One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward!

One of the disquieting features of Indian politics and public policy is the colossal damage done to the rural and agricultural sector by successive governments, all in the name of the people. If the explicit objective is to undermine the rural agriculture-dependent population, our governments could not have done a more thorough and effective job!

For decades the babus and politicians did their best to undermine agriculture. In the late 50’s and 60’s, collective farming was the fashionable goal. Congress party even attempted to emulate the soviet model, and only timely intervention from sane voices saved the day. In an insane moment in the 1970’s, even trading in food grains was sought to be nationalized, and orders have been issued! Mercifully, the scheme soon collapsed because of rampant corruption and incompetence of government.

Public policies have always tended to hurt farmers and producers. Compulsory procurement of food grains at below-market rates, phenomenal corruption and inefficiency, unfavourable terms of trade, restrictions on trading movement and storage of farm produce, all undermined agriculture. Rural credit institutions are extremely weak, and most farmers are forced to borrow from usurious money lenders. Fair markets in general do not exist, with the exception of the Mandis of Punjab and Haryana (thanks to the foresight of Choutu Ram), and marketing committees in most states are sources of political patronage and corruption. The scams in cotton procurement are a good illustration of government bungling.

The saddest part of the story is the unconstitutional, vice-like grip of politicians and bureaucrats over farmers’ cooperatives. The story of the dairy cooperatives in Andhra Pradesh is a good illustration of corruption, incompetence, malice and gross perversion of the Constitution perpetuating rural poverty.

The Constitution clearly guarantees the fundamental right of citizens to form and run cooperatives [19(1)(c)] and to carry on any trade or business [19(1)(g)]. The state has ignored this constitutional liberty for decades, and controlled the cooperatives in a most brazen and arbitrary manner. In time, corruption and incompetence of government bureaucrats led to collapse of most cooperatives, forcing some rethinking. The Brahma Prakash Committee (1990), the model cooperative law (1991), the Vaidyanathan Committees (2005) and several other expert reports emphasized the need for autonomous, democratic and professional management of cooperatives free from government control. The UPA government’s NCMP reiterates such commitment.

In 1995, AP was the first state to enact the Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies Act (MACS Act), recognizing the constitutional liberty of cooperatives in respect of societies which do not have government share capital and do not seek government assistance. Out of the eleven district cooperative milk unions, 8 district unions and about 5000 primary milk societies chose to be registered under MACS Act. The results over the past few years have been stunning.

The dairy cooperatives under MACS Act more than doubled their turnover in five years, and profits and net worth soared. The farmers get the highest price (Rs.195-225 per kg of fat), and profits are shared by members as price difference and bonus. The cooperatives provide other free services – artificial insemination, feed, veterinary care, and medical facilities for the families. In contrast, the dairy cooperatives which remained under government control collapsed, losses mounted, and are under liquidation. Farmers are forced to sell milk to private companies which formed cartels and offered less price (Rs.175 per kg fat). The government-controlled dairy federation is a white elephant with large, over-paid, inefficient staff and endless corruption. The federation offers even less price than the private companies and both provide no other services to farmers.

Given this backdrop, the AP government took an extraordinary decision this month. By an ordinance, all the successful, well-functioning dairy cooperatives under MACS Act were brought under the repressive 1964 Act, all elected managements were dismissed in the dead of night, and bureaucrats took over all the 5000 cooperatives at primary and district levels. The reasons cited by the state are laughable if the consequences are not tragic! The government, under whose control and watch all district unions collapsed, claims that the law is to improve the financial performance of diary cooperatives and serve farmers! With ‘friends’ such as these, farmers need no enemies! In the face of the Constitutional guarantees, proclaimed public policies, and compelling and incontrovertible evidence of financial collapse under government control, it is shocking that states still keep playing these political games for control and corruption in this day and age! Farmers end up losing heavily, and this loss often marks the difference between life and death in times of distress.

On issues like this, the hapless farmers will eventually win the legal battle, thanks to independent judiciary and a written Constitution. But even then, enormous struggle has to be waged not to improve formers’ conditions, but simply to stay where they were! This is a classic case of one step forward, two steps backward!

The states’ actions in agriculture, cooperatives, education, healthcare and local governments are going to determine the economic future of rural India and urban poor. Governance in states, rural incomes, constitutional liberties, and citizen-centric administration are inextricably linked. And yet, even in states which are ruled by major parties with a powerful stake in the Union government, vindictiveness, unconstitutionalism, adhocism and an attitude of ‘might is right’ seem to prevail. The right hand does not know what the left hand does! Clearly our economic future increasingly depends on altering political incentives and reforming governance.

Outcomes in School Education – Testing Boards

The Compiling and release of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2005 is a landmark event in the evolution of school education in India. Pratham, a reputed civil society organization conducted a nation-wide survey of school-going children in 485 rural districts. 776 small and big groups along with about 10,000 volunteers participated in this massive exercise, and assessed the elementary education outcomes on a large, randomly selected sample of nearly 400,000 children in 9521 villages.

The findings of ASER are revealing, and give us valuable insights into the state of our elementary education. While the information pertains to school children in the 6-14 years age group, it also helps us understand the state of secondary education by revealing the state of the foundation in early schooling. Even more significant, the quality of teachers and their commitment and accountability can be inferred from the quality of outcomes in schools.

The results of ASER-2005 are mixed. There is happy evidence of increased allocations to, and emphasis on, school education through various programmes like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid-day Meals improving enrollment and retention in schools. 93.4 percent of all children (6-14 years) are at school. There are of course, inter-state variations. But the overall situation has improved. 75.1% of all children are in government schools, and 16.4% are in private schools. About 3% are in madarassas and alternate schools, leaving 6.6%, or 11 million children, out of school. More than half of those out of school were never enrolled.

But the learning levels of the children in schools reveal a far more distressing picture. 34.9% of all school-going children in 7-14 year age group cannot read even a short, easy paragraph (level 1; Std 1 level difficulty), and 51.9% cannot read a simple story (level 2; Std 2 level difficulty). Even in the 11-14 year group, 31% children cannot read the level-2 passage. While private schools fare better than government schools, the difference in outcomes is not high. While over 65 percent of children (Std II-V) in government schools cannot read a level-2 passage, over 52 percent of children in private schools too cannot read! Clearly, the problem transcends the usual analysis of public sector vs private sector debate.

Performance in Arithmetic tasks is equally distressing. Over 41% of children (7-14 years) cannot do a simple two-digit subtraction; over 65% of children cannot divide a three-digit number. Even among the children in 6th and 7th standards, 40% in government schools and over 33% in private schools cannot do a simple division. For a country which prides in its technical manpower pool, proficiency in mathematics and ability to provide back-office services to the world, this is an alarming situation.

Clearly, the children who are either genetically better-endowed, or are fortunate in being born to educated parents or having caring, competent teachers do very well, and are able to find jobs demanding high productivity. Some of them successfully compete with the best in the world, and bring laurels to India and make us proud. While the best products of our education are a match for the best in the world, the average is appallingly low. That is why, nearly 80% of our gene pool is untapped and the productive potential of the bulk of people is wasted. The results are low productivity, poor skills, and massive unemployment even after several years of schooling, or even college education.

The ASER – 2005 also dispels some other myths. The states traditionally regarded as better-governed are doing as badly as others, or in some respects even worse!

But there is hope. Our society values learning, and parents are willing to pay any price for giving their children a head start. ASER shows that the debate on education is now moving a few notches up, and is focusing on outcomes. A few practical steps can dramatically improve school education.

First, at the very minimum, we need State Testing Boards and a National Testing Board to regularly monitor education outcomes and provide invaluable data.

It is axiomatic in education that what is important is what gets tested! These Testing Boards could adapt the best practices elsewhere to suit our conditions. Standardized assessments practices in the US, France, Germany, Sweden, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Japan offer as excellent models. Our own NCERT has developed both the “National Curriculum Framework”, and “Minimum Levels of Learning”, both of which can form the basis for evolving sensible criterion-referenced assessments across the country. The current examination system is extremely flawed. Pressure on teachers to improve pass percentages often leads to rampant mass-copying. I remember a Chief Minister extolling the virtues of his minister for enhancing the X Std. pass percentage from 26 to 94 in six months, little realizing that these inflated numbers only demonstrate the ingenuity of teachers under pressure, not better outcomes! Testing Boards can first take up random sampling tests and identify the weaknesses in outcomes and facilitate strategic interventions for remedial action. Such a low cost initiative will build pressure on the system to deliver, and sensilize parents and community. Stake-holder empowerment through School Boards, and nation-wide standard tests for university admission can follow.

ASER 2005 has provided an invaluable tool to improve school education. There is nothing more important for enhancing our productivity and giving opportunity to poor children. Will the government act?

Crisis in Education

In the debate on employment guarantee in recent months, the real issues of skill promotion, empowerment and education were largely relegated to the background. We need to recognize that the well-intentioned employment guarantee is at best a short-term palliative to help combat the pangs of hunger and starvation of the desperately poor. But these palliatives mask a harsher reality. The state has spectacularly failed in skill promotion to make our people fulfil even a part of their potential. A vast majority of Indians have not been given a decent chance to be productive partners in a modern economy. In this day and age, it is absurd to think in terms of unskilled manual labour providing productive employment to the bulk of the people. While a small part of India is forging ahead with visions and dreams of 21st century technology and prosperity, the rest of the nation is relegated to perpetual penury and driven to despair.

The Indian state stubbornly failed to address the issue of education over the past six decades. Even in primary education, which is now recognized as a fundamental right, we continue to focus only on enrollment and retention of children in schools. There is hardly any effort to provide quality education which guarantees at least minimal levels of learning after a few years of schooling – fluent reading, ability to write, and simple arithmetic. Even these basic tools of literacy are unavailable to the majority of products of primary education in India, let alone the capacity to logically analyse issues and apply knowledge to real life problems.

When primary education suffers such neglect and the goals set are so unambitious (mere enrollment and retention), it is no surprise that secondary education has been all but ignored in our scheme of things. Only now there are some very feeble, belated signs of recognition that we cannot be a nation of primary school graduates, if we are to compete in modern world. An equivalent of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan is now being considered for secondary education. Even here, the emphasis is on building minimal school infrastructure (building class rooms) and hiring school teachers, and not on ensuring outcomes in terms of quality of education and preparing school graduates for productive and skilled work in modern economy, or for university education.

The appalling state of our school education is a surprise to many well-educated, highly skilled Indians. There was a time when our state schools, though few in number, were helping the youngsters who could access them realize their potential. That is how a whole generation benefited in the quarter century after freedom. But as the state’s attention shifted to short-term populism and a doles culture, real nation-building and basic services suffered. Education and healthcare along with public order, justice, basic infrastructure and natural resource development were the inevitable casualties. This failure of state, coupled with the attraction of English as medium of instruction, led to the flight of middle classes to private education. Much of this private education is of indifferent quality, and often incompetent teachers taught ignorant kids in a language they did not understand. Despite this, many parents feel empowered because their patronage sustains the school, and there is some degree of accountability.

The more enlightened parents ensured better education to their children either by spending more, or by working hard to give their kids a head start. It is no accident that the bright products of technology often are children of school teachers themselves. But in most private schools, the quality of education is as appalling as in state schools. The poor domestic workers and rikshaw pullers who are willing to sacrifice a great deal to pay tuition for their children are getting a raw deal most of the time. Simultaneously, as the middle classes avoided state schools, there is no pressure to improve quality of education. Even teachers rarely send their children to state schools where they teach! Stakeholders of state schools have generally no voice or knowledge, and those with voice and power have no stakes in schools. A vicious cycle has thus set in.

This crisis is further compounded by the failure of higher education. The few IITS and IIMS often mask the abject failure of our universities. In terms of numbers, our output is impressive: 330 university-level institutions, 16,000 colleges, 10 million students, 350,000 teachers, 25 million graduates and post graduates in liberal arts, and finally our USP – 6 million scientists, engineers, physicians and technologists. But the real tragedy is most graduates lack basic knowledge and skills. There was a time when many public-spirited Indians and intellectuals used to argue that the state should focus on school education, and higher education is not a priority. Increasingly, the synergies between school and university education are evident. We now do not have university graduates of reasonable quality to supply good school teachers. And schooling is so inadequate that most university students lack the basic skills and knowledge needed to benefit from higher education. The vicious cycle is complete.

There is a silver lining in this extremely distressing scenario. Our kids are ambitious and hard-working; parents are willing to sacrifice a great deal for education; society values learning; we have a civilizational ethos of scholarship, and there is at least the basic educational infrastructure. A few simple, practical innovations can dramatically transform this bleak scenario. But our politics and public discourse should learn one simple mantra first: education, education, education.

Wrong Diagnosis; Inadequate Treatment

The recent sting operations exposing sleaze of MPs certainly stirred the nation. These exposés pose a formidable challenge to the legitimacy of our political system. But the Government’s frenetic efforts to provide state funding for elections, is a classic prescription of placebos for a deep-rooted political malaise. Public funding in itself, like placebos or vitamins, is harmless, even desirable. But this knee-jerk response does not address the underlying crisis. Two issues need elaboration.

First, already there is significant indirect public funding available to parties in India. The Election and other Related Laws Amendment Act, 2003 was a remarkable piece of legislation accomplished by the good sense of the then NDA government and the opposition Congress. In the wake of the Tehelka episode, Congress party constituted a committee headed by Dr Manmohan Singh, and its report was accepted by the then government, resulting in this law. Explanation 1, under Section 77 of the R P Act, 1951 was effectively repealed, removing exemptions which made a mockery of election expenditure ceiling; full tax exemption was made available to all individual and corporate donors for political contributions; disclosure of all contributions of Rs 20,000 or more was made compulsory; and a provision was made to give free air time to all recognized parties in all channels, including local cable networks. The last of these provisions has not come into effect as the rules have not been made for over two years! Once fully implemented, tax-free contributions and free airtime creatively used in public and private channels will substantially meet the legitimate election campaign requirements. In any case, public funding will have to be within the ceiling prescribed by law (Rs 10 lakhs for Assembly and Rs 25 lakhs for Lok Sabha in most states). Therefore, public funding, though desirable, is of marginal added value.

Second, the high cost of elections is not for legitimate campaigning purposes. Most estimates indicate that about Rs 3 to 5 crores is spent by candidates for Lok Sabha and upto Rs 1 crore for Assembly in many states. In a cycle of five years, about Rs. 10,000 crore is spent on Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. While about 30% of it is legitimate campaign cost, the rest is spent illegitimately to buy votes, bribe officials and hire muscle men. This large expenditure does not necessarily guarantee victory, but strictly lawful means and modest expenditure guarantee defeat in most cases! Any public funding can only help meet the legitimate campaign costs, and does not address the vast, growing illegitimate expenditure.

Why is so much money spent for illegitimate purposes? The answer lies in the nature of our first-past-the-post (FPTP), winner-take-all electoral system in a poor country. Generally, about 90% of the vote is cast on the basis of the party’s image and appeal, or anger against rival parties. But the marginal vote that a candidate manages to secure is the key to victory. Therefore parties, in their desperation, nominate candidates who can muster the marginal vote. Given our conditions, the winning vote to trump the rival is mobilized by money and liquor, caste, muscle power, and strong family roots in politics. This makes parties dependent on local fiefdoms and money bags. Often, both the leading parties deploy similar candidates. In a system of compensatory errors, the misdeeds of each are neutralized by the other, and the aggregate outcome does seem to be broadly reflective of public mood. But given the distortions of candidate nomination, huge, unaccounted expenditure, and unholy means deployed, no matter which candidate or party is elected, the quality of governance is inevitably perverted.

Politics has thus become big business demanding multiple returns. Transfers, contracts, police cases and influence peddling are the chief sources for ruling party legislators. MP or MLA LADS, cash for questions, constituency level public works, and nuisance value are the sources of income for the opposition legislators. Left parties are generally exempt from this, and so are the many honourable politicians of integrity in other parties, who are struggling against great odds to survive in public life with honesty. When the incentives in the political system are grossly distorted, no amount of public funding will address the crisis.

What, then, is the answer? We need to eliminate the importance of the marginal vote in elections. 101 democracies world-wide have party list systems with some form of proportional representation. Only 47 have FPTP system, and many like New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and even Britain (in regional and European parliament elections) have given it up. Once we switch over to multi-member constituencies based on party lists, candidate choice will improve and money power will be irrelevant, as success is not based on marginal vote. This only requires a simple law, as the Constitution permits it. In fact, in 1952 and 1957, we accommodated SC and ST reservations in multi-member constituencies in India.

Will parties listen? Congress, BJP and Left parties have a lot to gain by list system. Already, in most large states the national parties are getting marginalized, yielding space to local parties. This is because their modest vote share does not yield electoral success, and therefore many voters switch loyalties quickly. All parties have stakes in political reform. Rarely do we have a solution which is good both for the nation and the parties. If nothing else, enlightened self interest should propel our parties to reform the system and clean up politics. Symbolic and ritualistic responses will not do.

Politics of Arbitrage

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines arbitrage as ‘the buying and selling of stocks or bills of exchange to take advantage of varying prices in different markets’. Politics, among other things, are the ‘activities concerned with the acquisition or exercise of authority or government’.

Two painful events – the brutal murder of Manjunath, a bright, young, upright IOC Sales Officer, by the Diesel adulteration mafia, and the expose of several Members of Parliament demanding and accepting money for asking questions in the House – have demonstrated how arbitrage has taken a hold over our politics and state-controlled business. In many ways, both events are linked, and lay bare the distorted incentives in politics and the grievous consequences the nation faces.

Let us take the Manjunath murder. Behind the tragedy and crime lie profiteering, dangerous fusion of crime with business in some sectors, political patronage in creating commercial opportunities, and the perverse role of the state. The proximate cause of Manjunath’s death may be the bullets fired by a gangster-businessman who wanted to eliminate an incorruptible official who would not tolerate adulteration of diesel with kerosene. But the real causes are more complex. First, for decades, oil dealerships have been awarded in most cases for a price, or as patronage. The state had monopoly, and ministers and their cronies converted their opportunity into profit. Second, once the dealer paid hefty bribes, he expected decent returns. But given administered pricing distorting markets and competition, the margins were inadequate to meet the hidden costs including the haftas paid to many inspectors – vigilence, weights and measures, civil supplies etc.

Third, in our anxiety to help the poor, wrong policy choices are made. Instead of providing direct subsidies through coupons or other means, price subsidies are offered on kerosene. In fact, kerosene consumption is not growing as fast as that of petrol or HSD. From 1984 to 2004, petrol consumption increased from 2.1 million tones (mt) to 8.3 mt (300%); and HSD consumption from 13.7 mt to 39.7 mt (200%); kerosene consumption increased more modestly, from 6 mt to 9.4 mt (57%). Clearly, the fuel and lighting needs of the poor are met by other fuels. And yet, vast subsidies are given in the name of the poor.

Fourth, as oil dealerships are obtained through patronage and bribery, and as margins in honest business are slim, dealers indulge in short-delivery and adulteration with subsidized kerosene. 5-10% short delivery by tampering the meters in connivance with the legal metrology officials was very common a decade ago. Lok Satta volunteers successfully stopped short delivery in 1998 by a simple technique of demanding filling of a calibrated can of known volume, instead of the fuel tank of the vehicle. This exposed short delivery, and within a fortnight the meters were set right in all the 1500 petrol stations in Andhra Pradesh, and random checks by volunteers made it sustainable. Eventually, oil companies acted with vigour and substantially reduced short delivery all over the country. But given the other compulsions of huge bribes for dealership and regular ‘rents’ paid to state officials, the demand for illegal profits was undiminished. This profiteering is made possible by adulteration of diesel with subsidized kerosene. Short delivery can be stopped by citizen assertion, but adulteration can only be suspected by using a hydrometer to measure density, and can be proved by chemical examination. The citizens are not empowered to measure density, and results of chemical analysis constitute evidence only when the samples are taken by competent authorities in the prescribed manner, and tests are conducted in authorized laboratories. Therefore proving adulteration demands great integrity and perseverance, not to speak of efficiency and fairness in the whole process, on the part of officials.

Finally, this whole causal chain led to a system of rent seeking everywhere. Public money was wasted on subsidies which never reached the poor; dealers who purchased their licenses through huge bribes fully exploited the arbitrage opportunities, and an organized system of rent-seeking was established. In this vicious cycle of corruption, most players were helpless to resist the system, as the price paid for resistance far exceeds the benefit. Manjunath payed the ultimate price.

The money-for-questions scandal is a more straight forward case of arbitrage. But the nature of our politics and the demands made by the political system are at the root of the problem. In our electoral system, the marginal vote that a candidate obtains is the difference between victory and defeat. Candidates therefore spend vast amounts, mostly illegitimately to buy the vote, bribe officials and hire muscle men to browbeat the voters. Large, illegitimate expenditure does not guarantee victory, but modest, legitimate expenditure almost certainly guarantees defeat! Trapped in this vicious cycle, candidates overspend, and once elected, need multiple returns on investment to sustain the system. Given the control over levers of state, politics is seen as an arbitrage opportunity. Money is made mostly by transfers, contracts and interference in crime investigation. MP LADS and other such direct access to state resources are rent-seeking opportunities. In general, influence peddling in decision making in government is financially very rewarding for legislators. The more desperate legislators seek money for questions.

In any system, there are always a few black sheep. But the political crisis in India is much deeper, and cannot be resolved merely by fiery denouncements and a few expulsions. Parliament and parties should wake up, and transform current politics as business and arbitrage by reforming our electoral system and eliminating the distorted incentives. We need to herald a new political culture, and make honesty compatible with politics and power.

Reflections on the Current Political Crisis

• The current spate of sting operations exposing MPs of various parties accepting bribes has made nationwide headlines. To dismiss the problem as one of corruption and to limit our concerns to the MPs caught accepting bribes is taking the escapist’s route, for the issue is much deeper.
  
  
• The whole political system in India is founded on corruption. Crores are spent on elections. Recent estimates suggest that in a 5-year cycle, major political parties and candidates spend about Rs. 10,000 crores on elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. Most of these expenses are not legitimate campaign costs but money spent to buy votes, bribe people or hire musclemen.
  
  
• Recently in the Andhra Pradesh municipal elections, (excluding the two largest cities of Hyderabad and Vishakapatnam), the cost of elections was an estimated 500-700 crores. This in a situation when municipalities in Andhra Pradesh are largely titular bodies with very few powers and resources! Kanakapura by-election in Karnataka, held about 2 ½ years ago, cost an estimated 20 crores. That by-election in fact was fought with very few stakes, as the elected member would have had less than 18 months as MP. As luck would have it, the Lok Sabha was dissolved prematurely and that tenure was further truncated! More importantly, whoever won, would have been in opposition as both Shri. DK Sivakumar of Congress and Shri. Deve Gowda of Janta Dal (S), were opposed to the that ruling NDA combine. The eventual winner Shri. Deve Gowda was believed to have been outspent by Shri. Shivakumar by a margin of 3:1. Saidapet assembly by-election in Tamil Nadu held about 2 ½ years ago also saw a phenomenal expense of about 5-10 crores.
  
  
• The evidence is clear that large expense does not always guarantee victory. But modest, legitimate expenditure usually ensures defeat. Instead of blaming the politicians alone for this mess, we should look at deeper causes.
  
  
• Our First-Past-The-Post system ensures victory to a candidate who garners more votes than any other rival. That is, the marginal vote a candidate brings to the table is of vital consequence in determining the outcome. As a result there is enormous competitive pressure to obtain the marginal vote, over and above the large chunk of vote the party guarantees. Therefore the candidates with abnormal and unaccounted money power, local caste clout, ability to deploy muscle power and strong family roots in politics have a decisive advantage in mobilizing the marginal vote. Understandably, all major non-left parties are compelled to nominate such candidates in order to maximize their chances of victory.
  
  
• As a result, no matter which candidate or party wins, the parameters of governance remain unaltered. Most of the candidates who win are forced to invest large sums of money to get elected. Such a system is unsustainable unless multiple returns are guaranteed.
  
  
• Not surprisingly, the legislators of the governing party at the state and national level have been making money mostly through transfers, contracts, influence peddling and interference in policing as their parties are in government. Members of opposition are more dependent on questions in legislature, their nuisance value and discretionary grants like MPLADS.
  
  
• Candidates and parties in general are locked into this vicious cycle and they are often as much helpless victims of an inexorable process as they are willing accomplices perpetuating a corrupt and dysfunctional system.
  
  
• The answers therefore lie in two broad directions:
  1) Importance of the marginal vote must be eliminated
  2) The legislator’s ability to influence discretionary executive decision on a day-to-day basis must be significantly curbed.
  
  
• It is time that we convert the current political crisis and scandal as an opportunity for meaningful political reform to cleanse our public life. Mere expression of shock and disgust is not enough. Even expulsion of members is not sufficient. Parties, media and democracy movements must stand together to transform the process of power and evolve a new political culture which can sustain integrity and promote public good.
  
  
• Lok Satta and VOTEINDIA movement are working precisely in this direction. We are evolving specific political reforms to address these questions, and meaningful strategies to drive the reform agenda. (More on this shall be posted soon.)
  
  
  

The problem of urban transportation

Absence of meaningful public service infrastructure and urban amenities has resulted in small villages getting depopulated and increased the problem of urban migration. Our cities are bursting at their seams. Providing urban amenities to rural towns maybe a possibility to curb the influx of rural people into cities, but this is no substitute for proper urban planning and development.

Urban transportation in particular continues to be a nightmare paralyzing people’s lives everyday. Flawed public policies have aggravated this urban transport crisis caused by rapid urbanization. Increasing propensity to spend on private transportation by an urban few compounded by the government’s inability to enhance public transportation has in turn caused immense difficulties to the poor.

Through this article (click here) on urban transportation published in the Financial Express, I have highlighted the issues currently plaguing urban transportation in India and placed the issue in perspective through a few statistics.

The Bihar Verdict – A Cry for a New Beginning

The outcome of the Bihar elections is stunning in its scope as well as in its nature. Once again, the illiterate, long-suffering people rose above caste and religion in search of a better future, and proved the psephologists and pundits wrong. This capacity to transcend narrow loyalties and express the collective will with calm grandeur has been the saving grace of our otherwise flawed democracy. This happened in 1971, when people were fired by hope; in 1977, when they were outraged by the fetters imposed on liberties; and several times thereafter all over the country. Clearly, our democracy is vibrant, and there is hope, if only we harness these opportunities for a greater cause, and not squander them in personal aggrandizement.

Beyond the majesty of people’s will which can make or unmake governments, there are six lessons of Bihar which should be internalized in order to strengthen democracy and make politics a true instrument of people’s mobilization for public good.

First, this verdict once again proves that ultimately short-term ploys and political shenanigans are counterproductive. To take only one instance, Laloo Yadav was desperate to retain power by proxy even after people rejected his brand of politics in the earlier round of elections. Governor Buta Singh acted in the sad tradition of many governors in a blatantly partisan, self-serving and crude manner by recommending the dissolution of the newly elected legislature. The Union Cabinet acted with indecent haste and advanced disingenuous arguments to advise dissolution to the President. And the President, in a moment of poor judgment, acquiesced, instead of forcing a reconsideration of the Cabinet. The paradox is that an unstable Nitish Kumar led government with defectors and time servers would have been preferable to the now stable majority with a clear mandate to set governance right. Just desserts, indeed! The co-conspirators who wanted to perpetuate misgovernance inadvertently ended up strengthening democracy and giving a chance to Bihar to rejuvenate itself!

Second, caste and religious cards work only up to a certain point in elections. Laloo’s slogan of social justice, his steadfast advocacy of secularism, and his consistency and reliability in political alliances are commendable. His failure to deliver and his penchant for plunder must not cloud our judgment. But by equating social justice with caste assertion, and secularism with pandering to minority fundamentalism, he has done great disservice to both. The consequent fusion of caste and religion with political mobilization has torn society apart, and bred mistrust and anger. Animosity of other social groups – the most backward castes and Dalits which suffered neglect, discrimination and prejudice, made them even more determined to oust Laloo’s blatantly partisan, reckless misrule. In a complex and diverse society with enormous baggage of the past, caste cannot be ignored as a political issue. But it must be handled with integrity and sensitivity, not as a crude tool for political assertion, or else it will lead to society’s decline and political failure. That is the lesson of Laloo’s unapologetic use of the M-Y card.

The third, even more important, lesson lies within the dangers politics of identity pose to democracy. When primordial loyalties are aroused and people are actively encouraged to assert their caste and religious identities as a way of political mobilization, their real interests suffer. Their own children’s future is held captive to the search for chimeras. As a result, vote is mobilized not on the basis of real and direct gains in terms of improved opportunities and quality of life, but as a stable block of people with unswerving loyalty, motivated by anger, fear, or misplaced chauvinism. The floating vote is the key to democracy’s survival. If all people vote predictably, based on their caste and religion, we will revert to feudalism. Stagnant vote with stable majority based on ethnicity destroys all possibility of improvement, and perpetuates plunder and injustice. That is what happened in Bihar. Politics of caste identity must give way to politics of individuation, which allows people to perceive their own enlightened self-interest, and act rationally in pursuit of rule of law, education, healthcare and employment. Caste certainly is a reality that cannot be ignored, and collective neglect and discrimination on caste grounds must be effectively addressed. But politics must move from caste rigidities to individual interests if vote is to acquire a positive meaning, and democracy is to lead to prosperity and greater public good, instead of collective stagnation.

Fourth, social justice and secularism will be real only when state promotes dignity, justice and opportunities for vertical mobility. There cannot be a quest for justice without rule of law, education, healthcare, empowerment of citizens, infrastructure, and employment opportunities. A government, which ignores the real issues of people in the guise of political slogans, is merely perpetuating inequity, injustice and backwardness. We see many so-called leaders with a vice like grip over their constituencies, consciously allowing stagnation and perpetuating backwardness and underdevelopment. Their political hegemony could be challenged, if people become more enlightened! This gulf between political rhetoric and quality of governance has been endemic to our polity. Laloo Yadav merely practised it on a grand scale, covering a whole major state. Indian polity must rediscover the mission of governance in a modern society.

Fifth, past experience shows that a change of guard at the polling booth does not necessarily guarantee better outcomes. In fact, the contrary has been the pattern. Mere change of players does not mean much; we need a change in the rules of the game. Nitish Kumar must stay the course. The spirit of idealism, and the awe and respect that electoral verdicts momentarily inspire must not give way to cynical real politic. NDA has compromised as much as UPA in the Bihar elections by fielding criminals and corrupt elements. The fear of losing election, and hope of pipping past the post with the help of money and muscle power are forcing parties to cohabit with mafias, murderous gangs and extortionists. Clearly, people have more confidence in our political process than politicians and parties have in people’s good sense. Laloo in 1989 started off with the same advantages as Nitish now. But in time, idealism gave way to cynicism and plunder. In many ways, most of our politicians are not villains; they are victims of a vicious cycle. Bihar’s troubles are not of recent origin. The JP movement was largely fashioned in Bihar against corruption and misgovernance, and it finally led to emergency and the emergence of Janata. 1980’s saw Congress misrule under Jagannadha Misra. 1990’s saw Laloo’s misrule. To change course in Bihar, one election or one change of guard is not enough. The people of Bihar need sustained efforts, and the support and good will of all Indians. If UP and Bihar die, India will die, too. The fight is not for Bihar’s future alone. In a fundamental sense, India’s future is at stake.

Finally, it all boils down to one question. What kind of political culture will prevail in India? Will democracy be reduced to family fiefdoms, personalized despotism, endless plunder, extortion, politics as business, power as an end in itself, private gain, and public loss? Or will power be seen as a means to public good, and politics as service? An ugly political culture evolved over time: abuse of power became the norm, and might has become right. We need to restore rule of law and a new political culture based on constitutional values and humanism not merely in Bihar, but all over India. Large parts of India are now reduced to feudal fiefdoms, with the law of the jungle operating. There is a bit of Bihar in every state of India. In the 1830’s, the British had to raise a large army of over 100,000 to suppress the pindaris pillaging central India, and they fought a six-year war. 58 years of flawed political culture led to atavism in many pockets. It is time we transformed the nature of parties, and established a truly democratic political culture, which restores nobility to politics and purpose to governance. Bihar’s verdict is not about a party winning, and another losing; it is the anguished cry of millions for a new beginning for all of India

First World People and Third world politics.

I have always believed in the ability of Indians to succeed wherever they are placed, whatever their circumstances maybe. Since the 90’s tales of Indians blossoming abroad or in India itself despite the various social, political and economic odds they are challenged with have become increasingly common. These successes are largely due to our compatriots ability to endure and adapt, coupled with their capacity to strike the right balance between our civilizational ethos and progressive social outlook.

While admiring their zeal and capabilities which are on par with people across the developed world, we all perceive the possibilities that can further open for all Indians in the coming years. But this is accompanied by doubts and concerns, as I acknowledge how far behind Indian politics is lagging when compared to the required ways of a modern democracy based on rule of law and fostering competence.

This paper, one very close to my heart, is the outcome of ruminations about the change needed in the very nature and culture of politics in the nation, so that governments and politicians are able to keep up with the dynamic people of India. Don’t our world class citizens deserve better than third world politics?

A little about me

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan is a physician by training, a public servant by choice, and a democrat by conviction. He joined the IAS in 1980. During his 16 years of public service in various capacities, he had many accomplishments to his credit. He is still remembered fondly by the people of the districts he once worked for. Some of his achievements include

• 
  Rehabilitation of 8000 youth from displaced families of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
  
• Designing the reconstruction of drainage and irrigation network in Krishna and Godavari deltas.
  
• Strengthening the credit cooperatives and making them independent of government control.
  

Dr JP was involved in formulating major policy initiatives such as developing an Info‑City in Hyderabad to facilitate the growth of the software industry. Hi‑Tec City, as we all have witnessed, has grown into one of the most prominent IT hubs of India.

In spite of an impressive personal achievement, Dr. JP’s experience in government convinced him that faulty governance process is the biggest hurdle in India’s path of progress.

In order to translate his vision into practical reality, he resigned from the IAS in 1996, and with like-minded citizens formed Lok Satta Movement in 1997. Lok Satta has now emerged as India’s leading civil society initiative for political and governance reforms with wide popular base in Andhra Pradesh.

Over the last decade, Lok Satta has significantly influenced India’s democratic evolution. Some of the milestones include:

• Mandatory disclosure of criminal and financial antecedents of all candidates contesting for electoral office
• Political Funding Reform
• Size of Council of Ministers – 91st Amendment
• Anti-defection provisions
• Efforts aimed at making voter registration simple
• Lok Satta’s advocacy resulted in the National Health Mission, whose objective is creating universal access to healthcare over the next decade
• Right to Information (RTI) Act adopted by the parliament following Lok Satta's nation-wide civil society movement
• Citizen's Charters across all municipalities of Andhra Pradesh
  

Dr. JP had also served on the following panels.

• 1. The National Advisory Council (NAC) for the implementation of the National Common Minimum Programme
• 2. Vigilance Advisory Council
• 3. Second Administrative Reforms Commission constituted by the Government of India
  

Most of the critical governance and political reforms must be driven by political parties and not civil society alone. Lok Satta Party with Dr. JP as national coordinator was initiated as a citizens’ response to this challenge, to usher in a New Political Culture.

Please visit the website of Lok Satta Party to know more about the party

www.loksatta.org

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