POLICY PARALYSIS
POLICY PARALYSIS
Off
late when Maharashtra government decided to put a ban on plastic from 23rd
June, the initiative was commended by people. And the media showed the effect
of this ban, people disposed off the carry bags in the garbage bin. However, I personally
feel that, this is just the fab which will sooner be over. If you remember, the
same ban was imposed in Delhi a few years ago, but it could not gather much
public attention and support as a reason it was called off. Ban on plastic will
have certain technical and logical issues which are very difficult to deal
with. For example, there are certain domestic products like milk, cereals and
other eatables which are suppose to be kept in plastic for two obvious reasons,
the very first they have a good shelf life and they are convenient to carry
secondly managing supply chain of these perishable goods will be a challenging
task in itself. The policy maker should keep in mind that how they are suppose
to meet the challenges that are suppose to be occur out of the repercussion of
this ban.
The
major key issue involve in this case is not controlling the pollution out of
usage of these plastic bags but effective disposal and recycling of these
products. However, in a country like India we seldom care about the later part
but look for some easy going solution. The government should also consider the
economic benefit they draw out of this. Shutting down almost 2500 manufacturing
units of plastic bags should also be seen from employment view point. And such
initiative might not be very useful. Another thing is ensuring that the ban has
been imposed effectively, is almost seems vague because government official are
so incompetent that there are chances of policy failure every now and then.
I
recall an incident when former chief minister of Delhi, Mrs. Sheela Dixit
decided to curb on pollution by increasing the VAT on petrol and diesel believing
that after being costly people will use public mode of transport and other
means to commute. And this will help to control the pollution. She did not
stopped here but also raised parking fee for private vehicles. She almost
doubled the parking charges. The people looked for alternative options and started
buying fuels from neighboring state like Haryana, where fuel charges ware
marginally low. Moreover, the quality of fuel was also compromised as it contained
higher percentage of propane and other allied mixtures as a reason vehicle with
such fueled material became more pollutant. On the other hand with dwindling sale
of Delhi height petrol pumps put pressure on their owners to cut their
operational cost, out of which they had to close their petrol pumps little
earlier than their usual business hour. Despite the fact neither the pollution
could be controlled nor could they get over with the problem of traffic. Also
the government has to bear a huge loss of revenue.
The
government and its advisor should keep in mind the repercussion which will
arise out this policy paralysis. All the aspect of possible policy framework
should be considered. Moreover, we should also not forget what Former chairman
of National Knowledge Commission, Sam Pitroda once said, “We tend to develop a
key, before we invent a lock.” Indeed People are too smart to find a way to
dodge the law and policy for their own benefit. We should also not forget that
we have to create a moral sense of responsibility in people’s mind, without
which no policy can be useful no matter how useful it can be.
Disclaimer:
- The objective
of this write up to enlighten people about possible repercussion arises out of
any new policy implementation. Which is often been sidelined either by the
government or executive body. It has no purpose of demeaning any government initiative.
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