The undoubtedly meritocratic and/or technocratic political leaders (by this, for simplicity, I mean those who have been performers in their chosen fields) who have done good also by their people over the past century are only a few, and the first name that comes to mind is Nelson Mandela. Vaclav Havel, Thabo Mbeki (a mixed blessing for the nation), Fidel Castro could be considered as some others. As far as I know Japan, France, Germany (after WWII), Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Australia, Egypt, Italy and Greece (save the latest leaders who are actually on trial by bond traders, so to say; they must be looking to sell family silver cheap), the US (except Dwight Eisenhower; Obama, a meritocrat of high order is a stark failure), Canada, Poland (Lech Walesa was a shipyard rabble rouser, at Gdansk), Spain, UK, India have never had a meritocratic or technocratic leader who was also a successful political leader.
Then, whence the clamor for such a leader, with the implicit faith that with such leadership any nation’s problems would vanish like morning mist at sun rise (this morning the fog at Delhi sort of cleared only around 11:00 AM!)? What is surprising is the world is full of examples of the brilliant taking the others for a ride (it is a different matter that even the dunces have fooled their countrymen and women – George W. Bush with the brilliant and powerful sidekicks Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, highly successful technocratic and meritocratic managers! Same goes for Robert S. McNamara (the ‘whiz kid’ in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations)).
India is not lacking in these either. Murli Manohar Joshi is a Ph.D in physics! Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram, Mani Shanker Iyer, Arun Jaitley, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Sigh, Subramanian Swamy, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Montek Singh Ahluwalia are all meritocrats/technocrats. Their record in office and as public do-gooders do not inspire confidence in their ability to lead the country.
M G Ramachandran was an actor (not even a good one at that) but he turned to be a surprise packet. Likewise, in Andhra Pradesh, N T Rama Rao. Lastly, is Nanden Nilekani the best man to head UIDAI? The authority ain't doing no good by itself, spinning its wheels, and hanging on to political coat tails.
Can someone explain?
Raghuram Ekambaram
Then, whence the clamor for such a leader, with the implicit faith that with such leadership any nation’s problems would vanish like morning mist at sun rise (this morning the fog at Delhi sort of cleared only around 11:00 AM!)? What is surprising is the world is full of examples of the brilliant taking the others for a ride (it is a different matter that even the dunces have fooled their countrymen and women – George W. Bush with the brilliant and powerful sidekicks Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, highly successful technocratic and meritocratic managers! Same goes for Robert S. McNamara (the ‘whiz kid’ in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations)).
India is not lacking in these either. Murli Manohar Joshi is a Ph.D in physics! Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram, Mani Shanker Iyer, Arun Jaitley, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Sigh, Subramanian Swamy, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Montek Singh Ahluwalia are all meritocrats/technocrats. Their record in office and as public do-gooders do not inspire confidence in their ability to lead the country.
M G Ramachandran was an actor (not even a good one at that) but he turned to be a surprise packet. Likewise, in Andhra Pradesh, N T Rama Rao. Lastly, is Nanden Nilekani the best man to head UIDAI? The authority ain't doing no good by itself, spinning its wheels, and hanging on to political coat tails.
Can someone explain?
Raghuram Ekambaram
2 comments:
Wonderful, Raghuram. Merit never counted, and will never count. Clout counts. Many of the names you have mentioned occur there not necessarily because of merit. Politics is what matters.
Matheikal, if you extend the arguments into business, you may find much resonance, at least in India, where ironically the argument fo merit is the loudest.
Cyrus Mistry (?)could be the most appropriate choice to head Tata. But, people would have difficulty convincing me that only merit played a part in his selection.
RE
Post a Comment