Concerns with current state of democratic system

Present issues faced by people in the state of the India

1. Basics – Food, Shelter, Clothing, Security and Peace
2. Inadequate and inconsistent provision of Water, Power & road network
3. Increasing corruption in system
4. Improper social development
5. Slow Overall Development – Below average standards of living
6. Lack of availability of quality education system
7. Poor emphasis on Health infrastructure
8. Poor law and order, delayed justice
9. Not so citizen-friendly bureaucratic processes
10. Slow and inefficient bureaucratic systems
11. Slow improvement in communication, transportation and aviation infrastructure
12. Low emphasis on rehabilitation programmes
13. Low awareness on basic provisions of laws within Indian constitution and low awareness of citizen rights amongst citizens
14. Unemployment
15. Improper channels of 2-way communication between the state and its subjects i.e. government and its citizens
16. Poor focus on tourism within the country
17. Poor focus on environmental issues
18. Poor implementation of wildlife protection, poor restoration of ecosystem
19. Poor restoration/promotion of traditional, ethnic and cultural value-forms like ancient art, literary forms, sciences and systems
20. Sub-standard luxuries for the wealthy and privileged
21. Inadequate disaster management education and systems
22. Respect for the country and its people in other nations

Broadly, these issues would gain different priorities depending on different individuals, regions, societies and economic classes.


What do we usually get from Politicians?
1. Promise of political empowerment of caste, culture and religion at a hidden cost of security, peace and development
2. Change of rulers / government without any change in nature of governance or bureaucracy
3. Limited addressing of real issues like basic necessities, corruption, poor systems and inefficient bureaucracy. This is followed by even poor implementation of the decisions.


What causes this to happen?


1. Voters do not have a way to dictate an election agenda. They can only select/elect from the agendas put out to them by different parties.
2. Limited information available on the history of candidates contesting
3. Difficulty in finding accountability for an issue as confusion prevails between party ideology, individual’s merits, local MP, local M.L.A , local municipal councillor or local gram panch
4. Limited power for voters to make politicians implement their agendas/promises
5. Limited control for voters to deal with a weak/inefficient/wrong politician once he or she is elected
6. Disengagement of the political class from the citizens


In short we have a complicated democratic system causing confusion in basic comprehension of relation between voting, agendas of political parties, governance and how it can affect a voter’s life. This has resulted in diminishing importance of voting and hence weakening of an already complicated democratic system. Democracy has no meaning without education. It does not mean democracy is only for the ‘qualified’ class. But it means democracy is only as powerful an instrument as the education of using it to the voter’s advantage would make it.

Next, we are a majoritarian democracy. It means that a majority opinion is considered for governance. It also means a minority opinion which could be as high as 49% is rejected. The risk is almost half the people and opinions could remain unrepresented in nation building. This contradicts the essence of the term democracy which means people share equal power.

This calls for a debate on the very basic nature of democracy that exists in India.

Does the Indian democratic system need to be relooked at?
Does it need to undergo some adaptation? If yes what?
Does it need to be completely redesigned?
What would be the essentials required to redesign the system?
What could be the new Indian democratic system that could make ordinary people as powerful as the political class?

Please debate...