The Government is bureaucratic by nature. Archaic rules are more important than the final results and public welfare. The rise of the broom is a manifestation of people’s anger over the state of affairs
There are different opinions as to why the Congress, the main political party in power that leads the Government at the Centre, was literally wiped out in the four State Assembly elections, results for which were declared on December 8. The party could only hold on to Mizoram whose Assembly results came out a day later on December 9.
It is difficult to hazard a guess that would be accurate, in this case as individuals have different reasons for voting for different parties. Some experts attribute the voting pattern to the Congress’s poor governance record, others say that it is the party’s Hindu-bashing in a Hindu-majority country that is to be blamed, still others point to the the Congress’s politics of minority appeasement. Then, there are other commentators who have said that the issues of price rise and rampant corruption have brought down the party.
In this context, let us look at the Congress’s communal violence Bill, which casts aspersions on the majority community as a communal group, so as to curry favour with minorities. First, law and order is a State subject. Other than the Janata Dal (United), all other parties have opposed the Bill. All Indians, including minorities have equal rights under the Constitution. But gradually, the Congress-led Union Government is trying to take over State subjects — by giving subsidies for projects that are clearly in the domain of the States.
A friend of mine recently said that some of our politicians would be happy to be sell their grand- mothers for a few votes. I pointed out that it was too harsh an assessment. Yet, the fact remains that when our politicians say that they want to beef our economy, I doubt if most of them can differentiate beef from pork. Party hopping is also quite common among politicians. As former US President Ronald Reagan once said: “Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realise that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”
People want clean politics and cleaner politicians — and this is clear with the victory of a greenhorn political outfit in the Delhi Assembly election. The Aam Aadmi Party is barely two years old and it already has a formidable presence in the electoral fray. Yet, if the established parties delivered even one tenth of what they promised, things would not have come to such a sorry pass.
For instance, corruption remains at an all-time high in the country and the corrupt are hardly ever punished. Indian laws are the weakest in tackling corruption. For instance, in disproportionate assets cases, the onus lies on the Government to prove that the wealth acquired is beyond the known sources of income of the allegedly corrupt. Assets of top bureaucrats or politicians are rarely attached, who often enjoy ill-gotten gains.
India’s archaic laws are another problem. One gets the impression that the Government does not want prompt disposal of cases, and it lets corrupt politicians and bureaucrats escape so that it can hold onto power itself. It is for this reason that the number of judicial officers is woefully low. With some high courts having vacancy of up to 50 per cent, appeals often go unheard.
In the lower judiciary, for example, the strength should be around 75,000, as per universal norms. But there are less than 14,000 judicial officers, against the sanctioned strength of 18,000. This leads to perennial delay in the disposal of cases and hence poor conviction rates. According to data compiled by National Crime Records Bureau, in 2010, over 1.78 crore cognisable criminal cases, including cases registered under the Indian Penal Code and Special local laws were pending for trial at the beginning of the year in various criminal courts.
About 67.51 lakh cognisable crimes, comprising 22.25 lakh IPC crimes and 45.26 lakh crimes under Sll, were reported in 2010 while 8,6330 cases have been pending investigation/trial from previous years under the Prevention of Corruption Act and related sections of the IPC in 2010. Another 3822 cases were registered during the year. Therefore, a total of 10,152 cases were pending investigation in 2010 out of which charge-sheets were filed in just 2,929 cases.
The conviction rate vis-à-vis persons accused under POCA in 2009 was 26.4 per cent. Similarly the conviction rate in 2010 for heinous crimes, such as attempt to commit murder, murder, rape and riot was 27.7 per cent. Conviction rate for crimes against women (under IPC and Sll) for 2010 was 27.8 per cent.Similarly, it is hard to believe that there were less than 10,000 corrupt officials in the country out of a total of 1.97 crore, State, Central and public sector employees. Our legal system has made life too easy for criminals and too difficult for the law abiding citizens, as the Supreme Court also noted last year.
We have all the trappings of good governance but little to show for it. Our Parliament and State Assemblies only pass laws, which have little or no enforcement, even if it is there on the paper. Perhaps, someone should remind our Government that if Columbus, who discovered America, had as many advisers as it does, he would probably still be at the dock deciding whether to sail or not.
As a joke, it is said in the US, that it might be more fruitful if people stopped wringing their hands and started wringing those of their lawmakers; it is for the readers to decide as to how much of this applies to India.Our Government is bureaucratic by nature — for it, the final results and welfare is not important, but the letter of the law is all that matters. Bureaucrats, both serving and retired, never had it so good as in the present dispensation. There is no accountability and no punishment.
Even if bureaucrats don’t work, the laws makes it difficult to fire them. The Government’s solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem itself. In this situation, the lawmakers will do well to keep in mind that the Government which governs the least is in effect the best sort of Government.
Finally, instead of selling promises it can’t keep and dreams that it will not fulfill, it is time for the Government to deliver and show tangible gains. As of now, thanks to the indifference of the regime, inflation is at an all-time high, economic growth has slowed down and prices of even essential items have shot through the roof. That the Government of the day can actually take credit for the fact that the price of petrol per litre is less than that of one kilogram of onions or tomatoes is not just ironic but indeed a cruel joke on the common man.