According to the Arthashastra, good governance includes calmness and order which is often achieved through the cooperation of different facets in a community. The to begin these factors is the first choice. The first choice is the main one held in charge of everything that is happening in a community. In Indian contemporary society, the first choice or the ruler plays an essential role as he's the main one leading the nation and therefore, must exhibit a great deal of virtues. As the Arthashastra's definitive goal is to maintain the welfare of folks, called Yoga-kshema, the leader of the world must work for this goal. This goal must be the main priority even contrary to the leader's own needs. This is exactly what true service is focused on.
Considering this basic principle in the present-day Philippines, all the "kings, " from the Barangay Captains to the Leader, must be dedicated in portion the people. These "kings" should exercise true service not because they will gain something from it personally but since it is designed for the betterment of folks. Quoting from Leader Noynoy's campaign series, "Kayo ang boss ko! (You are my manager!)", exemplifies this process.
Aside from rendering service to the people, the king's deference to the law is the second factor. As said before, the king must be virtuous and must be an example to his people. As what mentioned in the first section of the Arthashastra, "when the ruler is productive the servants become dynamic following his example. If he is too remiss, they too become remiss along with him. " So, if the ruler appeared up to by the individuals, humbly follows rules and regulations, so will the people.
Also, the ruler should be morally upright in every way. The Arthashastra provides various traits that identify a good leader and almost all of stresses on integrity and trustworthiness. Kautilya gave much focus on this problem as problem ravaged the Indian world during his time. Even through the passage of time, problem still remains up to the present society. According to the Hong Kong-based Political and Economical Risk Consultancy (PERC), the Philippines is the fourth most corrupt country in the Asia-Pacific Region. That is truly alarming as the Philippines not only manages to lose its budget to private individuals, it also manages to lose possible foreign buyers. Now, if the president is a part of this corruption in the country, what happens then to the goal of serving folks? Because of this, the Arthashastra's invokes the visitors to have a ruler worthwhile enough to be entrusted the welfare of the country.
As said before, the kings of the country not only mean the Chief executive, but also the low-ranking officers, such as the Barangay Captains. These kings should exercise service for the betterment of folks. As a result of this, these folks are just as important as the Chief executive, hence, they also needs to possess the attributes stated by the Arthashastra about the King. Based on the article, Summary on Kautilya's Arthashastra: It's Modern day Relevance, since these officials will be the ones in charge of a project's budget and the details of the work, there should be somebody who will be scrutinizing every part of the official's work not just the bills but also the result of the project. This will diminish questionable expenses or inefficient implantation of the job due to the official's irresponsibility.
In the Philippines, these representatives will be the ones from the Senate and Congress who are given pork barrel for project execution. In Earl Parre±o's article, Pork, pork barrels of the congress were actually intended to steer clear of the bias priorities of the nationwide federal government to rural areas. Because of these, every area is assured of your budget for beneficial projects handled by these officers. However, because of problem, these congressmen do "money-saving tactics" to get kickbacks out of the budget which produces substandard jobs. To exemplify this, Parre±o placed an international airport that was presented with fifty-seven million pesos (Php 57 million) in 1993. But, after three years, only 1 hundred meters of the runway are paved. Regarding to Rep Teodoro Casi±o, "in the 2004 elections, the administration spent around Php 7. 3 billion in authorities money to ensure Mrs. Arroyo's success over presidential aspirant, Fernando Poe, Jr. ".
Aside from this, there is also an issue with regards to the attendance in Congress. Added to that is that some of the congressmen are not even hearing the speeches given by their fellow congressmen.
To remedy these, accountability and transparency is what Kautilya requires of the officials. Looking currently Philippine situation, it is of great dismay that the majority of them are not doing what they should be doing because they are elected to vitality. It would appear that they have forgotten why these are constantly in place.
The Arthashastra also addresses the magistrates of their jobs. In the 4th chapter it declares that, "The magistrate should be impartial, and choose a case, staying neutral between your King and the things. " This means that they must be unbiased atlanta divorce attorneys trial or circumstance they are handling no subject who folks are involved. This shows true justice: punishing the guilty and releasing the innocent - an ideal justice system where everyone is judged evenly. The Philippines is indeed still very far from this ideal justice system. Take the Maguindanao Massacre previous 23 November 2009, where more than fifty (50) journalists and civilians were killed like pets because of politics. Until now, no one has been convicted because the suspects are visible in the area, if not, the complete nation. Justice hasn't yet been achieved. Some situations lasted for decades like the Dacer-Corbito Increase Murder Case but still no one has been convicted.
Another element in successful governance is the existence and accomplishments of jobs that will increase the nation. Inside the Arthashastra, Kautilya shown concrete proposals that must be implemented properly. The main of the is the prioritization of education. This is because in any culture, having a great number of human capital is essential to allow economy run and improve. Within the Arthashastra, Kautilya brought up the necessity of extensive training of the folks in various domains which resulted to a good final result in those times. At present, the people know how important education is. In the framework of the Philippines, although awareness is there, problems on education remain. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, only twenty-nine percent (29%) of the total tertiary get older Filipinos are studying in college or university. Numerous media articles have been made about the lack of instructors and classrooms in the united states, especially in the rural areas. There were problems in these areas because the day we can keep in mind and yet they remain present. This just demonstrates that the awareness of the challenge is not enough to resolve these. Action is what is absolutely needed.
However, for a job to be concretized, proper deliberation must first be done by all the representatives to decide whether the task can cause good to the people and will probably be worth the budget allotment. Through this technique, instant-decision-making is impossible and many people are given the assurance that the tasks have are approved for the benefit for the society. Within the Philippines, we are made to believe the politicians are "deliberating" the tasks. If it's true, we do trust they are doing it properly.
Also, to make sure the people of every official's commitment to service, Kautilya says that the nation's stakeholders should be the ones to assemble feedbacks on the administration's performance. Moreover, the first choice should take care of his subordinate official whether they could actually do their job or not. Through this opinions gathering, an evaluation is achieved in which it stands as a critique for the supervision. And really should the administration observe the critique, it will stand as a basis for improvement for the a long time. After the evaluation of every public based on their shows, these officers should go through either a campaign or a demotion. This uses the idea of punishment and compensation. Following this notion is important because aspiring market leaders who believe in true service will be urged more by the incentives. Within the Indian society during the time of Kautilya, punishment for every corrupt standard must be done no matter how high their positions are. On the other hand, if one works well on his job as an official, the government will either make him long term on his position or promote him. If this idea is to be implemented within the Philippines, a wide array of positions will be at the mercy of vacancy.
Lastly, although Arthashastra's definitive goal and responsibility is the welfare of the individuals, Kautilya still includes guidelines in his treatise the maintenance of the environment and other living things. That is due to the fact that the Indian population prices all living things for their belief.
Kautilya on Economics: Theory and Application
According to the Arthashastra, there's a strong connection between good governance and the overall economy of a country. As explained in the Summation on Kautilya's Arthashastra: It's Contemporary Relevance, "the finish is economical governance while political governance is the means" (Section 2). This means that proper management and good governance impacts the economic aspect of a nation. The Arthashastra then assists as basic suggestions for the proper management of the market of the country. Knowing how to manage resources, such as monetary funds, can donate to the introduction of the overall economy.
We have stated before that corruption is still within the modern-day society and in the Philippines. The Philippines have been afflicted by corruption because of lack of good governance. However, in order to lessen or eradicate corruption certain key points must be implemented in order to get good governance which have been stated in the last section. And since, the political governance is the means for economic governance, there's a need for good political governance.
Kautilya explicitly states that,
adulteration of grains, natural oils, alkalis, salts, scents, and medicinal articles with similar articles of no quality shall be punished with a fine the sales or mortgage loan of articles such as timber, flat iron, brilliant stones, ropes, skins as superior, although they are actually inferior, will be punished with a fine (Chapter 5).
This clearly claims that piracy of the merchandise shouldn't be done and practitioners of said work should be handled accordingly. Furthermore, the need for products whose quality is respected enough or better is due to dependence on increasing and building up of trade with other nations. In addition to achieving this financial development, based on the Arthashastra, is to guarantee the good quality of products, accompanied by affordable rates which would not only benefit the consumers but the companies as well.
Another factor that is given emphasis by the Arthashastra is agriculture. "The need for irrigation and providing amenities could be studied up on important basis. Organized cropping habits and irrigation systems accompanied by Kautilya is what today's experts need to identify". Kautilya also recognizes organic farming due to its non-usage of chemicals. Also, aside from this, additionally it is essential to learn different agricultural processes because it can help in the creation and safe-keeping of sources that'll be used by the people. Regarding the Philippines, agriculture is widely multiply as our environment is exquisite for farming and that the lands are extensive enough for plantation use. Because of this, farming is considered as a very important sector and it is a major part of the country's economic development. However, during the last couple of months, typhoons have ruined various vegetation which led to a massive lack of agricultural products. This had affected the farmers and the huge investments are being lost. That is one problem that the united states constantly faces which is necessary to find ways on how it can be fixed. Better irrigation, improved upon farming techniques and preparedness for such situations can be a major help in reaching this.
Lastly, Kautilya portrayed in the Arthashastra a nation would reap the benefits of trade if certain "safeguards and plan measures" can be found (Section 7 and 8). Thus, making certain that the trade plans of the country are implemented and are not abusive for the other functions would ensure the benefits of the nation as it pertains to trading. This then helps bring about trust and well-being for both get-togethers.
Conclusion
With the elucidation by Kautilya, in his book the Arthashastra, about the conditions of good governance, we insist that the federal government officials look into the world's oldest e book on management that contains modern-day ideas of governance. Knowing that such ideas have been with us for days gone by more than 100 years and that it could be put on present-day societies places us in an improved perspective of how to possibly attain the sought-after serenity in administration. With this knowledge, the way to our country's good governance has been clarified.
