Overwhelming Demands ?

You bet  !

Looking at the crowds shouting their demands outside Arvind Kejriwal's residence , you would think , people of Delhi have unlimited arrears of problems

Individuals and groups are trooping in from far and wide , demanding :

>  Better physical services ( Power / Water / Homes / Transport )

>  Jobs ( Permanency / Removal of Contract System / New jobs )

>  Reservations / Abolitions / Implementations / Resignations

>  Admissions / Legalizations / Transfers

>  Roll back of CNG Prices / Reduction of Vegetable prices

>  Security / Loans / Pensions

The list goes on and on

Only problem

Whereas demands are " Unlimited " ,  resources ( Manpower + Money + Systems ) are " Limited "  !

Hence Arvind will need to evolve a simple method to evaluate the " IMPORTANCE " and the " URGENCY " of these demands

He may want to devise an online form  or , like last time , print and distribute 50 lakh forms , which only need to be ticked , as in a multiple choice questionnaire

Then , on a scale of 1- 5 , invite people of Delhi to score each demand on the following criteria :

How does this problem affect  ?

>  Economic Status ( Rich / Middle Class / Poor )

>  Geographic Coverage ( Posh Area / Middle class locality / Slums )

>  Gender ( Male / Female / Both )

>  Age  ( Old people / Middle Age  /  Children )

>  Coverage  ( Entire population / Majority / One Community only )

>  Nature  (  Political / Social / Economic )

>  Character  ( Establish Equity / Reduce Disparity / Speed up Justice )

>  Scope  ( Job Creation / Health / Education / Corruption Removal )

>  Time Frame  ( Crisis Situation / Urgent / Can wait  )

Then display the demands in the descending order of " PERCENTILE  SCORES  " - so people get to know what will get attended to and when

For AAP , with its inclination for seeking people's opinion through " STRUCTURED STATISTICAL SURVEYS " , devising such a transparent and easily understood " PROCESS  " , cannot be a big deal

Incidentally , no individual problem / demand should be included in the survey

Carrying out such a pilot ,  " SOCIO - ECONOMIC - POLITICAL " experiment can take our democracy to the grass-root level and give the people a sense of participation in solving their own problems

At the same time , people will be made aware that ,

>    Resources are limited

>    All demands cannot be attended simultaneously

>    Injustice of past 15 years cannot be undone in the next 15 days

*    hemen   parekh   (   31  Dec  2013  /  Mumbai  )