Transparent Law Enforcement in India: Whether Possible?

On 9 January 2021, a ghastly incident happened in Bhandara, Maharashtra. About ten new borns were charred to death in a hospital, and with them the dreams of ten families dreams were shattered. Read more on the details of the incident from here. Now, newspapers report that there was no fire NOC from the fire department since 1981. 

Now, whether a fire NOC from the fire department would have averted the disaster cannot be conclusively stated without going into the manner in which the fire department in Maharashtra granted NOC. 

But why do people fail to obtain compliances like these? Can there be a method to better implement laws in India such as building regulations, etc. without corruption and redtapism? Consider this model: the Government creates an area-wise list of buildings and containing a table containing the status of compliance of various laws such as building laws, etc., along with the necessary certificate. In case a certificate is missing, it will show as not complied. If a compliance is pending, it will show as such to the public. The Government official responsible to handle such area and the number of deficient compliances can also be displayed. Further, the list of officials with maximum non-compliance can be listed out and performance incentives can be linked to the number of compliances and actions taken. The date of inspection can also be logged in. 

Such a transparent system could ensure the following:

• People will come to know the laws to be complied with.
• People will come to know if any building lacks compliance or some certification is not there.
• People can ensure that a building complies with a law or obtains the necessary certification.
• People can ensure that Government does its job.
• Government can easily keep track of compliances.
• Sufficient incentives are available to Government officials to ensure proper compliances. 
• A transparent system can be established where all the stakeholders are on the same page, literally and figuratively. 

There might be issues relating to privacy, especially as regards individual houses. Another possible loophole in this system is that it would address only failures to apply for compliances but not a situation where the applicant has filed the requisite application but the application does not duly comply with the law, even if the authority has granted the relevant NOC/ certificate/ authorisation.

To address the privacy issue, this scheme can be first extended to commercial buildings and buildings with more than three floors. Then it can be extended. But in a country like India where enforcement of laws and corruption are the chief problems, can a system as envisaged above ensure better compliance and better performance?

The qualitative compliance issue can be addressed at the second stage once the system is in place and starts working. In the second stage, the application filed can also be uploaded along with prescribed documentation and evidence of due compliance. 

Has a similar method been tried before in any jurisdiction? What have been the results of those experiments?

Business & Economy (7 January 2021)

 Certain interesting developments on the economy and business front is interesting. Honda introduced VRS for its Manesar plant which manufactures Unicorn, Activa and Shine Models in order to deal with the Covid strategy. It appears that two-wheeler sales in India dropped by about 25% Y-o-Y to 9.6% till November 2020. Private sector bringing in VRS is an interesting strategy. Will over private sector companies follow?

On another news, it appears that 75% of the elderly in India have some or the other chronic disease. Executive Summary of the Study (pdf) states:

"Overall in India, around three quarters of the elderly age 60 and above who were diagnosed with chronic conditions have been treated for hypertension (77%), chronic heart diseases (74%), diabetes mellitus (83%), chronic lung diseases (72%) and cancer (75%); more than half of elderly have been treated for stroke (58%) and bone/joint diseases (56%); whereas, the treatment rate for neurological & psychiatric diseases among the elderly is the lowest (41%). The treatment rate for all chronic health conditions is higher among the elderly in urban areas, those with higher education, and those in the richest MPCE quintile than their counterparts."

Most of these are stress related disorders. Stress is ruling the nation. What is the point in working so hard if one is not contended?

In a season of flus, Bird Flu has come back to haunt India, especially Haryana and Kerala, leading to ban for chicken from Southern States of India.

In another interesting news on the stock market, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) contributed more than domestic institutional investors (DIIs) as anchor investors in IPOs in India for 2020. Very interesting. How does this compare to other countries? Or the previous year in India?