VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 267 Date: 04.02.2019
Contents:
1. Indian Democracy Is In Tatters
2. Another Wicket Has Fallen: That Of The Head Of The Indian Statistical
Commission
3. No Constitutional Framework Wherein The CVC Can Be Proceeded Against For
Corruption
Indian Democracy Is In Tatters
Indian democracy is in tatters. Led by people who are accused of criminality and on the basis of court judgments have attempted to shore up their credibility and thus lay claim to hold legislative and executive positions in our government. Indian democracy over the years since Independence has been disfigured, desecrated, mutilated, quartered, killed and the only thing left is for it now to be cremated and its ashes to be immersed in all the rivers that still flow through this great land that is India. We have to be thankful that we still have some semblance of freedom of speech though even that is fast getting restricted. Vote banks, quota banks, caste banks, community banks, language banks, wealth banks, privilege banks have blown holes in the cloth of Indian democracy leaving it in tatters. Many of the banks listed above exist in other democracies but some are unique to India and these are the ones that bring us down dramatically. Like quotas in education and jobs in government for the backward classes and now the newly announced quotas for the economically weaker sections of our society. In theory this is great but in practice particularly after seven decades of Independence it sounds incongruous. These banks are also actively encouraged and nurtured by our politicians since in their continuity lies their future. See the Budget that was presented lately. Where it should be a serious document outlining the proposition of what the government would do with the economy, it has turned into a dole document distributing pennies to almost all sections of the population. The unfortunate part is that people are counting these pennies and seeng how much they have gained. With the impending election such budgets are common and have been even branded as populist budgets. That people may vote the incumbent government to power or that is the expectation is the more distressing part. Is this not then large scale corruption? Corruption of the mind, body and soul. The transient nature of the Budget is also highlighted, in the sense that most of its provisions may not be implemented or worse still the whole thing may be recast, if you go by the Opposition's statements. This the Opposition is laying claim in the hope of doing better at the hustings and displacing the incumbent government. The other thing is that over time and particularly over the last 5 years our democracy has tended to become more authoritarian. Even alternative opinion let alone dissent is not tolerated and the moment you express anything different the social media brigade of the establishment descends upon you or actual goons lay hold upon you to teach you a lesson. Otherwise the police or the IB or the CBI or the ED will arrive at your doorstep to threaten you and thus iron out the alternative opinion or dissent so that you have a uniformity of opinion and a smooth layering of our society. Conformity seems to be the order of the day. But if you use enforcement agencies to control democracy, is it then true democracy in letter and spirit. These are the questions that haunt you. But if you look at other democracies the same authoritarian tendencies have been appearing. Take Donald Trump for example in the US with his many gaffes and ripostes, confrontations with the media and then shutting down the government for a Mexican wall! Then Macron in France who has had the Yellow Vest movement bringing the country to its knees in protest of the many policies of his. So can we be different? Maybe the time has come that we need to tread the same path and look at a new democracy.
Another Wicket Has Fallen: That Of The Head Of The Indian Statistical Commission
Another wicket has fallen. That of the head of the Indian Statistical Commission. Both members of the commission submitted their resignations over the suppression of the jobs report by the NSSO that showed that unemployment was the highest in the last 4 decades. Earlier they claimed that they had not been consulted on the revisions of the base year for the GDP figures to make the present NDA dispensation look good in the handling of the economy. One would say that they did good by quitting since the government went further and showed that in the year of Demonetisation 2016-17 the economy instead of being crimped actually grew by 8.1%! With the common people these things really do not matter since they will look at the news item shrug and move on with their lives. Within the small world of professional economists within India, it would draw a chuckle and depending on which side of the fence their sympathies lie they would obsess with it for a while and then carry on as usual. The problem is that these things are happening so frequently now that they have got inured to it or like they say,they live in a world of Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics and nothing surprises them anymore. But the bigger picture is that we are losing credibility internationally with the economic institutions of the world where with frequent changes made to the basis for announcement of economic indices of the country, it has come to a situation that no one believes any more the official figures being put out and there will come a day when our official economists may be questioned with comments like - Are you sure? Will things not be changed down the line? This is not a good thing for the country and its image. But one is not sure since maybe this is the new grand design and not have professionals speak on professional matters but leave the last word to the politicians. However, it is surprising to see Rajeev Kumar, Vice Chairman of the Niti Aayog who prior to his current appointment was a critic of Demonetisation but is now increasingly being seen as the government's point man to defend issues relating to economic matters. The chameleon has truly changed its colours!
No Constitutional Framework Wherein The CVC Can Be Proceeded Against For
Corruption
It has been reported that there is no constitutional framework wherein the Central Vigilance Commissioner - CVC can himself be proceeded against for corruption. A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court to set up a mechanism for this. There is more than a necessity for such a procedure since the present incumbent in the CVC post , K V Chowdhary took charge of his appointment only after having been cleared of some cases of corruption that the CBI was investigating against him. Even now there are allegations against him for having closed some vigilance cases dubiously.
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