If India has to get better than China, it needs more democracy not less, as some India-China observers suggest.
Anyone who has visited India and China, will tell you that the difference between the two is of a few decades, obviously China is ahead. Even the Prime Minister of India declared in 2005 that he wants to make Mumbai like Shanghai. I hope he meant only physical infrastructure because Mumbai has a history and culture of itself.
The observers also tell you in one word that the reason why India is not able to progress as fast as China is 'democracy', which delays decision making as it allows people to raise objections and demand compensation. I beg to differ. Here I will present evidence that India has far too many dictators and their whims and fancies delays progress and creates chaos.
Dictatorship begins at home:
Like all good practices begin at home, dictatorship in India also begins at home. Usually the male head of the family behaves like a dictator. He would decide things that need to be bought, where to holiday and what the kids career should be.
Like China, in India also one of the surest way to getting ahead in life is to get good education and given the size of the population there is stiff competition for every opportunity. So the kids need to study hard, many hours a day, some kids study 12 hrs a day from the age of 15 or 16. Nothing wrong with that, except that they do it not out of their own drive but because their father wants them to be an Engineer or Doctor. This goes on for many youngsters till they are 24 or 25, only the name of the exam changes.
How does it affect development? As the number of opportunities are limited only a few kids get through, the rest come out of the process after loosing a few years of life. On any given day in India there are millions of youth who are not contributing to the society in any productive manner, but only as consumers of education services. They simply sit at home and study for a exam. All this youth energy if free to contribute the way they think is right can transform the country in a little time, but the dictator will not allow it to happen. Meet any young person in India and the chances are that he/she has spent a year or two appearing for exams.
Another example of 'Dictator Dad', when the young try to marry a person of their choice the 'dictator dad' steps in and takes it upon himself to find a suitable match for his grown up boy/girl. These young people who are sensible enough to elect their own govt and are allowed to vote are not allowed to choose their life partner. The dictators find a solution within the limits of income group, caste, religion, region etc. The youth hardly get a say, they nod. Those who revolt are often murdered and it is called 'Honour Killing'.
Leaders as Dictators:
India has more dictators of mass appeal than all the communist nations combined. Even the leaders of China would envy the political leaders of India. India has a plethora of political parties and the leader of each party is a dictator. Almost all of them are Party President for life time or till they give up the position for their son/daughter or a kin. Their wish is a command for the party cadre. Even their perceived wishes are command enough to come out on the streets to protest. Some of these dictators are literally worshiped by party men everyday. They are placated by naming bridges, flyovers, markets etc after them.
No communist dictator can dream of such a thing. In India's political party, if someone is not happy with the dictator leader, he or she is free to break out and start their own party and become a dictator in it. And they do.
How does it affect development?
The dictators wish is a command for other party men, ministers and even bureaucrats. Hence all the development is concentrated in the few places which the dictators or their men favor, secondly everyone wants to be close to the dictator and keep him/her pleased.
Here are some examples of the dictators effect on development.
Even the aspiring politicians who are supposed to be close to people and understand peoples problems make a bee line to the dictators house to get nominations. So the politicians don't waste time in solving peoples' problems, instead they spend time keeping the dictators happy.
The area most severely affected by the Naxals, is mineral rich but lags far behind the rest of the country, the reason, no politician came from those areas who could find favor with the dictator or be a dictator in himself for his/her constituents.
The dictators, in order to increase their followers distribute favors, from free electricity to a law that requires grains to be packed in jute bags. For a poor and hungry country can let its grains rot in jute bags as the bags, unlike plastic bags, are not weather proof but not displease the dictators. Amartya Sen told you that famines don't occur in democracies, he was right. If India had more democracy, even malnutrition would not occur.
Why Indian dictators delay progress?
Lets comeback to the central point of discussion, the delay in progress. One of the significant ways in which Dictators in India differ from those in China is their decision making time. Indian society being so diverse and stratified, makes it difficult for the dictators to understand whom to favor and how to satisfy so many constituents. The constituents are not opposing each other or revolting against the dictator, they merely ask for their share of the pie. The share is to be decided even before the pie is made. Deciding how to share the pie takes a lot of time that adds up in the time taken to make the pie.
An easy example is the Common Wealth Games (CWG) to be held in Delhi in Oct 2010. Although everyone wants the games to take place, but everyone wants their share of the pie first. Hence the plethora of agencies responsible for the different works. The half baked pie gets created and distributed. Dictators don't make the 'sub-dictators' accountable for the shoddy work done. The work for CWG is far from complete.
Democracy is the solution:
The more democracy increases, the less dictators powers will be. More democracy will result in more people demanding rational decisions. Rational decisions results in rational allocation of resources and more efficiency. Democracy will allow people to ask for accountability. That is the path of development that India must take and as all good things democracy must begin at home.
Showing posts with label Democracy in India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Democracy in India. Show all posts
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Call your politician campaign
Hi,
We encourage individuals t tell their needs to office bearers of political parties in their locality by calling them on their office/mobile phone.
Tell them what you think of recent political decisions or what should be the policy that govt should take.
You can say things like, "If you want my vote, don't put a criminal as candidate"
You can say "budget deficit should be a issue"
or say anything that you like.
or you can say any of thee following:
There are other issues , I want Jagore TV/Print campaigns to take up
2) No student politics in Universities
3) Increase working hours for judiciary and limit holidays to same as central govt. employees.
4) Each Agriculture University should be allowed to operate a FM radio channel.
5) Supplements of News papers, should be separately billed and should not be allowed free. All supplements print bakwaas.
6) No Tax waiver for IPL company and players, as they are not playing for the country.
7) Website for govt departments should show expenditure, I want to know how they use the tax payers money.
If you can add more, please write them in comments.
We encourage individuals t tell their needs to office bearers of political parties in their locality by calling them on their office/mobile phone.
Tell them what you think of recent political decisions or what should be the policy that govt should take.
You can say things like, "If you want my vote, don't put a criminal as candidate"
You can say "budget deficit should be a issue"
or say anything that you like.
or you can say any of thee following:
There are other issues , I want Jagore TV/Print campaigns to take up
2) No student politics in Universities
3) Increase working hours for judiciary and limit holidays to same as central govt. employees.
4) Each Agriculture University should be allowed to operate a FM radio channel.
5) Supplements of News papers, should be separately billed and should not be allowed free. All supplements print bakwaas.
6) No Tax waiver for IPL company and players, as they are not playing for the country.
7) Website for govt departments should show expenditure, I want to know how they use the tax payers money.
If you can add more, please write them in comments.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
India at 60: Still a Half Baked Democracy
Why the elected representatives don’t feel the need to serve their voters? Because they were ‘selected’ to be elected.
In a democracy, by definition, people are free to elect their representatives. Practically speaking, that’s not the whole truth. As any person selling cold drink or detergent knows, the consumer can be forced by limiting the choices available. Political parties in India, work more like Network marketing companies.
The ground reality of Indian Democracy:
Let’s say, there is a state legislative assembly election round the corner. Each political party has to decide the candidates for contesting elections in each constituency. So, the probables within the party, show their strengths to the party bosses (in the state or centre) to win nominations. Their strengths are not necessarily their popularity among the party workers or their popularity among the voters or their policies for the people. Strength can be money, connections, caste/religion calculations etc. That’s why, a nomination is called getting the ‘ticket’, as like a travel ticket they are often sold for cash or other favors. So the persons whom the people can vote are ‘selected’ by the party bosses, rather than being ‘elected’ by the party workers. So, we see the probables, making rounds to party head quarters or party bosses rather then convincing their constituency voters. People ‘elect’ the person ‘selected’ by the party bosses. Then, once the people have elected the ‘selected’ candidates, the Chief Minister is not elected by the elected representatives. Keeping the same considerations, the Chief Minister (CM) is also selected by the party bosses. Then the council of minister, which should be appointed by the CM based on competency (as they are executives), is also done in consultation with party bosses. This is only half the democracy that was envisaged by the founding fathers of India.
How it started:
There’s not much point going into historical facts, but lets have a look at the leading political parties. The Congress, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, in her initial years, faced enough opposition within the party to fully abandon internal democracy within Congress. The tradition is still followed. The BJP, it started so small that there were very few candidates to be put up, and there was little need for internal democracy. When they grew big, I guess, they thought internal democracy would be dangerous for their vested interest. Communist, as the name suggest, will never do it. Regional parties are ‘one man’ parties and that (wo)man doesn’t want to loose her/his grip.
Why elected person fulfills the wishes of party bosses rather than the people:
The probables know that getting the nomination (ticket) is not so much in the hands of constituency voters (including party workers) as much as it is in the hands of party bosses. So he/she don’t have to use their brains to find solutions for peoples problems, but to make connections in the ‘Network’ above them and below them. Even after they get elected, they know that re-election is by the same process. So they are supposed to ‘pay back’ the party bosses who gave them the opportunity to ‘serve people’. In a Network-marketing company, you share part of your profits with the network. So the race among politicians is not of making better policies for their people, but of making better network. Politicians know that if they keep their boss happy, they are sure to get promotions. Promotions are also influenced by ‘Network-dynamics’ and not by the work done for the people.
Why this is also the root of corruption:
Once the ‘selected’ person gets ‘elected’, he/she is under pressure to do something for the network. Their first job is to distribute profits in the network. What the elected representative does for the people of the constituency comes secondary, the network comes first. Hence they have to find ways of making money and sharing with network, otherwise they will not be ‘selected’ again. So the politicians have made it a business that whenever there is any transaction (fair/unfair) of the government with any entity outside the government, they must get some benefits. Now this business has grown to such an extent that its beyond their control to stop it. So much so, that even if they have to get their routine fair tasks done, they need to trade benefits. The genie is out of the bottle.
Why national parties are loosing to regional parties:
If a python starts swallowing its tail, it ends up nowhere. This is what is happening to the national parties in India. The tail end of the party, the party workers, have been finding it difficult to get to the right place in the network. They find the network too big to give them any benefit. It first happened at the places farthest from Delhi, the head quarters of national parties. Party workers in Tamilnadu, for example, didn’t want their fate, or the fate of their representative to be decided in Delhi, so they choose to form a Regional party. At least now their fate is decided in Chennai. As in Network marketing, in politics also, a small network is easier to get into and means less profit is to be shared in the network. In the era of coalition politics, this also increases their bargaining power. The same thing happened in Andhra, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Orissa, J&K etc. The list is getting longer by each election.
How and why to cure:
Total democracy is the only solution. If the national parties want to survive as national parties they will have to cure themselves. Total democracy would mean that political parties establish fair and transparent election mechanisms within the party. This is must for posts within the party and for any elections in the public domain. People who wish to contest the elections should get the opportunity to canvass and convince their constituency within the party, i.e. the party workers. By this only will the political parties gain back the confidence of the people and their workers. This will remove the emphasis on networking and bring back the focus on policies and governance. This will also ensure that leaderships and talents are nurtured. That’s the only way, else India will soon have 30 regional parties making a coalition of the willing for the purpose they seem fit. The half baked chapatti doesn’t tastes good and causes indigestion.
Abhinav
14 Aug 2007
In a democracy, by definition, people are free to elect their representatives. Practically speaking, that’s not the whole truth. As any person selling cold drink or detergent knows, the consumer can be forced by limiting the choices available. Political parties in India, work more like Network marketing companies.
The ground reality of Indian Democracy:
Let’s say, there is a state legislative assembly election round the corner. Each political party has to decide the candidates for contesting elections in each constituency. So, the probables within the party, show their strengths to the party bosses (in the state or centre) to win nominations. Their strengths are not necessarily their popularity among the party workers or their popularity among the voters or their policies for the people. Strength can be money, connections, caste/religion calculations etc. That’s why, a nomination is called getting the ‘ticket’, as like a travel ticket they are often sold for cash or other favors. So the persons whom the people can vote are ‘selected’ by the party bosses, rather than being ‘elected’ by the party workers. So, we see the probables, making rounds to party head quarters or party bosses rather then convincing their constituency voters. People ‘elect’ the person ‘selected’ by the party bosses. Then, once the people have elected the ‘selected’ candidates, the Chief Minister is not elected by the elected representatives. Keeping the same considerations, the Chief Minister (CM) is also selected by the party bosses. Then the council of minister, which should be appointed by the CM based on competency (as they are executives), is also done in consultation with party bosses. This is only half the democracy that was envisaged by the founding fathers of India.
How it started:
There’s not much point going into historical facts, but lets have a look at the leading political parties. The Congress, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, in her initial years, faced enough opposition within the party to fully abandon internal democracy within Congress. The tradition is still followed. The BJP, it started so small that there were very few candidates to be put up, and there was little need for internal democracy. When they grew big, I guess, they thought internal democracy would be dangerous for their vested interest. Communist, as the name suggest, will never do it. Regional parties are ‘one man’ parties and that (wo)man doesn’t want to loose her/his grip.
Why elected person fulfills the wishes of party bosses rather than the people:
The probables know that getting the nomination (ticket) is not so much in the hands of constituency voters (including party workers) as much as it is in the hands of party bosses. So he/she don’t have to use their brains to find solutions for peoples problems, but to make connections in the ‘Network’ above them and below them. Even after they get elected, they know that re-election is by the same process. So they are supposed to ‘pay back’ the party bosses who gave them the opportunity to ‘serve people’. In a Network-marketing company, you share part of your profits with the network. So the race among politicians is not of making better policies for their people, but of making better network. Politicians know that if they keep their boss happy, they are sure to get promotions. Promotions are also influenced by ‘Network-dynamics’ and not by the work done for the people.
Why this is also the root of corruption:
Once the ‘selected’ person gets ‘elected’, he/she is under pressure to do something for the network. Their first job is to distribute profits in the network. What the elected representative does for the people of the constituency comes secondary, the network comes first. Hence they have to find ways of making money and sharing with network, otherwise they will not be ‘selected’ again. So the politicians have made it a business that whenever there is any transaction (fair/unfair) of the government with any entity outside the government, they must get some benefits. Now this business has grown to such an extent that its beyond their control to stop it. So much so, that even if they have to get their routine fair tasks done, they need to trade benefits. The genie is out of the bottle.
Why national parties are loosing to regional parties:
If a python starts swallowing its tail, it ends up nowhere. This is what is happening to the national parties in India. The tail end of the party, the party workers, have been finding it difficult to get to the right place in the network. They find the network too big to give them any benefit. It first happened at the places farthest from Delhi, the head quarters of national parties. Party workers in Tamilnadu, for example, didn’t want their fate, or the fate of their representative to be decided in Delhi, so they choose to form a Regional party. At least now their fate is decided in Chennai. As in Network marketing, in politics also, a small network is easier to get into and means less profit is to be shared in the network. In the era of coalition politics, this also increases their bargaining power. The same thing happened in Andhra, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Orissa, J&K etc. The list is getting longer by each election.
How and why to cure:
Total democracy is the only solution. If the national parties want to survive as national parties they will have to cure themselves. Total democracy would mean that political parties establish fair and transparent election mechanisms within the party. This is must for posts within the party and for any elections in the public domain. People who wish to contest the elections should get the opportunity to canvass and convince their constituency within the party, i.e. the party workers. By this only will the political parties gain back the confidence of the people and their workers. This will remove the emphasis on networking and bring back the focus on policies and governance. This will also ensure that leaderships and talents are nurtured. That’s the only way, else India will soon have 30 regional parties making a coalition of the willing for the purpose they seem fit. The half baked chapatti doesn’t tastes good and causes indigestion.
Abhinav
14 Aug 2007
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