The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr. M. S. Haq

Television channels such as, ETV Bangla (India), Zee TV and Sony are now-a-days engaged in among other things, organising mega type competitions for children and young people of India along with young people from other countries (in certain cases) who are interested in, and willing to, participating those competitions that are at present largely confined to domains of songs and dances.

The competitions are guided and regulated by, among other things, policies and rules established for the purpose by respective organizers of those (competition) programs. Factors such as, exposures of competitors and their respective performances via TV screens to the viewers and prizes for successful competitors - all carry values of different magnitudes, tangible or intangible or both, at individual, societal and other levels, relative to time, space and other variables. The judges selected for those competitions have, so far and in an average sense, found to be known personalities in their respective fields of expertise. It is pity though - they (I mean, judges, to whom it may concern) are not immune from, among other things, deficiencies when it comes to their behavioral transactions with young participants during the competition in certain cases.

A large number of guests including inter alia parents of competitors are usually invited to those programs. One of the notable guests in one of the recent Zee TV programs was India's rail minister Lalu. He was an added atraction for viewers of the program (to whom it may concern) because it provided them, among other things and in a sense, an additional opportunity for gauging and appreciating - in relevant areas - depths and breadths of the charismatic political leader. Minister Lalu had used the occasion as, among other things, a platform for promoting Indo-Pak relations in a commendable and intelligent manner, he did that while talking to one of the competitors who was a Pakistani. Congratulations!

It is expected concerned TV channels will invite more and more Lalu type leaders including inter alia former prime minister Atul Bihari Bajpayee. Prime Minister Bajpayee, I came to know from one of the published write-ups of Prof. M. Zahidul Haque (Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka), is one of India's best gazal writers.

It will not be out of place to mention here: program planning, program organization, program presentation and other activities associated with those ETV, Zee TV and Sony products have so far found to be superb in many respects. Further, it has so far appeared to me, conductors of those programs are, among other things and in an average sense, smart, articulate and viewers' friendly - they possess a high degree of self-awareness. Congratulations, Once again!

Against the backdrop of various aspects of those programs, discussed and not discussed so far in the article, the role of transactions - that have been taking place between and among the competitors of those TV programs and the viewers of those programs via (for example) ICT aided feedbacks on the performance of competitors - in peoples' empowerment cannot be ignored especially at the time when the world is moving progressively towards a kind of reintegration and when people to people contacts have started ataining new shapes and dimensions or started gaining a fresh momentum or both in pursuits of say, greater understanding and cooperation between and among world people for collective survival, security, continuity and progress, relative to time and other variables.

In light of above, the development can be considered as an interesting one for number of reasons. A few of them are:

1. Given that the viewers, competitors, organizers and others represent, among other things, mindsets and backgrounds of various forms and nomenclatures, the above development could facilitate the creation of additional opportunities for a greater number of people to appreciate and promote the region's arts and culture in a wider, more effective and more constructive manner through the foreseeable future. A windfall from subsequent developments in relevant areas could inter alia be instrumental be in: promoting a deeper understanding and realization of cultural identities and cultural diversities at local, national and other levels; activating further or reactivating further the human system's responses towards augmentation of people-people synergy (I would like to call it in that way) for say, repositioning human values in the present day life, living and continuity continuum for more tolerable results and outcomes; strengthening further the people's constituencies for an overall progress and prosperity at individual, collective and other levels; and ensuring further their peaceful coexistence.

2. It could help create a greater access for millions and millions of people - considering the present day number of program related feedback by the viewers (for example, the case of Sony program concluded recently) - to participate, in a more direct, substantive and result-oriented manner, in both decision-making and decision-making processes associated with beter governance, poverty alleviation, anti-corruption and other competing priorities of relevant countries, per se. Interestingly, a windfall from the development (on a continuous basis, though) could be instrumental in bringing about a significant reduction in the per capita cost of ICT (as applicable) use at local, national and other levels and in enhancing ICT density (I would like to call it in that way) in above countries, for an instance.

3. It could help enhance sense of competition at individual, collective and other levels and create additional opportunities for constructive engagement of youths, particularly, unemployed youths, in productive or more productive ventures, per se. In such an event, the countries concerned and others might witness, in varying degrees though and relative to time and space: a reduction in crimes including inter alia terrorism; an environment more conducive to proper human development including inter alia development of human resources; a reduction in the number of cases of religious extremism and human rights violations; an improvement in domains of say, social responsibility and corporate accountability; and a more productive form of social cohesions at conceptual, operation and other levels.

4. Given the dimension of popularity of winners of the competitions, it appears to me (at times), if for example, those young winners decide to take part in national or local elections at least immediately after winning those competitions, they might have good chances for winning those elections - under certain conditions, though. One of those conditions is: the elections should be conducted on the basis of present day practices. One of the underlying assumptions here is: the value of entertainers in contemporary political markets is on the rise and a continuous rise of their value in those markets could facilitate, among other things, the development of a somewhat new generation and more sustainable support base for them in the domain of people's representation at local and other levels.

Taking into cognizance above and other related considerations, it can be said emerging political landscapes for entertainers are taking, in one form or another, a more solid shape than ever with and without the help of say, ICT and that could go a long way in assisting them (I mean, the entertainers) in the improvement and sustenance of their respective shares in politics and governance at local, regional and other levels, among other things. But the question is: how best and quickest those entertainers turned people's representatives (to whom it might concern) could be instrumental in bringing about qualitative and quantitative changes in the country's governance, in a significant way, for an instance? I am asking the question because the quality of answers to that question could inter alia be instrumental in determining eventually the demand side and the supply side of entertainers' market in the domain of politics and governance.

5. The TV programs have demonstrated so far - in a sense - the influence and power of media and ICT when it comes to mobilize and sustain people's ownership and participation in pursuits of accomplishing certain objectives in a meaningful and constructive manner in poor countries, for an instance. It is an encouraging development But some of the challenges in that respect are: how to mobilize media-cum-ICT opportunities for a rapid development of poor countries, involving inter alia scaling up the quality of life of poor people? How to recharge the delivery network of development assistance with a maximum help of say, ICT in pursuits of enhancing the per capita entitlement of for example, poor people when it comes to those assistance? How to establish, operationalize, sustain and promote more reliable and more productive program (I mean, development programs) monitoring and feedback regimes with the help of what I would call media-ICT compact, per se? How to bring development closer to world people than ever at the present stage of information age? How to transform relevant ICT opportunities into comparative, competitive and other advantages in support of people centered development?

The need of the hour is: world people, governments, donors, civil society, development agencies - including inter alia World Bank, IMF, UNDP, UNFPA, WFP and UNICEF, and others should cooperate and coordinate with each other in a best possible fashion they could muster in pursuits of reconfiguring their effort and resources for the best possible use, as well as outcome and to the maximum satisfaction of all concerned, per se. The mater should be taken more seriously and in a more professional manner than ever by all concerned. It is the time for all to operate above the present ego level (used in an unproductive sense). It is the time for all to become more realistic, more objective, more tolerant, more farsighted, more enriched by entrepreneurial skills and more result-oriented, to mention a few. Otherwise, poor countries could lose information age opportunities in a miserable way, among other things.

The last word: my beat wishes to all including inter alia the competitors, the winners, and the TV channels. Keep up the good work.