| Loksatta-Corruption-Eradication |
NEW
NATIONALISM
Lessons from Contemporary world
112. There are no real parallels in contemporary world for us to
follow. There is no nation as vast and complex as India, and in
as deep a crisis as we find ourselves in. The heroic efforts to
transform the Italian Republic in recent years, the largely
successful reform engineered by the revolt of students and youth
in Thailand in the eighties, the recent effort to reform the
Japanese polity, and the creation of the Fifth Republic of France
from the ashes of the discredited and failed Fourth Republic --
are all instances of national rejuvenation through relatively
peaceful and democratic means in the post-II World War World.
South Korea and Taiwan are two other ongoing, successful examples
of national rejuvenation. The collapse of the erstwhile Soviet
Union, the disintegration of, and civil war in, erstwhile
Yugoslavia, and the conflagration in several pockets of Asia,
Africa and Latin America -- are some of the unsuccessful,
traumatic and often bloody and violent transformations across the
globe. We must have the capacity as a nation to learn the
appropriate lessons from the experiences of peoples everywhere,
without necessarily having to endure their trauma, pain and
anguish.
Lessons of Freedom Struggle
113. Our freedom struggle has valuable lessons and insights to
offer us in the task of rejuvenation of our republic. In some
ways, the task of uniting and mobilizing the people of India
against the British was relatively easy and simple. Our freedom
fighters had a simple, uncomplicated, easily understood message,
which also could evoke an emotive response. Racial bigotry and
the fact that a small number of white rulers could dominate the
vast subcontinent were easy enough to see and understand and
rebel against. The issue was at once appealing to emotion,
conscience and reason. The divisions in society and the hurdles
on account of vastness of size and linguistic diversity could be
overcome with relative ease.
114. As opposed to the experience of the freedom struggle, the
message today is far more complicated. There is no easily
discernible enemy against whom the nation could be united. In the
face of alround failure of institutions, there is no single
realizable goal to enthuse us. With our polity fractured, there
is no pan-national leadership available to harness people's
frustrations and disenchantment.
Advantages Today
115. However, we have today two great advantages in our favour.
Firstly, with the widening of democratic process over the past 50
years, most people have experienced a sense of failure of the
system. The belief that our governance system has largely failed
and in fact is on the verge of collapse is all-pervasive.
Irrespective of political beliefs, ideological proclivities, and
social and economic barriers, almost all segments of our society
are united in their condemnation of our governance system. It is
as if all citizens have access to the same pieces of a jigsaw
puzzle. Most of them may not know how to put the pieces together
and create a recognizable shape. But if the enlightened, thinking
sections take the trouble of putting the pieces into a proper
shape, most people can easily recognize it and emulate the
example. In a true sense, India is ready for transformation and
all segments of the country, irrespective of the many barriers,
respond almost identically to the prevailing crisis.
116. The other formidable advantage offered to us is the
technological progress. With the increasing reach of the print
and electronic mass media, today we have greater opportunity than
ever before to effectively communicate with the whole nation.
Coupled with the shared concerns and the experiences of the past
50 years, the communications revolution makes it possible to
energize the whole nation and work towards a common cause as
never before. The reach of the media is expanding by the day.
There is understandable obsession with titillation, sex and
violence during the early phase of the satellite communication
revolution. However, with time, given the complex, all-pervasive
crisis engulfing us, most Indians are receptive and responsive to
the call for reform, if only articulated coherently,logically and
with simplicity. Once the creative talents of a large number of
people are harnessed to this cause, the nation will respond and
rise as one, unshackling itself from the past, marching ahead to
a great future.
New Nationalism
117. As we have seen, the concept of nationalism before 1947 was
based on racial bigotry, cultural atavism and idolatrous
patriotism. Such a concept of patriotism, with the underlying
factor of colonial exploitation, served us well in fighting for
liberation from foreign yoke. Modern nationalism, however, must
be built on wholesome and enduring concepts of enlightened self-interest,
respect for universal human values, and promotion of human
dignity and true self-governance. In the absence of a governance
structure truly reflecting the new nationalism, the Indian
republic cannot last long. The increasing anarchy, lawlessness
and violence exhibited by the dispossessed sections of society,
the latent authoritarian tendencies increasingly manifest among
the urban middle classes and the ever-present spectres of
balkanization and disintegration of India in the face of mounting
political, economic and social crises -- are all pointers to the
need for a comprehensive reform of the governance structure in
order to maintain peace and public order, enlarge freedom and
self- governance and promote unity and integrity.
SECOND FREEDOM STRUGGLE
Change of Players Vs Rules of the Game
118. Given the nature of Indian polity today, it is unrealistic
to expect that such a transformation will be accomplished through
the normal process of power in the existing constitutional frame-work.
It is increasingly clear that no party or group of parties is
capable of articulating a comprehensive, holistic vision for the
future with a long-term perspective, without being obsessed with
the day-to-day struggle for survival and power-games. Even if a
party or a group of parties summons the will and intellectual
resources to articulate and propagate such a national agenda,
given the increasingly fractured nature of our polity, it is
unlikely that such a party will succeed in getting an unequivocal
mandate to govern the nation, and translate the reform agenda
into reality.
119. Even if, by some unexpected circumstances, a party is
capable of achieving a suitable majority with a coherent and
clear mandate for change, it is most unlikely that there will be
sufficient support for major constitutional reform in parliament.
Even if by a miracle a government with a will and vision is able
to capture more than 2/3 majority in both houses of parliament
and sufficient strength in most state legislatures, the vested
interests will not allow such a transformation to take place
easily. In the absence of spread of awareness amongst the
ordinary people about the need for specific reforms as part of a
comprehensive agenda, several segments of the entrenched
establishment can easily paralyze the nation by well-orchestrated
opposition to reforms, which might affect their short-term
interests adversely. The people,who are the ultimate masters in a
democracy, will be left standing as mute and passive spectators,
with little recognition of the implications of the struggle for
constitutional reform in the distant and ethereal corridors of
power. Clearly, the need of the hour is creating awareness among
the people about the linkage between their day-to-day concerns,
and the reform agenda.
Referendum __ The Creative Way Out
120. The only democratic and realistic way of overcoming the
formidable and seemingly insurmountable obstacles to democratic
transformation of the nation is through concerted action for
promotion of popular awareness of the specific issues involved,
and generation of a groundswell of informed public support for
holistic reform of our governance structure. Such public support
should then be translated into concrete approval of the reform
process and rejection of the status quo through the mechanism of
a referendum, which will be unrelated to power games and the
survival or collapse of a government. Given the enormity of the
task, the magnitude of the change required, the urgency and the
gravity of the issues involved, the people must have the
opportunity to give their unequivocal stamp of approval to the
reform agenda, without being coloured by partisan political
considerations, ideological proclivities and transient policies.
The struggle is about the nature of our governance process and
the process of power, and not about issues of day-to-day policy
and decisions. Therefore,the level of debate must be elevated to
transcend parties and ideologies, and must appeal to the
collective conscience of the nation to bring about the holistic
reform. In effect,the need of the hour is the Second Freedom
Struggle to create a new republic on the secure and durable
foundations of freedom, self-governance, empowerment, rule of law
and self- correcting institutional framework.
121. Such a gigantic task requires the commitment, skill, talent
and resources of the finest and most creative minds in our
country in a sustained and productive manner. We must harness all
our energies to build a network of organizations throughout the
country from the grass-roots level upto the national level, with
the objective of facilitating people to draw lessons from their
own day-to-day experiences and building a consensus around the
national agenda on the basis of these lessons. This must be a
movement to gain power to the people in a democratic and peaceful
manner through fundamental constitutional reform, by demanding
and engineering a referendum to enable the people to speak
clearly and unambiguously.
122. If there is a referendum today, a vast majority of people
will unequivocally reject the status quo and opt for change.
However, we have no referendum for people to give their verdict,
and there is no understanding of, and consensus on, the contours
of reform actually needed. What we need, therefore, is a
sustained and vigorous grass-roots national campaign to promote
awareness of the reform agenda, and to seek a non-partisan,
national referendum on the need for fundamental democratic
reforms. Such a national movement must be aimed at making people
conscious of the need for reform through their understanding and
monitoring of grass-roots institutions of state with which they
have daily linkages.The disenchantment of the people with the
governance process must be harnessed constructively and
creatively, and must be shaped into a positive, irresistible
force propelling fundamental democratic reforms. In short, it
must be the Second Freedom Struggle, aimed at creation of a
true,mature and self-correcting democracy enlarging freedoms,
promoting true self-governance and empowering people.
LOK SATTA - POWER TO
PEOPLE
123. The following are the suggested structure and methods that
could be adopted for achieving this formidable but vital and
urgent goal:
a) The organization could be named as Lok Satta or Power To
People, so that the basic objective of the struggle is explicitly
stated and understood in most Indian languages.
b) Lok Satta must be a nation-wide campaign from the grass-roots
level to the national level with effective networking among all
existing voluntary social action groups, movements, and
individuals with shared concern for the future of our democracy
and commitment to the rejuvenation of our republic. There are
thousands of such institutions and individuals already operating
effectively at various levels with dedication, years of
experience, insights, great credibility and popular support. All
these must be brought together to work collectively for the
common national agenda under the banner of Lok Satta, even as
they continue to retain their identities and concerns. What is
required is a common commitment for the minimal agenda for the
transformation of the Indian state under a common generic name
nationally known and understood, without having to give up the
local identity and efforts for specific causes.
LOK SATTA PRIMARY UNITS
124. General
a) Lok Satta must function essentially through grassroots Lok
Satta units at the primary level. Wherever existing people's
organizations are available, they may work as Lok Satta primary
units for the specific purpose of this reform agenda for the
limited duration of the Lok Satta movement. Elsewhere people must
be enabled to organize themselves as Lok Satta primary units.
Number per unit
b) Each Lok Satta primary unit may have a membership of 25 to 50
persons. If the number exceeds 50 in a geographic area, they may
form more than one unit, rather than exceed the number beyond a
reasonable limit. This limitation of the number of participants
in any single primary unit is to ensure that each person has
effective voice and say in the functioning of the unit, so that
true democracy prevails.
125. Membership
c) Membership of Lok Satta primary units shall be open, and all
concerned persons who are committed to the following principles
are free and welcome to join the Lok Satta units:
i) There must be a broad agreement with the national agenda. If
there are some differences there is no bar, as it is not possible
to conceive of total unanimity in all respects on all vital
issues. However, essentially there must be agreement on the
underlying principles of reform and most of the major features of
the agenda indicated.
ii) The members should agree to function in a non-partisan manner.
Members of political parties may become members of Lok Satta if
they so wish. However, office bearers in political parties shall
not be members of Lok Satta and those who seek elected
responsibilities as office bearers in Lok Satta must give up the
membership of their political party, if any.
iii) The members must be willing to commit their surplus time,
talent, resources and energy for the national agenda and Lok
Satta organization, without having to seriously undermine their
personal goals and concerns. However, their commitment to Lok
Satta must be sustained and vigorous and roughly on par with
their personal goals, and not as a mere occasional pastime or
fancy.
v) Lok Satta is committed to rejuvenation of the republic and
believes that what is required is a change in the rules of the
game, as mere change of players will not bring about the desired
reform. Therefore, the members of Lok Satta must agree not to
seek elective public office at any level, since such a contest
with or without a party label will undermine the efforts of Lok
Satta to build consensus among all segments of population in
favour of the national agenda. If they desire to contest in
elections, they are free to leave Lok Satta and seek elective
office. Lok Satta shall not in any way be used for the electoral
advantage of any individual, group or party.
126. Internal Democracy and Coordination
d) Lok Satta units shall be managed democratically through their
elected leadership. Each member shall have one vote at the
primary level and the members will elect their own President,
Secretary and Treasurer annually. There shall be no nomination of
office bearers of Lok Satta.
e) All Lok Satta primary units in a revenue district will work in
close coordination with each other as part of the larger network
and work in a concerted manner to achieve the objectives.
f) There can be any number of Lok Satta units in a district,
depending on the local participation. There may be one unit for a
village, a group of villages or more than one unit in a big
village depending on the circumstances.
g) Each member shall have a photo-identity card with a
distinctive identification to facilitate easy identity, mutual
recognition and smooth and fair organizational elections for
office bearers.
Method of Functioning
127. Lok Satta units will concentrate their members' energies in
understanding and monitoring the day-to-day functioning of the
institutions of state at the local level. The members of Lok
Satta units would naturally be stake-holders in the functioning
of local primary and secondary schools, primary health centres
and hospitals, fair price shops, taluk offices, panchayat offices
at the village and intermediate level, municipal offices, police
stations and other government offices. As stake-holders, the
members will endeavour to understand the functioning of these
institutions and offices and bring constant pressure to improve
their functioning, wherever deficiencies or distortions are noted.
They will function peacefully and democratically. In order to
gain understanding and recognition and derive the benefit of a
large nation-wide network that comes up, they will use the
generic name Lok Satta in their functioning,articulation and
correspondence.
128. Their efforts to understand and monitor the functioning of
the local institutions is aimed to achieve three objectives.
Firstly, expression of concern by direct stake-holders and public
pressure based on knowledge will bring about a tangible
improvement in the functioning of the institutions, which itself
is a worthy goal. Secondly, the primordial loyalties such as
caste, clan, creed, group or faction will be subsumed and
eventually substituted by enlightened community loyalties. Such
loyalties will be based on collective self-interest in maximizing
the benefits and services from state institutions and minimizing
the distortions, deficiencies and corruption. Thirdly, the
ultimate objective of taking intelligent interest as stake-holders
in the functioning of state institutions is to understand the
limitations imposed by the existing instruments of governance,
draw appropriate lessons from their own experience over time, and
appreciate and build consensus around the national agenda for
reform. It is expected that this process of awakening and
constant learning facilitating a broad understanding of the
national agenda will take a few years.
Funding
129. Since Lok Satta primary units are essentially concerned with
understanding the functioning of local institutions, improving
them and drawing lessons to build a consensus around the national
agenda, there will be no need for large funding.Each member
should contribute a membership fee to his or her unit as
determined by the concerned District Campaign but not less than
Rs.10/- per month or Rs.100/- per year paid in lumpsum at the
beginning of the year. This money will be pooled at the unit
level and utilized by the elected leadership of the unit in
furtherance of its goals. All such funds shall be fully accounted
for by the leadership and the accounts submitted to the unit for
approval. The local units are free to raise additional resources
in cash or kind for incurring expenditure or creating any
community facility in furtherance of the cause. All such
contributions must be publicly acknowledged under receipt and
publicly accounted for.
LOK SATTA-DISTRICT
CAMPAIGN
130. There shall be a District Campaign of Lok Satta for every
revenue district to coordinate the activities of Lok Satta units
at primary level and to undertake other activities at the
district level in furtherance of objectives of Lok Satta, with
the following structure and functioning.
a) Membership
There shall be three types of membership of Lok Satta District
Campaign:
i) Each Lok Satta primary unit shall elect one of its members to
be represented in the District Campaign.
ii) Individuals who desire to become members of the District
Campaign directly may be enrolled as members subject to
fulfillment of the conditions which apply to all Lok Satta units.
iii) The District Campaign may invite eminent individuals and
voluntary social workers in the district to become members. Such
membership by invitation shall be limited to Ten (10) for each
District Campaign. Only those persons whose work and commitment
have gained wide recognition and acceptance amongst all sections
of population shall be invited.
b) Membership fee and funding:
131. Each Lok Satta primary unit sending its representative to
the District Campaign shall pay a membership fee equal to 25% of
the membership fee received by it. The members directly enrolled
in the District Campaign shall pay a membership fee of Rs.100/-
per month or Rs.1000/- a year paid in lumpsum at the beginning of
the year.The members who are invited need not pay any membership
fee.
The District Campaign may raise contributions from individuals
and institutions in furtherance of its objectives. However, all
contributions should be publicly acknowledged under receipt and
their utilization publicly accounted for. The annual statement of
accounts shall be submitted to the District Campaign by the
elected leadership and approval obtained. All such records shall
be available for public scrutiny. No funding shall be accepted
from non-Indians.
c) Voting Rights
132. All the members shall not have the same voting strength and
there shall be a weightage in favour of representative members
elected from the Lok Satta primary units in order to strengthen
the grass-roots units and promote democratic functioning. 2/3 of
all voting strength of the District Campaign shall remain with
the representatives of Lok Satta primary units.All other members-directly
enrolled and invited-shall have 1/3 of the voting strength
irrespective of their actual number. If the total voting strength
of the District Campaign is assumed to be 100, the total votes of
the Lok Satta primary units shall have a combined strength of 67,
and each representative member shall have the voting strength of
67/x,x being the number of Lok Satta primary units in the
district. The combined voting strength of the other members shall
be 33, with each of the other members having the voting strength
of 33/y, y being the total number of other members.
d) Each District Campaign member shall have a photo- identity
card for easy identification and mutual recognition, and to
facilitate smooth organizational elections.
e) The office bearers of the District Campaign viz., president,
secretary and the treasurer shall be elected annually by the
members.
f) The District Campaign shall have its own office and atleast
one paid worker to maintain records and accounts and take care of
correspondence. The office bearers are expected to be available
regularly on rotation basis at 0the office for consultation and
coordination.
Functioning of District Campaign
133. The District Campaign shall monitor and coordinate the
efforts of the primary units. It will also liaise between the
State Campaign and primary units. It will monitor the functioning
of the district level institutions of state and understand their
functioning and bring pressure to correct the deficiencies and
distortions.
134. The District Campaign shall undertake the responsibility of
organizing the primary units throughout the district. In time,
there must be at least 50 to 100 primary units organized in every
district, depending on its size. On an average, at least one
person per thousand population should be actively involved in Lok
Satta primary units, over a period of two to four years.
135. The District Campaign shall keep a close liaison with the
media-both print and electronic. It should enlist the
participation of media persons as members as far as possible.
136. Various sections including retired employees, serving
employees of government and private sector, ex-servicemen,
lawyers, teachers, other professionals, entrepreneurs, women,
youth and students must be encouraged to become members of Lok
Satta at both the District Campaign and primary unit levels,
depending on their convenience. There shall be close interaction
with the voluntary social action groups and concerned individuals
through out the district, so that there is concerted action to
build up a consensus around the national agenda and promote the
objectives of Lok Satta.
137. The District Campaign shall receive the literature and other
campaign material provided by the National Campaign and State
Campaign, replicate and distribute it within the district,
including to the primary units. The District Campaign will also
create appropriate literature suitable to the local needs in
support of the agenda and use it for mass awakening.
LOK SATTA STATE CAMPAIGN
138. For every state and union territory, a Lok Satta State
Campaign shall be organized. The membership of the State Campaign
shall be as follows:
i) Each District Campaign will elect a member to repre-sent it at
the State Campaign level.
ii) Members can be directly enrolled in the State Campaign if
they fulfill the conditions of membership as applicable at
primary and district levels.
iii) Eminent individuals, with long record of service and wide
recognition and respect amongst all sections of population, may
be invited to be members of the State Campaign, not exceeding 25
in number.
Membership fee and funding
139. Each District Campaign represented in the State Campaign
shall pay a membership fee equal to 25% of the total membership
fee received by it.The directly enrolled members shall contribute
Rs 300 per month or Rs 3,000 per year, if paid in lump sum at the
beginning of the year.There shall be no membership fee for
invited members.
The State Campaign may raise contributions from individuals and
institutions in furtherance of its objectives. However, all
contributions should be publicly acknowledged under receipt and
their utilization publicly accounted for. The annual statement of
accounts shall be submitted to the State Campaign by the elected
leadership and approval obtained.All such records shall be
available for public scrutiny. No funding shall be accepted from
non-Indians.
Voting Rights
140. The representative members of District Campaign shall have a
combined voting strength of 2/3 of the total and all the other
members shall have 1/3 of the total voting strength. If the
voting strength is taken as 100, the combined voting strength of
the District Campaigns shall be 67.This voting strength shall be
distributed among the representative members of District
campaigns in proportion to the number of LOK SATTA primary units
operating in each district. The combined voting strength of other
members shall be 33/y, y being the number of other members in the
State Campaign. Each State Campaign member shall have a photo-identity
card. The office-bearers of the State Campaign viz., president,
vice-president,Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected annually
by the members.
The State Campaign will also have an elected Executive committee,
on which the office bearers will be ex-officio members, with the
State Campaign president as Chairman.
Functioning of State Campaign
141. The State Campaign shall have its own office, with such
number of paid workers as necessary. The office bearers and
Executive Committee will be available regularly on rotation basis
at the office for ready consultation and coordination.The State
Campaign shall coordinate and assist in the functioning of the
District Campaigns and primary units within the state.The State
Campaign shall act as a liaison between the National Campaign and
the District Campaigns.
Campaign
142. The State Campaign shall take steps to create in support of
the reform agenda and replicate and distribute it to District
Campaigns. The State Campaign will also receive literature from
National Campaign and translate and distribute it.The State
Campaign will launch a vigorous media campaign through writings,
audio-visual techniques and other available means in support of
the national agenda for the rejuvenation of the republic. The
support of all the newspaper and media persons including the
editors and correspondents, and all eminent persons with
distinguished record of service must be enlisted in furtherance
of the national agenda in a non-partisan manner.
143. The State Campaign shall constantly monitor the institutions
of state at state level and work to correct the deficiencies and
distortions in their functioning and to build a consensus in
favour of the reform agenda. All State Campaign members shall
have photo-identity cards in order the facilitate easy
identification and mutual recognition. All correspondence and
activities shall be in the name of Lok Satta for easy recognition
and for deriving strength from the national network of Lok Satta.
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