Introduction
Governance has become the central concern in
‘Global Development Agenda”- its frame work and its guidelines. The under
developed countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America have been struggling
against starvation, poverty, drought, flood, famine and internal strife for
years. In recent years most of these societies emerged as Nation States. The
recent focus of global cooperation and help is on economic development and
social equity. They are being governed by some form of democratic polity or by
military dictatorship. The core content of democratic functioning in these
nation states did not bother the democratic nations of west till recently.
Indian democracy is now maturing in holding
elections faster but a large part of its population is not having any control
in governance of the state. They have been kept out of power sharing and the
worse form of abuse of power has been reflected in last elections. For years,
dynastic rules have subjugated the bureaucratic machinery that supposed to be
neutral in governance of the state. The abuse of the democratic institutions
and the governance system has resulted in the emergence of a strong nexus of “NETA-BAABU-VYAAPAARI-APRAADHEE”(POLITICAL
LEADER-BEAUREOCRATE-BUISENESSMEN-CRIMINALS). This is the reason for bad
governance which is dangerous. It is the need of the hour that all sections of
society should participate in establishing good governance or say democratic
governance. Of course, the new government is working to promote good governance
but people’s participation is essential. For th e above reasons, Good
Governance has emerged as a major theme in the area of global development
today. It is, therefore, necessary to discuss governance issues and challenges
and disclose its broader perspectives and greater significance mostly required
for success of democracy and democratic set up at grassroots level.
This paper is a humble effort to discuss the challenges
and propose some measures to address the issues.
Good
governance means people centered governance. It refers to the ability to
deliver goods to the stake holders. Good governance means elimination of mal
governance, and governance as per the rule of law so that citizens of a country
and members of a society do not suffer. It promotes various agencies of
political system work for the betterment of all the citizens especially of the
marginalized and the vulnerable communities. Good governance enhances the
ability of the people to gain better and dignified life, greater options to
choose from an ensuring transparency in administration etc.
Role of bureaucrats and
people representative:
Governance is wider than the government as
government in democratic system is for the people, by the people and of the
people hence, the people are the central focus of any governance. Good
governance means responsibility and accountability of various stake holders
like the community, the government and civil societies or corporate. But the
question- is it possible in the present system? In most nations, it is taken
for granted that bureaucracy stands committed to a set of values enshrined in
the constitution. But the whole set of values for which the bureaucracy stands
committed is under threat in the name of liberalisation.
Since the political establishment is habituated to
be the central source of power, wants to control the fate of all citizens, it
is not easy for the politicians to give up power. Participation in electoral
politics was considered to be central reality of good governance in the recent
past. While this is true, good
governance today involves participation in electoral democracy, ensuring the
benefit of development to all the citizens and making the rule s accountable to
the lives and hopes of the public.(Louis2006).
Yogendra Yadav while speaking on political agenda of
electoral reforms (Yadav2006) says that,
“If the preservation of a largely fair system of
elections is one of the proud achievements of Indian democracy, the struggle
against electoral malpractices and related political maladies is one of the
central challenges faced by our polity. Our recent experience shows that it is
crucial to develop a political agenda—political in its content and
perspective—on this question. Such an agenda can channelize the vast public
energy available today into acts of democratic consolidation, if not
transformative politics. Otherwise the widespread popular discontent on this
score can easily be manipulated to feed a manifestly anti political and
potentially anti democratic agenda.”
Recently, Election Commissioner of India Mr. Rawat
expressed his displeasure on the way political parties behaved in Rajyasabha
election 2017 at Gujraat. He said that, “winning at all cost, without ethics is
new norm in politics. He also expressed against the practice of paid news and
said that it should be made an electoral offence punishable by two years of
imprisonment. Apart from a calling for a limit on the election expenditure of
political parties, he reiterated the commission’s reservations on proposed
electoral bonds and the amendment to the people Act which permits political
parties to not disclose details of donors contributing funds through electoral
bonds.”( Hindustan Times ).
The first step in this direction would be to enact a
comprehensive legislation on electoral reform which goes beyond the ornamental
legislation of the recent past. Such electoral reform can become meaningful and
effective only if they become a part of a wider movement of democratic
consolidation in the arena of civil society and politics.
Good
Governance, State Policies and Corruption:
Sharpening understanding
of good governance not only recognizes the plurality of actors involved in the
process of governance, they also address themselves to the substance of
governance. In past many political establishment have been caught in scams and
scandals, with leaders amassing wealth, resources and power. Not only have
this, the role of money, communalism, castes and criminals high jacked the
system.
Money power- One of the
most critical aspects of any election in India is the hard reality that for
contesting an election one needs large amounts of money. It creates high degree
of compulsion for corruption in political arena. The sources of some of the
election funds are believed to be unaccounted money of criminals in return for
protection.
Communalism- is another
negative force that is operational in elections since 1947, and communal
polarization, rather multi-polarization, has posted a threat to the Indian
political ethos of pluralism, parliamentarism, and federalism.
Caste and religion- have
in recent years emerged as rallying points to gain electoral support. Although
no political party openly accepts the fact of being totally identified with any
particular caste group (of course with few exceptions), there are cases galore
of certain castes lending open and strong support and the political parties
gladly accepting the same. Castes exercises its impact in politics by specific
caste groups coming together to vote en block for a candidate of their
own caste, without considering the merit of the candidate.
Criminalization- of Indian
politics, the influence of muscle power has long been a fact of political life
since the first general election in 1952, the intensity have increased in more
recent times. According to CBI report to Vohra committee: “ all over India,
crime syndicate have become a law unto them shelves-----Even in the smaller
towns and rural areas, musclemen have become the order of the day.”
The election commission is
powerless in preventing criminals from contesting the election as it can debar
convicted one but it cannot stop those under trial. Unfortunately, no political
party has taken any concrete steps to curb this menace.
So, the challenges are
many, but there is absence of political will to curb the menace for good
governance in India.
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References:
Louis. Prakash, 2006
Good Governance: As if People Matter, unpublished paper presented in a
seminar on Democratic Governance: Form Verses Content, , 16-17 December,
Varanasi.
Mishra. Vyasjee, 2006 Role of Money, Communalism, Castes And Criminals
In Election: A Theme Paper, unpublished paper presented in a seminar on
Democratic Governance: Form Verses Content, 16-17 December, Varanasi.
Yadav. Yogendra, 2006
Political Agenda of Electoral Reform, unpublished paper presented in a
seminar on Democratic Governance: Form Verses Content, , 16-17 December,
Varanasi.
