Deepak Lokhande: Lessons from Slovenia for India

About three months ago, one had the opportunity to visit Slovenia, one of the tiny nations that emerged following the disintegration of Yugoslavia in Europe.

The occasion was nothing great — their prime minister was going to visit India a couple of weeks later, seeking investments and the government agencies over there wanted Indian journalists to see the opportunities first hand.

Slovenia, for long, has been a socialist nation where the state took care of everything — your education, health and jobs. It was one of the more developed parts of Yugoslavia, well maintained roads being its chief calling card.

Soon after its independence in the early 1990s, Slovenia joined NATO, hoping that aligning with the US and its allies will put it on the world map. Joining the European Union was the next logical step that followed accepting Euro as its own currency. All this was made as the nation was in a great hurry to catch up with the rest of the world.

Sadly, Slovenia is yet to pick up the pace. Today the greatest challenge before the young nation is how to take care of its aging population that lives off state pension.

The PM, who runs a coalition government, tried to usher in reforms but the act that would increase the age for retirement was rejected in a referendum, despite approval by the parliament.

The complex democracy over there allows referendums as and when the people want them and all that the parliament can do is just sit and watch as the acts, however well meaning they may be, are defeated.

Today the nation wants 500 good doctors who will go into the villages, but can’t produce them. They have huge hospitals, and healthcare centres but can’t afford the maintenance of the relics and the government doesn’t have the money to fund new ones. Bereft of ideas, the state wants to sell everything it has to investors.

Any lessons for us? Plenty, as we celebrated our 65th Independence Day.

Much as we criticise our parliamentary democracy, its fundamentals are as strong as ever. Our constitution makers have provided for enough checks and balances to ensure that the system works smoothly. We need not be overtly critical of those finest brains of the time.

Most of us were in awe as the US elected Barak Obama as its president three years ago. Everyone spoke of his youthful looks, his lean physique, and almost all of us wondered who the Obama amongst us is.

Today as the US has lost its AAA rating, there may not be many in the US who will believe he is the man to lead them again. Obama was the product of the TV debates that win or lose you the presidential elections. We don’t need no Obamas, thank you, sir.

What we need though, is a cleaner and more responsible government, opposition parties that are not opportunistic and above all, a mature society that understands its role in transforming our own lives. Finger-pointing will only take us so far. It is now time to look within.