The Contemporary Indian Situation and the Consequent Need for Urgent Steps for Preservation of Cultural, Literary, and Historical Texts for Posterity

Although the contemporary Indian situation is alarming from several perspectives, the most worrisome aspect is the threat it poses to the country's heritage and wealth, particularly that part of it which is irreplaceable. The two most important features about the contemporary Indian society constituting serious threats to its heritage, wealth and long-term functionality are: overwhelming corruption of every aspect of life and prevalence of shockingly high levels of incompetence almost everywhere. It is not only that large numbers of politicians, bureaucrats, and other government functionaries are corrupt; the fact of the matter is that it is only a small section of people who have managed to escape the tentacles of corruption. Regarding general competence levels, it is doubtful if there has ever been any period in the history of India when average competence levels were as low as they are today. These two features of the contemporary India seem to have developed a symbiotic relationship with each other.

In order to understand clearly the dangers that corruption in India is posing, there is need to comprehend its character. The first thing to note is that it is particularly destructive. Through corruption wealth is transferred from the public to the corrupt. By their very nature, such transfers involve some loss of wealth. But the amount of wealth which gets destroyed because of corruption can vary widely. When a corrupt builder uses sub-standard material and as a consequence the building collapses, the destruction of wealth in relation to the ill-gotten gains is likely to be quite high. Most of the corruption that exists in today's India being of this type the rate at which our natural, material, and heritage wealth is being destroyed is very high. Forests, rivers, lakes, ponds, hills, flora, fauna, monuments, all are imperilled. The fact of the matter is that our entire natural and cultural wealth is in grave danger of depredation, disfigurement and disappearance.

The corruption that exists in the present India is massive, extraordinarily wide-ranging, and multidimensional. Because corruption exists at every level, it is having profound impact on institutions. The first nodal point is that of appointments. Most appointments are now made on monetary and other extraneous considerations, and not on the basis of the suitability of those being appointed for the tasks associated with the positions in question. This has two implications: those who would have done a good job would be unable to use their expertise, and those who are appointed would be unable to perform the required tasks on account of lack of expertise. Both these result in decrease in the creation of new wealth. The second nodal point is at the level of discharge of functions associated with the positions. Before talking about the implications of individuals performing on the basis of bribes, it is important to note what performing the assigned tasks honestly and sincerely implies. When a person performs his tasks as he is supposed to in theory it has two very positive consequences. As most of what learns in life is through doing, performance of one's assigned tasks makes one acquire expertise over time. This is true even if one has chosen to do things for which one does not have  any great ability. Furthermore, performance of one's assigned tasks, without bribes and without causing harassment, is in general facilitating and consequently conducive to wealth creation. Consequently, when tasks are performed on the basis of bribes and other non-monetary corrupt considerations, the development of expertise does not take place. If the level of expertise of most individuals in an institution becomes low the institution will not be able to serve the purpose for which it is supposed to be in existence. In fact, low levels of competence of personnel together with bribes and non-monetary corrupt considerations playing a dominant consideration in the discharge of duties can even convert an institution into an instrument doing things opposite of what it is supposed to perform in theory. When one looks at the institutions of contemporary India the most striking thing is the disassociation between their avowed objectives and what their functionings are actually resulting in. This is true across the entire spectrum of institutions; be it the parliament, assemblies, courts, government offices, universities, colleges, or schools. The private sector is as corrupt as the public sector and the state institutions.

An important point in this connection, often lost sight of, is that when the proportion of persons belonging to an institution who are incompetent crosses a critical threshold then the degeneration of the institution acquires a self-sustaining character. Because even if those in charge of appointing new personnel are desirous of appointing people who can deliver they would not be able to do so as only those who are themselves competent can judge the competence of others. There can be little doubt that the degeneration of most institutions in the country now has this self-sustaining character.

For wealth creation facilitating and functional institutions are required. When institutions become degenerate and removed from their basic purposes the process of wealth creation is impeded in various ways; misallocation of resources, wastage of talent, distorted incentives, inculcation of wrong values being some of them, among others. The focus of this note is however not on creation of new wealth or even saving of existing wealth in general, but on saving of irreplaceable wealth.

As mentioned before corruption and incompetence together are imperilling our natural, cultural and civilizational wealth. As an illustration we can consider the endangered species. The endangered status of the tiger has been in the limelight for decades, but all the publicity that the cause of saving the tiger from extinction has received has not been able to make any dent in the situation. The status of the tiger continues to be greatly endangered. The reason why no change in the situation has come about is because the entire chain from top to bottom which is supposed to protect wild life is instead complicit in the poaching of tigers. For all one knows the persons at the bottom of the killing tree might be involved for the sake of paltry sums as low as few hundred rupees. When so much media coverage is unable to deter anyone involved in the poaching of tigers one can imagine what must be the case with respect to cases of destruction where there is little or no publicity.

Although much has been lost there is still extant a vast amount of literature in classical and medieval languages. Only a very small part of this vast literature has ever been published. This means that for most extant books only a small number of copies are in existence, in many cases there being only one copy. Corruption, incompetence, and poor work ethics prevalent in the country are posing very serious threats to the survival of the unpublished literary heritage. Just as some individuals have no compunction in aiding and abetting the killing of tigers for the sake of small sums of money, there is no dearth of individuals who would be willing participants in the destruction of our literary heritage for meager financial benefits. In fact, the destruction can come about by utterly mundane activities; for instance, the person in charge of looking after the manuscripts may simply decide to pocket the money meant for mothballs. As neither the government nor the elite of the country has thought it to be necessary to compile a list of the manuscripts in existence, if a manuscript is destroyed because of commission or omission of some functionary one may not even learn of such an occurrence.

Because of the deep-rooted and widespread character of the causes which are resulting in threats to the country's natural, cultural and civilizational wealth, there does not seem to be any possibility of them disappearing in the near future. Therefore, urgent steps are required for preservation of the irreplaceable wealth. Unlike the case of forests, rivers etc where only a concerted effort by large numbers of people has any chance of success, in the case of texts, even the efforts of a single individual can save some books from disappearance by the use of digital technology and internet.

For the purpose of saving as much of irreplaceable wealth and heritage as possible, and also for contributing towards removal of the causes which constitute threats to them constructive programme along the lines of the following two points should be considered.

1. Digitization and Dissemination of Literature

The long-term goal should be the preservation of Indian literature in its entirety, and making it freely accessible to all. To begin with, one could undertake activities mentioned below.

(i) Wherever possible, unpublished manuscripts, particularly those in Sanskrit and other classical languages, should be scanned and uploaded on the internet. Free downloading should be allowed for everyone.

(ii) As a pilot project the task of digitization of the entire Hindi literature on which the copyrights have lapsed should be undertaken and completed in a time-bound manner, preferably before the end of 2016. The entire digitized literature should be made accessible in easily downloadable form, free of charge. In case of the project taking off successfully it can be replicated for all contemporary Indian languages. Although the primary purpose of the project is preservation of literature, the possible societal changes consequent upon easy and universal access to almost the entirety of the Hindi literature barring the copyrighted part of it which might ensue, particularly the deceleration in the process of deculturalization currently going on at an alarmingly fast pace, should not be lost sight of.

It is very important that the entire programme of digitization and dissemination through internet of Indian literature should be undertaken purely on a voluntary basis. Getting work done on a commercial basis will hamper the transformational possibilities inherent in such an endeavour.

Those who join the constructive programme should also explore possibilities of saving other forms of irreplaceable wealth which are under threat, particularly the bio-diversity.

2. Education and Knowledge Dissemination

As at present possibilities of development of expertise and competence through public or private educational institutions are minimal, there is need to explore alternative fora through which education and dissemination of knowledge could be carried out. One possible way could be along the following lines:

(i) Anyone who joins the constructive programme should commit to give at least eight hours per month for voluntary work. Individuals with expertise could volunteer to teach those willing to learn.

(ii) As degrees no longer convey much information about expertise, there is need to identify those with possessing expertise in different subjects and crafts and disseminate this information to those who require it.

(iii) For the purpose of knowledge dissemination on a voluntary basis and for other cognate objectives setting up of an e-university could be explored.

(iv) A network of experts who would be willing to contribute on a voluntary basis will also result in a positive consequence of much import. Given the kind of corruption and  incompetence that exist in the country, an average person's daily encounters with other fellow countrymen are mostly of a negative kind. When most individuals' experiences with other members of the society are unpleasant day in and day out, it tends to weaken the fabric of the society, not at all good for the long-term societal health. A network of people who would be willing to help others on a purely voluntary basis on the other hand would enhance social solidarity.

Satish K. Jain
satish.k.jain@gmail.com