CASE STUDY: PUBLIC GOVERNANCE

Consumers And Citizens

“Before you can listen to your customers, you have to listen to your own people”
— Greg Icenhower, director P&G

MEERA SETH
27 June 2008

Vineet Chaitanya was very thoughtful. His PR advisor

Utpal Vaid had placed before him a folder of emails
from various citizens in the country. While Vineet had
not yet read them, Utpal made a statement that shook
Vineet, ‘Is the tax payer-consumer of brand India
getting VFM … ?’

Vineet felt discomfort with the word ‘consumer’; he

said to Utpal, “The very suggestion of the idea will
cause chairs to fly in parliament again. I want change,
but not by challenging what is already up and running.”
Illustrations: Anthony Lawrence
“Arre!” said Utpal, “then what kind of change is that? You have to see the citizen as
consumer, that is what logic points to, that is what better performing nations are doing!”

Vineet was a young, 36-year-old engineer who had worked several years in the public
works department, before going back to the university to study sociology. A revered and
popular man in Delhi, he was seen as genuine, honest and dependable by the residents
who were keen to put him up as their candidate. Vineet felt strongly that for India to be
taken seriously in the global market, it was important for her to change her attitude to her
own, and knew that the only way to make the system responsive and responsible was by
becoming a part of it.

That was how he met Dave Kelly who was writing a book, Unleashing India. Dave,
discerning Vineet’s mission in life, told him to work in parallel with an image builder,
“One who will seriously help you work with your intent and not just give you a mask to
don!” he had said. The result of that quest was Utpal Vaid. And the result of that was this
zipped folder of harsh talk.

Vineet pulled out the mail written by a freedom fighter’s grandson and read out: ‘One of
the modern sins is ‘rights without responsibilities’. Once I get accustomed to this
consumerist mindset, my expectations from India will vary according to my purchasing
power; then affluent regions will demand facilities commensurate with their contribution
to the exchequer. When citizens start thinking of themselves as consumers, nationalism
becomes a perishable commodity and the Nation will become a product with a use-by
date. If a citizen wishes to be a consumer, a politician is bound to become a
businessman.’ “And he is right, Utpal …”, said Vineet.
Utpal nodded, “But this is a marketplace where the consumer is angry up to his eye balls
…”, Vineet winced at the turn of phrase, as Utpal went on, “But for every one freedom
fighter, there are 200 freedom-enjoying Indians, and they all define themselves as
consumers of brand India. So we need to look at the greater segment rather than the less.”

Read analyses Vineet: I am not averse to the consumer principle Utpal, but
Pride And Ownership worried. You talk like a company-wallah; but this is about
Unblemished India government not management! Ok, think like governance does, not
like a limited company man. Brand India sounds very progressive and happening, but
brand India is finally unlimited! Where do we define boundaries for anything? Even if
you take 1947 as the start of an era, a system, truth is we are still looking at a 61-year-old
habit! And ask any company-wallah. In even 25 years things become cast in stone! Won’t
work if challenged. It has to be done gradually.

Now, the moment we use such definition for a citizen, you will have to define the
government as supplier of services and the government employee as resources. Then I
will have a serious problem. Now the government will say, but I am not here to meet
your demand, but render essential services to make India functional. You agree there is a
difference. Next, if I say government employees are resources, I will fan huge union
problems. See, my point is yes, we need to see employee as resource, government as
supplier, citizen as consumer, but after we do some intermediary change processes. And
trust me, we must be doing this soon, for respect in the world market will come the day
we respect our own … sachh!

“It is not as much about Utpal: Super. So we need to find a via media where
‘government versus government renders the service without being authoritarian,
people’ as much as it is or say unthinking, because that is what is causing grief! If
about the government you are calling this a democracy, there must be a visible
taking the people along in window which recognises the citizen’s voice. Not like that
its decisions. Sensitising Haus Khas issue, where residents are protesting against the
the people through overhead Metro arguing for an underground metro on their
communication.” stretch. But then you tell me the government has overriding
powers to build where it deems fit!

Vineet: So, we need democracy with pizzazz. I would like posters that urge people to
adopt a changed definition. The message should talk of a changed lifestyle for the people,
not an ego massage for the party. So, true democracy means treating your citizens with
the same care and deference that you treat the consumer who supplies you your profit,
that is the parallel I am drawing, see? That means you inform him, carry him along with
you, let him know what to expect, explain to him why you have no other option. We
must, along with the citizen, co-create brand India.

It is not as much about ‘government versus people’, as much as it is about the

government taking the people along in its decisions. Sensitising the people through
communication!
Take most road building projects. The moment the cement mixer parks itself on the road
outside, your heart sinks. Add to this, the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRT) that is
causing more grief! I mean, imagine this is 21st century India, where we have technology
for saying ‘I love you’ on Valentine’s Day across thousands of miles, but our road traffic
is mayhem!

Utpal: Exactly. So what is the genesis of this ire, this impatience? That is what you need
to work on Vineet. It is so disorienting when road repairs put the brakes on all life!
Today, when so many Indians are returning to India for work, so many foreigners
expatriated to India, is this the brand India we want to present?

Vineet: But Utpal, road building is also a sign of progress and reform. That is not my
angst. But absence of any form of communication, at the point where the work is in
progress, to say when the task begins, elapse time for construction, estimated date of
completion, and margin of error. This, I think, is a function of systems and sensitising the
building community. This, in fact, is a duty owed to the citizen. Yet, does this make the
citizen a consumer?

Utpal: Ok, this scientist writes, “As an honest tax paying citizen,
I most certainly feel cheated by a system which erodes India’s
brand equity every day. It is as if the government has reneged on
its contract with me. I do not have a voice as stakeholder of
brand India to prevent the inevitable slide in the brand’s equity. I
rue the absence of a viable self-correcting/regulatory
mechanism.”

“This country is not going to get fixed merely through enforcing

standards and filling more forms and creating more copies of the same form. The time for
that has passed. The only thing that will fix anything is pride, pride in brand India … And
that, only if we think ‘excellence’ than ‘profit’!”

And what is pride, Vineet? A sense of brand ownership, a sense of ‘I am an Indian, and I
am worth it!’ Like the L’oreal girl says!

Vineet: I feel ownership of a ‘nation’ brand is a different emotion than one about loyalty
to a product brand. Just think. In the case of a product brand, you owe the brand nothing.
If anything you take upon yourself the right to whip the brand till it does something for
you. I think we need to go with the definition of brand loyalty, but with some difference
where we can retain the reciprocal duty for brand ‘country’ that is necessary to sustain it.
But I like what this scientist chap is saying. He asks for a “self correcting mechanism”.
Would you know what that can be in the context of a country? ‘The time for that has
passed …’ That sentence is potent and nerve wracking. You are the company-wallah
here, is there ever a moment in a brand’s life when standards enforcement stops or is
suspended?
Read analyses Utpal: No no no, that is not what he is saying. He is talking about
Pride And Ownership the very establishment of standards which a new company, a new
Unblemished India brand, a new family, would set which in itself paves the way
forward; which defines the brand’s ego, its distinction. Like, McDonald’s would say we
serve you in 18 minutes, or as Dominoes promises, delivery in 30 minutes. These are
standards that a brand comes to be known for — which cannot be challenged. The brand,
thus, gets a certain invincibility with regard to these postures it takes. Like people look
back at it and say, ‘hmm, now there is a good brand ...’; Or like the Indian heritage…

Vineet: No, never. I am not going to use this heritage line. In practice, we have no
heritage. We will revisit heritage, when we have built the pride Mr Scientist talks of.

Utpal: And how will you do that? For pride to be there, you must like what you see, isn’t
it? But what do we really like so that we go out of our way to maintain it, sustain it,
protect it? Aisa kuch hai kya? Listen to what this designer is saying, “First tell me what
will you do if you have a foreign client and you are showing her Hanuman Mandir,
talking about how devout Indians are … and right outside the temple she slips on poo …?
Now add poor roads, the poorly managed traffic, poor healthcare, inefficiency, garbage
on the streets, flies and poo! She quotes GDP figures and I wonder if the prosperity story
is true, why do these things persist?"

“No amount of teaching Vineet: I agree. Totally agree. In fact, what she says
will help now. We need corroborates my earlier statement that the heritage line is only
preaching. Non-stop theory. See, my argument is clear. If you say the citizen is a
preaching. Ads that preach consumer, then the country is the product, and the brand is
politeness, use the toilet India. Now company-wallah, you take an ordinary user of
not the street, care for your Parachute hair oil. Simple; I am not even talking of LG
rivers, pay attention to the refrigerator. Does she maintain the product? Does she put
elderly.” kerosene in it? Tobacco in it? If she does so, the product will
cease to work for her, yes? So, if that roadside bead stringer lady in Jhandewala
Extension can protect her hair oil product, why does not this citizen consumer do so as
well?

But the designer lady’s argument is unfair. You are saying citizen will go and poo outside
the Hanuman Mandir, and then we will blame the government for not cleaning it, hanh?
Does this make sense?

When I talk to my people, I represent India, the Indian government. Achcha ho ya bura, I
am a government-wallah. Whatever I speak must be that I can defend if it is thrown at
me. And I will defend the poo-outside-mandir theory by blaming the citizen consumer.
So this has fallen flat. Next mail please ...

Utpal: (laughing) Ok. This one is a complement of the earlier one. This is an economics
teacher, “The garbage on my street has been there for the last four days. The waste
removal company is on strike. What wrong did I do? All that stench is making me sick,
not my local corporator. Also, please tell me why do families hire security guards when
the poor men have to use the public parks as urinals?”

Vineet: Very disgusting. I am keeping note of this. This is really unfair. The Indian
citizen consumer must realise that if the support staff like cleaners, security, watchmen,
sweepers, nullah cleaners, etc. are removed, the rest of India will die. Just die. No amount
of teaching will help now. We need preaching. Non-stop preaching. Ads that preach
politeness, use the toilet not the street, care for your rivers, say no to bribes, pay attention
to the elderly …

Utpal: I was telling you, work with the immediate issues impacting daily consumer life.
So, here are two citizen consumers saying how much pushed against the wall they feel.

The first: “I am a housewife with ageing in-laws, and two young daughters. Some days
when my mother-in-law’s asthma gets serious, I have to rush her to the general hospital
in the middle of the night. I don’t feel safe with the taxi driver; I don’t feel safe leaving
my daughters alone at home; I don’t feel safe leaving my elderly father-in-law alone. It
makes me angry that even during moments of crisis my thoughts are overpowered by the
need to guard their safety than their health. So, I cannot let my in-laws go out for their
walks alone. Whereas, everywhere else in the world, the elderly are safe to walk alone! I
feel my country owes me a sense of peaceful existence; but every time I think of my
government and the people running it, I only see and hear a cacophony of voices and
animated gestures that seems to be all about themselves. So where do you want me to go
and express my rights? I feel they won’t recognise me as a citizen with a right.”

Utpal then read the next mail from a senior director of a large company: “Yes, I do think
of myself as a consumer for I pay a very high tax and get nothing from the government. I
often ask, do I need a government at all! A security guard safeguards my home; a
generator ensures electricity; I pay toll of Rs 40 every day, I use my pump every day to
suck water from the ground as the municipal water comes occasionally, I sit in traffic
jams to allow priority to ministers. No one attends to the police emergency number if you
need any help — I did try it a couple of times to stop the blaring music from a near-by
club in the middle of the night. I manage to survive stray dogs on the streets with no one
to complain to; I watch horrified as my elderly neighbour gets beaten up for requesting a
stranger to not to park at his spot; I call for sewage help and pay to get the drainage
cleaned; I pay the street sweeper, a government employee, for his job description is to do
a very superficial job, but if you want your area to be cleaned, he needs extra! And after
all this, I also pay a hefty tax ...”

So, I wonder why do I need government? I pay 34 per cent of my hard earned money as
tax and think that it is a cost to pay for surviving in a democracy!”

“I wonder if image can be Utpal: Arre baap re! Hmm ... I am not comfortable with the
built without harnessing statement that the more tax you pay, the more facilities you
the workforce in the should get. My driver, who does not pay tax, needs the same
government machinery to if not more. I can use my hand-held phone to use a citizen’s
adopt change. I don’t
know why I feel this is not
a marketing issue at all!
This is by the people for
the people ... this is a huge
HR issue.”
portal to say get a birth certificate. My driver also needs access to a citizen internet kiosk,
dosen’t he? My maid needs schooling for her kid more than a tax payer needs. So pro
rating does not wash with me.

Utpal: So, there is this expectation built in with paying taxes. The expectation clause is
bothersome. But we have to face it.
Vineet: See, if we follow the organisation theory model, then we say India is an
organisation, the PM is the CEO; the President is the Chairman; the citizen is the
consumer; pay close attention Utpal. There are customers now.

Utpal: Customers?

Vineet: Yes. The whole corporate community are the customers. In fact, they are the
biggest beneficiaries. Think. I, an individual pays for electricity, I use it, matter ends.
Same for water, roads, telephone lines, etc. Now, a corporate customer uses all the
infrastructure and pays too. No doubt. And he recovers a part from the end consumer.
karna bhi chahiye.

But he has a reciprocal responsibility of a deeper nature. Let me explain. At the toll booth
last week, the credit card reader was not responding. Ensuring this infallibility is the
responsibility with the card-issuing banks. When I go to a swank Taj Mahal Hotel, the
card reader jumps to attention; but the same bank’s card reader at the toll booth or in
some small store in Lajpat Nagar will be a ramshackle one. Why so?

Read analyses Large companies have the mental comfort, hence, they need to put
Pride And Ownership some power behind the administration of their products and make
Unblemished India them universally accessible to everyone. Courier companies won’t
operate unprofitable sectors, foreign banks won’t give farm loans; Everyone is quick to
ask for level playing field, but are you levelling when you play? What use having a
certain brand in the country’s retail shelf, if that brand does not work for everyone?
Today, I somehow get the feeling that abundance and convenience is the prerogative of
only the SEC A and B pop strata.

So, a country and its image are a function of both public and private enterprise, and the
latter too is as accountable.

Utpal: See, in an organisation, you have department heads, a CEO and a management
committee, and they are expected to perform and deliver results. The person pushing for
performance is the parent company, who appoints these people. In the case of a country,
the reporting lines are to the electorate who appoints these people.

“You can’t have a billion-plus country with no accountability! Look at it very simply,
Vineet. When a bottle of Coke fails in Koramangala, trust me, the CEO, jumps to correct
it. And there are seven times as many bottles of Coke sold in India as there are people in
India! Likewise, every Indian must be the concern of the CEO of the country, period!
Vineet: And that also worries me, Utpal. I wonder if image can be built without
harnessing the workforce in the government to adopt change. I don’t know why I feel this
is not a marketing issue at all! This is not about brand equity or building a brand. This is
by the people for the people ... this is a huge HR issue ...!”

casestudymeera@gmail.com

(Businessworld Issue 1-7 July 2008)