Thought for the day
“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about
what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”
-
Swami Vivekananda (India, 1863-1902)
Word for the day
Cognizant (adj)
Aware (usually followed by of).
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Teaser for the day
Smearing ink and hurling shoes - are these methods of
registering protest (a) violent; (b) non-violent or (c) neo Gandhian?
Note that giving a ride on donkey - face smeared with black
paint and garland of footwear is still the most popular method of social
castigation in Indian folklore.
Utopia: The economic solution-II
Trust your people
In my view, the most valuable resource for India is her people.
In not implementing the recommendation of Balwant Rai Mehta committee (1957) on
local self governance, our political system has been unable to develop an
environment of mutual trust and transparency and thus failed the people of
India. Despite, Narasimha Rao government ensuring 73rd constitutional
amendment in 1992, the political establishment has obdurately refused to share
power with the local bodies and common people.
As per NCAER 2008 Devolution of Power Index – only a handful of
States have done meaningful devolution of power to Panchayati Raj Institutions
- Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala being the notable one.
A series of irregularities that have come to light in past two
decades suggest that lack of transparency in government functioning and
substantial discretionary powers enjoyed by elected representative in
appointments, procurement, resource allocation etc. are the primary reasons for
governance deficit.
In my Utopian (though not out of the realm of possibilities)
view, the following should be done:
(a)
The ownership of public resources should be
earnestly handed over to “the public”. Instead of few feudal ministers
controlling the resources, the trusteeship of all the natural resources should
be vested in the local
council. The local people should determine how these resources should be
exploited. Industry based on these resources should be developed on
co-operative model with equitable ownership of local people.
(b)
Urbanization (provision of adequate civic
amenities and connectivity) and industrialization should be managed at
town/village level instead of further promoting India-Bharat divide. 7,00,000
urbanized villages would be much more productive than 700 cities with
inadequate infrastructure.
(c)
Local councils should be empowered to decide
appropriate taxation structure and incentive formulae to achieve the objective
of social, economic and gender equalities, sustainability and development.
For example, each local council shall determine which are the
minority communities, or socially and economically backward classes in that
locality and extend reservation accordingly. Similarly, each local council
shall determine the development priorities and allocate resources accordingly.
Given the diversified demographic, ecological and socio-economic profile,
efficient policies for energy, education, employment, industrial development,
ecology conservation etc could be worked out only at the local level.
(d)
The role of the National Council should be
restricted to managing national defence, foreign relations, Trans District
Rivers, dispute resolution, and developing model rules and regulation that may
be adopted by local and district councils with appropriate modifications.
…to continue
Earlier
in this series:
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