Reforming and Restructuring Indian Political Process

[ramana]

Ravish wrote

If there had been no free and fair election in India, it would not have been possible for so many different individuals belonging to different political parties and formations to be the Prime Minister of India. So the sweeping statement that free and fair election is a pipe dream is not correct.

In a vast country like India , with so many different political parties having diverse ideology, there is every possibility of minor aberrations in the democratic electoral process, but that does not mean that the system has failed.



Having said that one has to acknowledge that in the last sixty years, the progress of the nation in many important sectors have been much below the acceptable level. This failure cannot be attributed to the flaw in our system of governance. It has been due to the collective failure of the entire political class.

Today corruption has become a major issue and it is greatly influencing the process of governance , irrespective of which political formation is occupying the drivers seat. In the last 15 years or so, the regional parties have become an important factor and no government ca be formed without their support. This has given rise to various pressure groups within the ruling coalitions. In the process it has encroached upon the accountability responsibility of our political leaders. It has in fact weakened the decdision making ability of the governments that have been formed in the recent past at the Central level.[b/]



Therefore, the need of the hour is to restructure our political formations before the next general election. [b]I call upon the distinguished members of this forum to start a debate on the issue with some original thoughts, keeping in view the complex nature of the electorate and the complex nature of the problems that face the nation today.

I request a discussion on the points highlighted in his above post namely:



- Progress of the nation has been sub-par in many areas

- This failure can be attributed to the entire political class across all parties

- Corruption is very pervasive and eating into the body politic of India

- Raise of regional parties has led to pressure groups that led to action paralysis, erosion of accountability and weakened the decision/policy making ability of government.

[ravish]

Ramanaji,

Two days have passed and there have been no postings ,so I am taking the liberty in giving a start to the discussions.

The answer to your first question:-

Since adoption of our Constitution in 1950, India has been a welfare state. Every year, huge resources have been allocated to ensure that the poorest of the poor gets a better life. In the process, those higher up in the social ladder were also to benefit automatically. During the successive 5 year plans , this has been the main objective of our policy makers. So during the last six decades, a number of schemes have been lunched to ensure social and economic development of the most vulnerable section of the society. If one goes through the voluminous detailed documents available on the various measures that have been taken to reach these noble objectives, we find that no aspect has been left out. The schemes covered food, health, education , employment etc.

Now when we look back and take stock of the situation , what do we find?

There is widespread hunger and poverty, affecting over 200 million of our citizens. A large number of them have no roof over their head, continue to be illiterate and somehow manages to remain alive. The infant mortality rate in India is same as that of sub Saharan Africa. India continues to be the home for the largest number of poor people in the world.

What has gone wrong? Is it our vast increase in population, or is it corruption and faulty planning that has resulted in this poor performance.Do we lack the expertise and trained manpower to bring in the required socio economic development of the poorest of the poor.

Other members may kindly respond to carry forward the discussion.....

[ramana]

Any takers yet?

[ravish]

Unfortunately there have been no takers during the last 12 months. Probably the for the rich and educated who are on the Internet in India and Indians abroad, this is not a subject of any public interest.

[Capt Manoj Singh]

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfoV1MxCSvA"]An interesting video that I would like to share[/url]

[ravish]

The reforming and the restructuring of the Indian political process have already started at a great speed since the just concluded General Election. It was fought more on a presidential line rather than on a parliamentary line. Shri Modi could mobilize the voters on his own in almost all the States of India. It was surprising to see that h3e could corner a sizable number of votes in a State like West Bengal where the BJP does not even have a proper organization . Similarly, in UP the caste and religious factor did not work, as is seen by the performance of BSP and SP. same has been the case in Rajasthan . The regional parties are almost finished and it is only the two national parties viz BJP and Congress that are now visible.

For a vibrant democracy, there needs to be a working opposition party. At present the Congress with its 44 odd members is in a limbo. It is time for the regional parties to fold up their organization and join the two National level parties. In the process, we may see many more effective one party government in the future. We had the coalition experience, which resulted in delayed decision making and indecisiveness on many important national issue. The mood of the general public at the moment is to have accelerated development of the Nation. In this race, caste, religion and regional factors have lost their importance.