By: Rohit SaranThe fumble to explain the fall in rupee value, the nervous defiance over rising petrol and diesel prices, the shooting of the messenger (WhatsApp) for lynchings, sparrings over who let Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi out, uncertainty over the legality of cryptocurrencies …These unrelated developments point to one inescapable conclusion: the power of Indian state – both administrative and moral – is in the steepest decline since its birth in 1947. Politicians, the biggest beneficiary of state power, are contributing to its decline. In fact, the more desperate political parties get to acquire state power the more they chip away at it. But the worst sufferers of a waning state are not the politicians but the people, who are meant to be served through state power.Bonfire of state power As state power withers away politicians and the state apparatus are pretending, or are genuinely misled to believe, otherwise. They pretend they can tame the rupee value, when they can’t. They want access to people’s encrypted messages (for example on WhatsApp or Telegram) when they know they can’t. They claim they can regulate petrol and diesel prices, but they fail to. They think they can threaten economic fugitives into surrender but are unable to. In all these instances, and many more, state power is banging its head against the wall of globalisation – mainly deregulated finance and autonomous technology – and falling flat on its face.India, like any other country today, can do little to stop the rising global empires of social media, global finance (venture capital, private equity …) and technology (internet, blockchain, cryptocurrencies …). These empires strengthen and re-enforce each other. India’s biggest startups – Flipkart, Ola, Oyo, Paytm – are internet-based and foreign-funded. The country’s banks and private investors can’t provide risk capital with the speed and on a scale these businesses require. Cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology, blockchain – are not only a threat to banks’ business model, they pose a challenge to monetary authorities.The writ of the state is eroding even in matters like job creation and citizens’ rights. Most formal jobs have not just gone out of government into private sector, many are now moving out of private sector into a new form called gig economy. These jobs are not only uncounted, they are often uncountable. Nearly a million Uber and Ola drivers and the growing army of delivery couriers hold these jobs. The government is as clueless about their numbers and nature of employment as it is about the employment status of pakorawalas. The debate shouldn’t be whether to allow such job creation, but how to ensure fair working conditions and a health cover to those holding these jobs.Self-service is self-harmThe independent republics of gau rakshaks and romeo squads, the open lawlessness of some kawariyas and the blatant support to illegal construction are instances of politicians sacrificing power of the state to serve their political interests. It’s the same when politicians undeservingly allot and then illegally occupy taxpayer-paid bungalows or when they grant themselves huge salary hikes with no link to productivity. In all these acts the state comes across as an institution being deliberately throttled by the very people elected to run it in public interest. But a weak and morally hollowed out state can only be a temporary refuge for power-seeking politicians.We can’t forever live in the illusion that strong leaders (in the Centre or states) can preside over a weak state. Rana Dasgupta wrote in Guardian that a political authority running on empty and unable to deliver meaningful change will arouse powerful but empty feelings – hatred of foreigners, exaggeration of military exploits, campaign against so-called internal enemies.Then there is the political culture that ensures that any meaningful work done by the government is downplayed or distorted by the opposition – it’s almost like we need to celebrate failures and mourn successes of the government we don’t like. This culture suffocates good governance of attention and action. The only function of the opposition is to prevent the government from governing and then try and grab power only to confront new opposition bent on preventing the new government from governing.

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Restoring authority State’s erosion can be slowed and even halted if its power is rededicated to serving public good. In fact, the forces that are undermining the state (such as technology) can be used to enhance its role and purpose. For instance, why do governments not have an Ease of Life index just like the Ease of Business index?It’s feasible and desirable to build an online index that tracks quarterly and annual improvements in how easily people get passport, driving licence, power connection, various admissions, FIRs … even status of road, water and power supply – complete with people’s feedback and complaints. Why are deadlines for all public projects not put online along with phone numbers of the people responsible to meet that deadline? Why is the entire public transport system (trains, buses, taxis, autos) not on a GPS that streams location, timing and fare to commuters in real time? There is no dearth of things the state can do to ease daily life in governance-parched India.Steps like these will breathe new life into the state and, through that, restore respect and moral authority in politicians. There will then be space for meaningful state authority and powerful politicians even amidst the unstoppable forces of globalisation.Views expressed here are the author’s own, and not Economictimes.com’s.