By Dr SK Chattopadhyay
The founding fathers gave shape to constitution of Indian Republic during the most tumultuous period of modern Indian History. The structure indicated in the Cabinet Mission plan of May 1946 was in the background when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru move the objective resolution in the first session of the Constituent Assembly in December 1946..In framing the constitution the founding fathers were guided by the situation which emerged after the partition of India.. The country needed most was unity, and it was the conviction of the founding fathers of the constitution that it should be West minister type of Parliamentary Democracy
For sometimes there were arguments and counter arguments on the issues of Parliamentary Pattern of Government in India which having a polyglot society with so much heterogeneity and the country adopted West minister pattern as legacy of the past where as United Kingdom more or less a homogeneous society with more or less one religion, language, etc.It was really a proud moment and was a unique historical events that communities of different origins, languages and cultures were brought together under one constitution.. But it is also true that even now that argument which was raised by many thinkers that the type of government we adopted would it be best suited for the country or not?
B.B. Lyngdoh, One of the most prominent statesman of our country wrtote in 1984 on “Direct Election Of The Chief Executive” “Instead of uniting and consolidating the country we stand divided into 542 small localities. The people of each such constituency are called upon once in 5 years to elect one person to represent and serve them in that small area. The candidates stand for largely personal, local sectional and communal consideration”
For many years under the west minister type of government there had been less problem as at national level for about half a century it was one party majority and it was not unstable. The situation is totally changed. It will be difficult to have single party majority at national level and even in Meghalaya like small state. Then after election number game starts to prove majority and manipulation, computation, allurement of prize postings , money power,etc. operates in the whole process .We have experiencing the systemic weakness of the pattern of government we adopted.. When there are so many personal, local, sectional and communal consideration the present form of government is responsible for breeding corruption, communalism and castecism Whatever may be the sincerity and honesty of the Election Commission to conduct free and fair election, the election itself is the breeding ground of corruption. And without money power it is now impossible to become M.P. or M.L.A. Local Area Development Fund has become another source of corruption. One interesting aspect of the election scenario is that we witness steady rising turnout at elections for casting votes. But even then the impact of voters turn out will not bring confidence from the dysfunctional system we have been passing through. There will be coalition government definitely at the National level. It is difficult to bring discipline under coalition government as often expressed by our Prime Minister Dr. Monmohan Singh. Therefore there will be corruption under the present form of number game system as the losing majority is always working as Damocles Sword.
It is discussed now as it was at one time felt by thinkers like M.C Chagla, J.R.D Tata, B.B. Lyngdoh to fin out suitable alternative type of Government, But our representatives Law maker of the country would definitely not agree to explore alternative to West minister style of Government as it would deprive them of all the advantages they have in playing this number game, the tenure of the government depends on them. More over, under coalition government the most important feature the cabinet responsibility of the Government Under parliamentary system is compromised. It is very much relevant now as B.B. Lyngdoh suggested that ” The office of the President or the Prime Minister and of the Governor or the Chief minister be directly elected by the people, The present method of choosing our Government is impractical .The M.Ps or the M.L.As elect the Government from among themselves. We place them in a very difficult position. They are equally entitled to be in the in the government. When, therefore when 10 or 15% of them can be taken in the ministry, the rest feel discriminated hence the scrambling, the bargaings and the horse trading which has degraded our national character. It has brought our elected representatives into public redicule.It has caused indiscipline, instability and inefficiency in administration” It Is high time for the Nation to find ways to overcome the problems faced under the West minister type of government. The India against corruption movement has failed .The elected representative are very happy as during the movement the oft. Quoted remarks from honourable M.Ps irrespective of party affiliation was “Parliament is Supreme”. Therefore a movement should start for Direct Election Of The Chief Executive to get a stable and efficient government as propounded by B.B.Lyngdoh in 1984..During his lifetime he tried his best and visited many places and discussed this subject with political and non-political leaders, editors, businessmen and intellectuals and he found a general agreement that we need to modify and improve our methods. .Now Anna Hazare type some one should take up this matter seriously.