The Mumbai tragedy made me ask once again the perennial question. Why it is that the performance of government-controlled entities is so often less than the sum of its component individual parts? Is it lack of leadership? Is it fragmented decision-making structures that fog the lines of responsibility and accountability? Is it the political system that vests ‘hard power’ in elected officials who are simply unable to accept short-term pain for longer-term gains? I contemplated this question not so much to find an answer — the explanation has to do with all of the above and more — but because with every passing hour one saw evidence of the gap between the promise of public service and its delivery. And the tragic human and material consequences of this gap.

The captain of a ship that is caught in the eye of a storm has a two-fold priority. First, to steer his ship into calmer waters and second, to ensure that whilst doing so the ship is not blown totally off-course. The captains of the Indian ship of state are currently caught in the vortex of several overlapping storms. The Mumbai tragedy threatens the fabric of our society. Terrorism has to be contained but stability and communal harmony has also to be ensured. . The financial crisis has weakened the props of our economy. Recessionary forces have to be checked but in ways that do not circumscribe productivity, efficiency and innovation. The energy problem is off the front pages because of the slump in the international price of oil. It is however, still very much with us. The calm of low prices must not distract us from the longer-term dangers of constrained supplies and global warming.

... contd.