Not draconian, but disciplinarian

China’s Social Credit System does a “Black Mirror” on its citizens, screamed all headlines today. In a real-life co-incidence to the Netflix show, China’s SCS is rigorously tracking citizens in every aspect of their lives through a tough rating system, and has barred a whopping 11million flights basis the scores. 

A whole lot of millennials I interact with, are appalled at the levels of intrusion – what right does the government have in the actions of its law abiding citizens, they debate with me and elsewhere. A younger colleague went so far as to take a negative stance for a video story she had planned around the SCS a couple of months ago.

While I appreciated her take on the SCS, my views differ, and I beg to do so. I do strongly believe China has taken a fantastic step in the right direction – anything else notwithstanding.

Citizens have a personal and a social persona and must hold themselves accountable in all the social and public dimensions of their lives. Maybe even personal conduct, if it has a bearing on others, outside of family units.

Now, comes the moot question: Is India in need of SCS? Will Aadhar be the building block?

I would say yes to both these. We most certainly need SCS. An effective SCS will bring in the much needed sanity in civic and public life in India and bring uniform discipline across people from different socio-economic backgrounds. Integrity is a premium coinage these days and I believe that is what we need – are we jumping traffic signals? Are we spitting and defacating on the walls of roads? Are we using the pavements for reasons other than walking? Are we misbehaving in various other small and big ways in queues, public places, public transport etc? Are we throwing waste on the roads and other public places? Are we defacing our historical monuments? Are we pushing and shoving in public places?

If one were to do a stringent and diligent assessment of public conduct here, I guess more than 90% of the Indian populace would be disqualified and barred from any respectable respite for the rest of their lives – and this cuts across backgrounds. Financial and social misdemeanors – small and big have no taboos or moral qualm attached to them anymore. A good SCS, if implemented by political and legislative will, is the panacea.

Imagine being denied a bank loan due to cumulative misconduct and lapses tracked in my non-financial life– while this might be unnerving, this is a huge fear and eventually an inspiring factor for me to be a person with impeccable credentials at all times.

So, I would say China’s SCS is not draconian, but disciplinarian. A step towards enhancing trust, and trustworthiness of citizens. In India, giving out the Aadhar number in all our key documents and transactions, is what I strongly believe, a building block for SCS. We are trackable, traceable and most importantly, accountable. More power to that.