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Time to consider Proportional Representation system urges Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, Member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and Founder President, Lok Satta Party, made a strong case for moving towards an electoral system based on proportional representation (PR), in a lecture discussion at The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy on August 24.

A distinguished gathering including senior officials who were involved in conducting elections at the national and State levels, participated in the nearly two-hour long interactive session.

Welcoming Dr. Narayan, Mr. N. Ravi, Director, Kasturi & Sons Ltd., and member of the Board of Management of The Hindu Centre, said that the theme of the lecture-discussion was highly relevant and timely given the “alarming rise in the influence of money on elections”.

“While the measures introduced by the Election Commission have succeeded in curbing ostentatious and overt spending on public campaigning, money has moved underground and operates by way of payments to party workers and leaders to bring in the votes, and at times by way of gifts and bribes to the voters directly. As a result, spending on elections has been rising manifold over the past two decades and the figure of Rs. 8 crores mentioned by a political leader in Maharashtra will most likely be dwarfed in 2014, raising the question if it is at all possible to fight elections innocently,” Mr. Ravi said.

Dr. Narayan, referring to the Indian public’s mounting cynicism over India’s present electoral system, strongly urged the audience to consider “proportional representation” (PR) as an “alternative electoral system” to help curb the dominance of money power and “oligopolies’’ in the political system. He argued that a PR system with a “more realistic and much less threshold of success,” combined with political regulation and complemented by honest politicians, could go a long way to clean up the mess in the current system.

The Lok Satta leader was equally emphatic in adding that strong local governments, particularly in the urban areas to start with, need to be promoted and nurtured as the tradeoffs between a multitude of taxes paid by the citizens and services delivered were a strong incentive for a win-win situation. The system works much better when the tradeoffs are well-defined, transparent and the outcomes measurable in a set time-frame, he stressed.

Addressing a gathering of journalists and members of the public, including K. Praveen Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, D.K. Oza, former Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, T.S. Krishnamurthy, former Chief Election Comnmisioner of India, V. Vasanthi Devi, Former Vice Chancellor, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, K. Pandiarajan, Member of the Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly, Mr. T.M. Krishna, eminent Carnatic musician and M.G. Devasahayam, retired IAS officer, Dr. Narayan traced the history of how policy makers have responded to emerging challenges from the 73rd and 74th amendments that empower local government bodies to voter registration and electoral process reform, to mandatory disclosure of candidates antecedents, and political funding reforms.

Yet, the present electoral system (first-past-the-post system) itself needed change, Dr. Narayan argued. Parties desperate to capture marginal votes have led to the conversion of fringe issues into mainstream issues. He cited the Telangana issue in Andhra Pradesh and the faceoff between the OBC Gujjars and Meenas in Rajasthan as recent examples of that disturbing new trend in Indian politics.

Most voters are disenchanted with poverty, corruption and poor delivery of services, yet, instead of focusing on infrastructure, good governance and job creation, which are long term and uncertain outcomes, since the 1980s parties have started indulging in selective populist measures and freebies. Hence the spate of freebies such as mid-day meal scheme, subsidized or free grain, and televisions and mixer-grinders, he pointed out.

Dr. Narayan lamented that most election expenditure was to buy votes, so much so that not spending huge amounts almost guaranteed defeat. It is not uncommon for large amounts such as Rs.10 Crores to Rs.15 Crores being spent on elections for a Parliamentary seat, he noted. A large chunk of that money is for vote-buying and involves law-breaking and black money, he pointed out. Big money, muscle power and criminal nexus, a caste base and entrenched personal followings are often a prerequisite for electoral success. In addition, the absence of internal democracy in parties, and weak local governments make it even harder for enlightened citizens to participate in politics, he said.

Unless large amounts were spent on the political machinery and cadre and infrastructure on the ground, it is hard to win elections he said. The qualities needed for good and effective governance (such as a heightened sense of ethics and personal morality, competence, professionalism and record of service, deep commitment to public good, the ability of harmonise conflicting interests, and focusing on social needs such as infrastructure, rule of law, human development and job creation) are now at loggerheads with the qualities needed to win elections (such as vast, unaccounted supply of money for vote buying and sustaining cadres, a dedicated political machine loyal to the local leader, identification with, and recognition as, the leader of a caste / community / region, willingness to polarise the society for electoral gain and a focus on short term freebies and voters’ individual needs).

Dr. Narayan said that there was a clear crisis in electoral politics which needed to be addressed. This is borne out by the paradox of elections wherein people who are fit to govern are “unelectable” and those who are electable are “unfit to govern”.

Replying to queries from the floor, he admitted that a PR system had its limitations and had to contend with critiques that it could lead to “caste-based politics’’, but added that it was time for the country as a whole to look at other models. “Of the alternatives, the PR system is much more honest for it has a solid base” in reflecting the voices of the people, and moving towards this will require no amendment to the Indian Constitution.

Courtesy: http://www.thehinducentre.com/events/article5055880.ece

Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:38

Attempts to drive wedge among Telugus: JP

“Division of Andhra Pradesh is inevitable. However, we have to find out an amicable solution to the problems that are going to crop up as a result of the recent decision to form Telangana State,” said Jayapraksh Narayan, the president of Lok Satta Party.

He was delivering a key-note address at a seminar on ‘Linguistic harmony in Indian democracy’ at Godvari Hall, Andhra Social Cultural Association, in Chennai. Jayaprakash cautioned political leaders against playing with the emotions and sentiments of people, which will further divide Telugu-speaking people in the State. “While the feelings of Seemandhra people can be understood, the situation has reached a peak level and cannot be reverted, thanks to the political and cynical game being played by politicians in order to gain a majority seats to come back to power,” said the Lok Satta chief.

The interests of Rayalaseema should also be taken into consideration while finding out a solution to the present crisis, he said. He also stressed the need to preserve linguistic harmony in the country whose secular fabric is intact because of the peaceful coexistence of people belonging to different cultures and languages.

Earlier, the supporters of Samaikandhra raised slogans in support of the unified State. The seminar was organised by Seva, a voluntary organization. It was presided over by its president D Satyaranarayana. Dr C M K Reddy, D Aneel Kumar Reddy, Adiseshayya, Puttajayaram J K Reddy, Subba Reddy, Suryaprakasha Rao and others participated in the seminar. Tanguturi Ramakirshna anchored the programme and Vijayendra Rao, general secretary of Seva, proposed a vote of thanks.

Courtesy: The Hans India

Monday, August 19, 2013 - 13:36

Fixing Governance with Reforms and Economic Freedom

by Jayaprakash Narayan
Comprehensive legal and police reforms and a financially empowered local government have to be part of the solution

Disenchanted as we are with our politics and governance, it is hard for us to realise that we succeeded remarkably well in building a nation and democratic institutions. We did not always fail. We gave ourselves a liberal, democratic and inclusive constitution; over 550 princely states were integrated into India with great ease and no bloodshed; our unmatched linguistic diversity has been accommodated with great sensitivity and wisdom by the linguistic re-organisation of states and a three-language formula; even in recent decades, our federalism matured significantly with states coming into their own; and we achieved moderate economic growth while preserving liberty.

Then why have we failed in many other respects? We need to focus on our initial conditions to understand our governance crisis. Abject poverty, illiteracy, social divisions and universal franchise are an explosive cocktail. Right from the beginning there has been an inherent asymmetry of power between the poor, helpless citizen, and the public servant with a safe job, secure income and awesome power. This is complicated by poor service delivery. Bribes, red tape, harassment and delays are endemic even for simple services.

In this climate, there has been an over-dependence on politicians who seek the vote, because they alone have to go back to the people for a renewal of their mandate. Politicians should have ideally built a framework for easy, painless delivery of services with sensible incentives and accountability. Instead, they responded by creating a vast party machinery to somehow address public needs in the face of a dysfunctional, unaccountable bureaucracy. Delivery did not improve; but perverse incentives distorted the picture further. Over-centralisation added to our woes. Both the state legislator and bureaucrat thrived in a centralised, opaque system.

Three post-independence failures compounded our governance failures. First, the licence-permit-quota raj was given free rein for over three decades. In our misplaced zeal for ‘socialism’, individual initiative and economic freedom were suppressed, leading to low motivation, rise of the free-loader mentality, monumental corruption, and a stagnant economy. The issue is not capitalism vs socialism; it simply is the failure to define the state’s primary role. The basic functions of state—public order, justice and rule of law, infrastructure and natural resources development, education and health care—were all neglected, as the state sought to take on business functions, and predictably failed in both areas.

Second, halting, half-hearted efforts to decentralise power failed; we are now saddled with the unwieldy 73rd and 74th amendments, which created over-structured, underpowered, and largely ineffective local governments. Third, there was the failure to modernise crime investigation and insulate it from political vagaries.

The vote is increasingly delinked from public good, and has become a purchasable commodity, as the voter seeks to maximise short-term gains. The vast political machine initially erected to address public grievances in the face of poor service delivery has acquired a life of its own. The machine needs to be sustained by corruption and abuse of power.

Vote buying alone is not enough to acquire or retain power, as all traditional parties resort to the same tricks. In an era of competitive populism, any party which focuses on infrastructure, economic growth, education and health care, and refuses to offer short-term freebies is at a great disadvantage. As all parties offer freebies, new forms of vote-gathering are needed to gain advantage. In a diverse, tribalised society, traditional social divisions of caste, region, religion or language have become playthings of partisan politics. Divisive politics and provoking primordial loyalties pay handsome electoral dividends. The politics of unity, common good and individuation took a back seat.

Once we accept this analysis, the correctives are self-evident. We need to relentlessly pursue economic freedom and competition. Local governments and communities should be effectively empowered, and a share of tax revenues should be transferred to them. Once people are in control of their own destiny, and local independent ombudsmen are institutionalised to enforce accountability, things will change significantly. Service guarantees with citizen’s charters and penalties for non-delivery will end extortionate corruption and harassment for simple services, and create space for more rational, ethical politics. Naxals and home-grown secessionists will disappear as people get busy improving their own lives. Comprehensive judicial and police reforms will minimise the law’s delays and ensure fair treatment of all citizens.

But these are not sufficient. If politics continues to be murky, other reforms will happen at a glacial pace. Blaming politicians and parties is fashionable in today’s India, but it does not help. Parties have not taken a vow to destroy India; they are only determined to win elections and stay in power. Given our current level of democratic maturity and a flawed electoral system, parties will have to pay a heavy price to uphold values in public life. Witness Andhra, where Congress is in doldrums as it refused to surrender to Jaganmohan Reddy, or Karnataka, where BJP lost power as it refused to compromise with BS Yeddyurappa. If what is good for the country is bad for parties, we only perpetuate the status quo. We need to create the right kind of incentives for parties. Our electoral system rewards vote buying, freebies and divisions; promotes those with ill-gotten money, criminal links, and caste or sectarian base; and discourages and punishes honest, competent, public-spirited politicians.

We need to switch over to a proportional system of representation, where parties get seats in proportion to votes with certain safeguards to prevent political fragmentation. Then honesty and political survival will be compatible; real governance reform will be feasible and effective; what is good for the country will be good for politicians; the best and brightest can once again play a vital role in public life; vocal, marginalised sections will find voice; and national parties will have a national foot-print.

Courtesy: http://forbesindia.com/article/independence-special-2013/jayaprakash-narayan-fixing-governance-with-reforms-and-economic-freedom/35869/1

Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - 07:28

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