Citizen-centric politics

One thousand disciplined volunteers working with communities in nine different fields joined together under the banner ‘Nallore Vattam’ (Good People Union) to create a good society with civility to transform India. They met in Trichirapalli (Tamil Nadu) on October 15, the birthday of former president APJ Abdul Kalam. The majority of them were inspired by the thoughts and talks of APJ Abdul Kalam and popular Tamil writer MS Udayamorthy. They consciously decided to change the mindset of the people from beneficiaries to responsible citizens to change our politics, administration, governance, and our market, as they have reached the lowest ebb. Unless we change the consciousness of the people, we cannot change the course of politics, governance, and administration.

To change the course of politics, we should not and need not create yet another political party but practice people's politics. This is possible only through working with people, mostly with youth, students, farmers, women, teachers, panchayats, and more specifically leaders. The volunteers are not, in the conventional sense, doing some social service, but they are the best performers in their domain of activities with professional competency and exemplary character, as advocated by MK Gandhi. They have earned the trust of the people by engaging them through their social work.

All the volunteers working in the field took responsibility for their lives first. They are on their own, but they have the passion and commitment to work with the community through their earnings. They have been identified and organised into a movement by an individual who has been affectionately called Balu Ayya, under the banner 'Nallore Vattam'. Through his 23 years of work, he has identified well-meaning, well-equipped, and committed individuals who are in the field working with people for a greater cause. While identifying the individuals, what he found in them is an enormous amount of social concern and incredible vision for India. But all are working in the field without having any organisational support. He found in them unfathomable energy, enthusiasm, and leadership qualities.

Everyone felt that politics has gone down in its culture. Ideology has taken a backseat. It has become a business, and corruption is eating away at the vitals of our past. Yet, they had no idea except for working with people. It is Balu Ayya who roped them into the organisation Nallore Vattam. Nallore Vattam is not a registered voluntary organisation; it is only a banner that earned the trust of the people through its honesty and integrity. 'Nallore Vattam' has evolved a framework of ethics and values for its functioning.

The volunteers, while meeting in Tiruchirapalli on Oct 15 to concretise their objectives and intensify their activities to achieve a good society, asked me to address them. When I entered the hall at 10:00 AM, what I found was absolute discipline. Until 4:00 PM, they exhibited and explained what they had done in the field. While listening to their presentations and the impact created in the community through their work, I sensed that they had clarity in thought and action, with only a few gaps in their skill sets. They have already earned the trust of the people wherever they are working, and that's why they can perform. When they organise any programme, people who watch and see the activities contribute liberally to further their activities. They strongly believe that major development activities can be undertaken by mobilising resources from the main stakeholders, and they are succeeding in that attempt. Well-meaning entrepreneurs have supported these activities through their funding. While supporting these activities, they also become part of the organisation.

Nallore Vattam has carved out the framework for their activities based on the principles of MK Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda, as I understood from their speeches and actions. They work on the principle that means will justify ends. People who enroll themselves as members in this organisation should have the highest moral turpitude, concern for the last man, and a commitment to work with the poor for their emancipation and empowerment. Twenty-two years ago, it was only a few-men organisation, but now it has become a movement to bring transformational change at the grassroots. Through a process of identifying people who are in the field working with people, the organisation has grown into a people's movement. There is suspicion among a few that it would take a political form in the future. However, their inclination is not to form a political party. Their main goal is to change the consciousness of the people, and thereby, today's politics has to be changed and transformed. It cannot be done through preaching; it could be done through action.

While outlining the future plan, they discussed their strengths and weaknesses. During my special address, I emphasised that for any success in the present context, it should first become a movement and work swiftly with extreme professionalism. While working with the community, they must carry the credibility of a brand or label. Since 'Nallore Vattam' has earned a good name, the brand image of 'Nallore Vattam' has to be used by all. Furthermore, the activities have to be expanded and diversified in the years to come. While their service activities have been part-time so far, they should now become full-time activities, done organically and consciously in a sustainable way; otherwise, it will become a normal NGO.

At the end of the programme, the coordinator, Balu Ayya, asked the participants how many of them are willing to work under the 'Nallore Vattam' brand image. Willing individuals came forward to the dais. The moment he announced, the entire participants started moving towards the dais. He stated that he accepted the endorsement of the participants to work together with new vigour to create a good and principled society to reform politics, governance, and administration. He further reiterated that it would not move towards electoral politics but would take responsibility to transform society. From morning until 5:15 PM, every event went in an orderly way. There were no big speeches, only reporting of their works.

The entire programme demonstrated a high level of discipline among the participants. There was no herding and crowd management; everyone took responsibility for their actions. As a result, it communicated a message that it is not a crowd assembled and dispersed, but a movement of transformational leaders meeting with the objective of repositioning themselves to launch a bigger mass movement for achieving more significant goals and objectives.

The writer is a former Professor and Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, Gandhigram Rural Institute. Views expressed are personal