Representative system of Govt : Towards public participation
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 24 2011 -

How representative are the People's Representatives in the system of Representative Government as practised and understood in the largest democracy in the world ?

Ana Hazare has already raised the banner for a reform in the electoral system of the country and while debates may rage over some of the changes which the Gandhian has mooted such as including the recall provision among others, the underlying meaning or the crux of the matter should not be lost on anyone.

In many ways such a call for a change or the inclusion of certain clauses in the very process of electing the people's representatives says something about the need for a change in the political culture of the elected leaders.

The intrinsic beauty of democracy lies in the idea of people's participation in Government formation but should the participation of the people be understood only through the prism of the voters turning out to line up at the polling booth and casting their vote to decide who should be sent to the Assembly or Parliament ?

Does the idea and concept of a Representative Government begin and end at the time of election, which for all practical purposes comes only once in five years ?

Given the type of political culture that is witnessed in Manipur and the growing divide that runs between the elected leaders and the people they are supposed to represent on the floor of the august House, the significance of the questions raised here should become all that more important.

In a few months from now, Manipur will go to polls and while it may not be practically feasible to incorporate changes in the election process, this is no reason why ideas should not be explored to make the term 'Representative Government' more meaningful.

Manipur perhaps presents a fit case for the need to explore ideas so as to make the representatives of the people more accountable, more answerable to the people and prepare the ground for a more participative Government.

While political stability has been understood as the benchmark for development and progress, in Manipur it has increasingly become clear that this can be turned on its head to mean a dispensation which borders more on a 'despotic regime' first by silencing the Opposition into quiet submission and then playing truant with the sensibilities of the people which seriously undermine the basic principles of democracy.

The Sangai Express has already backed the idea of the right to recall, the inclusion of the no choice button on the Electronic Voting Machine, the mechanisms of checking money power etc. These ideas, as stated earlier were drawn from the suggestions painstakingly worked out by a gentleman whose article on the same topics has been published.

On the other hand the need to promote the participation of people in governance or the Government has been clearly laid down by The Association of Premier State College Seniors, Manipur and a write up on this has already been published by The Sangai Express some time back.

For the benefits of the readers and with election coming near, a rerun of the article is not written off. The idea of Home Assembly revolves around the need to ensure the involvement of the people in decision making process.

The need to bridge the yawning gap between the elected leaders of the people and the people themselves has never been felt so strongly as of now, when the State is besieged by numerous pressing issues.

The increasing level of people's dissatisfaction with the performance of the Government, the disillusionment, the resignation writ large on the visage of the people, etc are all directly proportionate to the rising walls which the elected representatives have built to insulate them from the people they claim to represent.

It is in such a situation that the idea of Home Assemblies becomes refreshing has an appeal that cuts across political affiliations and ideologies. Fix a minimum number of days for each elected representative to interact with the people they claim to represent and share ideas and views.

Holding grand durbars with the public on specific days at their official quarters, as some political leaders are wont to practise presently, cannot be the answer for at best it is nothing but a shambolic show of demonstrating that they are with the people.

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has managed to climb the popularity chart through his interaction with some villagers in Uttar Pradesh, but this comes nowhere near the understanding of people's participation in governance. There is absolutely no need for the elected representatives to spend all their time at Imphal.

It only adds to the nuisance value on the busy roads. Make it mandatory for them to go to their respective Assembly Constituencies, interact with the people and soak in the suggestions and ideas that will come on issues of any significant ramifications.