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TODAY'S EDITORIAL: Government Raj
A million mutinies are brewing across the country. People are protesting in
Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal over land acquisition, in Orissa's
Kashipur they are opposing mining, the fishing community in Mundhra,
Gujarat, is agitating against a special economic zone that threatens their
livelihood.
What is common to all these protests is that the target of the protestors is
the sarkar. The reason is that state governments which are acting as
facilitators for private companies setting up projects have failed to take
the people into confidence.
There is a shroud of secrecy over project details including land acquisition
and compensation. Land acquisition is a thorny issue and protests are
inevitable when such projects are initiated. Such confrontations could be
avoided if the government were to keep people in the loop, rather than force
sarkar's decisions on them.
This is unacceptable in any civilised society. Democracy is about informed
choice. Government ought to provide adequate information to the public on
all policy matters to enable people to make their choice.
In the absence of informed debate and consensus building, democracy will
degenerate into dictatorship of the state and opposition to such politics
would take the form of demagoguery. West Bengal in recent times has
witnessed both forms of political action.
The state government has pursued industrial projects without taking citizens
into confidence, while the Opposition, primarily Trinamul Congress leader
Mamata Banerjee, has taken a populist stand against industrialisation.
India has a progressive right to information law. However, political
institutions in the country are yet to imbibe a culture of openness. A
top-down approach drives planning and policy discourse in the country.
Men holding office believe that the janata is an ignorant lot and should be
treated as such. The mere fact that a government is elected doesn't make it
democratic; it is the participation of people in governance that makes for a
democracy.
The case of political parties is no different. A healthy democracy is
possible only if political parties have within them a culture of debate and
discussion. Unfortunately, most parties in India ignore political education
of their cadres.
Even communist parties, which claim a culture of in-house debate, refuse to
discuss public policy among cadres when in government.
Popular suspicions about the intentions of the political leadership
translate into a lack of trust in the government. Informed debate holds the
key to democracy and political parties and people in office should provide
the space for it.
1067771.cms<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Government_Raj/articleshow/1067771.cms>
TODAY'S EDITORIAL: Government Raj
A million mutinies are brewing across the country. People are protesting in
Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal over land acquisition, in Orissa's
Kashipur they are opposing mining, the fishing community in Mundhra,
Gujarat, is agitating against a special economic zone that threatens their
livelihood.
What is common to all these protests is that the target of the protestors is
the sarkar. The reason is that state governments which are acting as
facilitators for private companies setting up projects have failed to take
the people into confidence.
There is a shroud of secrecy over project details including land acquisition
and compensation. Land acquisition is a thorny issue and protests are
inevitable when such projects are initiated. Such confrontations could be
avoided if the government were to keep people in the loop, rather than force
sarkar's decisions on them.
This is unacceptable in any civilised society. Democracy is about informed
choice. Government ought to provide adequate information to the public on
all policy matters to enable people to make their choice.
In the absence of informed debate and consensus building, democracy will
degenerate into dictatorship of the state and opposition to such politics
would take the form of demagoguery. West Bengal in recent times has
witnessed both forms of political action.
The state government has pursued industrial projects without taking citizens
into confidence, while the Opposition, primarily Trinamul Congress leader
Mamata Banerjee, has taken a populist stand against industrialisation.
India has a progressive right to information law. However, political
institutions in the country are yet to imbibe a culture of openness. A
top-down approach drives planning and policy discourse in the country.
Men holding office believe that the janata is an ignorant lot and should be
treated as such. The mere fact that a government is elected doesn't make it
democratic; it is the participation of people in governance that makes for a
democracy.
The case of political parties is no different. A healthy democracy is
possible only if political parties have within them a culture of debate and
discussion. Unfortunately, most parties in India ignore political education
of their cadres.
Even communist parties, which claim a culture of in-house debate, refuse to
discuss public policy among cadres when in government.
Popular suspicions about the intentions of the political leadership
translate into a lack of trust in the government. Informed debate holds the
key to democracy and political parties and people in office should provide
the space for it.