Free and fair poll
AS a prelude to initiating the process of holding Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Mizoram the CEC, Mr M.S. Gill, has made two suggestions, which deserve to be discussed and debated at the national level for arriving at an acceptable consensus.
Signs of resurgence?
RESURGENT India Bonds were New Delhi's response to the economic sanctions imposed after the five nuclear tests in May and now that the issue has come to a close, the arrangers are patting themselves because they have mobilised upwards of $4.16 billion from 75,000 applicants.

A study of Haryana's growth
by D. R. Chaudhry
HARYANA is passing through a phase of serious crisis. It is a multidimensional crisis, which has engulfed every walk of its life — economic, social, political, moral, spiritual, etc.

Planning system
must change
by Vinod Mehta
THE Ninth Plan is yet to take off. The coalition government at the Centre has not accepted the approach paper and the draft Ninth Plan prepared by the previous government.

. RV advocates Presidential system by V. Krishnaswami A FORMER President, Mr R Venkataraman, has suggested replacing Parliamentary democracy with the Presidential system. He is of the view that India need not follow the American system but could adopt the French model with a President, a Parliament and a Prime Minister, which was working fairly well. Fighting the British by S. Raghunath THE All-India Freedom Fighters’ Association has urged the Union Government to immediately order a high-level CBI enquiry into a scam concerning “bogus” freedom fighters who were availing themselves of many benefits, including the monthly pension and free all-India railway passes on the basis of “fake” jail certificates.

75 Years Ago

Steel-frame speech
THE speaker has referred to the resolution of the Legislative Assembly for the further grant of responsible government to India, and to Mr Lloyd George’s speech on that resolution in the House of Commons, now known as the “steel-frame speech”.

Free and fair poll

AS a prelude to initiating the process of holding Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Mizoram the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr M.S. Gill, has made two suggestions, which deserve to be discussed and debated at the national level for arriving at an acceptable consensus. One, he wants the Chief Ministers of the states where elections are due later this year to resign. Two, he would like election petitions to be decided within a specified time frame. As far as the first issue is concerned, no one can accuse Mr Gill of trying to “play politics” because Rajasthan and Delhi have BJP governments while in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram the Congress is in power. There should also be no disagreement that the purpose of raising such an “outlandish demand” is to ensure free and fair elections in the four states. Mr Gill has suggested that “Article 356 should be amended by Parliament to provide for an elected government to move out of office once elections are announced so that the state could be placed under President’s rule”. While making the suggestion he has overlooked a simple fact that most Raj Bhavans have now become parallel centres of power. The role which the Constitution envisaged for the Governor was that of a neutral umpire. Both the Congress and the BJP are equally responsible for devaluing the dignity and impartiality of the office of Governor. Against this backdrop, the remedy which Mr Gill has offered to ensure free and fair elections may be worse than the disease. To make the Gill proposal work the political class will have to take a solemn pledge that henceforth only non-politicians of proven integrity would be appointed Governors. Mr Gill should also explain why the Constitution should not be amended to make even the Prime Minister step down during the Lok Sabha elections. The need to hold Lok Sabha elections under a neutral administration is equally urgent.

The issue on which the Chief Election Commissioner is on firm grounds is the one about deciding election petitions within a specified time frame. In a letter to Union Law Minister Thambi Durai, he has pointed out that the delay in the disposal of election petitions could encourage candidates to indulge in electoral malpractices. According to the statistics compiled by him, as many as 23 cases pertaining to the elections in 1990, 27 to 1991, 48 to 1993, 13 to 1994, 53 to 1995 and 80 to 1996 are yet to be disposed of. His contention that delay in deciding election petitions could “also lead to the unhappy situation of an individual lasting out his full term as a lawmaker when the final decision may well go against him” is based on sound logic. Section 86 of the Representation of the People Act clearly states that “every election petition shall be tried as expeditiously as possible, and an endeavour shall be made to conclude the trial within six months from the date on which the election petition is presented to the High Court”. The Law Minister should consult the Chief Justice of India and discuss with him the feasibility of directing each High Court to set up a Bench exclusively for deciding election petitions after every Assembly and Lok Sabha election. In fact, the Law Minister should also discuss with the Chief Justice of India the proposal to set up special courts for dealing with the problem of electing suspected criminals to the country’s legislatures. To deny the right to contest elections to candidates against whom criminal cases may be pending before the courts would be unfair as it would violate the principle which places the onus of pronouncing the innocence or guilt of an accused on the courts. However, in the event of such candidates as are accused of having committed criminal offenses getting elected as lawmakers the special courts should be asked to decide their cases within a period of six months. Former Home Minister Indrajit Gupta, who is heading a high-level committee on electoral reforms, too should examine the proposal for setting up special courts for deciding election petitions and pending criminal cases against elected representatives within a specified period.

Signs of resurgence?

RESURGENT India Bonds (RIB) were New Delhi's response to the economic sanctions imposed after the five nuclear tests in May and now that the issue has come to a close, the arrangers are patting themselves because they have mobilised upwards of $4.16 billion from 75,000 applicants. That goes beyond the initial expectations of about $3.5 billion, although no formal target was set. The Finance Minister is, of course, seeing this as an indication and a proof of the confidence investors have in India. Even the apolitical ones seem to be pleasantly surprised with the response considering that it has come amidst the general bearish sentiment in all Asian debt markets. India's rating is particularly sub-investment grade at the moment, with major credit rating agencies expressing concern over the state of the economy and fiscal deficit. What is more, this mop-up (which is being considered among the largest in international markets in recent times) at the price of 7.75 per cent for dollar funds was well above rates that sovereign papers of better rated countries like Argentina (10 per cent), Russia (11 per cent) and Brazil (9 per cent) were attracting for five-year funds. West Asia has accounted for about 50 per cent of the total amount, South-East Asia 20 per cent and the USA and Europe together 20 per cent. Exact figures have not been given but most of the money seems to have come from non-resident Indians. One reason could, of course, be the surge of patriotism after the nuclear explosions and the resultant hue and cry and sanctions. At the same time, it must be noted that avenues of investment in the country have shrunk considerably in the recent months. Share market is in bad shape. The real estate business is doing no better. As such, the opening of the issue on August 5 could not have been better timed.

While most of the advantage of the issue will be psychological, it should have positive impact on the sentiments of the rupee as well. It had gone as low as 43.70 per dollar last week and the issue should inject some liquidity into the system. After providing for statutory requirements and extending rupee funds to the arranging banks, the country will be left with around Rs 4,000 crore. It should provide all-round health to the market. But all this optimism should be tempered with caution because many pitfalls lie hidden. For one thing, the money is not coming at a low cost. Denominated in dollar, sterling and mark, the scheme carries interest rates of 7.75 per cent, 8 per cent and 6.25 per cent, respectively. In the USA, the UK and Germany, 10-year government bonds yield only 5.45 per cent, 5.90 per cent and 4.62 per cent, respectively. So, anybody parking his money in RIB is not making a bad bargain at all. If the rupee depreciates by only 5 per cent every year, the investors will end up making quite a killing. Mind you, 5 per cent is the most conservative figure. If there is a further downslide, the country will have to pay quite a hefty price for this "attractive" scheme. If one adds up the total interest arbitrage payout, one starts feeling positively jittery about the scheme.

Equally real is the danger that the scheme might have been used by some wealthy Indians to earn ever more through hawala transactions. They could have easily sent their unaccounted funds abroad through this route so that their sons or daughters or brothers could buy RIBs and either hold these jointly with them or even gift these to resident Indians. Interestingly, the scheme even provides tax breaks for people who jointly hold RIBs with residents. The bonds are to be listed on foreign bourses and any sudden adverse swing can land India in considerable trouble. That is what has already happened to Russia through its similar GOKs. The resources thus generated are to be used for upgrading critical infrastructure in the country: roads, bridges, power, shipping and ports. One fails to understand how that well-meaning proposal can fructify. Since this money is being borrowed at nearly 15 per cent, it will have to be lent at no less than 18 per cent. Infrastructure development cannot be profitable at that cost. Not only that, payback periods of infrastructure projects are far longer than five years (fixed for the RIBs). It will be really a harakiri-prone banker who will lend in a situation where the tenure of the loan asset is much longer than that of the liability.

A STUDY OF HARYANA’S GROWTH
How to avert the coming crisis
by D. R. Chaudhry

HARYANA is passing through a phase of serious crisis. It is a multidimensional crisis, which has engulfed every walk of its life — economic, social, political, moral, spiritual, etc. Agriculture and cattle wealth have been the mainstay of Haryana’s political economy and social life. Both are fast approaching the stage of collapse.

Haryana is primarily an agricultural state, with about 80 per cent of its population being, directly or indirectly, dependent upon agriculture. As per an agricultural census of the state carried out in 1990-91, out of the total land-holdings of 15,29,799 comprising 37,11,215 hectares in area, land-holdings with their size below 0.2 hectare to 10 hectares totalled 14,83,714 with a total area of 30,01,809 hectares. There were only 38,038 holdings with an area of 10 hectares to 20 hectares comprising a total area of 4,76,677 hectares. Holdings with a size of 20 hectares and above numbered only 7,927 with a total area of 2,32,729 hectares. Thus, the bulk of the cultivators are marginal, small and middle peasants. Haryana’s agriculture is dominated by owner cultivators.

It were these cultivators — the sturdy people of Haryana’s countryside — who made the Green Revolution a grand success. But the same has now reached its plateau, with hardly any scope of further growth. According to a recent report by a committee of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the effect of the Green Revolution in the states of Punjab and Haryana is fast petering out. Land-holdings are getting smaller with the passage of time, and land is not in a position to absorb the growing number of unemployed youth, who are fast getting lumpenised and taking to crime in an organised fashion. With no alternative developmental strategy in the offing, the situation is acquiring all the more grim dimensions.

Haryana’s popular image as a modern, progressive state is fast turning into a chimera, and its affluence is now a myth. The Minister of Food and Supplies, Haryana, in his reply to a question in the Assembly on March 14, 1997, stated that there were 43.88 lakh persons below the poverty line in the state. Of these, 36.56 lakh were in the rural areas and 7.32 lakh in the urban centres. As per a survey conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research, 27 per cent of the population in Haryana lives below the poverty line.

Peasant indebtedness is an important dimension of the agricultural crisis in the state. As per the estimate of a high-level committee set up by the Central government to study the problem of agricultural debt, nearly 45 per cent of the farmers in Haryana are heavily dependent on money-lenders for short-term loans at exorbitant rates of interest ranging between 24 and 36 per cent. Commission agents constitute the bulk of these money-lenders, who buy agricultural produce from farmers and supply them numerous inputs like fertilisers, seeds and pesticides. Both ways there is a good deal of cheating. With the fast growing new strains of pests highly resistant to chemicals coupled with spurious pesticides sold by unscrupulous traders in collusion with corrupt government officials, there are occasional crop failures in Haryana. The state has seen two successive failures in the case of the cotton crop. As per information furnished by the Government of Haryana to the Central government, cotton production came down from 15.04 lakh bales in 1996-97 to 11.25 lakh bales in 1997-98. This is obviously an understatement.

Heavy indebtedness coupled with an occasional crop failure has led to a spate of suicides by peasants in states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The Green Revolution states like Punjab and Haryana are no exception. A survey conducted by the Haryana Krishak Samaj on suicides in certain villages of Narwana sub division reveals a grim picture. During the last three years there has been 32 cases of suicide in Belarkha village, 19 in Dhakal and 26 in Chattar. The most common cause of these suicides is indebtedness, and the mode of taking this extreme step is the swallowing of pesticides and cellphose tablets. On such suicides, the Punjab government is getting a survey conducted by a research organisation, but the Haryana government, like the proverbial ostrich burying its head under the sand, is in no mood to understand the genesis of the phenomenon.

Agricultural labourers, as per official figures, constituted 19 per cent of the total work-force in Haryana in 1991. As a consequence of the crisis in agriculture, they are the worst hit. The mechanisation of agricultural operations coupled with the free flow of agricultural labour from Bihar and Eastern UP has greatly reduced their chances of employment. The gradual disappearance of the fallow land and common pastures has made the task of cattle-rearing difficult which earlier supplemented the earnings of the agricultural labour households.

A plan to diversify agriculture and to promote the related fields like cattle-breeding and dairying could have been devised to minimise the impact of the agricultural crisis in Haryana. The small land-holdings could have proved ideal in this respect. But nothing of this kind has been done and, as a consequence, small-scale farming in the state has reached a dead end.

Delhi is a vast market for agricultural and dairy products. And Haryana surrounds the metropolis from its three sides, but no imaginative use has been made of this proximity. Delhi gets a big share of its daily milk supply from as distant a place as Bikaner in Rajasthan, but Haryana’s share in this respect is just a trickle.

Haryana can supply a huge quantity of fruit and vegetables to Delhi, but horticulture remains totally ignored in the state. The area under cultivation of fruits and vegetables in 1994-95 was 57,593 hectares out of the total cropped area of 5,815 thousand hectares. This is a pittance. Some enterprising farmers in a village of Sonepat district took to mushroom cultivation a few years ago and they have done remarkably well. Flowers are in great demand in Delhi for local consumption and for export, and flower cultivation can be organised with profit in Haryana’s at least five districts bordering Delhi. But the hackneyed cropping pattern of wheat, paddy, cotton and sugarcane continues unabated.

The promotion of animal husbandry and dairying could have come to the rescue of marginal and small farmers. But this sector remains woefully ignored. There has been no regular census of livestock in Haryana. The available government figures show that the total livestock population in Haryana was 79,18,400 in 1982 which increased to only 99,46,900 in 1992. Haryana has been traditionally rich in its cattle wealth, but there were only 115 veterinary surgeons in the state in 1966. The number increased to 670 in 1996-97. What a fabulous number to look after the cattle wealth in 6,988 villages in the state! Artificial insemination plays an important role in improving the bread of the cattle. The number of bulls kept at the artificial insemination centres was 60 in 1966 and it rose to only 164 in 1996-97.

Milk and milk products occupy an important place in Haryana folklore. “Deshon men desh Haryana, jith doodh dahi ka khana” (Haryana is unique among all the lands where milk and curd are stable food) is a popular saying in the state. Cow has been an object of veneration in this region since the Vedic age. Haryana’s countryside has been traditionally dotted with “akharas” (wrestling pits) and milk and ghee has been the chief source of energy and prowess for the wrestlers. But the “modern progressive” state of Haryana has singularly failed to make any use of the rich cultural heritage in this respect and displayed criminal negligence in the matter of dairying.

Haryana had five milk plants in 1978-79 and there had been an addition of only one till 1996-97. Estimated milk production was 10.89 lakh tonnes in 1966-67 which increased to 40.62 lakh tonnes in 1996-97. Milk procurement amounted to 283.5 lakh litres in 1978-79 which went up to 492.4 lakh litres in 1996-97. The per capita availability of milk per day was 352 grams in 1966-67 which increased to 610 grams in 1996-97. The figures throw enough light on the performance of the state in this respect. Haryana could show spectacular results if its potential had been properly realised.

The state administration has to shed its traditional mindset and take concrete steps in the matter of diversification of agriculture and promotion of cattle-breeding and dairying if the crisis in Haryana’s agricultural economy has to be dealt with firmly.

(The writer, a keen student of Haryana affairs, teaches English at Dyal Singh College, New Delhi.)

Planning system must change
by Vinod Mehta

THE Ninth Plan is yet to take off. The coalition government at the Centre has not accepted the approach paper and the draft Ninth Plan prepared by the previous government. Notwithstanding the finalisation of the Ninth Plan, we need to answer one basic question: Do we need planning when we, under the economic reforms, are increasingly allowing market forces to decide investment and other economic decisions?

The answer would be both “yes” and “no”. If we are allowing market forces to take over, then there is absolutely no need for any kind of economic planning; these forces would determine the sectors where investment is to flow. But that would also mean that certain sectors would be neglected because of a weak demand and other market distortions. Therefore, to meet such a situation the country would need planning for a few more years.

However, the kind of approach, we have had towards planning all these years will have to be changed in view of the new situation. In fact, it will have to be a combination of both indicative and physical planning and the development of appropriate fiscal policies to realise the development goals. At the same time, the country will have to assign a new role to the Planning Commission. One can say that the new role of the Planning Commission will be to monitor the economic health of the country quarterly at the macro level and suggest corrective measures to the government.

It is really surprising that in the Ninth Plan we are still talking about the provision of safe drinking water, elementary education and health. These problems should have been solved in the first four or five Plans. The fact that these problems are still persisting 50 years after Independence implies that our planning system has failed to deliver the goods.

It is in this context that we may have physical planning for these sectors with the provision that these would be sorted out in a given time-frame.

Looking back at the Eighth Plan, one can say that its real performance has been very close to its targets. The annual growth rate was slightly higher than the projected growth rate, and so have been the rate of savings. During the Eighth Plan the annual rate of the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) was fixed at 5-6 per cent but it actually achieved a growth rate of 5.9 per cent. The target for the domestic rate of savings was 21.6 per cent but the actual rate achieved is 23.7 per cent. Similarly, investment was to grow at the rate of 25 per cent per annum.

However, the performance of certain other indicators has been somewhat below the target. Imports grew at the rate of 13.6 per cent per annum against the target of 8.4 per cent while exports grew at 11.4 per cent against the target figure of 13.6 per cent. The annual foodgrain production target was 210 million tonnes per annum while the actual production has been around 198 million tonnes. The target for new power generating capacity was fixed at 30,538 mw whereas only 17,667 mw of generating capacity could be created. In other words, the performance of the power sector has been quite dismal. Similarly, the traffic generated by the railways was much below the target.

The overall growth rate for the Ninth Plan is likely to be between 7 and 8 per cent against the 6 per cent achieved during the Eighth Plan. Going by the performance during the Eighth Plan, the target of a 7 per cent growth rate appears to be quite dubious. The economy has already slowed down. The performance on the infrastructure front has been quite dismal. The privatisation of the power sector has not taken off the grounds. Most of the state electricity boards are mismanaged. Similarly, there has been not much progress on the communication front. The same is true of our transport system and highways. The agricultural sector is also a cause for worry.

In such a scenario it is difficult to see how the country can ensure a 7 per cent growth rate during the Ninth Plan. — INFA

75 YEARS AGO
Steel-frame speech

THE speaker has referred to the resolution of the Legislative Assembly for the further grant of responsible government to India, and to Mr Lloyd George’s speech on that resolution in the House of Commons, now known as the “steel-frame speech”.

It was stated then by the ex-Prime Minister that India was a conglomeration of various communities. If the power of the Civil Service was misused, there would be no safety for anyone in the country.

Though the Civil Service and the bureaucracy had taken full advantage from the speech, the Indians had not only not understood their true position but were actually playing into the hands of their opponents. So long as they were quarrelling among themselves, they should not even dream of Swaraj.

Fighting the British
by S. Raghunath

THE All-India Freedom Fighters’ Association has urged the Union Government to immediately order a high-level CBI enquiry into a scam concerning “bogus” freedom fighters who were availing themselves of many benefits, including the monthly pension and free all-India railway passes on the basis of “fake” jail certificates.

I have been talking to a person, who claims to have fought “selflessly” and “fearlessly” to “oust” the British from the sacred Indian soil and to have been jailed “innumerable” times by the British, but I had a sneaking suspicion that he could have been a “bogus” tyagi.

I buttonholed him as he was coming out of the government treasury after collecting his monthly pension and putting it in his bulging wallet alongside a free railway pass.

“Pop”, I said, as one who has sacrificed all and courageously fought the British to win the country its Independence, could you share with me some of your unforgettable experiences during India’s freedom struggle?”

“Yes”, said the man, “I’ll be happy to reminisce some of my experiences, but I want to emphasise in all humility that I was only a humble tyagi and my suffering and sacrifices were entirely dedicated to my beloved country.”

“On August 9, 1987, I participated actively in the Quit India Movement.”

“August 9, 1987!” I echoed incredulously, not quite believing my flapping ears, “but by then the British had left the country some 40 years earlier!”

“See?”, said the bogus tyagi triumphantly, “doesn’t that prove that I had a small role to play in forcing the British out of the country and granting its freedom? Let me continue.”

“Inspired by the stirring call of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, I abandoned my nursery education and plunged headlong into the freedom struggle and to protest against the imposition of the evil and inequitous salt tax. I undertook a solitary padayatra from Chennai to Port Blair in the Andamans.”

“But there’s a thousand miles of the Bay of Bengal between Chennai and Port Blair!” I said.

“That’s right,” said the bogus tyagi, “and see, my dhoti and hawaii slippers are still dripping wet.”

“In January, 1938, I raised a defiant banner of protest that the British never set foot in Koraput and Bastar districts of Central India.”

“But there’s no evidence that the British had even heard about the existence of Koraput and Bastar districts,” I protested. But the bogus tyagi ignored my interjection and continued with his saga.

“In May, 1943, even as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was raising the Indian National Army in Burma and getting ready to march into India, the British jailed me.”

“Oh really?” I said. I was deeply moved by this stirring narrative of a single man’s fight against the might and arrogance of the British Empire. “Were you jailed for conspiring with other fiery, hot-headed revolutionaries to throw a crude country bomb at the British Viceroy and his lady as they rode in a ceremonial motorcade to attend an evening garden party and ball dance in honour of the visiting British monarch?”

“No,” said the bogus tyagi, “I was jailed for riding my bicycle at night without a lamp.”

RV advocates Presidential system
by V. Krishnaswami

A FORMER President, Mr R Venkataraman, has suggested replacing Parliamentary democracy with the Presidential system. He is of the view that India need not follow the American system but could adopt the French model with a President, a Parliament and a Prime Minister, which was working fairly well. In the present circumstances and for some time till we reach a level of development, he said a national government with Prime Minister elected by the entire House with all parties having proportional representation in the Council of Ministers would be the ideal thing for India. He said Westminster type of democracy had succeeded only in England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand where there were only two parties but in India’s multi-party scenario this had failed as it was not equal to the needs. “We should try to modify this system in such a way that there is less hope for small groups to dominate and then create a stalemate in the administration”, the former President said.

Mr Vajpayee had also voiced his apprehension about the prospect of lack of stability at the Centre and suggested the feasibility of a switch over to the Presidential system. Of late there is deep concern among political leaders about the future stability of the country. The question as a result arises whether we should switch over to the Presidential system and discard the Parliamentary form in vogue now.

The supreme law of the land came into existence on November 26, 1949. The country opted for Parliamentary democracy of the British model with a titular President elected by both Houses of Parliament and legislative Assemblies of states, a flexible federal set-up and an independent judiciary. The position of the President is comparable to that of the British monarch. What has suddenly happened that we have begun to doubt the collective wisdom of the legal luminaries who gave us the Constitution. Of late, there has been a significant debate in the country that the Presidential form of government is better suited to the Indian Constitution than the Parliamentary system and the need to do away with the latter. The developments in the country recently have raised serious questions whether politicians and political parties have the basic commitment to give a stable government to the people. Stability of the country is needed since it cannot afford elections frequently.

The Parliamentary system, no doubt, confers great advantages to the states with divisive interests, customs, culture and the like. But the frequent deadlocks between the Legislature and the Executive can disrupt national harmony. The argument in favour of retaining the present system is that it is the only way to preserve the unity of the country in a pluralist society like ours. Another compelling argument in favour of the Parliamentary system is that it is the only one under which the gap between the Executive decisions and Legislative implementations and vice-versa is eliminated by the virtue of the fact that the government derives its support from Parliament and can depend upon majority in that house to ratify the proposals of the administration. The firm belief is that all defects noticed in the working of the Parliamentary system can be remedied within the framework of the Constitution. The question asked is whether there is any need for a radical change in the Constitution or the need to switch over to the Presidential system. The essential requisite for the functioning of a government in a Parliamentary democracy is a two-party system. One of the main obstacles to the success of its functioning has been the proliferation of parties on a regional basis. This is because national parties have failed to satisfy regional aspirations.

The founding fathers had adopted the present system after consideration of other models, including the Presidential form prevailing in the USA. What has suddenly impelled us to dig out the foundation on which the fragile democratic edifice stands to re-examine if right material was used. According to some political leaders our Constitution, although acknowledged as sublime and an example of sagacity, has failed to live up to the political exigencies of the kind being witnessed now in the country. The experiments with fragile coalitions have given the impetus for a fresh debate over the matter.

The men who framed the Constitution, one of the greatest written documents, were not only legal experts but also visionaries and leaders in their own right. They were fully alive to their historic role and the supreme importance of their assignment. Those were also times when politics signified an attachment to certain values and willingness to suffer, if need be, for those values and convictions.

Notwithstanding all those plus points, the present system looks like getting debased because of the failings of individuals operating it. Because of its in-built deficiencies the system seem to suffer from instability such as lack of integrity among the elected leaders and lack of professional administrative talent. All available evidence seems to indicate that in political management and economic development the present system has failed. Unlike in England Parliamentary democracy has not succeeded in India because the British practice is not being followed in all spheres.

In Britain Parliament is supreme. The judges cannot pronounce any verdict on the validity of any law passed by Parliament. In India, the position is different. Parliament is not sovereign, judges can set aside any law if it contravenes the provisions of the Constitution, including the Fundamental Rights.

The deficiencies of the present political system in the country that is, instability of the state governments, the emotional attitude of the masses towards several vital issues, reflection of the caste outlook to political systems are hampering solutions to urgent socio-economic problems. The Parliamentary system, it has proved beyond doubt it cannot withstand the onslaught of factions in the country. Most state governments have remained caste-ridden with chain reactions which may affect the Centre too. If Parliamentary democracy has not functioned satisfactorily in India in recent times, it may not be due to defects in the system but to the incompetence or inefficiency of those entrusted with running the administration. In addition to all these there is the looming danger of instability and the consequent enfeeblement of the Centre.

Taking into account all this some leading political leaders have favoured the Presidential form of government in view of the steady decline in the standards of both Parliament and state legislatures and the emergence of the all-powerful Executive. If the Presidential system is introduced wherein the President and the chief executives are elected directly by the people, the administration will be smooth. A President directly elected by the people with vast executive powers and relatively immune from constant pulls and shifts of varying political forces should be able to remain firm unlike the Prime Minister who can be toppled by disgruntled elements at any time. The new system is likely to be cohesive while the other proved to be divisive. The ministers would be appointed by the President and would be answerable to him only.

The President would have authority to issue orders which can be over ruled by a two-third majority (not simple majority) of Parliament. This majority of such a Parliament cannot be questioned by any authority, thus putting Parliament as unequivocably the supreme body. In the new system the powers of the executive and the legislature can be separated. In the Parliamentary system the separation line is blurred and both powers tend to gravitate towards the Prime Minister. Another vital point is that the Presidential system paves the way for increased political participation by the masses inasmuch as the President or the Governor is duly elected by the people themselves.

The plea for a change in the system is more pronounced than before because the people’s mood is one of total disenchantment dissolution. They seem to think that politicians are incapable of dedicated service and principled behaviour in public life. What then is the solution? Should we change the system (present Parliamentary type) without throwing the essence of the Constitution? The American model would be a total restructuring of the existing system.

It is necessary to stress that both systems are not inherently the antithesis of a democratic polity. Both systems, undoubtedly, have the danger of degenerating into authoritarianism. The Presidential system has a potential for the subversion of democracy in a country such as ours where large sections of people are illiterate. As an eminent jurist put it: “If Parliamentary system can be corrupted, then the same thing can happen to the Presidential form of government. But it needs to be emphasised that the dangers are much greater in the Presidential form than in the other one. The Presidential system may function but it is structurally riskier.”

Something would have to be done to find a cure for the maladies which have affected the functioning of the Parliamentary system. It is one thing to plug loopholes in the system and quite another to discard and switch over to the new one. A change would be called for if there is reasonable certainty that the new system would work better than the present one. The change is bound to create differences among various political parties exerting pressures and pulls, many of them of a conflicting nature. When the country is already facing numerous problems, some of which are proving intractable and beyond our capacity to resolve will it be prudent and expedient to get entangled in another controversy.

Whatever be the system of government the country adopts, in the final analysis its success would depend on the way it is worked and this in turn would depend upon the competence and capacity of those who are called upon to administer. It is in this context it becomes necessary to stress the need to preserve our institutions and not weaken them or erode the credibility.