Lottery for license plates

Delhi can’t do a Curitiba. Can it do a Beijing?

What has Beijing done?

Beijing conducted a lottery for, wait till you hear this, the right to buy a car.  One million people lined up for 20,000 “registration certificates” (in China’s unusual new car lottery, hope of victory for urban future, The Hindu, September 2, 2012). 

China can do this because it is not a democracy. India is a democracy and that is a big millstone around its neck.

India also fancies itself as having a federalist base. But China seems to trump India here too. One of the features of federalism is the that the federated “union” has a number of smaller “laboratories”, the states, the provinces etc. that can indulge in fanciful experiments; like California can have its own air pollution norms. If that suits the other states they can adopt it or even go beyond. Finally, it may come that the federation adopts the local standards across the land.

Look at the situation here. We are good at making lists. We have a “Central” list, a “state” list and also a separate “combined” list. We also emphasize antiquity. All our laws carry a dateline of 15^th century, when Vasco de Gama came visiting. Our Motor vehicles Act predates motor vehicles! This dovetails our “been there, done that” nature of hollow boasting, our revanchism. Also, no matter that we claim a federated union we want Delhi to lead the way. Every federalist unit is afraid of being upstaged by the others should it take a faltering yet a progressive step. It is indeed a wonder how the midday meal scheme has come about.

But Beijing allowed Shanghai to take the lead. Shanghai auctioned out it registration certificates and the folly became clear soon enough (this is what “laboratories” are for, “to boldly go where no man has ever gone before” even if you made you a fool of yourselves; but, we have our self-respect to protect). The folly was so obvious – the cost of the registration paper matching the vehicle’s cost! Guangzhou is going its own way, capping the number of cars to be licensed. But, along with these there is the break-neck speed of improving transport infrastructure – MRTS, beltways and such. Not possible in India, after all the CVC is looking over your shoulders and Hazare is fasting.

The article says that Beijing may teach other cities to handle the congestion and pollution from private vehicles, in China and elsewhere, including India. I do not want to comment on cities of other countries but for India, China holds no lessons. After all, “We have been there and done that.”

But, to tell the truth, we have not even been in Curitiba, not to mention Beijing. Our first response to any example from anywhere, “Oh, our situation is different. We are exceptional.”

This holds good even within India. If Ahmedabad has a functioning BRTS it is because the city is different from, say, Mumbai, not to mention Delhi!

We are exceptional, exceptionally bad. We are proud to remain so.

Raghuram Ekambaram