‘Achche Din Aane Waale Hain’ said Dr Manmohan Singh on January 8, 2014 while addressing a gathering of non-resident Indians in Delhi. Actually he said it in English - "Yes we are facing bad days now but the good days will be coming in soon”. Mr. Narendra Modi, while speaking to the same audience next day, used the Hindi version. At that time even he did not know that this slogan is going to impact the outcome of coming parliamentary election in a big way and raise the hopes and aspirations of 125 crore Indians. He could not foresee that the same slogan would become the biggest handle to run him down and will be used derisively against him by his opponents and critics.
Achche Din – the eternal hope means to anticipate a future with a confident expectation of its fulfilment. But hope alone cannot make this anticipated future possible. Narendra Modi appeared to be a Messiah who would make this future possible. We all need to contribute to make this possible. Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s words seem prophetic when he said, “one man alone cannot bring this change”.
I am sure people realize the enormity of the task at hand. I can feel what must be going through the mind of Mr. Modi when in spite of working so hard, he has to face this criticism. I became Director of a management institute at around the same time Mr. Modi took over the rein of the country. The Institute was in doldrums, even the trustees of the Institute would not recommend this place to their friends for higher studies. After working on the infrastructure, the changes in the faculty, training of the faculty, changing the mindset of students who would not care less – I realize that it will take another 3-4 years for actual outcomes to show a significant difference and influence the ranking of the institution. And Mr. Modi is running a country with problems inherited since last 1000 years, let alone 68 years of mostly Congress government!!
We know that indifference and corruption is ruling the roost in our country. Indifference is destroying government offices and government supported infrastructure. Indian business is mired in mediocrity. Indifference is sucking away corporate profits. When we look within, we find that a set of habits and practices cultivated over a period of time has shaped the performance of individuals and organizations in independent India. We find that procedures and systems have developed in a way to sustain inefficiency and a casual way of looking at things. The public behavior of Indian people in modern India gives rise to a question - Do we have any system or any concept of public and community living?
How long can Indian people tolerate this terrible indifference? How long will it take for Indian companies to be elbowed out altogether by multinationals who use management principles which we have not yet even begun to grasp? How long will it take for all our systems to collapse?
What can India do to change the perception that 'Indians just don't care'?
