By Our Reporter
Shillong: Even after 65 years of Independence, a majority of Indians are yet to feel the gloat of freedom, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha and research professor, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, Dr Subhash C Kashyap said, while adding, “The hangover of the colonial period still prevails in this country.”
“The colonial mindset persists and it is evident from the fact that people are treated as subjects and not as citizens of a sovereign country,” Dr Kashyap said.
Dr Kashyap was addressing a two-day national conference on ‘Sixty years of the working of Parliamentary Democracy in India: Experience and Prospects’ organised by Synod College and PA Sangma Foundation here on Wednesday.
Dr Kashyap stated that the nation is passing through a critical phase; the whole system stands dysfunctional and the nation is faced with the crisis of the character with the devaluation of the overall political structure.
“Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru believed that democracy could bring about a peaceful method of dealing with various problems, however, the same has been diluted by corrupt and scrupulous politicians,” Dr Kashyap said adding that ‘the Parliamentary authority is declining over the years’.
Highlighting that the Indian rural population could prove to be the greatest strength of a democratic system, Dr Kashyap said, “We notice that over 300 million people live below poverty line (BPL) which indicates that there are more poor people now than at the time of pre-independent India,” he said.
According to United Nations statistics, the majority of the BPL in India are illiterate and lack drinking water. In the rural areas, there is a lack of toilets and the rural populace are subjected to unsanitary work conditions.
“We are more divided than ever before,” Dr Kashyap said while claiming that even Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has expressed his sorrow and is deeply worried about the future of the Parliamentary democracy in India.
Stating that election is the only thing that confers power on people, the former Lok Sabha Secretary General said the electoral process is highly decisive for the people to exercise their power but even here, the electoral process is affected by corrupt individuals who instigate communal feelings and a sense of insecurity even as they are concerned only with selfish motives.
“Indian democracy can be rightfully termed as a government of the corrupt, by the corrupt and for the corrupt and not of the people, by the people and for the people,” he observed.
Further, Dr Kashyap said that for the last 40 years, not a single important bill has been passed. “In the year 2003, over 33 important bills were passed in a matter of a minutes and likewise, during the previous years, 18 bills were passed in less than two hours and it is extremely shocking to note that every two minutes, a bill is passed,” he claimed.
Stating that democracy is a dynamic process and there is no such thing as a perfect or a genuine democracy, Dr Kashyap said democracy can be successful in a homogenous society while stressing that current thinking and vision can prove helpful in a ‘corrupt society’.
Expressing concern over the current state of affairs, Dr Kashyap said a government that can deliver with utmost sincerity and is not diluted by power and corruption is an efficient government. He stressed on the need to trigger change after serious introspection.