Nexus of the Media and Bureaucracy is Win-Win for them and Looser is only citizen
"When Media Turns against the
Citizen, Citizens Must Play the Role of the Media".
"एक डरा हुआ पत्रकार
लोकतंत्र में मरा हुआ नागरिक पैदा करता है।" "
"राजनीति में किसी के फैन मत बनिए। नागरिक बनिये ।
There
all are the lines said by the Ravish Kumar (NDTV wale) in various public
speeches and Interview. Why He said so? What does he mean by these lines?
To understand the phantom of these lines, you must have a clear understanding
of the roles and responsibility of the Parliament, Government, Media and
Citizen in the Democratic framework.
In
Democracy, Citizen Elect MP/MLAs. Party who won the majority of sits formed
Government. Duty of the MP/MLAs is to ensure the accountability of the
Government but our beloved MP/MLAs are busy to watch porn clips in Assembly.
Here the role of the media comes, Media is called the
fourth pillar of the Democracy. Media's role is the role of watchdog over both
Government and MP/MLAs. But As we all are aware about the term "Godi
Media", Our media act as the official spokesperson of the Government.
When
Opposition parties and Media both failed to play a role, a new player named
"Citizen Media" emerged especially after the advent of Facebook and
twitter. These Citizen journalists keep watch over all - MP, Government, Judiciary and also on media. But Bureaucrats were the quick one to recognise
the importance of this new force and they made move to tie the relationship
with them. In the days of the Corona pandemic, their romance is on the peak.
Let
first read few reporting of the Media and Citizen Journalists -
- The Print - IAS has emerged as India’s steel frame of resistance against corona virus
- ABP Gujarati- An IAS officer working 20 hours in a day since last 10 days, This is Jayanti Ravi who is Health Secretary of Gujarat. ( Report is in Gujarati)
- Amar Ujala - गोरखपुर के इस IAS दंपती के कामों को जानकर आप भी करेंगे गर्व, शहर के एक भी शख्स को नहीं सोने देते भूखा
- Ahmedabad mirror- Ahmedabad collector KK Nirala comes to rescue 70-year-old women who need transport to reach the hospital for dialysis after the 108 declines the reques
- Better Together” is The Better India’s initiative to support civil service officers from across India and to join them as they help migrant labourers, daily wage earners, frontline health workers, and all those who need our help most in these troubled times.
- Better India - Through the fundraiser, IAS Tembe aims to reach out to more than 2000 deprived families as soon as possible. He is raising Rs. 8 Lakh with #RiseAgainstCOVID19
On
the day when lockdown imposed, an officer friend of mine said that - A race to
appear in media and social media for the officer begins. After 20 days of the
lockdown, the result is at you. S/he is right.
Now
let me come to the main point of this blog. It's job of the IAS officer to
provide ration to farmers, Provide shelter to migrant workers etc. It's
His/her Job same like you make software or teach students as software engineer
or teacher. IAS officer gets a salary for that. S/he is not doing anything
extraordinary. Even though, we revered the work the officers, the reason is that
bureaucracy successfully maintains their image of the "mai - baaap"
of Janata even after the 70 years of Independence. A line of This Video aptly
reflects this "बेटा भारत में ऊपर भगवान है और निचे आईऐएस".
Now
let come to the point of their Nexus with media. In this world, Most of all
like attention. Officers are also human and they also like the media attention.
But the matter is quite larger. Media- Babu Nexus is win-win for both. When
Media portray officer as hero in newspaper, it helps him/her to attract the
attention of the CM and Minister and s/he may get good desirable post. On the
other hand, Officer held lot of power. S/he may help the journalist kids to get
admission in a good school, preferential treatment in government services and
what not!
Now
you may ask. If the media's role is not to make heroes than what is role of
media? Let me explain this here. Please re-read the news lines I mention
above. Here below, I explain what media should cover in each case…
ABP
Gujarati writes - A lady IAS work 20 hours in a day. Firstly, ABP doesn’t
give an hour by hour work list of that officer so can not verify what the
officer actually did in 20 hours. Even she worked for 20 hours in a day then
ABP should cover how her hardworking impact on the lives of the citizen.
The
Print writes- IAS has emerged as India’s steel frame of resistance against
coronavirus. Here I think "The print" confused the "IAS"
with the "Vaccine"! Rather the Print should discuss the issues that why bureaucracy failed to manage test kits, ventilators, Mask etc on time.
Ahmedabad
Mirror did a story that Collector Ahmedabad manage the healthcare of old lady
as 108 refused requested of that lady. This is a matter of shame but Mirror portraying as a
matter of pride. There are thousands of cancer, heart, HIV patients whose
treatment got impact due to corona. Here Collector helped one citizen, but what
about those thousands whose health service jeopardize. As per me, Mirror should
ask collector that what alternative arrangement made by him for the non-corona
patients.
As
Ravish Kumar says - "राजनीति में किसी
के फैन मत बनिए। नागरिक बनिये ।" We
don’t need to portray IAS as heroes and also remember that Bureaucracy is also
a राजनीति! Today, Citizen has to keep watch on Government, MPs, Media,
and Citizen Journalist and also on bureaucracy. We cannot run away from the
responsibility of being a citizen. After all, democracy is all about the daily
practise of citizenship.
Now, you may ask me how a citizen can keep watch on
bureaucracy. The answer is simple. Look the following two pics closely.
You just have to apply your own brain, your own rational
thinking when you read/watch the news. Let me give an example, you must have
seen a lot of food aid pics by the police in News in recent day. When you take pics of the food aid, it
impacts the dignity of receiving person. This is not I am saying. Each officer
says and writes so in General studies 4 paper of UPSC to become IPS/IAS. A
couple of days back, the Rajasthan government have to make decisions that -
Rajasthan government on Friday prohibited photography during the distribution
of food packets and essential among the destitute in the state.
In the whole 2 pages of the blog, I have criticized media and
officers but that does not mean that all are bad. All not doing duty and all
are doing photo opts only just like Modi ji. There are lots of officers working
tirelessly on the ground to serve the people. It's would be not possible
without such officers to handle such a mammoth crisis of the corona.
Media also do some good reports on the dedication of the
officers. An IAS from may be odisa join service just a day after his father
passed away. A lady IAS in Aandhra coming office with her 9-month-old daughter.
Media have a role to boost morale of the officers.
Now, you may think that I am talking on both sides. On one
hand, criticising nexus of Media and officer and on other side promoting the
same. No! I am not doing so. There is a thin line everywhere in the work of the
media. Media main role is to question the government and officers. Ensure their
accountability. At the same time, Media's role is also applauded good work of
government and officer. But Media doing neither. Media is busy to portraying the hero size image of the officers.
1. नेकी कर और फेसबुक पे डाल
As I write above, You can not
rely on media to find out who belongs to category 1 and who to 2nd. It's you as
a citizen have to do so.
_____________________________________________________
I am not good at the communication. Many times, in fact, most
of the times, I cannot explain what I really want to explain. So, In the end I
like to leave the readers with two pics. Hope Readers can get my point ...
First is a picture of the father in Khakhi who sit outside
his home as there is a chance of the corona infection to family members as he
spends time among people as part of his job. Second, A story of the Migrant
worker and his daughter.
Your Role as the being good citizen begins...
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