"Mera Bharat Mahan- world force in information tech" but complete lack of tech savviness where it matters.

Imagine the situation – a person, a lady to be specific, goes missing. Nothing unusual, scores of people go missing in this country on every given day. No great news, definitely not something having much potential for being milked by the media. And here lies the crux of the issue. The matter ends up as the leading news on the front page of a premier daily (MumbaiMirror- 19.6.2006).
Well, the news is about a lady who goes missing and after about one and a half years, it is discovered that she had been murdered by her paramour. This piece of news has a tenor which suggests that the authorities concerned with investigating the matter (read police) displayed the sort of tenacity which is normally reserved for pit bull terriers and in general did a great job, and so, perhaps, as a result the case came to be solved.
I certainly do not have much to complain about the tardy pace at which the investigating authorities could accomplish their onerous task. Their lot is such that any case solved by them in itself is worthy of serious appreciation, leave aside a murder case. This is not so because of lack of aptitude or industry; in my personal opinion most of the policemen have sufficient intelligence and are in general distinctly meticulous. The problem lies elsewhere, and for the obfuscation of the real issues regarding those problems, I hold, that the responsibility lies not only at the doors of the regular crime beat reporters but also their higher ups, the venerable bureaucracy (read the planners and the policy makers), the government and the public.
The issue is much deeper than it appears. It is one of those cases where the authorities would have automatically been especially alert and would have taken the pains of going the proverbial extra mile in trying to find a cogent explanation. Consider the following points. Firstly, the lady in question happened to be an Inspector of Income Tax, a Central Government Employee with considerable executive authorities – certainly not qualified to be defined as mere hoi-polloi. Secondly she happened to be a widow who had been given the employment on compassionate grounds after her husband’s demise- such unfortunate circumstances which result in some kind of mitigating benefit almost always entail risk to the beneficiary from relatives / acquaintances, basically due to jealousy, perceived loss of control etc; this kind of situation was reported very extensively during the aftermath of the Kargil War when the war widows had received substantial pecuniary benefits. Thirdly, it seems, as reported in the news report that the lady concerned had been posted in such a position where she was evidently wielding considerable authority; this is evident from the report that she was in the habit of extorting money from some builders.
Now, one fine day the lady goes missing and after a lapse of about eighteen months it is found that she was murdered by her paramour; the body was mutilated and dumped at a place which happened to be the neighbouring district. The breakthrough comes not because of anything else but because the body had not gone missing – it had been recovered within a month of the murder. The moot question is, how and why it took so many months to link up the recovery of an unclaimed body with the fact that a lady had been reported missing from neighbouring district- the lady was definitely not an ordinary woman lost in the vast expanse of anonymity. Well, the recovery and identification of a dead body is one of the most vital pieces of evidence in the Indian jurisprudence and despite that having been accomplished there was a delay of almost seventeen months before the matter could be solved at the level of the investigating unit. Definitely, conviction would be an entirely different ball game – more on that in some future log.
I happen to post this log and all of you who happen to access it, do so by virtue of the information revolution that has changed this whole world and converted it into an e- village. But, evidently our law enforcement agencies, investigating authorities and many other potent agencies (authorities blessed with the power of governing us in general) have remained singularly untouched, unstained and untainted by the burgeoning advances in technology. Well the case having remained unsolved for eighteen months definitely is a pointer.
Now, coming to the crux of the issue, my case is not the failure of the authorities in putting an effective information system in place which could have precluded such eventualities were cases remain unsolved due to lack of availability of crucial data. But, the crucial issue is the abject failure of the media in pointing out the reasons. The fourth estate has come to wield substantial influence and attendant authority and therefore has grave responsibilities thrust on it. The abdication of its responsibilities in giving a proper direction to the other conventional pillars of the nation / democracy is totally unacceptable. Unless the public makes a fervent demand, it may never get the kind of governance that it should get; and the media is not only the voice of the public but the situation is such that it has to play the role of its tutor as well. Perhaps some wise news hound will read this and take pains to point out the deficiencies and perhaps that may make a change. Till then, forget about the lady who happened to be an executive of the Central Government and think of the multitudes of ordinary Indians who are counted only as voters, and nothing else. What happens when they go missing? Well, nothing. Yes, literally nothing happens- at times they are not even fortunate enough to end up as mere statistics. The reason is very simple why tarnish the records of a police station with unnecessary cases.
Another point to ponder- try losing your international credit card. If you lose your credit card anywhere in the world, believe me, an ordinary banker, with the right aptitude and tools, will be able to locate so much data about you in a matter of seconds that it will leave you aghast. Try doing the same with your cell phone and again the same thing will happen. And here in “Mera Bharat Mahan” a dead body of a woman is recovered and remains unidentified for eternity despite the registration of a case in the neighbouring district, of a lady gone missing; later on, after about seventeen months, it transpires that there is some connection.