Uber shame: Transport authorities are asleep at the wheel

I just tweeted; "Uber-Cab of Worms", for the taxi service flouted all possible rules and regulations laid down by the departments of traffic and transportation including licensing and prosecution. There is complete absence of coordination between different departments of the state.

There is a difference between good governance and good government. Good governance requires different departments such as traffic and transportation authorities to work together for the larger good of the nation. The respective heads of the departments have to work closely to ensure rules are not just made on paper but also implemented on the ground. Now, because of the absence of governance, the entire burden of enforcement of implementation of such rules is on the police. When it comes to transportation services in the state, it is the officials from the administrative and police services--traffic commissioner (transportation), police commissioner (traffic) — who are required to work as a team with chief secretary/ lieutenant governor at the helm. Earlier, the roles of the top officials were coordinated with ease. But today, the coordination has come to mean "who calls whom".  We need to put aside our egos and work for the larger interest of safety and security on the roads.

Licensing and approvals are granted first, then the background check is done. Why is it that the loopholes are exposed only when we start working backwards and not before the orders are issued? This has serious implications on human safety, economy and even tourism. It is not just the traffic and transportation authorities who did not investigate the taxi service provider thoroughly, but the RBI too approved money transfer in this case without questioning the approvals granted by these authorities.

From my personal experience as a senior government official, I can say that political intervention is not always required for implementing changes and enforcing existing regulations. In case the political head is required to intervene in the matter, nothing stops him/her from coordinating the efforts of the bureaucratic in the right direction. Instead of waiting for orders from top officials, the middle level bureaucratic officials must learn to coordinate. For this, we need to transfer leadership to the middle level.

Some of the measures that I may suggest apart from the already existing ones include, a ‘special night traffic plan’ to address such situations. Apart from the regular attempts made toward prevention and detection of such crimes, we also need to replace outdated equipment with more advanced technology such as high quality night vision cameras. I believe the use of technology is the key to early detection of crimes.

Also, there is a need to explore the psychosocial aspect of rapes during interrogation of the accused. Authorities must explore the factors that compel the accused to commit such crimes despite nationwide outrage post December 2012. Although some positive changes can be seen after that, in terms of the increase in the number of women reporting crimes against them and greater willingness of the police to register such complaints, we are still far from preventing such crimes. The Uber rape was clearly preventable had there been good governance. The system is in place when it comes to swinging into action after the crime gets reported, but not when it comes to preventing such crimes in the first place.