Sudhansu R Das
Indians pay heavy price for Centrist political parties’ inability to win absolute majority in the Parliament election. Regional parties though make coalition with centrist parties, their priority is always to consolidate their vote base in their respective states. So, the conflict of interest starts from the day one. In coalition government the centrist party depends on regional parties with contrasting ideology only to survive at the cost of governance. The worst sufferers are the centrist parties whose credibility erodes faster than the regional allies.
Congress got majority and formed UPA I after BJP failed to consolidate its gain under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Bajpayee due to coalition pulls and strains in NDA. Coalition partners churned out NDA like butter from milk. Now, UPA II wades through uncertainties after Mamta Banerjee quit over FDI issue. Though external support from two ever warring former Chief Ministers, Mayawati and Mulayalam Singh Yadav has come for UPA II, the uncertainty lurks as both the leaders cannot remain under UPA II discipline. Both have little to do with economic reform. The allies have naturally set their eyes on 2014 election as more number of MPs will help them improve their bargaining power in the next parliament.
In India political parties need huge fund to stay in power. The massive expenditure in election campaign and the inestimable expenditure in appeasing allies always have a negative influence on people and policies. Pre independent India’s leaders had built national characters through regular political, social and cultural programs. The day to day activities in Mahatma Gandhi’s Ashram actually aimed to build the character needed for nation building. Gandhiji mixed seva in politics to create people with finer human qualities. Gandhiji’s sevadals made Congress popular among the mass through social service only. The sevadal members used to do many kinds of social work like nursing, distributing reliefs, rehabilitating people during natural calamities, clean village ponds, wells and even toilets. Gandhiji got many international awards for his nursing skill. His Sevadal lost its identity when post independent Indian leaders failed to integrate seva with politics. Like Congress Sevadals, RSS was on the fore front of social service be it natural calamity, war or an emergency situation. After Jayaprakash Narayan’s Sampurna Kranti movement which brought Janta Party to power with BJP as the main constituent, the RSS lost much of its socio cultural character and civil society role. Similarly the Leftist cadres were once ruling the streets and educating common man about their constitutional rights. Their road shows are no longer seen nor are their fiery speeches heard.
Dirty politics and populism in India has devastated social, cultural and economic fabrics of the country. The voice of civil society was almost diminished until Anna Hazare came and repaired the civil society to some extent. Politics in any nation cannot be healthy without a vibrant and responsible civil society. Anna Hazare knows very well how civil society movement slowly dissolves into political parties. It has happened to India after independent and after Jayprakash Narayan’s Sampurna Kranti movement. So, Anna Hazare took the right decision as he said political parties will not make any difference in the life of common man. Both Anna Hazare and Arwind Kejriwala have contributed immensely in reviving civil society in India.
A sustainable civil society movement can only create a vigilant society and produce better public representatives in an evolutionary process. Both Anna Hazare and Kejriwala must have to work with patience to activate civil society across the country. Good public representatives will automatically come from this movement. Though forming a healthy political party is a good option but not the right solution for India which is facing multifaceted problems.
In order to treat the ailing democracy, India needs a vigilant civil society permanently in order to decipher the language of smart politico trade agents. Here it is not the duty of Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev or Arwind Kejriwala to treat the ailing Indian democracy and to deal with the global traders but it is the responsibility of all: communist cadres, congress sevadals and RSS activists to work for a common goal-an ever vigilant society which can work as an watch dog for all public expenditures be it road construction, bridge construction, dam, nuclear reactor, mall or metro rail. Indian leaders must have the power to distinguish opportunities from the global traps. They must converge on one objective of protecting the interest of the nation. Developed west does it so also the communist China.
Those nations who do not have vigilant civil society or wise politicians create perpetual hunger like Ethiopia and Sub Saharan counties. Politicians must pick up the hard facts to understand why the old supply chain has not delivered. The same people who have paralyzed the old supply chains will cater to the FDI powered retail chains. Supply chains whether it is run by FDI or by domestic investment always give nightmare to original producers and consumers due to unreasonable price tag under different pleas. There is no reason why half of India will live in hunger with world’s highest Agro Zones and the richest bio diversity. There is an urgent need to liberate market yards and mandis from the grip of the middlemen. Let farmers directly sale their produce to consumers and agro processors.
True reform will start when people of the locality are able to decide whether they need a mall or a school or a play ground in the locality. Politicians in reform mode lament over the balance of payment situation due to diesel subsidy. Do they have the will to start small reform? Foot path, cycle track, a sleek public transportation system run by battery operated bus in all urban centers could considerably reduce the use of diesel. More than 60% footpaths have disappeared in all urban centers. Many developed nations have introduced cycle track, maintain good footpath, introduced cycle rickshaws and sleek public transport system to reduce dependence on fossil fuel. Indian leaders must adopt the best India specific practices to improve the balance of payment situation. Majority of commuters in urban centers travel less than 20 kilometer per day. They can easily cover the distance with cycles. Fossil fuels and electricity are wasted in India like water. True reform will start if India stop food adulteration, cleanse rivers, promote merit to produce high end products, fight malnutrition, ensure internal security, become self reliant in sel defense, reduce law and order problems to increase productivity hours, restore the biodiversity and assimilate backward people in the main stream. Whether it is FDI or domestic investment the money should be utilized wisely. With rich biodiversity and good number of agro climatic zones there should not be food inflation. The reason is we have treated our bio diversity and agro zones like monkey does to a necklace of gems. We have lost more food items due to poor research and mindless introduction of genetically modified seeds when we have variety of food items. When we get housing loan we build our house as per the plan based on our need. Similarly if we get investment we must have the sense to invest it wisely. Politicians should not behave like jumping jacks or turn jumbos over short term gain but collect hard facts about the development process. Along with investment skill India needs a vigilant society to ensure the investments are need based and not creating havoc.
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