Panacea...!

When you feel unwell, you seek advice of a Medical practitioner i.e. a Doctor who runs some primary checks and examines the fundamental indicators of health like heart-bits, blood pressure, etc. If your condition needs some serious attention and in-depth analysis supported by the results of some pathological tests, you are recommended to get those tests done from a pathology lab that the Doctor trusts. Once the results are available, Doctor prescribes medication to recover the status of your physiology that is under concern. The Chemist running a shop for those medicines and drugs reads the instruction on the prescription and hands you recommended medicine in appropriate quantity commensurate with the suggested dosage.

What is this so-called process of physical recovery is doing on a ‘Philosophical’ or psychological, to say the least, blog with a blogger who apparently detests the Medical field in general? Well, it’s an analogy! Consider the patient (which actually should be ‘impatient’, as a person in this condition is restless and longs the relaxed and ‘in the pink’ condition!) as our society that has caught some infection and needs care to recover from the disease the infection is causing. In a self-governing democratic civilization, society will look up to its Government as it tend to (or made to) believe that whatever happens with the society, the ultimate responsibility of that condition lies with the ruling body that is the Government.

Government machinery, no matter how enormous it is with almost the invincible kind of power and authority with the entire bureaucracy, always seems inadequate to address the requests of its ever-growing population and as a wise man once said, ‘Whenever Government cannot act, it enacts!’ and seeks the help of some agencies to lighten the burden of societal needs and ways to fulfill them. Such voluntary organizations qualifying as the implementing agencies to organize the programmes of social development need the fuel to run the vehicle. This ‘resource mobilization’ is sought from the wealthier section of the society that manages to maintain the status of wealthy by ‘optimum utilization of available resources’. Most of the time, this management funda itself is found to be the root cause of majority of the social issues that need the attention and solution.

Now picture this – You are the society and your health or wellbeing is Society’s health and wellbeing. Government is that Medical Professional who is eligible to offer you the panacea with the help of Pathologist’s (played by the Non-Government Organizations or NGOs) report about your metabolism. Ultimately it would be the pharmacist who would provide the actual remedy in physical form to bring the panacea to effect. This makes two things inevitable for the Pharmacy to sustain and develop – You, that is the Society keeps showing symptoms of disease perpetually and in great volumes, which otherwise means that a healthy and fit society is an alarming indicator for the pharmacist! And secondly the Medical Officer or Doctor should be maintained well so as to ensure that he, with the help of pathologist (NGOs) keeps on prescribing all those drugs and medicines to keep the sale of it on a rise forever which will contribute to the GDP in turn… what a patriotic gesture with a noble intention!

The catch (and the justification offered without being asked of) is; it’s the Patient that feels sick, approaches the Doctor and seeks the treatment and not the other way round. The entire medical nexus just responds to the situation sincerely reciprocating the needs of the diseased. It’s the patient that needs the doctor; the doctor doesn’t need a patient… bingo! People need Government, the Government doesn’t need people unless for collecting tax and voting! Agreed, despite this being a prejudiced half-truth, let us agree to it that it is the ill-(fated) person seeking recovery and comfort walks to the Doctor himself and the Doctor or the medical field never ‘invites’ a patient to fall in its lap… it just anticipates, projects and manages it!

So, what’s the solution if the Government, with the help of NGOs, making the Corporate to pay for the Social Development Projects that are not showing any reassuring progress and Corporate is well posed to recover the said ‘expenses’ from further ‘optimizing the available resources’? Who is going to break this vicious circle and how…?

Complete Self-preservation by doing more with less and better understanding the law of unintentional consequences could just be the key… to self-health as well as environmental sustainability! Example of Manik Sarkar, the only "Cleanest and Honest Chief Minister in the country” might just provide the insight and inspiration in this context.

Way to go…!