Rakesh Manchanda
About author : Has worked in India and abroad in several countries and now is a full time supporter of AAP in Delhi and North India monitoring the historical people movement for an Ecological Swaraj.
Thanks to the better transparency and collective pressure put up by rich and poor. Score board cannot be hidden for long. Cricket still has fair rules unless the will or intention is not bought or pre-fixed. It remains more transparent then the `political cricket` played by billionaires in the production units and factories. During Production the score board in the factories and agriculture fields indicating fixed audit is manipulated to ease out black money to Tax Heavens.
A review of Bollywood blockbuster `Laagan` released in June-2001 can unfold several hidden lessons. Prayers to rain Gods failed. Harvest was poor & peasants protested. People wanted to change their destiny and get the taxes waved off.Indian king who was controlled by British Law, expressed his helplessness. Movey shows how an unwise colonial Tax System brings 99% indigenous farmers together.
Small village of Champaner in North India, in 1890s decided to fight for its honour and self respect .Stakes were high. Deal was finalised. If village team beats the British team in a game of cricket , their taxes for three years would be waved off. If they loose, farmers shall pay three times of the land tax as crops. With no aids like proper batting pads and no training, the barefooted `desi` team of Aamir Khan was ready to face the challenge.
Let us move out of the reel life. Independent India still fights for justice and cries for effective laws in real life. Unlike a bloody war the games demonstrate a country`s united readiness and courage.All rich and poor stakeholders in Cricket enjoy ball by ball micro details. Careful audit on each and every run scored and saved shows how important transparency is for maximizing the fun and happiness. Recovery called “paisa vasol” is celebrated.
No one can steal or hide the profit of the runs scored and saved. Lost matches with weakness and dropped catches are analysed. The show goes on. Can we apply Cricket regulations & its transparency with peoples` participation and Citizens charter to our daily Governance ?
Today India is crying to get freedom from corruption. People work hard but team rewards of profits and security get stolen. In ancient India kings used to hide profit in temples in the shape of gold. Today, corporate pays extra to CEOs who in turn help them to hide money produced as profit in aSwarg called Tax Heavens. Corporate fix politicians to get their favours passed but keep the rest of the workers engaged in Industry insecure.
CEOs help investors to steal money from the `wheel of production` and pump it in the `wheel of speculation` or `wheel of gamble` called share baazar. Share Baazar promises faster but unproductive, false and jobless growth. Government-Corporate-Bankers nexus in actual controls share market. This collaboration steals away the hard earned money of the majority. Stealing and hiding, the profit unlike in Cricket format, is made possible with a clever audit. Casual workers as soft targets are blamed for slow development. Profit monitoring team and production team is kept disconnected.
In Cricket rich and poor love to keep the minute by minute statistic of runs produced with `profit & loss` in form of possibility to win & lose. My game, my nation, my joy, my information, my sharing with all concerned is excelled and shaped. Sticking points remain- collective ownership & holistic participation in this religion of Cricket. Imagine a cricket match with `no rules`, `no wide balls`, `no limited overs` and no cheering & hooting of crowds.
Connect these dots and we can see a boring game with no sense of belonging, no rewards and no punishments. Carry it forward and we see the pitch of Indian Ministry & Business work culture in India. Disconnected lobbies of excellence as small islands in a business team is essential. Disconnection is designed in the system & is not a default. This keeps the system weak and unsafe. Result ? Ask the home ministry to produce a list of 50 Pakistan trained terrorists as happened few years ago and you shall find a goof up.
Right to recall the non performing player in a game is possible by Swaraj Bill. Same rule cannot be applied in competitive business of law making in the Parliament. Right to vote is only after 5 years. During last FIFA in South Africa, we learned as to why a player is replaced if football gets stuck with his foot for more then 20-30 seconds. Fast sharing of football in the team is essential. Audience can build a pressure and force a change via selectors.
Stakeholders in shape of audience and investors hoot and shout when the ball is lost in the crowd even for few seconds. Politicians shout and delay for all wrong reasons to block a bill in the Parliament. The recent victim was Lokpal Bill now a weak Joke Pal. British used fast punishment as a tool to force discipline in their system of governance where as we after 48 years are unable to sketch citizen charter and Lokpal together in a single draft and make it a Law.
Luck of a team ?
The space called unfair `luck` is reduced by practice, calibrations of skills and shooting of goals. The speed and demand to deliver every minute, every second is so high that there is no time to fall back on business directions and services of experts during the real match. When democracy is strong & stakeholders as watchdogs are alert, the luck is replaced by honest match winning skills. There is no twisting of rules and laws for personal gains. Fair wealth distribution based on skills can increase the income of 99% and the markets can survive.
Information in a business pitch is blocked by match fixing. Profit transformed in shape of dirty money or black money parked in tax heavens, refuses to get recovered. Excuses are designed. Any country`s finance ministry knows how many notes were printed by the Reserve Bank and how much is parked outside as foreign currency.
Chances of corrupt match fixing is there but is very less or can be reduced. Pressure of `rich and poor` stakeholders with modern technology helps build a simple system which controls and checks the transparency. Referee as a `human control` can also make mistakes which people and player understand.
Politics and daily run of governance under ministry shall always remain boring if rules to control corruption are not fixed. From stadium to Sansad (Parliament) , people need to collectively apply simple Swaraj systems for a corruption free governance.
If egg is broken by outside force, life ends and if broken by inside force, life begins. Let us play fair before it is too late.
