Central Hall – Ignorance Is Bliss!

Mumbai: Ignorance they say is Bliss, but too much of it in such times, it is scary. Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister Jayant Patil made sense when he said Corona virus does not discriminate on the basis of religion. But voices of sanity are fewer and far between when it comes to playing the blame game. Worst part of it is that nobody wants to go through the sacred of all the documents that we all swear by, our Constitution of India.

Our Constitution surely has given us our fundamental rights and freedoms, but it also has laid down certain fundamental duties which are expected of us citizens. The latter we have conveniently forgotten or tend to ignore.

Worst still is the lack of knowledge or ignorance of the role, duties and responsibilities or the Central and State Governments. Nobody wants to, or is bothered to take a look at the Seventh Schedule, Article 246 of the Constitution that lays down the subject lists that are divided into – Union, State and Concurrent Lists.

Currently in matters being debated hotly, subjects like Law and Order (internal security), Public Health and Sanitation fall under the domain of the State Government. It is only in matters like Electricity which come under the Concurrent list, where both the Center and State governments have powers to adjudicate or make laws.

Also Read: Central Hall – Sense & Sensibility

In matters like Law and Order or Health, the Center acts as an support to the State Government. But if a state government like say West Bengal refuses to implement centrally funded Ayushman Bharat scheme, the Center can do little about it. Neither can the Center directly interfere in matters of law and order in the state, as it immediately is hauled up for abusing Article 356.

Of course we need to question the government for its negligence, failures and short-comings. The criticism has to be valid, with reason and aimed at the right authority, rather than hanging the priest and letting the thief off the hook. It would be better if we take a serious hard look at the subjects listed in the Union, State and Concurrent Lists in the Seventh Schedule.

But is this the right time to heap abuse, scorn, and rebuke or display ones hate? Is it going to help us in tackling the crisis that we all are facing? Of course the crisis has exposed serious lacunae in our public health care, civic and social infrastructure. Let us make it very clear we are not taking any sides here. This is not the right time to do that.

As one senior Congress legislator on conditions of anonymity admitted this is not the time to be critical of the government and its actions. The criticism can wait till the crisis passes away, right now everyone irrespective of one’s own personal ideologies, should set those aside and stand united with the government in tackling the crisis head on. The blame game, punishments can wait at a later date, he argued.

Surely the current state of public healthcare, sanitation and civic infrastructure leaves a lot to be desired. Nobody bothered to ask the right questions, to the right people and at the right time. Right now it is not the time for political or ideological debates on who is right or wrong.

Such ugly public displays only undermine our existence and exposes our weaknesses to our enemies who are out there waiting to exploit them. Our history is replete with several such instances which we of late choose to ignore at our own peril. Hope wiser sense prevails!