Let us Think and Act with an Open Mind to
Develop a Vibrant Democracy – Article 24
SRB
Outline of a
doctrine for comprehensive democracy
Introduction
Facts,
observations, analyses and suggestions highlighted by elaborate studies and
discussions given
in preceding articles* form the basis for this outline.
These
clearly showed a dismal picture of democracy in India. A major reason for this is
that politicians, by their callousness and repeated, uncontrolled and
selfish activities, became enemies of democracy (Article 19). To
complete the shock, the Parliament they formed did nothing to overcome many
shameful situations faced by the country (Article 15). It also brought disgrace on itself because of lack of guts to
punish government for breaking promises thousands of times and lack of
dignity by spinelessly tolerating such disrespect by government so often (Article
6). This suicidal mockery of democracy
justifies abolition of Parliament.
_________________________________________________________
{*Most
of these are not reproduced in this Article to avoid cumbersome and
distracting repetitions. All articles of this series are available for reference in the following blogs:
Article
21 provides a quick review of important aspects from earlier articles.}
Other strong justifications for
abolition are:
(1)
Parliament is not
truly representative of people because (a) large majority of MPs
have support of only less than 35% of electorate despite influenced voting
(Article 2) and (b) it had a distorted and unhealthy representation of
people because majority of MPs are very rich (Article 15).
(2)
Constitution
had put a bar on criminals becoming MPs / MLAs. Shockingly,
162 MPs and 1,268 MLAs, who had declared criminal records, might have violated
this bar (Article 2). It is
likely that present Parliament also has this defect. Such large scale suspected
violation of Constitution casts
serous doubt on legitimacy of Parliament. Government,
legal experts and hon’ble judges did not fulfill their moral responsibility to clear the doubts and
ensure legitimacy of Parliament. Suspected criminal MPs also did
not take prior/quick action to prove their innocence. People were so dumb and callous that they tolerated
being governed by suspected criminals, justifying the remark that
“A nation of sheep gets a government of wolves”. Thus, doubt about legitimacy of Parliament has been
allowed to continue for many years.
State Assemblies also should be abolished
because these have similar defects
(Refer to paragraphs numbered 15 & 16 for more justifications).
As a result of these abolitions elections
are not required. So also political party system which even otherwise was a dead weight
because advantages of not
having political parties far outweigh advantages of having these (Article 20).
These abolitions will (a) save lakhs of crores of public money
which can be used to remove poverty and (b) release large areas of prime lands and
buildings for public use.
Present
concept of democracy
considers that democracy
is needed only for governance and overlooks many important aspects
which have influence on living happily with a good quality of life and dignity under
peaceful environment. To correct this fundamental mistake a comprehensive
democracy is essential.
The following broad definition of comprehensive democracy,
which includes its aim, is suggested:
Comprehensive democracy is a system which ensures the aim of people living
happily with good quality of life and dignity under peaceful environment.
This
definition does not specifically mention about need for good governance, health,
education, employment or enterprise, prosperity, justice etc. because these
are essential to live happily with a good quality of life and dignity under peaceful environment. While growth of
economy of the country is desirable, it is not essential for
fulfilling aim of comprehensive democracy. When people prosper the country
automatically prospers.
Because no country has comprehensive democracy, we have to act
without looking for guidance or models from other countries.
This outline for comprehensive democracy should be
discussed and debated widely and modified to the extent necessary. Then a
Constituent Assembly should be set up to discuss it further, add required
details and adopt it as a part of the Constitution.
Comprehensive
democracy
1.
Present democracy, by definition, makes the fundamental mistake that it gives
attention to governance only. Comprehensive democracy considers governance
as a sub system and includes many other sub systems (aspects) which have influence
on living happily with a good quality of life and dignity under peaceful
environment (Article 22). For managing this comprehensive
democracy, National
Comprehensive Democracy Authority (NCDA) should be constituted. To ensure proper use of socio-economic, religious, cultural and other activities
to serve the aim of comprehensive democracy, it
is essential to establish some subsidiary authorities (Wings)
under NCDA, in addition to the “Governance Wing” (GW).
2. This
Article outlines some Wings as illustrations. These should be developed
further and more Wings needed should be authenticated by Expert Group created
for this purpose by Constituent Assembly. It should consider the need for
independent Wings for some more activities of present governance besides the Wings
suggested hereafter.
3. Allocation of responsibilities between Wings should
be formulated by Expert Groups and approved by Constituent Assembly. This allocation
should be reviewed at suitable intervals by NCDA to adapt to management needs
and changes in socio-economic, religious and cultural environments.
4.
Each Wing should be headed by Chief Professional Authority (CPA) on the subject
dealt with by the Wing. CPAs, together with an equal number of eminent
persons from different walks of life nominated by Constituent Assembly, shall constitute the Management Assembly
(MA) which shall be the chief policy making and executive authority of
NCDA. Vacancies in and
additions to MA should be filled in from list of suitable persons prepared as
stated in paragraph 12 or by open selection. This ensures continuity of MA with
well qualified and experienced members unlike Parliament which gets
assorted members every five years (Article 3).
5.
While CPAs should be empowered to independently plan and implement
activities relating to their Wings, Management Council (MC) should ensure
coordination of activities of different Wings and national interest. MC should
consist of five CPAs selected by MA in rotation once in three years. All
decisions of MC should be on majority basis. MC shall collectively represent
India in all matters, with assistance of concerned CPA. This
will ensure collective leadership emphasized in Article 23 and avoid one
individual dominating over others like a sly monarch and denying much needed multidisciplinary approach.
6.
To ensure efficient management, CPA of a Wing should be a professional with
qualifications and experience in the subject dealt with by that Wing and
training in management. CPA should be assisted by officers with similar
qualifications, experience and training. For this, suitably qualified persons
should be given special training by following procedures similar to that given
for civil and military services at present. CPA and officers of all Wings
should be given additional training so that they work with (1) uniform perceptions
about (a) comprehensive democracy and (b) different aspects of
management of comprehensive democracy and (2) a mind set to comply with
principles of comprehensive democracy. To start with, CPA and second level
officers of all Wings should be nominated by Constituent Assembly. Vacancies in and additions to any Wing should
be filled in from list of suitable persons prepared as stated in paragraph 12
or by promotion.
7.
In addition, each Wing will need services of common cadres to provide
supporting services e.g., IAS (for administrative matters), IA&AS (for
accounts and audits), ISS (for statistical work and to monitor and evaluate
programmes) and IES (for Wings which plan activities related to economy). They
should be given additional training so that they will work with (1) proper perceptions
about (a) comprehensive democracy and (b) different aspects of
management of comprehensive democracy and (2) a mind set to comply with
principles of comprehensive democracy.
8.
This additional training for all cadres will ensure that they will work as a unified
group with (1) proper
perceptions about (a) comprehensive
democracy and (b) different aspects of management of
comprehensive democracy and (2) a mind set to
apply principles of comprehensive democracy (Article 7).
9. To give voice to people, half yearly meetings (Article 18) should
be conducted regularly for well planned compact groups of villages and urban
wards/resident welfare associations. “Democracy Wing” (DW) should organize these meetings and take follow up actions. DW should have adequate staff to conduct
one round of meetings within six months for
all these groups together. For this, a cadre with graduates in social
welfare and training in mass communication and management is required. It
is likely that expenses for maintaining this large number of “democracy”
officers may be less than amount saved by abolition of (a) large number of MPs
and MLAs with much higher emoluments and perquisites, (b) election system and
(c) Parliament and assemblies.
10. In these meetings, people should be informed (through DW), either directly or
through their local leaders or panchayats/resident welfare associations, about achievements
of all Wings, problems faced by them and their future plans. People should give their assessment of extent to which each
Wing (including DW) has succeeded in meeting their needs and
aspirations. People can also make wise selection of
efficient leaders, out of local leaders who attend these meetings. These interactions ensure that (a) all
Wings are answerable to people at six-monthly intervals and (b) people
become aware of problems faced by Wings and will not resort to agitations.
Reports of these meetings should be sent to DW headquarters, which should regularly
send these to all other Wings, MC and MA for information and corrective actions.
This ensures that all are kept informed once in six months about what is
being done and has still to be done to meet needs and aspirations of
people as well as problems faced by Wings and their future
plans. This is the way to ensure a truly
vibrant comprehensive democracy.
11. Through this direct interaction, people can give frequent feed
backs on extent to which each Wing has satisfied their needs and aspirations
and appreciate problems faced by Wings. But most common people do not
have capacity, inclination and time to suggest changes needed to ensure that
their needs and aspirations are fully met and to adjust to changes
occurring in the country and the world. Such ideas and visions can be
provided only by a section of intelligentsia which is in touch with people
and global changes. “Visions Wing” (VW) should encourage flow of ideas and visions from
intelligentsia to it (without inhibitions), analyze these and present useful
ideas to each relevant Wing for necessary action and to MC and
MA for information. This will also result
in intelligentsia
feeling much more involved in democracy than at present. It is
important to ascertain ideas and visions about improving DW also which plays
a crucial role for success of comprehensive democracy.
12. Based on analyses of flow of innovative ideas and visions from
intelligentsia, VW shall continuously identify eminent contributors suitable
for filling up vacancies in MA and CPA and second level officers
of all Wings. VW shall send relevant lists to MA whenever necessary.
13. Activities of DW and VW will establish a very efficient and truly democratic
system to ensure that people’s voices (both down-to-earth and
visionary) are
heard with regular frequency by all Wings, MC and MA. This
system has five major benefits –
(1) provides half yearly block/ward level checks on functioning of
all Wings, (2) makes people appreciate problems faced by Wings, (3) involves
intelligentsia in democracy, (4) gives ideas to all Wings for planning
and implementation with involvement of people (both down-to-earth and
visionary) and (5) there is no need for superficial central and state planning
bodies without current field experiences and large amount spent on these can be
saved.
14.
To provide a hierarchical chain for efficient management the country should be
divided into five regions with fairly equal population – north, south, west,
east, and central. Each region should be divided into number of zones, each
zone into districts, each district into taluks and each taluk into blocks, all
with fairly equal populations. While some Wings may need offices at all levels,
others may need offices at required levels only. For example, DW should have
offices at block and suitable higher levels but VW may need office at national
level only.
15.
Having central and state governments creates many problems. For example, grouping of subjects for governance
as “central”, “state” and “concurrent” leads to conflicts and provides an
avenue for shirking responsibilities. Sharing of revenues creates disharmony.
Inter state disputes are quite common. Dissatisfactions among central and state
officers lead to contradictions and delays. Most important: (1) state
assemblies are not effective in meeting needs and aspirations of people
because politicians have become enemies of democracy (Article 19), (2) enormous
amounts are wasted on this ineffective system and (3) lack of uniformity
in policy making and managerial activities contradicts “one
nation one line of command” principle and works against national
integration. For example, if a motor vehicle registered in one state is
driven in three other states on tour or work, life time tax can be demanded
by these three states also!! This leads to harassment of citizens and raises
the question “Is India one nation?”
16.
Giving voice to
people within blocks/wards (paragraphs 10, 11 and 13) is
tantamount to a federation of blocks and wards giving effective voice
directly to people within blocks/wards every six months and covering all
aspects (sub systems). This is far superior to a federation of states which gives
only indirect voice to people for electing their representatives once in five
years and that too for governance sub system alone. This and the
drawbacks mentioned in paragraph 15 emphasize that states should be abolished. An
additional advantage is release of
vast areas of prime lands and buildings for public use.
17.
In stead of Parliament and Assemblies, MA should enact laws for the
country. “Law
Wing” (LW) with cadre of law professionals should draft
uniform laws for whole country in consultation with concerned Wings and
submit these to MA. LW should also review laws every year to modify laws
and delete obsolete laws, based on reports from DW and VW which reflect
peoples’ needs for law and problems with current laws. MA should take suitable
action on these reviews.
18.
Titular heads like President and Governors are remnants of fanciful monarchy and
against principle of collective leadership (Article 23). These
should be abolished. This will also save enormous amounts of public funds
and free large areas of prime lands and buildings for public use.
19. Practice of preparing annual budgets, which leads to large time gaps
between planning and implementation of activities, should be stopped.
Each Wing should be empowered to submit its plans (including staff and fund
requirements) to MA any time. MA should meet every month (if needed) to approve
plans and allot funds strictly according to a priority list for new projects for
utilizing available funds. Thus, all new plans can be approved and executed
without delay.
20. To ensure that activities reflect what people want, any plan
submitted to MA should certify that recommendations of DW and VW (which reflect
peoples’ views) have been taken into account. If not, reasons for omission
should be given. If MA rejects any certified plan, grounds for this should be
communicated to people by DW during half yearly meetings. If majority of these block/ward
level meetings are unhappy with the rejection, MA should reconsider the matter or
explain the situation to people through DW. This prevents a “dictatorial”
approach by MA.
21. The above procedures ensure that each Wing plans and executes
plans which satisfy principles
of democracy,
without any interference or delays.
22. “Tax
Wing” (TW)
should draft proposals for uniform taxes for whole country. Taxing
should be simplified (e.g., by selecting suitable periods for subject groups in
stead of a uniform one year period). Direct taxes damage happy life because
it leads to harassment and stress for majority of people. This often motivates
them to be dishonest and create black money. Direct taxes should be abolished
to
avoid these national
shames. While people have no control over direct taxes which are
levied by government, they can reduce indirect taxes and avoid dishonesty by
choosing their spending options.
23.
Each Wing should carry out concurrent monitoring of its activities using data
maintained by it. “Monitoring
and Evaluation Wing” (MEW) headed by an ISS officer should check
these monitoring reports and give guidance whenever necessary. It should also
evaluate functioning of all Wings once a year. For this, it should be staffed
by ISS and IES officers. Evaluation should be based on necessary special
studies in addition to available data.
24. Efficiency of each CPA should be assessed every year by MA after
examining monitoring reports of the Wing, reports of MEW and peoples’
assessment and views about that Wing prepared by DW and VW. Efficiency of staff
of each Wing should be assessed by CPA based on suitably modified confidential
reports. Punishments should be given for gross or repeated
inefficiencies - by MA for CPA and by CPA for its staff. The latter can appeal against
this single authority decision to MC.
25. For many years we have been doing lip service to equality. Equality
is utopian. We have to be realistic, accept that inequalities are natural
and fix suitable limits for inequalities which can still
provide incentives for striving for betterment. “Inequalities
Wing” (IW) should set limits for inequalities in income,
ownership of land and living space, profit, wealth, special expenditures like
marriage etc. To illustrate, IW should fix
emoluments (salary plus perquisites) for lowest level of work and set upper
limit for emoluments for any work at ten times this minimum emoluments. (For example, if lowest emolument is Rs.10,000 per
month, highest will be Rs. 100,000 per month which is more than sufficient to
lead a simple decent life and save some money and comparatively high
enough to provide incentives for striving for betterment. For families with
multiple earners the gap in income will be more attractive.) This approach
will help the poor because top level will opt in self interest for good
emoluments for lowest level in stead of other way now. For some activities with
short efficient life (e.g., sports and games, acting, heavy labour etc.) a higher
minimum limit should be fixed so that they can save for their future.
26. Similarly, IW should fix lower and upper limits for ownership
of land and living space. As per latest census, around 1.77 million homeless
people live along roads, on railway platforms and under flyovers!! (Times
of India dated 25-04-15). In contrast, some rich persons live in palatial
mansions which occupy hundreds of acres of land or in huge multistoried
buildings.
27. There are many more instances of colossal inequalities. For
example “world’s
richest 100 persons earned enough to end extreme poverty for the world’s
poorest people four times over”. Their annual income in 2012 was 240 billion US
dollors compared to 1.25 dollors per day ($460 per year) for extremely poor
people (Deccan Chronicle dated 20-01-13). The situation is
likely to be similar in India. A Vice chancellor
spent Rs.1.14 lakhs for an imported name plate!! (Times
of India dated 20-06-15 page 5). Some persons spend crores to buy a car.
28. Fixing limits for inequalities in income, ownership of land and
living space, profit, wealth, special expenditure, etc. will set limits to
greed and lavish spending to show off wealth. This will respect the caution by
Mahatma Gandhi (Father of our Nation) that “Nature has enough to satisfy everyone's need but not
enough to satisfy man's greed”.
29.
After approval of limits by MA, IW should ensure that there are no
violations.
30. Gender inequalities in providing opportunities and legal matters should
be removed. Immediate attention should be given to some special problems (like
rape and harassment) faced by females. Current focus is on enactment of laws.
This alone will not suffice. Preventive
measures (e.g., holistic education suggested in paragraph 51) should get
priority. Innovative ideas should be developed. “Gender Issues Wing”
(GIW) should formulate more effective innovative measures based on in
depth studies of basic issues and organize dialogues and debates to help
their implementation. A suitable cadre should be created to manage GIW.
31.
Any religion should serve
as a guide to path of divinity, peace and harmony. In stead of guiding to seek this path, attention
has been diverted to visiting religious institutions and practicing rituals
and festivals. Thus, development of divinity, peace and harmony, in
accordance with religious principles, has been woefully sidelined. It is
doubtful whether honest practitioners of true spirit of religion form a
majority in any religious community. It seems more likely that they form a
negligible minority. Thus, ironically,
religion has
often led to disturbance of peace, loss of brotherhood, intolerance of other
religions, conflicts and even war only because of not following
principles of religion. In other words, presently we are having worst
effects due to wrong practice of religion in stead of the best from true
practice of religion. Even worse, religious leaders are not bothered about this
antithesis. They ought to introspect about guiding their
followers to (1) follow principles of religion to seek path of divinity,
peace and harmony in stead of giving more importance
to practice of rituals and festivals and (2) strictly avoid conflicts in
name of religion.
32.
Leaders of different religions should strive to promote peace, love, harmony
and brotherhood in accordance with principles of their religions. They should
also guide their followers to get rid of hatred, jealousy, revenge and rumour
mongering. They, along with some followers should participate in programmes
undertaken by other religions and even help to organize these with a spirit
of brotherhood and mutual respect. To promote harmony and brotherhood,
Hindu religious leaders should get rid of caste and other social
discriminations (including untouchability) by magnanimously making well
planned visits (along with some followers) to houses of lower castes in
different areas around the country, partaking water and food with them and
taking them inside forbidden temples.
33.
It is often stated that religion is an individual’s choice. To make this
a reality, all children should be taught about all religions. This
should be done during pre-final year at school to avoid final year when they
concentrate on examination. Thereafter, they can make an informed choice of religion which
can be recorded when they become adults. In other words, any adult can have religion
by birth and religion by informed independent choice.
34. “Religion Wing” (RW) with cadre having knowledge of all
religions, should organize dialogues with religious leaders about their
followers honestly following religious principles and avoiding conflicts in
name of religion. It should organize public debates also. For these, it
should carry out necessary studies to provide convincing facts. Emphasis should
be on following
principles of each religion to fulfill aim of democracy to
ensure that people live happily with a good quality of life with dignity, including
spiritual development, under a peaceful environment.
35. Exclusive priority for GDP growth resulted in many shameful
situations covering almost all crucial sectors (Article
15). Inclusive prosperity is conspicuous by its absence. Hardly any attention has been given
to ensure that people live happily with dignity
and peace. Comprehensive
democracy should give high priority to humanitarian approach to promote
prosperity, dignity,
health, education, peace, and happiness to people. Only when
this happens the country will attain its aim and glory – not by even
fastest economic growth alone. “Human Development Wing” (HDW) should
ensure such important development. Human Development Index should be
used to watch progress in this development. HDW should be managed by cadre
with suitable qualifications in humanity and experience in humanitarian
activities.
36. Judicial system needs a thorough overhaul to provide speedy and
affordable justice with transparency (Article 11). In 2009, India had the shameful
distinction of having largest backlog of cases in the world. Yet government
did not provide more judges and courts enjoyed long vacations!! Roughly, over
30 million cases are pending now. Common people find it extremely
difficult to get justice even after many years.
This leads to prolonged suffering. To mitigate this, the
following procedures should be adopted.
37. Civil cases should first seek arbitration by “Arbitration wing”
(AW) with cadre having qualifications in law and training in counseling. Cases not resolved by an arbitrator at taluk
level should be referred to a group of two or three arbitrators at district
level. This procedure will resolve many cases quickly and reduce load
of unresolved cases, besides making justice affordable.
38. “Justice
Wing” (JW) with cadre of qualified judicial officers and
judges will take up only unresolved cases referred by AW with full
details. At district level, a judicial officer (or two or three judicial officers if recommended by AW at district level) should study these
cases after questioning both parties in
a helpful manner to overcome their diffidence or ignorance of law and pass
orders. Appeals should be
examined by higher level judicial officer(s) at district level. Further appeal
can be made to High Court set up at zonal level and then to Supreme Court, with
judges. At all these levels, cases once taken up, should be examined on day to day
basis and disposed off by judicial
officers/judges without
court hearings. Basic justification for this court less procedure
is that judicial
officers / judges with qualifications and experience are fully capable of
taking decisions without prodding or interference by lawyers. In
other words, court system demeans judges because it questions their capability
to independently study all aspects of cases and provide justice. Moreover,
people have to spend enormous amounts to engage lawyers. Thus, the new
procedure will not only speed up justice but also make justice
affordable for people (unlike at present) by reducing cost immensely.
With abolition of court system for civil cases, civil case lawyers can find
alternate employment in the wide spread cadres for arbitrators, judicial
officers and judges.
39. Present court system (with judges and
lawyers) at district, zonal and national levels will be part of JW. It will
be used only for criminal cases in which further investigations are involved. Postponements should be minimized for quick
disposal of cases.
40. To speed
up justice adequate numbers of arbitrators, judicial officers
and judges should be provided on priority basis by MA and vacations for
courts should be abolished (Article 11). While government claims lack of
resources for appointing more judges, there are innumerable instances of
wastage and wrong priorities. Thus, meager allocations made are due to low
priority and not lack of resources. If necessary, part of enormous savings from
abolition of Parliament, Assemblies, Election Commission, President and
Governors should be used to provide quick justice.
41. Lack of transparency and miscarriage of justice are serious
problems (Articles 10 and 11). To avoid these, orders by judicial officers/judges
should give clear and precise reasons for judgment. These should be regularly
reviewed for a sample of cases of each judicial officer/judge by judges specially
designated by CPA of JW, to check miscarriage of justice.
42. NHRC failed miserably to check human rights
violations because Regulations did not permit it to review
court judgments. This obsolete Regulation should be suitably amended. Then
NHRC will have to review lakhs of complaints about denial of justice by
judges (Article 10). Therefore, NHRC should be restructured to replace judges with eminent
lawyers and human rights activists. NHRC should be renamed as “Human Rights Wing” (HRW).
43. Media failed to put adequate pressure on government to solve problems
faced by people and the country and to provide a platform for interested
persons to freely spread or absorb positive ideas about development (Article 16).
It chose wrong priorities and became commercialized. “Media Wing” (MW) should
regulate and expand media activities with proper sense of direction and without
hindrance from power mongers and commercial interests. It should make people knowledgeable
about all aspects of comprehensive democracy so that they can participate
effectively in half yearly meetings. MW should be staffed by cadre with
qualification in mass communication and journalism and given training in
management. Corporate bodies should be debarred from owning or controlling
media to gain power to influence any Wing and mislead people to serve their
selfish interests.
44.
Democracy should provide to all its citizens comprehensive
health care, which includes curative,
preventive and promotional
health care, with sense of equity and justice. Current
health care system failed to do so. It also differentiated between rich and
poor even in concepts for providing services.
45.
Business oriented curative health institutions often
provide services
with an eye on huge profits. “Almost 44% of the 12,500 patients for whom
surgery was recommended were advised against it by their second opinion
consultants”, as shown by a study. Playing with peoples’ health to make money
is very cruel. Malpractices such as ordering costly diagnostic tests when not
needed, earning cuts and commissions, inflating patients’ bills and accepting
freebies are quite common. Because awareness about these is scarce, their
services are wrongly labeled as of high quality. High voltage health marketing and use of paid research
findings led to their fancy services becoming more and more fashionable
and catchy. This led to
mushrooming of such institutions with fancy heath care without questioning whether such costly fancy care is
actually needed for or relevant to
bulk of health
problems faced by people. These revelations have to be considered
before planning
services of good quality to people who cannot afford to
pay high prices.
46. No serious attempts have been made to study how
services under different systems of medicine could be made to supplement each
other, for providing maximum benefit to maximum number of
suffering people.
47. Innovative and committed
approaches are needed to make health services more effective and
popular
so that it can provide comprehensive health care. MA should give high priority
for this,
48. “Health Care Wing” (HCW), should focus
on all these and come out of the rut. CPA and officers of HCW should have
qualifications in medicine and public health and training in management. Those
working in curative health institutions under HCW should have a different cadre
with qualifications and experience in the relevant system of medicine. They can
be promoted to top level in HCW after acquiring qualification in pubic health
and training in management.
49. Better approaches are essential
for ensuring health of people because even best treatment alone is not sufficient
for good health. Promotional
health care which will reduce need for curative care needs high priority.
Innovative ideas and commitment are essential. “Health
Promotion Wing” (HPW) staffed by cadre with experience in health
promotion activities and training in management should focus on these. It
should work in close collaboration with HCW.
50.
Our education system has fundamental defects. It is mainly oriented
towards getting employment for making money. Even for this, skill training
is grossly inadequate. More importance is given to passing examinations than to
developing analytical/logical thinking. Often, theory alone is taught first and
its application later (if at all) in stead of sandwiching theory and
application in suitable stages in an intelligent manner. Attempts to dovetail aptitude with
selection of fields for education and skill development are scarce.
Because of this, students have to waste time and efforts to acquire some types
of knowledge which are not even indirectly relevant to their future needs. This
often resulted in calamity of round things being squeezed into square plugs.
For example, research and development (R&D) jobs are often taken up by
persons without any aptitude for or interest in these but only to earn a salary.
This results in slow or no contribution to R&D.
51.
Most important, no thought has been given to have a holistic education plan to
generate good children, good students, good workers, good married couples,
good parents and good citizens - as well as to develop character, health consciousness and true
practice of religion. Undoubtedly, such
a plan with
vision will lead to profound changes in peoples’ approach towards many problems
and solve some stubborn problems (e.g., rape and harassment
of women, conflicts
due to religion and caste, alcoholism, innumerable road accidents and crime,
smoking, drug addiction etc.). These will result
in a happy life of good quality and dignity under peaceful environment.
52. To make holistic education a reality and to overcome all
basic defects (paragraph 50) “Education Wing” (EW) with cadre of qualified
professionals having
proper vision and commitment and management training should
develop a system of education which wraps up both the above aspects. MA should
give high priority for setting up adequate numbers of schools etc. of good
quality for efficiently implementing new system of education throughout the country
as quickly as possible. It is a matter of concern that quality of some
schools (mainly government) even under the present simpler system was so bad
that they could not attract enough students and had to close down. For success
of new system adequate number of schools etc. of better quality should be
ensured.
53. Even well organized systems need checks and balances to ensure
that unexpected failures are identified and corrected. Attempts to have
Lokpal (ombudsman) for this purpose did not succeed so far. Lokpal cannot
function efficiently without investigating agencies to ascertain facts. Therefore,
“Lokpal Wing”
(LPW) should have not only a cadre with suitable qualifications and management
training but also Central Vigilance Commission and Central Bureau of Investigation
fully under its control. It should have power to investigate all Wings, MC and
MA.
54. India has much cultural diversity. I have not come across a
definition or compact description of Indian culture. Probably, defining it is not
possible because of diversities. Superstitions and obsolete practices form part
of some cultures. Attempts to over come these are opposed in name of tradition,
forgetting that
many traditions had short lives since Stone Age. That was evolution
which was and is absolutely necessary. It is important to reach a
balance between traditions and progress to evolve a national consensus on
suitable dynamic Indian cultures, which can adapt progressive changes. “Culture Wing”
(CW) should study how (a) unscientific and emotional diversities in culture
can be reduced and (b) changes in culture can be attuned to progress. It should also
organize necessary dialogues and debates for acceptance of necessary progressive
changes. CW should be staffed by cadre with knowledge of different cultures
and their superstitions and obsolete practices.
55. National integration is essential to
develop best possible democracy for whole country (Article 12). “National Integration Wing” (NIW) with a cadre having experience in the
field and training in management
should plan and implement multiple
innovative approaches for national integration, with determination and
commitment. For example, NIW should encourage,
facilitate and provide financial incentives for (1) inter zone/region migration,
(2) inter caste, inter religious and inter zone/region marriages, (3) “know
your country” education trips for school children and college students and (4) common
national script for all languages.
56. Entertainment and recreation not only make people
relaxed and happy but also have profound influence on mind development
– good and bad. For example, unintentionally, mind development is
seriously twisted when providers thoughtlessly introduce ideas which tend
to repeatedly glorify evil or show that villains get away with their evil acts
time and again and enjoy making good people continuously suffer. Objections
raised are scoffed at by claiming freedom of expression, forgetting that
they also have the responsibility to prevent disastrous mind development.
Another problem is that many
talented people are bypassed because of vested interests which blow up persons
of their choice only. This leads to frustrations and hinders proper development
of these fields in a democratic manner. Entertainment and Recreation Wing (ERW) with cadre having experience in the
field should organize dialogues and debates to solve
these problems. For this, it should carry out elaborate studies to collect
relevant facts to make meaningful dialogues. It should also encourage
activities that promote good mind development.
57. Development of sports and games has been faulty. The fact that
these have good influence on developing character and good quality of life has
not received adequate attention. It is shameful that India with more than
billion people has faired badly in international competitions in most sports/games.
Even much smaller or poorer countries have performed better. Systematic
attempts to develop attractive facilities to identify talents and give
training are grossly inadequate. Most parents discourage children because
even top performers often lead pitiable life after short period of active
sports/games. Premier institutions for
sports/games are managed by non-professionals. “Sports Wing” (SW)
with cadre having experience in the field should apply its mind to solve
various problems in developing activities on sound lines.
58. Activities in arts, crafts, music, dancing and literature have
influence on having good quality of life. For convenience of reference these
may be grouped under “Arts”. “Arts Wing” (ARW) with cadre having
knowledge and experience in these fields should develop and encourage these
activities, after well planned studies followed by dialogues and debates.
59.
At present, government has ministries of finance, home (administration), commerce,
trade, industry, communications, external affairs, defence, different transport
systems, etc. mostly controlled by IAS officers. These should be renamed as
Wings. All
these Wings should have professional heads with independent authority and
assisted by professional cadres. Expert group(s), formed by
Constituent Assembly, should modify structure, functions and staffing
of these Wings and add new Wings in accordance with principles and needs
of comprehensive democracy. This should
be reviewed at suitable intervals by MA to adapt to changes in management needs
and socio-economic, religious and cultural environment.
60.
Panchayat Wing”
(PW) should organize and maintain village level activities under comprehensive
democracy. They should also guide people to make six monthly meetings at block
level meaningful and effective. Panchayats may not be necessary at block, taluk
and district levels because of six-monthly meetings which cover blocks.
61. All offices should avoid paper work which requires
large quantity of stationery and lot of storage space. “Computer Wing” (CRW) with suitable professional cadre should
organize paperless office system and keep a watch on it. CRW should train all officers
and subordinate staff in computer usage and provide hardware and software
support.
62. Following office procedure is suggested. In
stead of opening paper file for any subject, concerned official should open and
number a computer file, type notes and send it by email to next higher level
after attaching relevant documents. Letters received by post should be faxed
for attachment. Official at receiving level should either ask for more
information from lower level or make notes and forward it by email to next
higher level. This procedure should continue up to decision-making level, which
will then have notings at all lower levels and attached documents for study. It
should take decisions and inform concerned individual or office through email. This
will reduce time gap between taking decision and communicating it. If it can be
communicated only through post, copy of out going mail should not be kept in
paper file. This procedure is not only quicker but also prevents leakage of
information from lower levels because decisions are available only with
decision maker and
files are not passed up and down through messengers as at present. Security
lapses similar to what happened in Petroleum ministry recently can be ruled
out. This procedure will help delivery of quick service to people,
besides saving on cost of stationery and storage space for paper files. After
the matter is closed, decision maker’s file with all notings,
attachments and orders should be maintained in pen drives or CDs and preserved
safely for future reference.
63. More details have to be taken care of.
These can and should be finalized after detailed discussions by expert groups
(paragraph 59), keeping
in mind needs and principles of comprehensive democracy.
64. Comprehensive democracy outlined above has many
advantages including following outstanding advantages:
(a)
People can live happily with good quality of
life with dignity under peaceful environment because all aspects (sub systems),
which have influence on these, are taken into account (not governance alone).
(b) Maximum
efficiency is achieved because all activities are independently managed by
suitable professionals without hindrance from non-professionals.
(c)
Needs and aspirations of people will be
satisfied as fully as possible because once
in six months people can have a
check on working of all Wings.
(d) This
check also leads to more efficient and effective functioning of all Wings.
(e)
Once in six months people become aware of
problems faced by each Wing and will not resort to agitations.
(f)
Intelligentsia gets opportunities to be more actively
involved in democracy than at present.
(g)
MA ensures that plans reflect peoples’ views.
(h) This
system is more decentralized and effective because direct checks are exercised
by people once in six months at block/ward level in stead of having a check on
their representatives once in five years for indirect intervention at state
level.
(i)
National integration and uniform laws for whole
country will eliminate parochialism and lead to the feeling of being an Indian.
(j)
Inequalities will be drastically reduced.
(k) Quality
of education, health care and religious practices will be improved
(l)
Rape and harassment of women, other crimes,
road accidents, alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction etc. will be drastically
reduced by holistic education.
(m)Disharmony and conflicts due
to religion and caste will be drastically reduced.
(n) Delay
in providing justice will be drastically reduced and justice will become more
affordable.
(o)
Human rights violations will be rectified.
(p) With
abolition of direct taxes, people do not have to bow down in shame for
dishonesty and creation of black money.
(q) Saves
enormous amounts of money and releases lot of prime land and buildings for
public use.
65. Despite these outstanding advantages some people will oppose
change. Two relevant questions to them are: (1) Are they prepared to live,
eat, work, travel and enjoy life as their ancestors did? If not, opposition to
change, after enjoying benefits of change, is
hypocrisy; (2) Are they prepared to forgo their
inferiority complex and use their ingenuity to set an example for others to
follow. They may find more food for thought in the
discussions under “Accept change as a part of evolution” in Article 23.
66. It is pertinent that government has been
sitting for more than eight years on poll reforms suggested by Election
Commission. Therefore, it is naïve to depend
on government to develop the comprehensive
democracy outlined above despite so many outstanding advantages.
67. This series of articles clearly show that all
citizens, organized groups and statutory institutions, besides government, are
responsible for development, maintenance and further growth of democracy. All
of them have to wake
up and act if they sincerely want a true, vibrant and comprehensive democracy.
68.
Action
needed: Without further waste of time, people with vision should
take keen interest, study all aspects of developing comprehensive democracy and
lead a peaceful movement to make it a reality.
69.
As a prerequisite for kick starting this peaceful movement, these visionaries
should act to create mass awareness by suitable dialogues, discussions
and debates and arrive at a consensus. Then a new Constituent
Assembly should be set up to discuss this consensus and finalize changes in
Constitution.
70. These steps form the peaceful way to develop comprehensive
democracy before violent protests against
our sinking democracy (e.g., by Maoists) spread
widely and rock the country. If we do not make such joint efforts now to
build a better India with comprehensive democracy, posterity will blame us for
our callousness which led to anarchy and violence.
71.
Swami Vivekananda had exhorted us: “Arise, awake and sleep not till you reach your
goal”.
72.
Let our joint efforts be guided by following thoughts also:
(1) Have vision: A
blind person asked Swami Vivekananda: Can there be anything worse than
losing eye sight?" He replied:
"Yes, losing your vision!"
(2). Have an ethics of care: “Having an ethics of care for suffering millions will not clash with your
legitimate self interests and will make you happy.” - Anonymous
(3).
Learn from
history: “Never forget that a small group of thoughtful
committed citizens can change the world; it is the only way that ever does.” - Margaret
Mead
(4).
Prevent evil to
triumph: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for
good men to do nothing” - Edmund Burke
(5)- Conquer
silence: “Our
lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” -
Martin Luther King Jr.
(6). Dream, think and Act: “Dream, dream, dream.
Dreams transform into thoughts, and thoughts into action - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
(7). Innovate: “I dream of things that never were, and ask why
not?” Robert F. Kennedy
(8). Dedicate: “Few things are created and perfected
all at the same time. It takes effort, work, and dedication to achieve your
goal.”
- John Dillow
- John Dillow
(9)- Be bold: “Boldness has genius, power and
magic in it” –
Goethe
(10). Use will Power: If there is a will there is a
way – A
proverb
(11).
Make efforts:
“There can be efforts that fail but there should not be a failure of
efforts” - Anonymous
(12)
Use power of
people: Mahatma Gandhi (who got us independence from the
mightiest empire by leading a non-violent movement) has shown us how even unbelievable
changes can be achieved when ordinary people come together and use their hidden
power to do extraordinary things.
HEEDING
THE ABOVE EXHORTATIONS
LET US RESTORE OUR VISION
AND
BE BOLD ENOUGH TO DREAM, INNOVATE AND ACT
FOR
ACHIEVING EXTRAORDINARY
CHANGES
WITH
A
WILL TO DEVELOP
A COMPREHENSIVE DEMOCRACY
Note:
Your
invaluable help is essential to make as many people as possible aware of
outstanding advantages of comprehensive democracy outlined above, through
personal group discussions, newspaper articles, e-mail and social media like
face book and twitter so that we can have healthy debates culminating
in necessary modifications in
Constitution, after approval by a Constituent Assembly. This is the way to replace our
sinking democracy with the comprehensive democracy outlined above.
Please send
comments about this outline of comprehensive democracy to StartRemovingBlocks@outlook.com. I shall make use of
all befitting suggestions to make improvements in this outline.
