There’s little doubt that politics in the country has touched a new low, a fact that has been underlined by no less than the Prime Minister recently. Factors like caste, creed, religion and vote banks seem to govern every aspect of our life. Even routine human problems get a political colour. Whether it’s the water crisis in Delhi, rice shortage in Andhra or the power rate in Haryana, it’s always the parties fighting with each other, ignoring the public interest.

And when it comes to electing leaders who will govern the country, again merit is given the least priority. A president is chosen not on his scientific talent, but because he belongs to the minority community. A Muslim leader is furious because he has lost out his case in the process.

Where’s the political decency that’s needed for the growth of a healthy democracy? For years, several generations of children have been taught that India is a developing nation. For how many generations will this continue? When will we actually become 'developed'? The country could be lagging behind in many fields due to the absence of the right people in the right post, but the parties are busy in petty politicking for nefarious reasons.

Why can’t performance-oriented people be chosen for crucial posts? Perhaps one should demand that merit alone should count and Non-Performing Assets (NPA) are banished from politics too along with other sectors like banking or economy.
The aversion to competent people, with no axe to grind, resulted in India losing Nobel laureates like Hargobind Khurana to the West. We need not always wait for others to tell us who’s the competent person for a job. It’s entirely a false notion that only those involved in politics for long can do justice to the welfare of the nation and intellectual capability does not count at all. For instance, a Karan Singh or L. M. Singhvi may be able to lend more dignity to the office they hold than any fading politician.

Sunil Dang
Editor-in-Chief