In a democracy, the key question is: ''is the citizen the focus of all administration?'' Is everything being done on his behalf, for his benefit? If we apply that test, we have forgotten the common man completely. Only R.K. Laxman seems to remember him. The focus is now on the politician and the bureaucrat. These people who were supposed to serve the common man have become the masters. Our system is insensitive, in the widest possible sense, to the needs of the common man.

What has the citizen of India got after 50 years of independence? In terms of educational and employment opportunities for his children, being able to live life in a meaningful, useful, and satisfying manner? The top 20 per cent may have got it, but what about the remaining 80 per cent?

Indians are an extremely talented lot. There is a lot of skill in their hands, brightness in their eyes, they have extremely nimble minds. They need the opportunity to flower. They need peace and tranquillity, basics like food, clothing and shelter. However, we have not been able to provide them with these elementary things. The law and order apparatus has been reduced to an instrument for the aggrandizement of the people in power. It is not the Indian Penal Code or the Criminal Procedure Code that govern the rural areas of India but the local muscleman. And we still say we are governed by the rule of law!

More than 50 per cent of the population is illiterate. If the opportunity cost of going to school is very high, it is a failure of society. It is not a question of legislation. It is a question of how you manage your affairs so that your children can go to school. Our rural health system is in a shambles.

In 1947, the only transition was replacement of the British rulers with domestic politicians. There was little change in the attitude of the administrative machinery. The bureaucracy never felt part of the society. Then the politicians emerged and played havoc with the system.

Initially, the politician was not fully aware of the ropes. The bureaucrat was the pundit. There was an uneasy balance between the two. Over time, the more intelligent politicians understood the rules of the game. They also understood the weakness of the civil servant and were able to play upon that. They discovered the power of transfer. Transfers don't affect the bureaucrat alone. If officials are shifted around frequently, programmes suffer and the citizen suffers. Bureaucrats have been willing pawns, eroding the esprit de corps by breaking ranks, giving undue rewards to a select few and holding others up for punishment.

Once upon a time, the bureaucrat was highly neutral, completely apolitical, and kept his distance from the political machinery. But now, instead of being advisors to the system, implementers of policies, they are advisors and henchmen of politicians, of every hue.

We have seen scam after scam, failure after failure. But nobody's head rolls in a demonstrable manner. In India, only an act of commission is a failure, never an act of omission. So most people now don't want to do a thing. Their job is to manage their three-year tenure without a CBI inquiry, earn as many IOUs as possible and, if possible, get out with a plum posting.

The focus will be on infrastructure in the next few years. A private party's power project has to be cleared by at least 20 agencies. This is the hurdle race. When I was cabinet secretary, one joint secretary used to obstruct everything. You had to overrule him each time, on record. So, if something went wrong, he would be safe. This is the way our system functions. One bloody-minded person can put a spanner in the works. If anybody takes a special interest in pushing a project through, there are whispers, canards about him. And immediately the person is hamstrung. The establishment doesn't see the need to slice through this.

The easiest thing is to say sir, this can't happen. We can't build a dam, we can't give power. When the dam doesn't come up, there is no electricity, who suffers? The citizen. But the citizen has no spokesperson. What next? I don't know. I'm scared.