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People’s
Commission for Democratic Restructuring
National Consultation
People First
Governance
in India today is facing a crisis of credibility. It has now become
common to denigrate the political leadership by branding most
politicians as self-seekers and corrupt, unworthy of the trust which
the people repose in them. There are many amongst the state
services, business and civil society whose integrity is also
questionable. On the other hand, many in all walks of life exhibit
a high level of dedication and are trying to realise an order in
which every citizen can live and work with dignity. While there is
urgent need to curb corrupt practices and punish the culprits, those
dedicated for the long term good of the nation and its people should
get together and work for resolving the systemic failures.
A
consultation was accordingly organised under the aegis of the Lal
Bahadur Shastri Memorial Foundation co-sponsored by the National
Foundation for India, World Wide Fund for Nature-India, Consortium
for Voluntary Action, Consumer Coordination Council, Sulabh
International and Development Alternatives. Research and
documentation support was provided by People First, a trust
designing and advocating institutions for good governance.
A
number of political leaders actively participated in the
deliberations. Dr. Karan Singh inaugurated the consultation. Shri
Vasant Sathe, Shri Shivraj Patil, Shri Mohan Dharia, Shri BB Dutta,
Shri Ram Chand Vikal and Shri Sunil Shastri participated. Local
leadership was represented by Smt Rama Nagar, Chairperson, Zila
Parishad, Muzaffarnagar. Sir Shridath Ramphal, former Secretary
General Commonwealth and presently Chairman, International Institute
for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and Shri Pranab Mukherjee
addressed the closing session. Other political leaders present were
Shri Hari Kishen Shastri, Shri Imtiaz Khan, Joint Secretary, AICC,
Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, MLA, Haryana and Rao Narender Singh, MLA,
Haryana.
The prime minister intimated that he would be participating in the
concluding session. He could not however come and conveyed his best
wishes for this mission for social reconstruction. Shri Digvijay
Singh, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh, also could not participate
but hosted the lunch. A number of leaders in politics and
professions who were unable to attend the conference, expressed
their deep interest in the process that has been initiated and sent
their good wishes for emergence of a meaningful resolution.
Over 300 representatives from NGOs, professionals and academics were
present and actively participated in the consultations. Prominent
amongst those present were Shri Soli Godrej, President, WWF N-India
& Chairman Godrej Industries; Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder, Sulabh
International; Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Additional Solicitor
General; Shri SL Passey, National Secretary, INTUC; Prof AK Maitra,
Director, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi; Prof ML
Sondhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Shri HR Suri, President,
Institute of Town Planners India; Prof CP Thakur, Faculty of
Management Studies, Delhi University; Dr Suman Sahai, Gene Campaign;
Shri BK Jaggi, Secretary, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh; Dr PSA Sunderam,
Additional Secretary, Government of India, Administrative Reforms;
and Shri Vinod Vaish, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment.
After intense deliberations, the consultation resolved to constitute
a people’s commission to propose governance practices which
recognise the sovereignty of the people. The following is the full
text of the resolution.
Resolution
The spirit of the nation can be restored only by attacking the root
cause of the destruction of the social fabric which is the
centralised system of governance. The consultation resolves that
immediate steps be taken to replace the existing mixed-up polity by
a truly democratic polity which promotes sustainable development
with equity. While doing so, the best must be distilled and adopted
from Gandhiji’s governance concepts and the mature democracies of
the world.
1. Sovereign rights of the people
Democracy does not merely mean the ability of the people to elect
representatives. Sovereignty of the people in a democracy confers
certain rights on them which are right to (1) elect representatives,
(2) be consulted and participate, (3) control over local resources
and (4) decide through referendum. The consultation resolves
that these are intrinsic rights of the people in a democracy and
cannot be denied to them.
2. Key reforms needed
Some key reforms needed for instituting a proper democracy in the
country are:
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1. |
District and other local governments empowered to exclusively
handle all local matters and control adequate resources
to handle them |
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2. |
State and central governments to handle higher level matters;
they shall coordinate between lower level governments but not
interfere in internal decision-making: resources shall be so
distributed that the central/state govern-ments be required to
assist in especially distressed areas only |
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3. |
Participative regional planning by each level of government
pertaining to its concerns, coordinated reiteratively amongst
them |
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4. |
Sound transparency laws covering right to information, be
consulted and participate, and referendum |
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5. |
Lean civil services controlled by each government accountable to
the people they serve with key positions on contract |
Referendum
Commission
– establishing accountable democracy
See our next issue
3. People’s
commission
The consultation accordingly resolved to constitute a commission
called “People’s Commission for Democratic Reforms” to propose
governance practices which recognise the sovereignty of the people
and requested Shri Sunil Shastri to be its chairperson.
Subsequently, Shri Sunil Shastri while expressing his gratitude to
the Consultation for reposing its confidence in him, declined to
accept the chairmanship and instead agreed to be the chairperson of
a steering committee for constituting the commission.
4. General
The
central and various state governments have initiated some measures
like those dealing with lok pal, right to information and
participatory planning. The civil society should monitor that these
measures are effective and become components of the overall
democratic reforms conceived in this consultation.
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