Particulars of Redevelopment (Part 2)

Other Aspects --

 

Widening the Base of Representation, with Gender Equality --

At present, we are having a method known as 'First Past the Post', for the purpose of representation. Nowadays there appears some canvassing in facvour of the 'Proportional Representation' method. I need not discuss the pro's and con's of each method. My point is that even the 'Proportional Representation' method also may not be suitable for the conditions in India. So I suggest an alternative as follows.

I suggest that there should be a practice of having more than one persons as the elected public representatives, from each constituency, as follows.

The Contestants Male Female Sub-Total / Total
The Topper 1 1 2 Widening of
the Base
The Runner-up 2 (or 3) 2 (or 3) 4 (or 6)
All 3 (or 4) 3 (or 4) 6 (or 8)

Gender Equality

The total number of representatives in the House will increase. So it will become necessary to increase the geographical area of all constituencies and thus reduce the number of constituencies.  


Advantages --

  • This type of arrangement will help widen the base of representation in each and all constituencies. The tendency of 'winning at any cost, by any means' and the criterion of 'ability to win' (निवडून येण्याची क्षमता) will become redundant.
  • Gender Equality -- There will be equal representation to men and women. So the controversy which goes on with just 33% reservation will get terminated.


Apart from this, I have suggested for having the representatives of many Societies of the Professionals and many Associations of the People, by way of internal elections, to be monitored by the Election Commission. So there will be Equal and Guaranteed representation to all aspects of the democracy and of human living. Therefore this type of arrangement will be better for India, than having the 'Proportional Representation' method.

I describe that as the 'Balanced Representation'. You may see the 'Table of Representation' to know as how the balance will get established.


The Mid-Term Democratic Feedback --

There goes a lot of talk on the mid-term democratic feedback. It is possible for arranging the same by way of 'Indirect Representation'. It is simple.

  • The national level elections are held once in five years, under normal circumstance. I have described that as the 'Direct Representation'.
  • I suggest that the local elections be conducted after every two and half years period. I have described that also as the 'Direct Representation', at the local level.
  • My another suggestion is that, there should be voting in the local Houses, during the 1st session of the local Houses, immediately after the local elections. The Direct Representatives at the local Houses shoudl be allowed to do voting in the local Houses and send their representatives to the National House. I have described that as the Indirect Representation.
  • The tenure of the Indirect Representatives in the National House will be two and half years.
    The tenure of the Direct Representatives in the National House will be five years.
In this way, it will become possible to transfer the mid-term democratic feedback to the National House. It will beccome possible to conduct all elections at the pre-determined intervals and that will help bring the uncertainty in that matter, to an end.

You may see the 'Table of Representation' to know about the balance of Direct and Indirect Representation.


No Political Parties, No Election Symbols --

In the new arrangement, there will be no political parties. All contestants in all elections will be the independent candidates only. Since the parties will be eliminated, there will be no election symbols also. The names of individual contestants only will be displayed on the ballot papers or on the electronic voting machines. So the change of party and the anti-defection law will become the things of the past, under such arrangement.


Direct Voting and Succession Management --

This aspect remains absent in the present constitution of India, as regards channelizing a new person as the successor for the PM/CM position. It is limited to the provision of conducting new election and subsequent motion of confidence by the leader of a majority of new MPs/MLAs. We need to improve upon this by introducing clear provisions. I hereby suggest the following.

  • Let there be a screening mechanism for the candidates interested to become the next PM/CM. It could be partly on the lines of that done by the UPSC, for the IAS selection. But it should be modified to make it suitable for the persons in the age group of 45-50 years. I will explain the reason for this age group later.
  • The shortlisted 24 candidates, 12 male and 12 female, for ensuring the gender equality, should be subjected to the interviewing by the Board of Directors of all Associations of the People. I call this process as the pre-qualification of the candidates.
  • The 12 candidates, 6 male and 6 female, out of initial 24 Nos., who will get pre-qualified, should be allowed to become the probationary members of the legislature, at the beginning of a new term.
  • At the end of each year, 1 male and 1 female candidate should be eliminated, by way of voting by the sitting MPs/MLAs. Thus by the end of four years, 4 male and 4 female candidates will get eliminated and there will remain 2 male and 2 female candidates. These should be the contestants in subsequent election, for direct voting by the people.
  • The people will cast their vote to one of the four candidates for doing preference ranking. The results will indicate the order of preference by the people for four candidates.
  • All four candidates should be allowed to join as the voting members of the legislature, during the subsequent term.
  • However the candidate having the highest number of votes (preference) by the people should be allowed to put forward a resolution in the House, for the Vote of Confidence by the members of the legislature.
  • Such resolution should be approved by all members, as a matter of honouring the people's choice for the PM/CM position.
  • The remaining three candidates should be allowed to continue as the special members with the voting right, till the end of the term.
  • In case of wide dissatisfaction about the performance, there may be a no-confidence motion in the House. In that case, remaining three candidates will be readily available, thereby avoiding the mid-term election.
  • The four years period of probation mentioned above will help the candidates become acquainted with the functioning of the House.

This method has 3-4 major advantages.
  • There will be direct voting by the people for the PM/CM position. That will make the party change and the need of anti-defection law redundant.
  • The gender equality for the opportunity for contesting the election will be ensured.
  • There will be enough scope for the monitoring by the MPs/MLAs.
  • The mid-term change also will become possible, if required, and that too without the mid-term election.

Therefore this type of arrangement will be better than the current arrangement in India and better than the US type presidential arrangement also. This type of arrangement will fulfill the condition of the parliamentary nature of democracy.


The Parliamentary Nature --

The 'Parliamentary Nature' of democracy is one of the criteria in the Basic Structure Doctrine stipulated by the Supreme Court of India. Although the present form of Indian democracy is described as the parliamentary democracy, it is not so in the strict manner. It is one of the variants of the original parliamentary democracy in the UK.

The core meaning of the Parliamentary Nature is that the Head should remain answerable to the members of the legislature.

This core feature is surely fulfilled in the new arrangement of direct election and succession management suggested above.


The Imbalance of Regional Development --

Generally the imbalance of regional development is attributed to short allocation of the resources. This aspect is always susceptible to the politics. We have a provision of setting up the Finance Commissions. But despite their continued efforts the imbalance prevails to considerable extent. It may be noted that such imbalance of development may not be merely due to shortage or non availability of the resources. It occurs due to no activity or no efforts as well. To overcome that, we may follow some method which will help minimize the scope for human discretion in the allocation and seek the local initiative also. I hereby suggest two tier approach for that purpose.

  (*) The primary and secondary distribution formulae --

I suggest 20-50-30 formula for primary division of the pool of tax revenue, from all sources and which is to be transferred to all districts. (I consider the districts and not the states, as the base for doing such transfer.)

The 20% portion should be used for distribution on the basis of the ratio of the area of each district to total area of India. This will ensure that each district gets equitable share in the pool.

The 50% portion should be used for distribution on the basis of the ratio of the contribution to tax pool by each district to total collection in the pool from all over India. This will ensure that the districts which contribute more to the pool will get more in return. It will be like an incentive for better performance.

The balance 30% portion should be used for distribution on the basis of the imbalance of the development. For this purpose, there should be some measurable criteria and all districts should be classified into four classes, viz. A, B, C, D, the A being the most developed and the D being the least developed. The further distribution of this 30% portion should be done on the basis of a secondary distribution formula. I suggest 0% for A class, 20% for B class, 30% for C class and 50% for D class of the districts, at the secondary level of distribution. This will be the logical arrangement.

There should be re-classification of all districts once in five years.

  (*) About the Local Initiative --

The autonomy which is expected in the federal arrangement should be with respect to selection of the development projects, as suitable for the concerned districts. The Houses of Representatives for respective districts will be the authority for utilization of the fund. I consider the districts and not the states, as the base for doing such transfer. Therefore I have suggested for doing a structural change from India as the 'Union of States' to the 'Union of Districts'. The Regional Development Councils also will not be needed any more.

The great advantage will be that of the saving in the cost of administration of the extra (not required) tiers and establishments and the money can be used for the actual development in the districts. Alternately, it will form the basis for reduction in the taxes on the people.  

 

See Part 1 again.

 

Last updated on 2022.07.30. (First uploaded here on 2022.07.30.)


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