Want the government to ‘act’? Think again IRRATIONAL CHOICE

There are reports of strong protests having broken out in Gurgaon and Faridabad over the steep hike in the school fees by some 40 private schools. Schools do charge usurious fees, do not invest in better education systems and then arm-twist parents to buy products and services from vendors dictated by them. On top of all these costs, parents are often forced to hire teachers from the school for private tuition. If you don’t, your kid is penalised. The whole business of education stinks. Parents grit their teeth and go through it. Since they couldn’t stand it any longer, they took to the streets. The public anger is justified. But not the default solution we think up as our immediate reaction: Appeal to the government to fix it. We don’t realise that it is the government that is the problem.

This column is not about the ethics of the education business. It is about the “solution” we think of in every problem area — farm loans, exploitation by builders, poor health care facilities or bad infrastructure: Strong governmental action. It is an obvious demand, but it may be worth remembering that it is the government that has boxed us into certain situations and prevented better options from coming up in the first place. Take the case of the education itself. It is a highly regulated activity, with the education department having the powers to sanction schools, what is taught and what ought to be the school conditions. It can shut down a school anytime. But nothing happens to schools, which create so much of distress instead of creating a happy experience for students in their formative years and also parents, who are their customers.

The reason private colleges and schools are able to charge usurious fees is because there are so few good ones. This, in turn, is because the supply of all the resources needed to set up educational establishments is controlled or influenced by the government. Land/building is expensive (bad town planning), a few influential people are able to swing the permissions to start schools and “follow the rules” to keep them running (government corruption), with the result that the really compassionate, thoughtful and competent educationists are kept out. The business is so foul that only politicians and people close to them can wade into this. In many parts of the country, especially Maharashtra, educational institutions are controlled by politicians, set up as charitable trusts to get cheap land and soon grow into a business empire. In Kolkata, political units in each college vet who gets admission. Merit lists don’t matter. You have to pay to these political cells. The education department knows it. Appealing to them for redress will get you nothing. Nevertheless, in the heat of the moment, when things get unbearable, we want the government to step in. We should be careful about what we wish for.

When we want the government to intervene we are inviting trouble. Every serious case of public protests ends with the government agreeing to set up a committee and eventually tighten the laws like the draconian laws we have enacted on issues like dowry and rape. But does the situation on the ground improve? The unintended consequence is that a different set of citizens (distinct from the protestors) are either exploiting these laws or being subjected to harassment and extortion. Then the courts, especially the lower courts, come in with their own nasty judgments from time to time, using these new “protective” laws. It is financially crippling to anyone caught in the clutches of the police and court proceedings.

Apart from the public demanding government action, the government itself intervenes in thousands of different ways every day — all for our own good, but usually harming us. India is a land of laws and regulations. New perverse ones get added on top of the old ones. Every aspect of our life is now controlled and governed. As a citizen if you were to follow every rule, you will not be able to function. This is especially true for enterprises. It may be a joke but not a complete surprise that the government now wants to control the portions that restaurants serve. Whenever a new government is elected, it sets about working busily for us. But legislators don’t want to uproot the perverse system which keeps the issues alive on a slow boil. When the problem actually boils over, we demand government action. The government is happy to jump in and apply band-aid. We are happy that something has been done — until the next crisis. Despite the continuous expansion of government and more and more regulations, our lives are not simpler, merit does not count much and the justice system is broken. Any government that really wishes to improve our lives must put each of its actions to the simple test: Will they deliver durable peace, justice, lower costs and minimise friction? The answers would lead to a surprising alterative form of governance. Smart politicians may want to consider it.