THE FUNCTIONING OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA
THE FUNCTIONING OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA
Ravindra Garimella is Joint
Secretary of the Lok Sabha Secretariat at the Parliament of India and a regular contributor to The Parliamentarian: Parliamentary Report.
India at 70 is young, dynamic and a country propelled with a zeal to grow and prosper. The fountain head of the country’s vibrancy is its democratic polity, the Parliament of India, legislative bodies and democratic institutions. Before I embark upon this topic, I feel a brief introduction vis-à-vis context of this article would be in order. I have been at the University of Nottingham in England as a visiting fellow (9 to 23 September 2017) at the Faculty of Social Sciences and International Relations and Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies (IAPS). My visiting fellowship was a part of UK Economic and Social Research Council funded project relating to the Parliament of India and coordinated by Dr Carole Spary, Assistant Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations and Deputy Director of the Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies. This is how I came in touch with IAPS, and through Carole got to meet Dr Katharine Adeney, Director of IAPS, learn about aims and objectives of the Institute and its commendable initiatives, interactions on political, parliamentary and various topical governance related matters. During the fellowship, I had the occasion to participate in a symposium on ‘India at 70’ co-organised by the University of Nottingham and IAPS. My interventions on the functioning of democratic institutions evinced keen interest. As desired, subsequently I contributed a brief article for blog of IAPS on the subject. IAPS is now known as Asia Research Institute (ARI). In view of encouraging feedback,
I now seek to share my views through this article. In this context, it would be worthwhile to add that I have been an Officer at the Table in various capacities in the Parliament of India for more than two decades now. Given my present work assignment, I am at the Table almost throughout the day when the Parliament session is on. This had and does provide me an opportunity to gain first hand insights on the working of the Lok Sabha. Since India is a democratic polity, the reins of governance have changed from one party to another, over the past seven decades and that’s an on-going process. I wish to emphasise at this juncture that the thrust of my article is upon the actual working of Parliament as a whole and independent entity way beyond the political party dynamics. This article is more about sharing my views ever since I started looking after or handling the Legislative charge. These would be from a view point in a manner of saying like that of an ‘eye witness’ account and much more. In other words, from the parliamentary officer’s and practitioner’s perspective on the real time working of the Parliament. To put this discourse in the article in its perspective, I would like to very briefly dwell upon the functioning of democratic institutions postindependence until the 1990s. Thereafter, I would dwell upon my impressions on the functioning of Parliament, the challenges that have emerged, the manner in which the fraternity of Parliamentarians and Legislators handled the same, and the challenges that still persist.
When India became a free nation, the country faced multidimensional problems. Differences were there at many fronts – caste, creed, race, gender and the festering wounds of the partition. Through sagacious vision of the statesman and the then Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the unification of India was achieved with merger of princely states and provinces. Thus emerged a unified India. While the will and resolve of the united India were established, to forge ahead, the road in front was daunting. There were several doomsayers that India’s freedom was shortlived and the country would soon be fragmented. The nation was, however, blessed with committed leaders both men and women, who (earlier relentlessly participated in India’s freedom movement), now through the Constituent Assembly by dint of hard work and vision, gave India its Constitution - the Constitution of India. This became the bedrock of our democratic
“India at 70 is young, dynamic and a country propelled with a zeal to grow and prosper. The fountain head of the country’s vibrancy is its democratic polity, the Parliament of India, legislative bodies and democratic institutions.”
The Parliamentarian | 2019: Issue Two | 100th year of publishing | 155