The red beacon lights on cars do wonders in India: they clear traffic, giving government officials speedy – and on India’s crowded roads, privileged – access to wherever they want to be; and make duty officers stand up and salute. All this is because the red beacon light is considered a symbol of superiority, a sign of power and authority. All this will come to an end on May 1, when the red beacon light loses its magic.
As The National reported yesterday, Narendra Modi's government has decided to ban the use of red beacon lights on cars used by dignitaries, including the prime minister, the president and the chief justice. These lights can only be used by emergency vehicles.
A long-overdue move, but welcome in a country where the VIP beacon has only widened the gulf between public servants and the public. The government rightly said that vehicles with beacon lights “have no place in a democratic country”.
Yet the beacon lights are only symptomatic of a wider problem. If India’s government truly wants an equal society, it also needs to do away with a host of other privileges enjoyed by dignitaries and high-profile officials, including elaborate security covers which, like expensive jewellery, have come to symbolise personal power and status.
More importantly, the government ought to loosen the stifling tentacles of bureaucracy, a word that is often used in the country interchangeably with corruption and inefficiency. Perhaps, when prime minister Narendra Modi talked about “minimum government, maximum governance”, he had in mind the recalcitrant bureaucracy that does not serve the people but rules over them.
This stifling bureaucracy does not only scare away potential investors, but it also takes a toll on people’s lives, by making it harder to have staple things delivered: the efficient delivery of water, electricity, roads and education are all, ultimately, affected by bureaucracy. If the shackles of bureaucracy were loosened, the upkeep and maintenance of roads might be easier – and then there would be no need for beacon lights at all.