Posts
Equality
and its demands on democratic Institutions
One can understand the Pre-legislative Process to be an
opportunity for people to re-engage with matters of governance and functions of
the State in general. This is a welcome change from many of the more recent
agendas of “good governance reforms” that absolve the State from its core
duties of implementation by relying on private sector expertise to replace
inefficient public sector functionalities
It is popular, both in current casual and serious discourse, to
talk of a trust deficit in the interaction between the people and the state.
The nature of a relationship between an institution called the State and its
citizens can only be in the nature of a social contract. This definition and
expectation of trust, is an act of faith and takes away from the equal, causal
and rational relationship that democracy seeks to establish through its
systems. If we look at some of the essential requisite of democratic
institutional structures; to send representatives to panchayat, assembly and parliament, there is
implicit in the election process an obligation for representatives to be
accountable for their actions. We transfer our sovereignty under contract and
constitutional obligation to perform in accordance with the promises made to
us. The act of faith and trust seems a misplaced concept in the relationship
between the citizen and the State. One quarrels even with Gandhiji’s dream of a
just relationship emerging through ‘trusteeship’. It is not possible in
any, but in an Utopian society. In the Indian political context of democracy
and governance, skewed by caste, class, gender and religious prejudices, with
layers of identities and divides, a concept such as trust would do well to be
left alone - to individual and intimate relationships.
It is this growing recognition which led people to a serious
assessment of the way governments function, and the nature of power
relationships, influenced by feudal social norms, colonial administrative
patterns and the emerging pattern of neo socio-political-economic vested
interests. The demand for rights is the sum of the current understanding of
this obligation of the State. It is under contract to its people through the
vote, and promises made on assuming office. A people cheated of equality
in the conception of policy, legislation and implementation, in the discharging
of democratic and constitutional obligations often by an indifferent and often
callous State; cannot but see the relationship with the State, as a contractual
relationship, monitored by transparency and accountability, at every step of
governance.
