Crisis Of Governance

In the balance, the assets side of the balance sheet shows that India still remains united, as a working—some say anarchic—democracy. But some key questions emerge. Are these multiple crises of governability a thing of the past? And, have we emerged stronger as a nation or have we merely eked out an existence through them? A new book, India: Problems of Governance by Bhabani Sen Gupta (Konark; Rs 450) chronicles the various issues of governance which have held India in their tweezer-grip since the State came into being. But sadly, the book remains just that: an accurate chronicle of the events and issues which have caused repeated, multiple crises of governability in India. By way of solutions, it has little to offer.

And it is extremely surprising that Yehezkel Dror's report to the Club of Rome, The Capacity to Govern—perhaps one of the most authoritative and stimulating treatments of the issues of governance in recent times—finds no mention. Moreover, there is no reference to a recent report prepared by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, which is a fine, thought-provoking document providing the contours of possible solutions to the issues confronting the bureaucracy.

Further, there are a number of contemporary issues which find little or nomention. For instance, how to rescue a society from the clutches of its own better organised—and indeed better endowed citizens—is a central issue of governability in today's times. But there is no mention of this. Also, over the years, in most developing countries, the link between parliamentary debate and policy formulation appears to have steadily declined. The extensive use of guillotine and kangaroo on budgetary and policy proposals merit a serious rethink by commentators dealing with problems of India's governance. What does a country do when the representatives sent to the legislature do not act in the common weal? Is it really feasible to have a system of recall? This is further compounded by the fact that in India the entry costs into public life are appallingly low, thereby indirectly crowding out the more upright and public-spirited people from public life. Also, the new revamped Panchayati Raj institutions are now in place and face numerous problems like finance, taxation, lack of accountability between levels, women members being reduced to mere rubber stamps, issues of land demarcation and control—all of which one would have expected this book to analyse in the light of new evidence. A book of this kind would have done well to look at these issues in greater detail and depth, an opportunity which it has sadly wasted.

While concluding, Sen Gupta makes an extremely arguable observation that what India really needs is a new constituent assembly, elected on the basis of adult franchise, to write a new Constitution that would provide for a presidential form of government at both the Centre and the state levels. While the idea of a presidential system itself has numerous arguments against it, what happens when there is a real possibility, nay probability, that those who adorn the legislatures now get elected to write a new Constitution? No system is human-proof and the fate of any system is decided by the men who ultimately man it.

(The author belongs to the IAS. These are his personal views.)