Our technocratic approach to institutions has failed us
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Economic growth accelerated, though it’s spluttering now, and millions were lifted above the poverty line—though, sadly, millions have fallen below it again in the covid pandemic.
(Photo: Reuters)
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Georg Hegel said, “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history." His warning comes to mind on reading Satish Saberwal’s statement on India’s failing institutions in Seminar magazine back in July 1987. He wrote: “As the year 1987 grows, there is a sense of crisis in and about Indian society. The difficulty is not specific, local and temporary, it is general, wide-spread, and persistent. It is evident in the difficulty we have over such elemental issues as unemployment, population, growth, sanitation, and control over violence; in all branches of government; political parties, legislatures, bureaucracy, judiciary; in key societal institutions like the universities and trade unions. The list can go on. It is a complex situation."