Citizens of the country have many things to worry about. Our politicians just refuse to be truly accountable, and the UPA regime blunders along on issues of economy and national security
Independence Day is always a day of much celebration and some introspection, but August 15, 2013, was different. It was a day for much introspection and little celebration, because unlike the Independence Days of the past, this year, Indians had so much to worry about on every front, be it national security and the intrusion of the Chinese and Pakistanis across the border, mounting cases of corruption and endless scandals covering every major deal, the gloomy economic situation, the precipitous fall of the Indian rupee, agitations and violence in several parts of the country following the sudden rash of demands for formation of new States, the completely dysfunctional Parliament and the crass behaviour of the political class, which wants neither transparency nor accountability in the political sphere.
Never before has the country been plagued by so many problems all at once. The developments along the border are indeed worrying not because the Chinese have once again started flexing their muscles, which was in any case expected, but because of the pusillanimity of the UPA Government. The recent killing of five of our soldiers by the Pakistani Army is yet another example of how even a failed state looks down upon us, thanks to the lack of resolve among those who head the present Government.
Another feature that is causing all-round gloom is the monstrous effect of corruption and the incapacity of the Indian state to punish wrongdoers. The Commonwealth Games scam, the 2G Spectrum scam and ‘Coalgate’ have all left an indelible black mark on the conduct of the Union Government. The thorough probe of all these scams by the Comptroller and Auditor- General and the subsequent investigations ordered by the Supreme Court have clearly established the culpability of key persons in Government
But the saga of corruption is not over yet. On the eve of Independence Day, we had the latest CAG report exposing the scandalous manner in which this Government struck the Rs 3,600 crore deal to buy helicopters from AgustaWestland. The Government allowed this company to conduct field trials of the helicopters, meant for our VVIPs, outside the country. Also, shockingly, as the actual helicopters to be sold to us were still under development, the field trials did not pertain to these specific machines.
The CAG also found that the specifications were drawn up in such a way that eventually there was only one vendor left in the field. Finally, the auditors have found that there was no real basis for the price paid for these helicopters. Already, Italy is prosecuting senior officials of this company for fraudulent transactions in the Indian deal, so the CAG report has come as no surprise. The question now is: Will an independent investigation ensue.
If all this has taken away the sheen Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had before he entered office, the growing worries on the economic front have damaged another aspect of his image — that of his being an economist of repute. Whatever happened to his economic strategiesIJ The sliding rupee, the rising budget deficit, high inflation and poor performance of the economy in many sectors including manufacturing, have resulted in much despondency and concern over India’s fiscal health, both in the short and the long term.
The next big problem is the rash of agitations that have begun in various parts of the country in support of the demand for new States. This has happened because of the manner in which the UPA Government and the Congress have handled the Telangana issue. Although the demand for a separate Telangana has been on for a long time, the Congress and the UPA Government resisted the division of Andhra Pradesh for many years.
The UPA even constituted a high powered committee headed by Justice BN Srikrishna to take a fresh look at the claims and counter-claims regarding the formation of a separate State. After much deliberation and examination of various aspects of the demand, the Justice Srikrishna Committee did not favour the division of Andhra Pradesh. It recommended a regional council for Telangana within the composite State of Andhra Pradesh.
However, keeping its ad hoc political gains in mind, the Congress decided in favour of a separate Telangana, and ever since this announcement was made, the Union Government has not been able to douse the fires that the decision has ignited in different parts of the country.
Finally, a word about the political class. The two Houses of Parliament and many of our State legislative Assemblies have become dysfunctional. Every sitting ends in shouting matches and at times even in boxing bouts. As a result, there is complete paralysis of our legislative chambers. Added to this is the stiff opposition of politicians to transparency and accountability in the conduct of political parties.
In recent weeks, the Central Information Commission has ordered the six national parties to maintain proper accounts and show their list of donors. The CIC has said that political parties are “public authorities” because they receive significant funding from Government. Therefore, they come within the ambit of the RTI Act. This is troubling all the parties and they have ganged up to stall the CIC’s order. The Government has succumbed to pressure and introduced an amendment to the Right to Information Act to keep political parties outside the purview of the Act.
Similarly, all political parties have come together to undo the Supreme Court’s judgement on criminal-politicians. The court has said that any person convicted for two years or more in a serious offence by a court of law will be barred from contesting elections, even if he or she has appealed against this court order. It was a major step taken by the apex court to keep criminals out of our legislative chambers, but strangely, all parties are unhappy with this judgement.
They wanted the Government to appeal against it and also amend the Representation of the People Act, 1951, in order to offset the court order. They have also once again begun attacking the judiciary and accusing it of over-stepping its jurisdiction. All this has left ordinary citizens most distressed. They have begun to feel that democracy is failing them. The question on every citizen’s mind is: “Where do we go from hereIJ”