What do Indian students in Ukraine, stray cows, the Great Resignation and hotels in Jharkhand have in common?
Ukraine, is winning the media and sympathy war hands down. Except possibly in Russia, Eretria, North Korea and Syria. But the harassment of Indian students within Ukraine strikes a jarring note and is probably an unintended consequence of the war fervour. ‘Save Ukrainian lives’ seems to have also translated into lack of care for African and South Asian students at the border and is raising questions about Ukrainian and European racism.
The banning of cow slaughter in certain states has resulted in a massive stray cow problem. Farmers and cattle herders have lost some income and looking after milch cows is economically unviable. This problem is now resulting in stray cattle now destroying farms. Negatively impacting farmer income is an unintended consequence.
As organisations responded to the pandemic and WFH has become the norm, the return is proving problematic in unexpected ways. The isolation and loss that people experienced has got many to question what is important in their lives. Many are also enjoying the lower cost of working from a small town home or simply not commuting daily. Going back to a physical office, metro living and that to at the same salary is no longer attractive. An unintended consequence of the opening up and revival of the economy, has been upward pressure on salaries and mass resignations.
When Bihar imposed total prohibition with very strict rules, anecdotal evidence says that hotels mushroomed in the border areas with Jharkhand. Those from Bihar, looking for a tipple, simply cross over, enjoy a night of revelry and cross back in the morning. Growth of the hotel industry in Jharkhand is an unintended consequence of the Bihar government’s policy of prohibition. Anecdotal evidence also points to increase in excise collections in the neighbouring state of West Bengal. Alcohol sales are well beyond what the state is known to consume on its own.
“The law of unintended consequences, is credited to Robert Merton (“The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action,” 1936). Tellingly he identifies ignorance, error, and the deliberate turning away of eyes from any unintended consequence, as the key causes.
The antidote to that is adopting a scenario based and ‘whole system’ approach to policy and action. As we map out and think through various possibilities, we are able to visualise many more of the potentially unintended consequences and factor them in. Of course there may still be stray problems. After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Have a favourite Unintended Consequence? Please share with the other readers.