III. AREAS OF CONCERN: COMMISSION’S PERCEPTION‌

The following are the important areas of concern according to the perception of the Commission6 :

1. There is a fundamental breach of the constitutional faith on the part of Governments and their method of governance lies in the neglect of the people who are the ultimate source of all political authority. Public servants and institutions are not alive to the basic imperative that they are servants of the people meant to serve them. The dignity of the individual enshrined in the Constitution has remained an unredeemed pledge. There is, thus, a loss of faith in the Governments and governance. Citizens see their Governments besieged by uncontrollable events and are losing faith in institutions. Society is unable to cope up with current events.

2. The foremost area of concern is the present nature of the Indian State and its inability to anticipate and provide for the great global forces of change ushered in by the pace of scientific and technological developments.

3. The next and equally important dimension is the increasing cost of government and fiscal deficits which are alarming. In 1947, there was a deficit of ₹2 crores in the revenue budget; in 1997-98, it became ₹88,937 crores; in 2001-02, it is about ₹1,16,000 crores (4.8 per cent of GDP). India is on its way to a debt-trap.

4. There is pervasive impurity of the political climate and of political activity. Criminalisation of politics, politicalcorruption and the politician-criminal-bureaucratic nexus have reached unprecedented levels needing strong systemic changes.

5. Issues of national integrity and security have not received adequate and thoughtful attention. Mechanisms for the assessment of early warning symptoms of social unrest are absent. Mechanisms for adequate and immediate state responses to emergencies and disaster management are wholly inadequate. Administration, as a system for anticipating coming events and planning responses in

advance, has failed. It has become un-coordinated and directionless amalgam of different departments often with over-lapping and even mutually conflicting jurisdictions, powers and responsibilities which merely acts as a reaction to problems. There are no clear-cut standards or basis for fixing responsibilities.

6. Though India’s overall record and experience as a working democracy (despite many centrifugal forces) are worthy to mention and though the bases of democratic debate have widened with the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments, the working of the institutions of parliamentary democracy, however, have thrown-up serious fault-lines, which might, if unattended, prove destructive of the basic democratic values.

7. There is pervasive misuse of the electoral process and the electoral system is unable to prevent the entry of persons with criminal record into the portal of law-making institutions.

8. The Parliament and the State Legislatures, owing to the inherent weakness of the electoral system, have failed to acquire adequate representative character. The 13th Lok Sabha represents only 27.9 per cent of the total electorate and the Legislature of U.P. represents only 22.2 per cent of electorate respectively.

9. The increasing instability of the elected governments is attributable to opportunistic politics and unprincipled defections. The economic and administrative costs of political instability are unaf-fordably high and their impact on the polity is not clearly comprehended and realized. Though just four Prime Ministers ruled the country for 40 years out of the 54 years of independence and one political party alone was in power for 45 years, however, 1989 onwards the country saw five General Elections to the Lok Sabha. Costs of this political instability are simply colossal.

10. The state of the Indian economy is disturbing. The economy is gradually sinking into a debt-trap. Economic, fiscal and monetary policies, coupled with administrative inefficiency, corruption and wasteful expenditure are increasingly pushing the society into extra-legal systems, crime-syndicates, mob-

rule and hoodlum out-fits. Black-money, parallel economy and even parallel governments are the overarching economic and social realities. Legitimate governments will, in due course, find it increasingly difficult to confront them. In course of time these illegal criminal out-fits will dictate terms to the legitimate governments.

11. Rural de-population, urbanization, urban-congestion and social unrest need immediate attention and solutions. Increasing unemployment will prove a serious threat to orderly government.

12. Future of society is increasingly knowledge-based and knowledge-driven. The quality of education and the higher research need urgent repair. The country is engaged in a unilateral and unthinking educational disarmament.

13. System of administration of justice in the country is another area of concern.

14. Criminal justice system is on the verge of collapse. The quality of investigations and prosecutions requires a strong second look. Law’s delay and costs of litigation have become proverbial. Victimology, victim-protection and protection of witnesses in sensitive criminal-trials need institutional arrangements. Recruitment, training, refresher and continuing legal education for lawyers, judges and judicial administrators need immediate attention. The increasing utilization of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation, conciliation and arbitration as well as mechanisms of auxiliary adjudicative services need to be stressed.

15. Communal and other inter-group riots in a country like India with its religious, social and cultural diversity cannot be treated as merely law and order problem. They are manifestations of collective behavioural disorders. Legal and administrative measures are required to be taken to remove the insecurity felt by the minorities and for bringing them into the mainstream of the national fabric.

16. The state of social infrastructure is disturbing. There are 380 million children below the age of 14. The arrangements for their education, health and well-being are wholly inadequate

both qualitatively and quantitatively. 96.4 per cent of the primary education budget goes for salaries alone.

17. Rates of infant mortality, blindness, maternal mortality, maternal-anemia, child malnutrition and child-immunization, despite significant progress achieved, yet remain at high and disconcerting levels.

18. Public health and hygiene have not received adequate attention. There is alarming increase of infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis, Malaria, Hepatitis, HIV etc.