Why don't we speak up and get involved?

What is the meaning of development and progress? Where are we headed as a country, as a system, as a community, are some questions that refuse to leave me. I am at an age where looking after aging and ailing parents is one of the most important tasks that I do almost on daily basis apart from dealing with my own aging. So, I end up interacting with many doctors, specialists who are supposedly the best, in their respective fields. Not long ago I also got an opportunity to look in to a legal matter (I am a qualified lawyer) that my family was fighting for many years after their land was compulsorily acquired for a national highway. To my dismay, when I opened the file, I figured that we were fighting in a forum that has ceased to have jurisdiction long back and none of the parties involved either knew or cared enough. When I brought this up with our lawyer, the gentleman was appalled himself and was cursing the presiding officer for being careless, leaving me absolutely dumbfounded at one level. When I was discussing this with some learned friends who know the system, I was told that I could not put the blame on the lawyer as the poor guy apparently does thousands of matters and a mistake of this nature can happen with anyone and that I should not read much in to it and pursue now whatever remedy is available to me . I was also told by many that he is a competent man, which to some extent I also endorse, that there has been a genuine oversight in our case and one can’t really find fault with lawyers as they are not paid well in small towns and there is only so much that anyone can do in a given case. Basically, I was told and made to believe that this incident does not in any way reflect upon our lawyer’s competence or integrity or commitment to our brief. While this discussion was happening, I also chanced upon a discovery in a related issue that many matters are being filed in a court which does not have pecuniary jurisdiction and again to my horror, no one was actually horrified and gave me tens of other examples where things were not happening, the way they should have been. I was given numerous examples of existing laws which are against the principle of natural justice, where existing provisions of law are in flagrant violation of the constitutional mandate of fundamental rights but go unchallenged or are challenged unsucessfully or are awaiting their fate as matters are sub-judice. Matters where our Supreme Court acknowledges that justice warrants change in the law but refuses to intervene on the basis of technicalities despite almost having a carte blanche under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to do complete justice. This power can surely be invoked when at the receiving end are hapless farmers and people whose land is being compulsorily acquired under the state’s power of eminent domain and people are left with no right of an effective judicial remedy. A case where unreasonable classification has been made on the basis of the purpose for land acquisition and when the same is being acquired for national highways people are left high and dry, at the mercy of revenue officials for getting a fair and just compensation without getting even a single opportunity where judicial mind is applied on the merits of the case. Essentially the point I am trying to make is that no one seems to get alarmed or even surprised when matters of such nature are brought to the attention of people who understand the system and everyone in fact on the contrary tries to justify the lapse or error or negligence or whatever one wants to call it depending upon their perspective. I am a qualified lawyer, so could figure out the lapse and legal infirmity in our matter but I shudder to think of all those who have no choice but to go with and blindly follow the lawyers that they hire. I do not think that once a lawyer has taken a brief , insufficiency of fees or overload of work can be pleaded as a reason to justify for not being able to pay adequate attention to the matter according to my understanding, whatever it is worth. I don’t think it would be entirely ethical to say that what I am doing is all that is humanly possible especially if what is being done is not adequate and leads to undue delay, legal lapses and eventually denial of justice. This was a system that I had some clue about so could intervene. The following experience shows my plight and helplessness, where I am stuck in an alien system. We live in a part of the country where tertiary medical care is not quite available. Covid has done a big favor to all people living in these semi urban, rural and remote areas of the country as the specialists in the cities have started doing tele consultations and therefore are available and accessible to people not living in the cities. I could get my father the very best medical advice because of this facility of tele consultation. However, I also ran in to some trouble when one doctor, whose advice is critical for my father’s well-being and who we need to consult as and when there is a situation, told me that since he looks after 5000 patients it’s not possible for him to be available or accessible all the time. I felt heartbroken, utterly helpless and also angry. It reminded me of the poor lawyer I mentioned about earlier, who since was doing thousands of cases, couldn’t humanly be expected to be one hundred percent sure in every case about his own efforts, sincerity and commitment. The fact that the people in small towns are not willing to pay their lawyers what lawyers think they deserve, people don’t realise that they unwittingly have relinquished the right to be represented to the best of the lawyer’s ability. The clients are getting in a situation where they have to be satisfied with whatever best the super-busy lawyer can do in the given circumstances. I was in an identical situation again but here I was talking about my father, his health, his well-being, his life and I couldn't be satisfied with only what the super busy doctor could offer me due to lack of time on his part. I needed to be able to reach him when it was needed without any ifs and buts. I wanted to turn around and request this doctor gentleman that maybe he could start to charge more (he was already every expensive) and see instead 2500 patients and be accessible or available to them in time of emergency. Wouldn’t that be a better deal for everyone and make all the patients feel safe and secure? I couldn’t muster courage to propose that as I knew I ran a very real risk of being thrown out which I could ill afford, given the situation I was in. What I don’t get is the compulsion these people (whatever profession, I am discussing just two as I am dealing with these two systems on daily basis) have to take on more work than is humanly possible? Another thing which is absolutely beyond my comprehension is the acceptance by us mere mortals of these people being super busy therefore put up with whatever is doled out. The third point I keep mulling over is as to why doesn’t the system intervene? Are we not shortchanging everyone in the process? We know we have the capability to deal with a problem, a situation, but due to paucity of time we do not do justice to them. As a result, delay in imparting justice, miscarriage of justice and fatalities due to lack of access to timely medical advice is common but the victims aren’t there to tell their tales. We all have accepted the way the system works and if anyone even raises a voice he or she is called either utopian or an entitled, privileged fool. I think intervention also becomes a little tricky for the government as our government hospitals are overflowing with patients and reeling under shortage of doctors, wherever one might go. We expect our government doctors to work 24 hours in a day. I have seen first-hand situation even in AIIMS, the most prestigious hospital in the country and it’s the same in all OPDs across the country I am given to understand . Every time I go to a government hospital I can’t sleep for a few days, as the doctors over there are always almost mobbed despite which most of them work tirelessly. Most of them are kind, show empathy and see as many patients as they can. They are delivering despite the systemic flaws. When I go to the courts, judges are burdened with the herculean task of doing hundreds of matters a day. If justice is expected then we are assuming that both the judge and the lawyers of both parties have read the files and done their homework. I personally feel that it’s not humanly possible for anyone to do that kind of reading relentlessly day after day after day. As a result, the quality of work suffers and justice gets diluted or even denied . When the system expects these doctors and judges to work incessantly 24x7, with what moral authority can it even think of regulating how much work can private doctors or lawyers do so that the services they provide do not become deficient in any form. What is the idea of having a fundamental right to access to justice, to speedy justice and to health, if the systems meant to enforce these rights are not adequately equipped and themselves are overworked and overstretched beyond imagination. The state of our access to justice and access to health care services would obviously continue to suffer till we strengthen these systems and we the people will always be shortchanged. What do we do with progress, development if we can’t fix these basic services? I am not expecting a perfect system, all I am hoping for is a system where human life and dignity is valued for everyone with equality, as our constitution professes to ensure. If a person of my socio-economic strata and intellectual capital can feel lost and betrayed am sure most of the people in this country are feeling worse. Why don’t I hear enough hurt, wounded voices clamoring for better systems? The system needs to address these problems comprehensively at all levels and this is going to take consistent commitment, efforts and resources for many years. We need to make sure we produce adequate number of well qualified doctors every year and for that we need to have world class medical colleges’ infrastructure, commensurate with the population of this country, world class medical school teachers, funds and technology apart from intent. Efficient, effective regulatory system in place is a must to ensure the medical education is world class and quality is not compromised. We will have to need to fix our primary and secondary education also so that the system is fed by appropriately equipped students when they enter the professional colleges. We need to fix the quality of teaching, have dynamic secular, scientific curriculum. We need effective, accountable execution at every level to translate the desire in to an outcome. We need to fix our judicial system, have more judges appointed at all levels. Make the system of appointment of judges at all level merit based and transparent so that the independence of the system can be ensured. We have to make sure we have enough judges at all levels so that the quality of justice dispensation is not compromised. We have to regulate legal education also more efficiently so that the quality of lawyers joining the system is by and large the same coming from different institutions. Alternate dispute resolution mechanisms have to be made more reliable and efficient on the ground also. On the paper they are efficacious, fast and effective but in reality they are also turning out to be another burial ground for disputes. Lots of things on our platter which need fixing, till then can we as citizens please up our game to increase our collective empathy, sensitivity and accountability? Can we, the people, in the meantime, who have the wherewithal to make a difference, start by making small changes? Can we, all of us, become more engaged as a citizen, as a member of the community we live in and show more sensitivity and empathy? Making money and making more money cannot be the only pursuit of life for people who are well educated and well placed in life. I am sure, if we all do our bit, the society and the system would reflect that sensitivity and empathy and we can at least last without getting harmed and damaged till systemic structural changes are made by the state.