In general what do people notice about India when they first land there? Dirt, trash, and, lack of hygiene everywhere. This is almost universal. People who have marveled at the Taj have also commented at the squalor elsewhere in Agra. All this is not new. Neither is this a diatribe on Indian cities. Let us see if we can make them better. So towards this I came up with this idea.
How about creating a The most beautiful city in India contest?
Naturally since this is an emotional question for most people and hard to deal with objectively, we need to define some set of objective rules to come up with an answer. With that as a setting let me share my thoughts on this. Please share your ideas too.
- Which cities should be included in this contest? Cities with a population of 1 million and above. If you choose a smaller number the sheer number of cities that would qualify would inundate the system. Additionally the problems that the larger cities face are an order of magnitude more complex than the smaller towns and so the comparison would tend to favor the smaller ones.
- How often should this contest be run? I feel once every other year is a justifiable interval since it will give the winning city the glory of the title for a reasonable time without the civic administration getting too complacent to rest on their laurels.
- What is the award? Rather than awarding a trophy at the end of the two years, I think a rotating shield is better with the list of past winners.
- Is there a cash prize and if so who gets it? I am not sure about this part.
- What are the criteria? To start with cleanliness should be be given the highest priority with aesthetic values given lower weight. I guess most Indians would be thrilled if the streets are not littered with trash and people do not pee in public. As conditions improve the weights can be adjusted. Other factors that could be added as time goes on are pollution, congestion etc.
- How to prevent regression of winning cities (PART-I)? Once a city wins the award it will keep harping about this award twenty years later. Indians are good at it. My cousin told me that everything in mathematics comes from Vedic Math!! The solution is easy. A winning city can advertise the fact for a total of 4 years. Two years when it holds the shield and two more if they do not repeat as winners. There should be some legal teeth to this. How?
- How to prevent regression of winning cities (PART-II)? Part of this contest is also to list the three worst cities!! Cities may not care to win the award but shaming them is a powerful tool since the residents and the media will excoriate the politicians and civic administration. This is similar to the Ig Noble prize.
- What happens two decades after this contest is started? Assuming that this works and cities do beautify, it is possible that the worst three are really not bad places to live in anymore. Dream on buddy!! We will cross this bridge when we come to it.
- Weather should be eliminated from the equation. Shimla, Bangalore, Pune will always beat, Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai!! How does one take weather out of the equation?
- What is an objective panel of judges? Simple - media is best suited for this job since they have the best resources for this. I think one reporter from every major newspaper in every major city that qualifies for this contest plus national newspapers such as The Hindu and TOI. National magazines such as India Today and Outlook. TV channels. This list is not complete. Media must demonstrate size, minimum of (say) 1 million newspapers sold every day. What should the number be for magazine and TV stations? It is critical that a suitable panel is created. To prevent nepotism, all magazines should list their city affiliation (and be certified). They should not be allowed to vote for their city in any category. Oh, by the way, voting is is not via secret ballot.
No comments:
Post a Comment