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Tall Promises by the Ministers
By Rajesh
Pradhan
May 22, 2008 |
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It is an
occupational hazard or a compulsion for
politicians to say visionary things. Without
singling out anyone in particular, Lalu Yadav's
pronouncement to make Patna's railway system
into a "world class" one - with mono-rail and
all that - is a good example. The disaster of
introducing a dedicated bus corridor in Delhi
roads in the name of a "world class" system is
well known now. We dread and shiver at the
thought of turning Patna into a "world class"
city, or some insignificant university into a
"world class" one.
The problem with such politically-inspired or
bureaucratically-induced propensities is that
they stubbornly refuse to consult either the
experts or the common people who may benefit or
who may be harmed by such visionary ideas. We
all know that power gets into the head and
absolute power corrupts. But why is it so
difficult to learn lessons from the success and
failures of unilaterally implementing grand
visions? They don't care, I do.
As someone who has spent a lifetime in the field
of urban development and someone who knows Patna
as intimately as anyone else, let me say as an
expert and as a common man that neither the
"world class" railway system nor the "world
class" city idea has any chance of any success.
At the end of the day humility informed by
expertise is far better than any other
alternative.
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