Transport as a Right and the Need to Re-Orient India’s SRTUs

1. Introduction

Transportation is central to the nation-building process. Its role in economic development is significant in terms of its multiplier effect on employment and growth in GDP. From the lens of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen’s ‘capabilities’ and ‘functioning’ logic, mobility should be considered as an equal opportunity tool and , by implication , a fundamental right. Access to low-cost and wide transport networks enhance the capability of individuals to move from one place to another. This opens up wider opportunities, expands their social and economic reach, and delivers several other advantages that increase their ‘function’, resulting in productivity gains for the economy.

“When transport systems are efficient, they provide economic and social opportunities and benefits that result in positive multiplier effects such as better accessibility to markets, employment, and additional investments. When transport systems are deficient in terms of capacity or reliability, they can have an economic cost such as reduced or missed opportunities and lower quality of life.” ¹

Within the transportation sector, the road segment has been a major driver of India’s economic growth since independence. Its cost-effectiveness makes it “the most preferred mode of transport.” Moreover, the “level of penetration into populated areas” plays a critical role in integrating India’s society and economy.

“Road Transport has emerged as the dominant segment in India’s transportation sector with a share of 4.5 per cent in India’s GDP in 2005-06. The Road Transport Sector accounts for about 87 per cent of passenger traffic and 60 per cent of freight traffic movement in the country. Easy availability, adaptability to individual needs, and cost savings are factors that go in favor of road transport. Road transport also acts as a feeder service to the railway, shipping, and air traffic.” ²

However, there are areas of concern that cannot be ignored. For instance, despite India having the world’s second-largest roads network, there is still what can be termed “transport poverty” in the country. Transport poverty refers to a condition where no transport option is available that connects people’s capability to fulfill their needs for a decent life or spending more time and amount towards traveling pushes them below the poverty line and social isolation ³. Further, it limits their social mobility resulting in intergenerational consequences, including on income deprivation. The economic potential of marginalised individuals (e.g., low income, low education, limited digital literacy, precarious employment) who do not have access to public or private transportation remains unrealised ⁴. International literature has also pointed out the need for Universal Basic Mobility, with attempts already underway in parts of Europe to move towards providing free public transport for all within specific geographic locations. ⁵

In a diverse and large sub-continent like India, new things emerge in a small span of time having skipped many steps along the line. A theoretician is in a better position to identify these and provide missing links so that one builds a transparent and a systematic academic bulwark. When a political party like AAP succeeds in bringing to the centre stage the issue of corruption, there is a need to step aside and unravel the relation between corruption and the Indian society. In this regard one could make use of available scholarship. For instance, well known Sociologist Shiv Vishvanathan maintains that corruption is the lubricant that makes the Indian society run. Two things occur simultaneously here. One is the fact that there is rampant corruption in India. While the other is that the society is functioning alongside.

sansarse bhagey phhirty ho bhagavan ko tum kya paogey. Iss lok kobhi apana na sake ush lok me bhi pachhpaogey

“Despite this bias, there is an imbricated involvement of both in this process to the point of indistinguishability of their different positions. One who wanted to work from inside the system made it to the IAS and chose a posting in the tribal region of Madhya Pradesh. The other one predictably took to activism. I still find them several years later, each one more informed about the other with whom they disagreed. I can only understand the relation or the lack of one between Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal through this paradigmatic relation of my friends. Their differences are like differences between two teams, but what is important is that both of them are in the same arena to play. Thus, theatre is an imperative need to theoretically enlarge the domain of this new phenomenon to arrive at a better understanding, thereby thickening the plot.”

Returning to the main argument, though corruption stared the Indian voters in the eye it escaped a serious consideration. Just as Hume brought to light the injustice of colonialism, AAP has awakened the Indian public eye to acknowledge what is in front of them. The underlying sub-text of this gaze is that they can handle this social evil, and even acknowledge the capacity to remove it. Thus, the capability, particularly, the ability for action has contributed substantially to this new sight. With this axiom in place, it is time to move on to more nuance internal details.