By Dhurjati Mukherjee
Ideology is highly important for the functioning of a political party. Though some or most parts of that ideology may not be adhered to, the very fact that a proper ideology and/or action programme has been formulated shows that the party hierarchy is wedded to what has been enumerated. Moreover, political parties with long years of struggle have better and wider experience of nation building though the leadership may not have the required experience of what needs to be done for the masses, i.e. the right strategy for development.
The right priorities for ensuring development for the major section of the population is obviously the key and not just calculating GDP growth on wrong assumptions and data. The crisis plaguing the Government on the economic front lies in lack of infrastructure development and investment in the farm sector. This is being echoed again and again by economists of all shades and more so after the results of the recent elections.
On the social front, the country cannot be allowed to be divided on communal or religious lines. We are a secular country and population belonging to whatever religion, sect, caste or class should enjoy same benefits and allowed to stay without any fear on their rights and privileges. In a functional democracy, every individual should have rights to voice their opinion, which may be critical to the policies advocated by the party in power.
It is a well known fact that the poor and impoverished are at the receiving end and the present situation has accentuated the crisis. Lack of proper governance and wanton corruption is manifest all around to aid the rich and the powerful in all matters.
In this connection, it may be pertinent to refer to the poor social infrastructure in the rural countryside on India considered an emerging economy. This is manifest from a recent report of Niti Aayog titled Strategy for New India@75, it has rightly been pointed out that expenditure in education has to be increased to six per cent of GDP which has been echoed by educationists for quite some time. The report suggested testing teachers tri-annually on the same test designed for their students and putting greater emphasis on continuous and comprehensive evaluation to boost education outcomes.
In the health sector, the report highlighted shortage of doctors, nurses and paramedics and called for reforms and regulation of medical education to raise number of doctors and specialists. The document rightly suggested achieving a doctor-population ratio of at least 1:1400 against the WHO norm of 1:1000 and nurse population ratio of at least 1:500 by 2022-23. It also proposed generating at least 1.5 million jobs in the public health sector by 2022-23, a large number of which may employ women.
The pitiable condition of health centres in most villages, specially in the North and Central India is also there not to speak of sub-divisional hospitals. These are places where the poor and the economically weaker sections and also the low income groups go for treatment but are frustrated at the state of affairs there. It is imperative for the policy makers to ponder over the matter before thinking of bullet trains and modernising airports which are all aimed at the upper echelons of society. In this connection, the Niti Aayog document has suggested incentivising State governments to invest in creating a dedicated cadre for public health at the State, district and block levels and including Ayush into the mainstream.
Coming to the political parties, the BJP has performed in a rather poor manner, both in the social and economic front. Primarily it has antagonised the minorities, specially the Muslims and encroached on their lifestyles and food habits. Moreover, the dalits, the scheduled castes and tribes have felt betrayed due to lack of concern for these backward castes. In fact, there is social chaos all around but more distressing is that there are apprehensions of the intrinsic unity being eroded.
The scenario all around is one of mistrust and hatred coupled with lack of freedom of expression. Dissent is not tolerated by most political parties with BJP leading the way. Unfortunately, this has never happened in the country before and most intellectuals are frustrated with the attitude of the ruling party at the Centre.
The Congress with its glorious past may be the only national alternative in the present state of affairs. With its right ideological moorings – most of which it may not have been followed – is well geared to take the country in the right track and save it from being divided on religious, caste and class lines. There may have been failures in the past but learning from its past experience it appears that the party may follow the right approach in future. However, one needs to mention here that the Left parties have also consistently followed an ideological path but their influence and acceptance has all along been concentrated to three States, namely West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.
However, it needs to be pointed out that the Congress has to invent a new imagination, a new India of ideas which is civilisational and relevant to present day needs. It cannot be just another opposition but a dream of an alternative India. This demands a ground-level approach and a hard amount of radical intellectual thinking going beyond the unnecessary of Right and Left. The party has to aggregate new pluralism of various segments — peasant, farmers, tribe, elderly, youth, unemployed and the exploited teacher, the obsolescent technologist — into a coherent holism, not into a mechanical grid of patriotism and nationalism that is being evident presently.
The most important aspect in this regard is adhering to decentralisation, which was advocated by none other than Mahatma Gandhi long ago. It was the Congress which brought the 73rd and 74th amendments empowering the panchayats and it is now time to give more power to these and ensure proper economic decentralisation. Moreover, there is need to involve the masses in the decision-making process at the grass root levels so that their requirements are not dictated from above. The Congress, in keeping with Gandhi’s philosophy, needs to come up with ideas and values of the ashram which complements the policy thinking of think tanks and use it for formulating the right developmental strategy.
If proper emphasis is given to the rural sector – specially to agricultural development and promotion of cottage and small industries at the block levels, then the face of the villages may improve, providing employment opportunities to the rural youth. Though the Congress has been accused of urban bias in Indian planning, it is time that now this trend would be reversed in greater interest. There is the example of China, which concentrated on development of rural infrastructure for rapid growth of the country.
Finally, keeping in view the right priorities of development at this juncture, in the New Year the Congress has to follow the left of the centre stance in policy-making and development concerns to ensure that the poor and the weaker sections get an opportunity to improve their incomes and lifestyles. If necessary, collaboration with the Leftist parties in welfare matters would not be a bad idea till the scenario improves. This has to be the cornerstone of the party in the future, if it is successful in the coming Lok Sabha elections.—INFA
