Saturday, September 10, 2011

Inspiring Leadership: President and Governors in India

President and Governors in India are not elected people but ceremonial heads nominated by political parties. ( President is elected by electoral college of elected representatives but Ruling party can nominate and get their candidate elected). Governors are political appointees. Looking through current list of Governors, it looks like that this post has become a retiring option for the politicians.

When trust in politicians is all time low in India, Should our ceremonial heads at least be inspiring personalities?

One current leader In India who inspired billions is Kalam, ex President . Apart from his many achievement he was awarded Bharat Ratna , highest civilian award in India.

Should future Presidents of India be Bharat Ratnas? There are only 4 living Bharat Ratna recepients in India : Kalam, Ravi Shankar, Lata Mangeshkar & Amartya Sen

Wouldn't any of above four will be more inspiring than current set of political leaders aspiring to be President of India?

Shouldn't highest civilian award is a good eligibility criteria for nominating candidates for President by Political parties

Taking the reasoning further, should other civilian awards such as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri etc be made eligibility criteria for other political nominations such as Governors.

Should Governor position move away from being a retiring post for political leaders and bureaucrats and instead be given to inspiring people.

Skeptics will ask whether this will increase quality of leadership or lower the standards of civilian awards?