovereign (the People) with the added implication that it is done in a pre arranged and active manner. SAMVAD expands as Systematic and Active Meetings in Villages to Aid Development. Conversation cannot be a one-off or one sided measure by definition. SAMVAD is designed as a continuous conversation with the People through the mode of Gram Sabhas/ Mohalla Sabhas on a pre determined day of the month (NOT DATE).

 The programme is conceptualised as  one till eternity. The day of the month on which  gram sabha for all the villages in a sector of the district is  pre-determined by the District Planning Committee. This determination of the day of the month for all the villages in a particular sector means that there is no need for a separate determination and communication of the day of the Gram Sabha. Since whole of a sector goes into the Gram Sabha on the same day, the sector tour programme of the district and block level officers are so organized to coincide with the day of the Gram Sabha. Even if the Gram Sabha organized on a particular day is of scanty attendance, the regularity in the day of organizing the same means that the power of routine is made use of in communicating to the people about the next date.

 The present Panchayats Act in Madhya Pradesh gives the power of deciding the date of the Gram Sabha to the Sarpanch; and in extra ordinary circumstances, the District Collector can force a Gram Sabha to be conducted. Systematising the conduct of Gram Sabha does not take away this power. However, it does leave one key in the hands of time.

‘SAMVAD’ is also designed to be ‘Active’ in that the participants have an active role to play in deciding the agenda and conduct of the meeting. Though this is legitimately expected of any Gram Sabha, and nowhere it would ever have been visualized that the Sabhas would be passive, the added declaration of the components of SAMVAD seeks to enthuse the people into a more active role. The components of SAMVAD are HITAM, PRAGATI, PRAHARI and YUVA – all (pretty) names in the hope that they can convey the concept without having to go through the rigour of repetition once the concept is made clear.

HITAM – It stands for Hitgrahi Tracking and Monitoring which is principally the tracking of the implementation of the individual beneficiary schemes. Here a register is maintained in each Gram Panchayat where the whole population is examined for possible coverage in the different schemes. The register is quite like the attendance register in schools with the name of citizens in place of that of the students, the name of schemes in place of dates and the marking of  (tick )  to mean the person is eligible, (wrong )   for person being not eligible and  (circled tick )  for person being eligible and covered. The Gram Panchayat Secretary is the nodal for this register whereby his target is to get all eligibilities examined and covered. In case of schemes where immediate coverage is not possible, prioritization is done with the help of the Gram Sabha. The advantage of this register is that it gives a ready record for how well the Secretary has performed. The philosophical plank for aggressively processing the eligibility of all for every scheme lies in that in a nation where right to equality is professed, no scheme can be run without having given full information about the same to all citizens. IEC is deemed to be effective only when the eligible makes a proper application for the scheme for which there is eligibility.

PRAGATI – It stands for Project Review, Analysis, Guidance and Tracking Inititiative. The tech savvy portion of this has been developed with the help of NIC, Bhopal State office which gives geo-tagging based information on the construction works. The effort is being made to improve the quality of monitoring by concentrating on the means and regularity of monitoring by block level functionaries. Here again, project selection and prioritization is done under the guidance of the Gram Sabha whereby the open house is used to prioritise works to be taken up in future. Social audit of works is done in the Gram Sabha.

Administratively, even the most minor fault, if overlooked would pin the responsibility on the senior officer who is doing the review. However, in a political entity of a Gram Sabha, such decisions can be made in a transparent manner. Every member of the Gram Sabha is there for himself and hence there is lesser chance for the problem of misrepresentation – an act on which the public representatives thrive if they are corrupt. Misrepresentation or the doubt if there is misrepresentation is the key point of conflict between well meaning officers and public representatives. In a setting of a Gram Sabha, this is avoided to a great extent.

PRAHARI- It stands for Participatory Review Aimed at Holistic Assessment of Regularity. Here, the village and sector level functionaries present their work before the Gram Sabha and seek their cooperation in implementation. There is a discussion, debate and voting on how well the village level functionary is performing. There is a show of hands on what is the general opinion on the person concerned. Even the determination (recommendation) of punishment to be given is done by the assembly of people. This helps to send a message that the only way to avoid punishment is to be able to defend one’s work in an open forum. Complaints against the functionary are listened to openly. Commendation of work is also done openly. Minutes are recorded so that the same will be of reference in decision making process in the next month on the same day when the Gram Sabha will be again held.

YUVA- It stands for Yuva United for Value Addition. The opposite of corruption, for some, could be Anti-corruption. If corruption is an erosion in values, Value Addition to society and self could be deemed as a more positive response to corruption - moving ahead from ‘Anti-Corruption’ which at times gives an impression of status quo being a preferred state of affairs. YUVA is an attempt to organize youth (defined as any one willing to add value to oneself and to the society) in an attempt to add value to the society and the individuals concerned. This is intended to provide a platform for social mobilization on issues including, but not restricted to de-addiction, sanitation, promotion of merit and so on. Www.yuvasingrauli.org could be seen for some details on the same.

Apart from the rural Gram Sabhas, there is an urban counterpart of the Mohalla Sabhas which are sought to be organized – at least once in a month on the appointed weekly day of the month in every ward. The time table is so fixed that the exercise is restricted to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on the first four weeks of any month. On every third Thursday, there is an open house which provides course correction inputs to the whole effort.

There is no grand success that has come out of the effort to the effect that the whole of the population suddenly rose up to the matter and started exercising their political right in an erudite and transparent manner. The delivery of Public Services has not been impacted positively to the level of improvement being un-missable. The Gram Sabhas and Mohalla Sabhas have not even been able to achieve quorum even in the ones where the Divisional Commissioner attended the same. The level of awareness in the population on the basic issue – the time, date and place of the meeting is at best insufficient if not scarce.  There is no credible study available to suggest that there is any improvement in the general scheme of things. Anecdotes,especially that has come to notice of the writer, cannot be excused from the allegation of being intentional encomiums with ulterior motives.

However, there is an amount of satisfaction with the mode of functioning over the last 8 months – four months of which were handicapped (from this perspective) by a Model Code of Conduct imposed for the local elections. The initial elating experience in another district of Datia has no news to offer.  Here again, one could perceive that things were positively different when the process of conversation was attempted to be systematized. A separate anecdote is attached on that experience.

It is not uncommon to find discussions in Public Policy in bureaucratic circles go into the mode of Us Vs Them in relation to government and market. In this struggle, then there is a solution attempted in one hand trying to correct the other. It is indeed essential to bring this interplay of market and government into one of salubrious symphony for the supreme sovereign. A perspective of these being two of the arms of the People, one with primary investment of economic capital and the other one with primary investment of political capital could bring in better results and reconciliation. (Could a third arm be spiritual?) Alongside, there is also a need to realize that the political arm needs to have a relook at the instruments of execution available with it. Apart from the quinquennial  elections, (mis)representative dharnas and the arm-chair theorization watching the prime time show, there is a requirement for more instruments to keep this arm more nimble and efficient, just as new instruments are available in the financial world which helps in harnessing the power of human imagination and participation.

Note: Value Addition to this copyleft article is managed on dmnstratvbrag.blogspot.in

Advaitanomics

Advaitanomics!

Logic is God; at least, logic is good!


Advaita is succinctly explained by 'ekam evam advitiyam brahmam'. The one, which has no second one, that is brahmam'. That would mean that there is no second one in the universe, which is to say that the whole of the universe is one - a clarion call for mutual concern, cooperation and coordination. Not just among individuals of a nation or not just among the citizens of all nations; but even with all other entities in the environment – vasudaiva kudumbakam!

Cicero's version on the six mistakes of man includes the delusion that one's victory is in the other being vanquished. This is, perhaps, a re- statement of the concept of advaita in the limited context of a human society. In game theory, prisoner's dilemma brings out how the optimal solution is when there is mutual cooperation. Be it game theory or the latest management thought on leadership consisting of self awareness, empathy and systems thinking, it resonates the idea of advaita. Believers take it to be a fact. Non believers could also be benefited from an understanding of the result of application of advaita philosophy – that of an optimal solution arriving from mutually beneficial coexistence. 

Does this only mean altruism or charity by the winners? Perhaps not. Though it certainly entails altruism for winners, it perhaps makes a case for reciprocal altruism - as the “so called” loser also needs to practice respect for the process and the result; and not exploit the winner’s charitable intentions. Reciprocal altruism would mean that one would be altruistic to begin with, but would change the strategy to ensure that he is not at receiving end of a win-lose (non)equilibrium.

Advaita applied to economics and politics also gives us quite interesting results. It could be easily passed off as Prisoner's dilemma in game theory. For those who are not able to get over the hangover of it being something related to religion, this might be blasphemous. Advaita would not be contained in a mere religious packaging; the beneficial idea finds expression in almost all religions and in the innocent smile of a baby – a copy-left idea! Attributing advaita to be part of one particular religion would be impossible by definition as advaita itself would stand to mean that no two religions are separate – a non duality of religions! 

A constant debate in political economy is that of socialism and capitalism. The philosophies have been seen to be so divergent that wars have been fought and had led to nations being "cold" to each other for long. An advaitic thought would be that these are two strategies which make some fundamental assumptions about human nature. One would succeed if humans are selfless and the other would succeed if humans are self minded (not selfish). In both, the limiting factors of environment or ego (both terms used without negative connotations) would come into play if one does not appreciate the concept of advaita, accommodating everything as one. Even in the so called capitalist nations, it is found that some externalities (not just those related to environment) are such that there is State intervention, be it in regulation or even direct provision of services as in Health. Politics and Economics could be seen as two arms of mankind which it uses to achieve its goals. A ‘namaste’ would be the appreciation of this holistic picture - an advaidic symbolism that right and left coexist to achieve completeness.

 This is also reason why we need to think of more political instruments as we do about economic instruments to better our institutionalized capacity to deliver a better life. It is in this context that Advaitanomics is being advocated. Advaitanomics would only be plainly an application of Advaita to every-day life. There would be no complaint if it is called Advaitics of Advaitology. Advaita would not complain about semantics used for catching attention and pehaps giving wings to imagination.

It is easy to see the logic of advaita in altruism. It would be more interesting to discuss the presence of advaita in the capitalistic ethos of survival of the best. On the face of it a competitive environment which leaves the loser behind is antithetical to the "softish" thought of advaita. To clarify that it is not such a ‘softie’, it can be argued that advaita applies to the “vanquished” also. When someone better is winning in a stiff competition, after contributing to the quality of the competition and competitive process, a believer in advaita should not have problem in taking the role of the vanquished – as there is no difference between the victorious and the vanquished. What matters is the quality contributed to the process. Recent thought on motivation - of success and failure as incidents which have the potential of taking your attention from work at hand is an expression of this non duality. 

Is advaita a Hindu thought? This is a dangerous question as it is not clear if one is taking Hindu to be a religion, a way of life or a geographic location. To my mind, to answer in the affirmative for any of the option is not free from danger. Quite evidently defining Hindu as a religion and deeming Advaita as a Hindu thought would be antithetical to the very concept of advaita as it preaches non duality. Same with geographic identity or identification with a nation State. It is an idea and it has no copy right. It is like game theory which does not have a direct identification to an individual to which the right to the idea belongs. An apple still falls on to the earth without too much of gratitude to Newton! 

If Hindu is defined as a way of life, which recognises Advaita as an idea of believing in holistic inclusion in knowing the Universe (or 'Hey I'm Not Different from yoU') it would be more appropriate. The moment one believes Hindu to be a religion which can be lost by conversion, advaita ceases to be a Hindu thought. Not that the idea of Advaita would lose anything in this. What's in a name?

Elements of advaita can be seen in all that has relatively permanent success in the world. A feeling of non duality in a football team leads it to victory (or at least optimal performance). Expanding the vision to all the participants in the game helps us to play in a manner in which the spirit of the game of football is not lost in the mad rush to win a game. No ear biting in advaita! Though not a proselytizing religion, the logic of advaita would intrinsically seek to bring more individuals into a position where they are able to appreciate it. It would also justify a communicative process to clarify whenever a “win-lose” failure is celebrated as success by ‘divergent’ individuals!

Applying advaita to economics helps one to immediately appreciate the need for Green Growth - not just in having technologies of recycling waste but in reducing wasteful consumption - as in a Hindu way of life. There would be more clarity of purpose for all concerned, the broader the concept of advaita that one is able to bring into one’s thought. Yogis certainly achieve personal success by this process; but they, perhaps, make the mistake of being far too ahead of the curves for the multitudes, leaving them sufficient confusion to deal with on semantics, ending in chest thumping and breast beating win-lose bunkum on advaita (which is by definition a win-win strategy). Perhaps I should write a book on advaitanomics. Articulated better, a book should be written on advaitanomics - by me or you. After all, 'aham brahmasmi' or 'tat tvam asi'! 

Note: Value addition to this copyleft article is managed on dmnstratvbrag.blogspot.in

Pahadi driving and game theory

Leadership requires systems thinking – and Academy’s way of teaching this is sending us away on treks where we can observe how the ‘pahadi’ drivers manage the swirls of the Himalayas. Prisoner’s dilemma is too difficult to appreciate in gyanshila, but this brings itself to us in the manner drivers anticipate the movement of other vehicles on the route – how they stop in advance where they could have gone ahead to actually end up in a lockjam; how they let smaller vehicles overtake at the earliest opportunity without waiting for their impatient horn!  (not having them honking when it would not be possible to give way without risk to all around). The valleys of Himalayas has incorporated this system awareness in them where they are driving not just their vehicle but that of others too; the whole gamut of vehicles  behaving in a mutually beneficial manner.

There again, vehicles, when their registration starts with DL or HR does not seem to understand this win-win logic.  The ‘pahadi’ way of driving must be a precondition to drive in the pahad. Not just that the hills cannot take any more of the vehicles from the plains without going into traffic jam till perpetuity; the manner of the ‘plain’ driving is dangerous in the short and long run. In the short run, they do not understand why the vehicles patiently wait behind each other even when the other lane is free. They exacerbate the jam by being on the wrong side. After the short term casualty of a traffic jam, there are at least two deleterious effect to this non-systemic, non empathic action of the ‘plain’ person. One is that the ‘pahadi’ driver also starts feeling the road rage and moves away from his win-win solution and tries to emulate the ‘loser’. Second is the deleterious effect on the ‘plain’ driver. Some well meaning ‘pahadi’ driver would accommodate this vehicle on the wrong side which might give him the impression that he is indeed having a successful tactic. He would not stay long enough in the hills to understand the folly behind his ‘losing strategy’. Reason why, the vehicles and drivers of the plains should not be allowed on to the hills before they agree to read this piece. Since that would be too megalomaniac on my side, I suggest they should be asked to take public transport or more importantly local transport on the hills. This would augment the livelihood of those here and also keep the hills a more sane experience for the tourists as well.

Academy: LBSNAA, Mussoorrie

pahadi     : People living in the hilly areas. They are much higher on EQ in comparison to those from the plains.