Consider this – in Australia, a 13 year old boy Austen swam for four hours from a capsized boat to shore to have his stranded family rescued. Kanchan Bai Meghwal, an anganwadi cook in MP’s Neemuch district, died after saving 20 children from a swarm of bees. She did so by covering them with mats and a tarpaulin. She suffered hundreds of stings and passed away, but went way beyond the call of duty by saving precious lives through a prompt and intelligent response to an emergency. These are recent incidents that highlight how ordinary people have the skills, courage and resolve to respond to sudden and unexpected challenges.
And, then, there were professional responders of the police, fire services, SDRF and NDRF who failed to rescue a drowning man in Delhi even though they had about an hour and a half to do so. Among the reasons given for the failure was the cold temperature of the water. An ordinary passerby tried to help by entering the water but could not save the victim.
What a contrast! It sheds light on how professional agencies are unable to train their personnel in basic skills necessary to carry out their jobs. On the other hand, the basic environment that others exist in prepares them to perform acts of extraordinary heroism. What is the lesson to be learned from this? First, of course, is that there should not be a prevailing culture that makes people look at challenging careers as ‘government jobs’ to be performed with as little effort as possible till superannuation and a pension. If they do not understand what their profession is, how will they develop the spirit to hone their skills to the ‘required’ level? As is usual, this tragedy is already forgotten as other dramatic incidents come to the fore – such as a biker driving into an open pit left in a Delhi road by a civic body and dying. Any ‘action’ taken against the negligent officials and agencies, such as transfers, suspensions and negative remarks in CRs will certainly not suffice. It is unlikely that those in charge, right up to top level politicians have an idea about how improvements can be brought about.
What is needed is a culture of responsibility and competence to be developed among citizens, overall, by imparting skills other than mere rote learning from childhood itself. This would include the education in schools, of course, but also a value system in society that develops character. The kind displayed by Austen and Kanchan.
