The Road to Hell

height="265" alt="L Subramanyan" align="right" hspace="4" vspace="4" border="0">

As we enter the fifth year of Voice

& Data, there is hope and there is trepidation. Hope because, we believe that

finally the New Telelcom Policy (NTP) ‘99 may be getting off the ground, thanks to

the efforts of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Trepidation because it takes, a

little, oh! so little! to upset the applecart. It could be one single point raised by one

confused parliamentarian or one bigot that could stymie the whole thing. Not that we do

not believe in democracy. We do. But we also believe that at some points in time, the

national interest and its well being come above parliamentary debates and points of order.

What is at stake? Simply, the

credibility of the country as a whole. For instance, for how long are we going to truddle

along believing that as the largest democracy in the world, we are entitled to something

special in the overall global scheme of things? How long are we going to believe that we

have, as a country, the largest middle class in the world (some one million super-rich as

we are told)—a middle class that many companies in the country are still struggling

to discover? How long are we going to harbour the illusion that we are special, and that

somehow, notwithstanding the bungling by our policymakers, we will still continue to

attract the kind of investment that we want. Mind you, it is not what we deserve, but

merely what we think we want, never mind our acts of omissions and commissions. Never mind

that as a country, we have possibly got some of the worst possible kind of rulers that any

country deserves to get. We are a large country with a large population, and telecom needs

a large market. Presto, the right chemistry!

So it seems. It may yet be the

largest miscalculation that we will be making. Large populations do not a large market

make! If China is a large market, it is simply because they have followed policies that

were, and are, conducive to good business. These are not the markets which beg a policy or

a government consensus. Nor do they beg the existence of a set of rules and regulations.

There are dictums and diktats, and to hell with democracy.

If this is heresy, then we should

be punished for it. However, the larger interest of the nation does not permit us to keep

silent in these times, when globally, economies are vying with each other to attract

investment so that its citizens benefit. Mind you, there is little rhetoric that is wasted

on issues of national interest, and security–things that our rulers have kind of

fashioned themselves after. Mind you, 13 Lok Sabha sittings later, we as a country, do not

have a coherent policy for furthering telecom in this country. All that we have is a vague

document that nobody is clear about, and worse nobody is willing to fight for–not the

industry, not the unions, and certainly not the framers of the policy.

Every time there is a policy,

there are people who will tell you ten reasons why it cannot be implemented. Mind you,

there will be nobody to say how and why it can be done. They will tell you, through their

favourite parliamentarian, as to what exactly is wrong with the policy. Nobody will tell

you, what is right.

That is probably the reason why

there is the feeling of trepidation. We feel that notwithstanding the intentions, the

inertia that is there today in the system is so high, and the vested interest in the

status quo higher, so as to prevent any movement forward. Before we are labelled

pessimists, recall the fate of scores of policy documents that have emanated from the

hallowed corridors of the Sanchar Bhavan, only to be cremated without even the basic

battle honours.

We have hope because, we know

that the intentions are there, and they are honorable. We know that there are well

intentioned people both within and outside the Sanchar Bhavan and the PMO, who feel that

things should change for the better. Problem is they are too few and far between.

As Voice & Data enters into its sixth

year, we cannot but be optimists, as that was the edifice on which the medium was built.

After all did not someone remark "the road to hell is paved with good

intentions"?