The fact that the 21st century should belong to India is, as the Hon’ble PM said in his speech in May 2020, “not just our dream but our responsibility”. He went on to say that the only road to realise this dream was the Atma Nirbhar (Self Reliant) Bharat program. Several academicians and thinkers have reacted. The Hon’ble FM announced a financial impetus package in May based on this slogan. Swaminathan Aiyar in his article in one of the economic dailies raised thought provoking questions on the deeper meaning of the slogan questioning whether it meant “self-reliance” or “self-sufficiency” and wrote at length about the merits of either, or.
As a self-respecting and conscious nationalist, I too waited and watched to see what happens next. When would a slogan cease to be a buzz word and show results on the ground? As the weeks passed, it dawned on me that waiting for somebody else to do something was not the answer. The words ATMA NIRBHAR, had a much deeper meaning. And that is when I asked myself the million-dollar question – “what have I done or what can I do to be self-reliant?”. The famous JFK quote rang in my ears about asking myself what I had done rather than what the country could do for me. It was clear that somewhere in the meander of slogans, write-ups, policy announcements etcetera, ATMA NIRBHAR was about personal ACCOUNTABILTY.
Accountability is all about self-empowerment; the ability to feel powerful rather than powerless. True that there are many aspects that are not in individual control. But if individuals take that up as their respective responsibility, we will enjoy a collective result! A simple illustration!
If the pandemic has taught us anything it is this one aspect of taking the onus on ourselves to keep others and us safe and restrict the spread of the virus. Fear is the key! Many have ended up giving up simple luxuries purely for self-protection. Nothing wrong with it, except that self-protection is different from self-reliant. This manifests itself now – as we inch towards signs of normalcy (or new normalcy) some of us want to go back to where we were rather than move forward!
Some simple prescription of moving towards accountability in the new normal scenario that could be.
- Follow rules, it is the law!
A simple step of following rules and civic law consciously goes a long way in self-discipline. You are on a two-wheeler getting late to take the kids to school, so you cut through the one-way. You are in your enormous car and want to stop or park right in front of your destination gate – so block the traffic! Then there is the obvious – jumping the red lights. Why is it a compulsion to do that? People even blame it on the timer set expressing how dare the “authorities” have the stop sign for 120 seconds and then go for only 50? If I break a red light EVER, I am overcome with an extreme sense of guilt – so much so that on one occasion, I turned around and went back to the signal as a gesture of redemption! But then I am an extremist! Take the analogy of traffic laws to every other law that we seem to nonchalantly break, and one can imagine the quantum difference that can be made thru personal accountability!
- Save the environment!
I trek every now and then in the Sahyadri’s and the Himalayas. The rape of nature that humankind is committing is beyond comprehension and is perhaps a topic for a separate discussion. There are several things we can do by starting small. My personal accountability meter prompts me to take charge. On a trek in the Uttarkashi region of Garhwal, I braved to carry a separate bag with the objective of collecting plastic waste that I find on the way up. I was astonished and disappointed that after a 6-hour trek uphill, covering almost 12-14 kilometres, my bag was full of plastic bottles, chewing tobacco wrappers, plastic glasses, plates and spoons randomly discarded. What amazed me is the conscience of people to picnic up there in the hills and leave trash behind. How does this psychology work? I have been living in housing societies for over 25 years and some of my esteemed very upwardly mobile neighbours just do not get the idea of segregating waste! That is left to the menial workers – “that’s their job not mine”, they say! Stop! Please consider taking accountability for your actions rather than passing the buck on to somebody else!
- It is “my” organisation!
The last few months has made the environment extremely insecure. Even in an otherwise secure environment, people look to pass the blame, see how papers and issues can be moved to somebody else’s desk. It is time for us to look inward and focus on what we can take charge of. Good leaders and good organisations have led from the front by ensuring that leaders face larger cuts than their employees. There is a beautiful serenity prayer attributed to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr that says it all – “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”! It is critical to understand that leaders who walk the talk on accountability cast the right shadow for everyone to follow. You may not hold a leadership position in your organisation, but you can exemplify accountability. During the lockdown one of my mentees called me to confirm her conviction that she had done the right thing by applying for leave even though she was advised by some of her colleagues that “she could have gotten away with it!”. I see such instances as great ones of doing the right thing and taking personal accountability for one’s action. What a wonderful example of Atma nirbharta!!
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/accountability-atma-nirbhar-vikram-bapat
