The public service

It's too early for retrospection. Aftershocks continue to hit. People are out in makeshift tents erected wherever there is little open space in this hopelessly crowded city. Children are wondering why they can't go back home and resume their homework. Babies are crying for milk. There is no electricity and every drop of water has to be used judiciously. Grandma refuses to have tea in glass that hasn't been washed properly. Amidst all this confusion, telephones miraculously work.

The much-reviled NTC announcement does tell once in a while that the network is congested. Prepaid Recharges aren't functional. But, callers from Australia to Saudi Arabia are being told not to worry. The worst is over. It may not be so, but to hear the voice of near and dear ones at times like these can be reassuring.

In case you have begun to wonder how the state behemoth performed better than its profit sector competitors, here is a testimonial from the sidelines for one of many unsung heroes.

An electrical engineer was standing outside his rented flat in Kuleshwar with his neighbors after the first tremors struck. He had the safety of his extended family in mind. Phones were not getting through easily. Then he realized that the risk of network connections getting worse was very real. Electricity was down. Inverters at Sundhara Exchange—the backbone of Kathmandu's telephone network—were unreliable and needed constant attention. Generators too were to be run for power back-up. Disregarding concerns of everyone, he took out his motorcycle and rushed. There was no time to lose.

At the office, other technicians and managers too began to arrive. Routine issues were resolved with the Director taking charge. By the evening, everything was humming smoothly. The young engineer headed back home for a meal with his family. When complemented, he shrugs his shoulders: "This is what we are for. When everything is normal, anyone can handle the situation. We have to be ready for crises and emergencies." How many profit- or NGO-sector operators can say so with equal conviction?

Public sector deservedly gets flak. It is too rule-bound and highly inflexible. Charges of inefficiency too aren't groundless. Petty corruption continues to be a matter of grave concern. The so-called meritocracy has resulted in the creation of a public service corps that is full of HANSA (Hindu, Aryan, Nepali Speaking Males) cousins, cronies and nincompoops. However, they are the only ones around when risks are too high and return on investment of time and money highly uncertain.

Duty calls

Medicos in white coats treating the sick are most visible scenes. However, there are equally, if not more, important tasks being performed in the background. The job of an electrical engineer at NTC is just an example. In every neighborhood, if there is someone taking charge of relief operations voluntarily, chances are high that he or she is either retired or serving government employee rather than an entrepreneur of profit or non-profit enterprise. Often charged for venality, policemen are first to come out into the streets. For first few hours, it did appear as if there was no government in Kathmandu. Then police sirens began to blare. They were there helping, consoling and doing whatever they could to reach the injured to nearest hospitals.

The Jajarkot episode has shown the importance of barefoot doctors—office attendants with acquired primary care skills—in hierarchical societies where highly educated medicos prefer to stay away from dirty, dangerous, and difficult assignments howsoever important. Govinda KC shines precisely because he is one of a kind. The situation is similar with other professions. 

An engineer who rides an excavator with the operator to clear a landslide or some sensitive debris will most probably be a government employee unconcerned with cost-benefit analysis of attendant risks. Libertarians calling the government machinery bloated and advocating downsizing don't seem to realize that a single expat's salary and perks probably is enough to run an entire office with a strength of about 20 persons. The expert renders useful service. Out in the field, the mere presence of even an ill-tempered official succeeds in emanating signals during emergencies that sufferers aren't alone and that the state is with them.

The only thing wanting seems to be a complete lack of awareness among public servants, exceptions apart, that they are judged by their performance on everyday basis rather than during emergencies and catastrophes. This is something that can be corrected. The hoopla over the invisible hand of the free market is all very well, but when helping hands are needed, there is no substitute for the very real ones of government employees.

Community holds

In almost every neighborhood, sharing shelter, food and water was spontaneous. People in Kathmandu too are generally devout, but there were no signs of visible Bhajan-Kirtan during the night as is usually the case during such times in Tarai-Madhesh or the north Indian plains. At makeshift tents, there was bonhomie, which appeared strange at first. Then the realization hit: What else was there to do but wait and endure?

Once again, there is a need to cultivate such links outside of politics. The Panchayat gave bad name to clubs, sports associations and neighborhood communities. Most Anchaladhises used such platforms to spy upon and then suppress the opposition. However, as the old Nepali adage goes, during times of death and devastation, neighbors rather than distant cousins matter more. The much-ballyhooed "club culture" of Denmark attributed for the practice of successful democracy is probably impossible to replicate. Reinvigorating similar traditions deserves the attention of theoreticians and practitioners of democracy in every society.

Politics, in the end, is inescapable. Local governments are all very well for routine services during times of normalcy. The initiative of national government is necessary and important to deal with natural, manmade or accidental disasters of a scale that requires local delivery and international coordination. However, it's often the middle tier—the subnational government—that is most suited to perform tasks that go beyond the capabilities of local units but are too detailed to be handled by the central authorities.

Ancestors who built settlements on unstable slopes or flood-prone plains probably had their compulsions. With the level of knowledge accumulated over centuries, it's perhaps necessary to initiate certain corrective measures. The dozer-dug roads are useless during emergencies. Open spaces are much more important than wide boulevards. Water is the most basic of all necessities. There are urban planning methods that help build communities rather than erect soulless cities. Answers are aplenty; chasers of mindless growth aren't simply asking the right questions. 

Perhaps it's a wake-up call. Seismologists are telling that big as it was, Saturday's tremor wasn't really the Big One that everyone has been fearing for several decades. That means there is still time to make amends and prepare. That is the appropriate way of mourning the dead and sympathizing with survivors. Meanwhile, succor to the needy matters and salutations to those here and abroad that have spontaneously come forward to help people in these trying times.

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