Silly Point

                                       All for a samosa!

M.K.Kaw

                    The Initiatives for Change is the modern name for the erstwhile MRA and the Centre for Governance is its child. On 13^th December, 2013 this child celebrates its tenth birthday. The full name of this prodigy is Initiatives for Change Centre for Governance. Its pet name is ICCfG.

                    The Centre was created in December 2003 due to the realisation that governance or the lack of it was at the heart of the malady which afflicted the country. The Centre has started a Journal, launched a website, held lectures and panel discussions and launched training programmes.

                    The Initiatives for Change is based on the premise that we have to be the change that we wish to bring about in the world. Obviously, the Centre for Governance also sends out the message that if we want to have a regime of ethical governance in this country, we have to be ethical in our thinking and behaviour. It is not surprising that its flagship programme is training in ethical governance.

                    The unique selling point of the ICCfG is the training infrastructure created by the IoC at Panchgani, Maharashtra. Trainees speak of the unique ambience of the table-land with its lush greenery, fresh clean air and ashram-like atmosphere. When I visited Asia Plateau for the first time, I was moved to pen the following tribute to Panchgani:

                              Is Panchgani a plateau in outer space

Where the sun paints everything gold

                    And the moon silver

                              And the stars hang like improbable oversized props

                              Arranged by an amateur event management group?

                              Or is Panchgani a poetic fancy

                              Where you let your hair down

                              Take off the clothes of false ego and hypocrisy

                              And emerge in your nude primordial selves?

                              Or is Panchgani a thoughtless state

                              Where mind ceases to function

                              Where you do all that you wanted to do but dared not

                              For fear that others might laugh,

                              Like admit that negative feelings were masks

                              Put on so no one could place you

                              In this arena of hate?

                              Or is Panchgani an utter silence and aloneness

                              Where you are forced to confront yourself

                              The hidden self you have tried to flee from all these years

                              And admit in the innermost depths of your soul

                              That compassion is not weakness

                              Ideals not an idle chatter

                              And goodness not a hackneyed religious phrase

                              Meaningless in everyday life?

                              Where tears are permissible

                              Where you can hold your enemy in tight embrace

                              And weep together.

                                             (Published in The Journal of Governance, July 2012)

The history of IoC is full of moving episodes of reconciliation between erstwhile enemies. During the Dialogue on Democracy held in January 2012, I was witness to a drama in real life. We had a black youth from South Africa and a white middle aged lady from the same country. During their interaction in the plenary session held in the stately auditorium, they revealed a harrowing tale of violence.

The youth confessed to having murdered the lady’s young daughter during the riots. The lady absorbed the shock of this revelation and gracefully forgave the black assassin. They embraced each other and wept together.

         There were tears in every eye when the drama unfolded on the stage and we all felt a catharsis that washed away many layers of negativity from our hearts.

         The IoC faculty is an inspiring lot. The resident Trustee who is the director of the complex   is Dr. Ravindra Rao, who gave up a roaring practice as a dentist in Bengaluru when the call came. Each member of the faculty has a story to tell, of how he or she changed from within and decided to turn a new leaf in their life, confessed to their sins and peccadillos and thus were cleansed of their hidden feelings of guilt and shame. This enabled them to transcend their petty egos and selfishnesses and devote their life to service of the country.

                          Today, training appears to be the most potent contribution that the Centre for Governance is making in the building of this nation. The crown jewel of all its programmes is the one designed for serving IAS officers deputed officially by the Department of Personnel, Government of India.

                 It is called the programme on “Ethics in Public Governance”. There are two or three such programmes every year, each catering to 25 to 35 IAS officers. The programme lasts for five days, Monday to Friday. The basic idea is to provide a unique opportunity to the officers and their spouses to spend a few days of reflection and dialogue in the serene and beautiful ambience of Asia Plateau. It is an occasion to reflect on the current state of the nation, to understand the root causes, listen to inner guidance and get inspired by the examples of other officers. Participants are expected to go back from the programme with a renewed sense of peace, power and possibility and devise practical ways to deploy these in the service of India and its people.

                 Arun Wakhlu of Pragati Leadership Institute, Pune who devised the programme initially had novel ways of conveying the message. I had the good fortune of taking part in a morning walk along with the participants. The instructions were to walk slowly and alone, savouring each element of nature, the cool breeze, the mild sunlight, the aroma of flowers, the sounds of birds. If we felt like it, we could stop by a tree and embrace it and close our eyes and speak soundlessly to it. Perfect silence was to be observed. We who tend to look at a morning walk as an unpleasant duty cast by a cardiologist and try to complete it as fast as possible with all our senses closed, found this slow measured sojourn with all senses agog to be an unforgettable experience.

                 The beauty of these programmes is that apart from the IOC faculty which concentrates on inner governance, there is strong support from the Delhi-based Centre for Governance. A typical programme would be flagged off by Shri Prabhat Kumar, former Cabinet Secretary and Governor who might speak on “IAS--- kal, aaj aur kal”. Selected members of the Core group might share their experiences, the ethical dilemmas they faced and how they resolved them, or dissect case studies of recent happenings in the country or speak of exciting experiments in governance being currently practised by their colleagues still in service. In each course, there are speakers from within the service who have faced similar problems and come up with innovative solutions within the same milieu as is being faced by the participants. Thus the Centre chips in with inputs regarding outer governance.

                 One unique feature of the programme is that participants are encouraged to do self- service at meal times and constitute themselves into teams charged with the responsibility of laying the tables and washing of used plates. This sort of work immediately creates an ashram-like atmosphere , which also engenders a service attitude .

                 Add to this two or three group songs every day conveying a moral message, sung by a group of young interns drawn from different countries, and you have the icing on the cake.

                 No wonder, the participants go home awakened and energetic, ready to chart out new directions for their official work, their interaction with the family and their relation to the inner self. And a majority of them feel that they have attended the most memorable training programme of their lives.

                 The interesting part is that some of them strongly feel that they should share their new found knowledge with others. So this programme has spawned so many other initiatives. An officer from Karnataka felt that all employees of the Karnataka Electricity Board should be exposed to a similar programme. Another got posted to the New Delhi Municipal Committee and he wanted all its employees to be trained in ethics. The news travelled to Mumbai and the Commissioner desired that all his officers be trained.

                 The ICCfG took on the onerous responsibility despite the fact that these involved the organisation of training programmes for thousands of officers and men, at all levels.

                 The Centre has organised similar programmes for the IPS,the IRTS and the IRPS.There is a demand from the IRS. And now the National Academy at Mussourie wants their probationers to be exposed to ethics right at the beginning of their careers.. The Department of Personnel desired that State Service officers should also get the message and therefore the State Institutes of Public Administration have been enabled to devised similar programmes.

                 The news has travelled to foreign countries and the Centre has demands from African countries.  A team of four members of the core group was ready to leave for South Sudan to advise them on good governance, but had to cancel the visit at the last minute due to certain developments in that country.

                 The circle of ethics in governance is widening, both in India and abroad. Members of the Core group of the ICCfG are in demand as speakers, coordinators, facilitators and observers. They are all retired senior officers from the Govt. and the public sector undertakings who are trying to share their insights and experiences with whatever energy is left to them, in the evening of their lives. They meet at least once every week, mostly on Thursdays.

                 What do they get in return? As Mukund Kaushal, IPS, retired Special Secretary (Security) puts it wittily, “We work for a samosa that is served in the Thursday meetings.” And a huge amount of joy in doing something useful and worthwhile Instead of just playing golf and watching the TV.

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