Compassion and passion, necessary for civil servants

Often it is said that today’s society lacks compassion. This necessitates the need for a governmental body to implement human rights in an institutionalised format. “What is wrong with us? Why can’t we look after the basic needs of our people? Economic development, per-capita income are all big talks,” states Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Member of Human Rights Commission, in a discussion with Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update. Fondly called the ‘passport man’, Mulay talks about the interlinkages of human rights in an urban ecosystem.

How do you see urban planning and urban governance interlinked with human rights issues? What are the key components that policymakers should keep in mind while they are making the plans for cities?

It’s important to highlight the shift of people from rural to urban areas in the last 70 years. This has put tremendous pressure on the urban spaces. Therefore, while there is employment in urban areas, the aforementioned trend has created several basic human rights issues. As Indian citizens, how can we ensure the dignity and establishment of human rights of people living in slums? After all, what are human rights?
How does one even live in Dharavi? Justice, equality and liveability, are some of the basic characteristics of human rights. Several areas present in the heart of New Delhi can also be distinguished as slums which have several issues related to liveability, accessibility, electricity, living space and space for children to play around. All of these are issues of human rights. Anything that is useful in terms of human growth, health, spirituality, upward economic mobility, ease of doing business, and mobility are constituents of human rights. The city can either raise its level to effective human rights protection or it can go down to the dumps wherein our own fellow citizens live like insects. Wherever there is human dignity involved, it becomes an issue of human rights.

We are talking about a world wherein over 50 per cent of the population is living in urban spaces. In India, approximately 32 per cent of people reside in cities and maybe the number has risen to 35-38 per cent. Dharavi itself has a population density of over 2,77,136/km². Even a city like Delhi has an 11,000/km² density. So, when the representatives of local bodies are working in such informal settlements do you think they need some kind of training in human rights?

In my view, it is absolutely essential for every civil servant, uniform official, and, in fact, every individual to be aware of their human rights. For people working particularly in the local self-government institutes whether it is municipal corporations, block or village level offices, it is crucial for them to understand the significance of human rights. It would lead to the overall growth of society in terms of socio-economic structure and development progress. This would make their actions driven by compassion and they will be more conscious of society’s right to good governance.
Even urban water bodies are under threat. Bhalvara lake in Delhi is slowly corroding. It’s not only iron that corrodes. But our land, air, and water bodies are also corroding. How can you live a happy life? With five elements of nature. The closer we are, the better co-existence and better our living is. Trees are being cut; crop patterns are being destroyed just for more yield and in the process, land is getting completely destroyed. Sometimes, I do feel that the wholesale borrowing of western ideas of development has also affected our society negatively. It sets an unequal race in society as there is huge greed for money. This further deepens the gap between the rich and poor. Only 10 per cent people in the world hold 90 per cent of the wealth in terms of resources. We grew up thinking that water is a natural resource present in abundance and is free. However, it no longer comes without a cost. Similarly, the air is no more free. Recently, the Government of NCT of Delhi raised smog towers in the capital. So, we must realise what is the root cause for this and address it. In my view, urban local bodies and local self-government institutions are best suited for this task.

Talking about good governance, you have brought in several reforms during your tenure as a diplomat. You are fondly called the ‘passport man’ of India. Could you tell us a little about the passport movement you introduced, how you made it easily accessible and what were the challenges?

See, I had a very simple thing in my mind when I became an Indian Foreign Services officer in 1983. In my first posting, I went to Japan. When my parents wanted to get their passports made, they had to travel 500 km, stay in somebody else’s house for 4-5 days and make a few trips to the passport office. How can a common man from India travel 100 km just to get a piece of document? After all, what is a passport? It is a document that has a citizen’s address, nationality and date of birth. It is not rocket science hence it does not make sense that people waste their nights in another city, spend hundreds of rupees and drive for thousands of kilometres to get a passport. People from Latur used to go to Nagpur, people from Kolhapur used to go to Pune, people from Indore used to go to Bhopal. It does not make sense and creates inequities and lack of opportunities.
I call passports a ‘gateway for airport and seaport, economic and educational progress, training, technology, trade, commerce, and even tourism and entertainment’. So, my idea was to create a process wherein people could easily have a passport. There were 20 documents (for passport verification) mentioned earlier which were brought down to 3 by us. Today, if you have a PAN card, election identity card and AADHAR card then ideally you should be able to get a passport.
I did not only make the rules simpler but also opened new centres. During my time, we opened approximately 400 new passport centres in India by using post offices. Technology is such that today if you want you can print out a passport at home as well. In my view, in the future, we would have a password-protected digital passport that could be printed at home. So today if my mother has to get her a passport, she only has to travel 5 km which is a huge win from the initial 500 km. I initiated this movement for my mother and friends who stayed back in the village. I think of people who are around me and are deprived of living their life with dignity and it moves me and makes me sad.

How can urban local bodies learn from your experiences and make use of e-governance and technology to provide good governance?

I think there has to be huge coordination between mayors, people’s representatives, Nagar sevaks, councilors, and the bureaucrats. Today, that coordination is only for certain purposes. Secondly, people’s involvement in governance has to be increased. But above all, we have to see that we elect good people irrespective of their parties which is not happening. Good people are not coming to politics. So, when they have command over the bureaucracy, they also tend to obey their masters. This is because in a democracy the political leaders are the bosses. The primary responsibility of governance lies with the politicians and not the officers.
Inculcating values of justice, equality and freedom in every citizen is important. They should have access to water, electricity, air, and urban planning. Unfortunately, we have more consultants and experts rather than urban planners. Name one city other than Chandigarh, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar and Udaipur that have not deteriorated in the last 70 years. Bangalore was once considered, a garden city. Now I hardly see any gardens when I travel there. So why has that happened when people say they are more learned with better education and stacks of degrees? It is because the essential commitment to democracy is lacking. One way to solve this is to inculcate human rights awareness. We do not have a shortage of good laws in the country but we have shortage of good implementation. This is where people have to come together and make the leaders accountable for their actions. We, the people, have created the constitution but we forget and this is why the leaders also forget.
Judiciary is trying its best but they have their own issues like pendency of cases, lack of appointments of the judges and corruption that has entered the sphere. Most importantly, we must debate these issues and create dialogue. I congratulate the All India Institute of Local Self-Government for creating a space for such dialogues to flourish.

You beautifully link the issues of urban planning and human rights. When we talk about human rights, the general thought process and understanding is of custodial deaths, torture by government or para-state agencies etc. It is true that a municipal governance system can ensure the implementation of human rights and that people have liveability in cities. In your opinion, as citizens, what should we demand from the local governments?

To some extent, this is like a chicken and egg situation. Whether people should rise to the level of the government or vice-versa. My understanding is that both these units must come together. For instance, if there is an issue of slum redevelopment but people are not ready then what options does municipal body has? Even though politicians are promising rehabilitation and that the people will be brought back to the same area, what can good governance do? So human rights as a value should be part of the foundation of every individual working with the local self-government. It has to be the foundation on which the edifice of infrastructure will stand. My office is near Safdarjung (New Delhi) and a new bridge is being built which will connect Lodhi Colony to the INA market. As the bridge is developing, unorganized settlements on its sides are budding simultaneously. I can see it growing every day. Now how is it happening? What is wrong with us? Why can’t we look after the basic needs of our people? Economic development, per-capita income are all big talks. But when I see the lives of the slum dwellers, I can’t imagine how tough it must be. We have reached to such a level that now it has become easy to neglect them.
Secondly, we have to have an urge for excellence. I always appreciate the efforts of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Central Public Works Department (CPWD). They are trying their best but the thirst and hunger for excellence are still missing among the experts who are working in the development organisations. The people working there have a laid-back attitude towards their work and they are not passionate. They have become satisfied with their perks and in turn, are allowing themselves to rot. To fix this, we need strong leadership at bureaucratic level.

You have been to different countries representing India. So how do people from developed nations of the world look at the local governments and how are they different from the ones in India?

I think the biggest difference is in how the law and order is implemented. In many developed countries, the issue of electricity and water shortages does not exist. Good road, clean air and access to water supply are all things that are taken for granted. The governance there has a thirst for excellence. That urge is still not visible in our country. I call that a democratic deficit.

You started two campaigns – a positivity campaign, and the other was related to RADIO. Why is the positivity campaign so important for Indian society right now?

Positivity is useful for the entire world. There is too much negativity, pessimism and destructive tendencies. While essentially each of us is a good human. However, we confuse being good with being weak and meek. We have a lot of good people who follow the principle of equality, freedom and respect for others and themselves, while respecting their duties enshrined in the constitution.
Pune is considered a very educated city. But I was disturbed to hear that the citizens of Pune were protesting the rule of wearing a helmet. When I see someone on the roads of Delhi jump a red light, I am disturbed. It is these small things that make a city what it is. On the other side, In Japan, there is technology available to extract pomegranate seeds proving that there is an urge for excellence. People in Japan have been wearing masks for centuries, even before the COVID-19 hit the world, in case they have cold. I tried following that in my office at the embassy and people laughed at me. This reflects our character and our lack of interest. The day we generate that interest and direct our talents and human resources towards a positive change, we would see a clear change in society. It’s all a matter of perspective that can be changed with positivity.
Rescuing Every Distressed Indian Overseas (RADIO) is my second passion. We have over 3.5 crore people working abroad. Often, they face issues related to passports, crime or if they face any problem and need monetary help from people back home or the embassy. We have informally-appointed people in 20 countries that can be contacted if in distress. Those people have a good network in the community as well as in the embassy.

This is a very interesting initiative. When we saw migrant workers leaving the cities during the pandemic, it was distressing situation. It is unimaginable that people walked hundreds of kilometres with their children. Do you think this was a human rights violation?

Absolutely! It was a human rights violation. We should have set up huge centers for their assistance immediately. We misunderstood the scale of the disaster. Let’s take the example of Japan. Every child there knows the drill if an earthquake takes place. Where to go and how to behave, regardless of where they are, is rigorously taught to them as a practice. Whereas, no such practice is followed in India. Local government institutions should conduct regular drills on what to do during disasters. Today, disaster comes in so many different forms. No single human being should be lost in the case of disaster. They are living entity and dignity can only be given once they are protected. India has several NGOs yet we lack coordination and trust.

What is your vision about Indian cities from a human rights angle?
What do you want to tell the officials who are running cities?

My request to anyone who is working in block or even panchayat would be to make yourself aware of what are human values. Human rights are all about human values. We all listen to religious teachings and those messages that we hear should be percolating in our service to the people. As part of the National Human Rights Commission, I would be very happy to work with Indian local self-government institutes to build a narrative for those working in such institutes. The goal would be to empower them with an understanding of human rights. In my view, unless every civil servant is aware of the human rights, practice of human rights would be very difficult. Once they are aware, it will automatically make way for the success of cities.