Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
This was graphically demonstrated when the country was held up to international ri-
dicule over corrupt and slothful preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
There are many other examples with less satisfactory outcomes. The most evident involve
public sector infrastructure, ranging from annual monsoon flooding that cripples Mumbai
and inadequate services in Delhi's shiny new satellite city of Gurgaon to unhealthy water
supplies emanating from Delhi's polluted and sewage-ridden Yamuna river, building col-
lapses, and outdated defence equipment. Incredibly, radioactive steel scrap was found in a
Delhi recycling yard in 2010. 7
Together, jugaad and chalta hai contribute to a matrix of factors that prevent India from
excelling. While jugaad provides for the Ambassador car's longevity and Dharavi's suc-
cesses, chalta hai means that companies, both Indian and foreign, tolerate the urban chaos
around their office towers. There is tolerance of poor maintenance of India's massive rail-
way system; when serious crashes lead to loss of life, government ministers silence cri-
ticism and avoid the need for follow-up action by handing out financial compensation to
victims' families. Jugaad leads to cannibalization of spare parts of fighter jets and army
tanks, while chalta hai has over the years led to depleted defence preparedness and a failure
to tackle urgent security issues with new organizational and other arrangements. 'India's
capacity for self-deception is extreme, and this constitutes the gravest threat to national se-
curity,' says the Institute for conflict Management. 'Counterterrorism policies have been
based principally on political posturing, and not on objective and urgent considerations of
strategy and response ... creating an illusion of security has been given far greater priority
than giving real muscle and substance to the country's terrorism apparatus'. 8
In another dimension, foreign executives talk about staff trying to disrupt established
management procedures and structures so that jugaad can come into play (maybe, or maybe
not, to facilitate extortion and bribes). A European finance director marvels with frustrated
bewilderment at the way his Indian taxation staff fudge and ignore established procedures
and work with the taxation authorities in impenetrable ways that eventually produce ac-
ceptable results. 9
Jugaad therefore does more harm than good. While often solving problems, it leads to
complacency and acceptance of things as they are. It encourages and facilitates the under-
mining and corruption of institutions, which has become a serious problem. As a result,
much of the country is in a constant state of unstable and sometimes fatal underperform-
ance that often benefits those in authority because they can bypass the failures and gain
from the chaos. This situation is exacerbated by widespread corruption, with both the pub-
lic and private sectors assuming they can buy their way into contracts and out of poor qual-
ity performance and consequential problems. officials place contracts that (appear to) sort
out the chaos with companies that are adept at playing the game. Why build a good road
that could last years if you can bribe officials to accept substandard work at inflated over-
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