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he National Commission to Review the Working of the
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Constitution (NCRWC) was set up by a resolution of the
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Government of India in 20001. The 11-member
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I. TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE COMMISSION
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According to the terms of reference, the commission was required
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to examine, in the light of the experience of the past fifty years, as
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to how far the existing provisions of the Constitution are capable
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of responding to the needs of efficient, smooth and effective
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system of governance and socioeconomic development of
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modern India and to recommend changes, if any. The terms of
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reference clearly specified that the commission should
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recommend changes that are required to be made in the
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Constitution within the framework of parliamentary democracy and
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without interfering with the ‘basic structure’ or ‘basic features’ of
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the Constitution.
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The commission clarified that its task was to review the working
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of the Constitution and not to rewrite it and its function was only
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recommendatory and advisory in nature. It was left to the
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Parliament to accept or reject any of the recommendations.
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The commission had no agenda before it. On its own, it
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identified the eleven areas of study and proposed to examine
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them. They included the following4 :
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1. Strengthening of the institutions of parliamentary democracy
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(working of the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary;
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their accountability; problems of administrative, social and
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economic cost of political instability; exploring the
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possibilities of stability within the discipline of parliamentary
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democracy).
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2. Electoral reforms; standards in political life.
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3. Pace of socio-economic change and development under the
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Constitution (assurance of social and economic rights: how
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fair? how fast? how equal?).
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4. Promoting literacy; generating employment; ensuring social
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security; alleviation of poverty.
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5. Union-State relations.
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6. Decentralization and devolution; empowerment and
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strengthening of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
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7. Enlargement of Fundamental Rights.
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8. Effectuation of Fundamental Duties.
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9. Effectuation of Directive Principles and achievement of the
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Preambular objectives of the Constitution.
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10. Legal control of fiscal and monetary policies; public audit
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II. FIFTY YEARS OF WORKING OF THE
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CONSTITUTION
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The observations made by the Commission on the working of the
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Constitution from 1950 to 2000 are as follows5 :
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What are our achievements and failures over the 50 years
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since Independence? How have each of the three organs of the
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State–the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary– redeemed
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the constitutional pledge of ushering in a social revolution? Has
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the dream of the founding fathers for a life of dignity to the vast
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millions through the process of socioeconomic transformation
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been realized ? What then is the Balance Sheet?
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1. Political Accomplishments
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1. India’s democratic base has stabilized as a working federal
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polity. With the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments, the
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base of democratic debate has widened. There is greater
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push towards noncentralisation. General Elections have
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been held with regularity; and transfers of power consequent
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upon the results of elections have been orderly, peaceful
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and democratic.
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2. The educational qualifications of the Members of Parliament
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and State Legislatures have shown marked improvements.
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The Parliament and State Legislatures are increasingly more
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representative of the composition of society. More and more
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members of the hitherto backward classes are moving up in
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the political ladder.
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2. Economic Infrastructure–Impressive Performance
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1. There has been marked expansion and diversification of
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production. New technologies and modern management
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techniques are increasingly employed. There are marked
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advances in Science, Technology, Medicine, Engineering
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and Information Technology.
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2. Between 1950–2000, the index of agricultural production
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increased from 46.2 to 176.8.
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3. Between 1960–2000, wheat production went up from 11
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million tonnes to 75.6 million tonnes.
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4. Between 1960–2000, rice production went up from 35 million
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tonnes to 89.5 million tonnes.
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5. Impressive expansion of industrial and service sectors has
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taken place.
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6. Index of industrial production went up from 7.9 in 1950–51 to
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154.7 in 1999–2000.
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7. Electricity generation has increased from 5.1 billion KWH in
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1950–51 to 480.7 billion KWH in 1999–2000.
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8. 6 to 8 per cent annual growth of GNP between 1994–2000
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(except in 1997–98) was achieved.
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9. Revenues from Information Technology industry have grown
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from $ 150 million in 1990 to $ 4 billion in 1999.
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10. India’s per capita Net National Product (NNP) in 1999–2000
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was more than 2.75 times than what it was in 1951.
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3. Social Infrastructure– Achievements
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1. Between 1950 to 1998, infant mortality rate have halved to
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72 births per 1000 births–down from 146.
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2. Life expectancy at birth has grown up from 32 years in
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1950–51 to 63 years in 2000.
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3. A child born in Kerala today can expect to live longer than a
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child born in Washington.
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4. Life expectancy of women in Kerala is now 75 years.
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5. India has put in place an extensive system of Public Health
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Services and medical network. In 1951, the country had only
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725 primary health centers. By 1995, this has increased to
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more than 1,50,000.
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6. The number of primary schools has increased significantly
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between 1951 and 1995 from 2,10,000 to 5,90,000.
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7. Nearly 95 per cent of the villages have a primary school
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within a walking distance of one kilometer.
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4. Political Failures
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to keep out criminal, anti-social and undesirable elements
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from participating in and even dominating the political scene
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and polluting the electoral and parliamentary processes.
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2. Though democratic traditions are stabilizing, however,
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democracy cannot be said to be an inclusive representative
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democracy. The pluralism and diversity of India is not
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reflected in and captured by its democratic institutions;
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likewise, participation of women in public affairs and
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decision-making processes is nowhere near proportionate to
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their numbers.
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3. The enormity of the costs of elections and electoral
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corruption have been having a grievous deleterious effect on
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national progress and has led to the degradation of political
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processes to detriment of common good.
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4. Political parties, which have a fair share of the criminal
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elements, handle enormous funds collected ostensibly for
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meeting party and electoral expenditure. Money-power and
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criminal elements have contributed to pervasive
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degeneration of standards in public life and have
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criminalized politics. This is reflected in the quality of
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governments and of the governing processes.
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5. There are no legal instrumentalities or set of law regulating
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the conduct of the political parties, legitimacy of fundraising,
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audit and account requirements and inner-party democracy.
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6. National political parties are more divided on the definition of
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‘common national purpose’ than ever before; the noble
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purposes of public life have degenerated than ever before
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into opportunistic and self-seeking politics of competitive
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personal gain.
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7. ‘Fraternity’, the noble ideal of brotherhood of man, enshrined
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in the Preamble of the Constitution has remained unrealized.
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The people of India are more divided amongst themselves
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than at the time of the country’s independence.
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8. There is increasing criminalization and exploitation of the
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political climate and processes and an increasing criminals-
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politicians-bureaucratic nexus.
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interests and desire for short-time political gains, are unable
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even to agree upon broad common national purposes.
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5. Economic Failures
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1. The richest top quintile of population has 85 per cent of the
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income. The poorest quintile has only 1.5 per cent of the
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country’s income. The second, the third and the fourth
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quintile from top have respectively 8 per cent, 3.5 per cent
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and 2 per cent of the income.
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2. 260 million people live below the poverty line.
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6. Social Failures
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1. India’s maternal mortality rate in 1998 was 407 per 100,000
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live births. These levels are more than 100 times the levels
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found in the West.
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2. Some 53 per cent children (almost 60 million) under five
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remain malnour-ished–nearly twice the levels reported in
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many parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
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3. The proportion of low birth weight babies born in India is 33
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per cent. It is only 9 per cent in China and South Korea, 6
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per cent in Thailand and 8 per cent in Indonesia.
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4. India was a signatory to the Alma Ata Declaration in 1978
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that assured ‘health for all’ by the year 2000. Only 42 per
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cent of the children between 12–23 months are fully
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immunized - 37 per cent in rural areas and 61 per cent in
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urban areas. The coverage is shockingly low in Bihar - 11
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per cent and in Rajasthan - 17 per cent.
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5. While per capita daily consumption of cereals has improved
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only marginally from 400 gms in 1950 to about 440 gms in
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2000, the per capita pulses (protein intake) have over the 50
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years decreased.
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6. The promise of social revolution has remained unredeemed.
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There are 270 million Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
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Tribes and the measures for their welfare and uplift have not
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been implemented with sincerity.
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taken to bring them to the level of the “core-mainstream”.
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8. Population control measures in the northern States have not
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succeeded. Fertility rates in Uttar Pradesh indicate that the
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State is almost a century behind Kerala.
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7. Administrative Failures
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1. Corruption, insensitivity and inefficiency of administration
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have resulted in extralegal systems and parallel economies
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and even parallel governments. Bureaucratic corruption,
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which cause frustration in people in their daily lives, has
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pushed more and more people into extralegal systems. The
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mal-administration has resulted in a lack of faith in and
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disenchantment with institutions of democracy.
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2. There is an increasing non-accountability. Corruption has
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been pervasive. Public interest has suffered.
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3. Constitutional protection for the Services under Article 311
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has largely been exploited by dishonest officials to protect
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themselves from the consequences of their wrong-doings.
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8. Gender Justice and Equality– Failures
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1. The regional disparities in life expectancy is indicated by the
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fact that a woman born in Kerala can expect to live 18 years
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longer than one born in Madhya Pradesh.
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2. In most countries life expectancy among women exceeds
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that of men by about 5 years. In all but a few countries of the
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world, there are typically 1005 women for every 1000 men.
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Men outnumber women only in societies where women are
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specifically and systematically discriminated. In India, there
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are only 933 women for every 1000 men. This is the
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phenomenon about ‘missing’ women.
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3. Overall representation of women in public services is just 4.9
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per cent.
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4. Political participation of women indicates that in 1952 there
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were only 22 women in Lok Sabha against 499 seats (4.41
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per cent). In 1991, this increased to 49 seats as against 544
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5. Between 1995–2000, out of 503 judges of the High Court,
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only 15 were women.
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9. Judicial System–Failures
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1. Judicial system has not been able to meet even the modest
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expectations of the society. Its delays and costs are
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frustrating, its processes slow and uncertain.
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2. People are pushed to seek recourse to extra-legal methods
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for relief.
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3. Trial system both on the civil and criminal side has utterly
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broken down.
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On an overall assessment, there are more failures than
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success stories, making the inference inescapable that the fifty
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III. AREAS OF CONCERN: COMMISSION’S
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PERCEPTION
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The following are the important areas of concern according to the
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perception of the Commission6 :
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1. There is a fundamental breach of the constitutional faith on
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the part of Governments and their method of governance
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lies in the neglect of the people who are the ultimate source
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of all political authority. Public servants and institutions are
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not alive to the basic imperative that they are servants of the
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people meant to serve them. The dignity of the individual
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enshrined in the Constitution has remained an unredeemed
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pledge. There is, thus, a loss of faith in the Governments
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and governance. Citizens see their Governments besieged
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by uncontrollable events and are losing faith in institutions.
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Society is unable to cope up with current events.
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2. The foremost area of concern is the present nature of the
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Indian State and its inability to anticipate and provide for the
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great global forces of change ushered in by the pace of
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scientific and technological developments.
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3. The next and equally important dimension is the increasing
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cost of government and fiscal deficits which are alarming. In
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1947, there was a deficit of ₹2 crores in the revenue budget;
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in 1997–98, it became ₹88,937 crores; in 2001–02, it is
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about ₹1,16,000 crores (4.8 per cent of GDP). India is on its
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way to a debt-trap.
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4. There is pervasive impurity of the political climate and of
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political activity. Criminalisation of politics, politicalcorruption
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and the politician-criminal-bureaucratic nexus have reached
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unprecedented levels needing strong systemic changes.
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5. Issues of national integrity and security have not received
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adequate and thoughtful attention. Mechanisms for the
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assessment of early warning symptoms of social unrest are
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absent. Mechanisms for adequate and immediate state
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responses to emergencies and disaster management are
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wholly inadequate. Administration, as a system for
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anticipating coming events and planning responses in
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advance, has failed. It has become un-coordinated and
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directionless amalgam of different departments often with
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over-lapping and even mutually conflicting jurisdictions,
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powers and responsibilities which merely acts as a reaction
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to problems. There are no clear-cut standards or basis for
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fixing responsibilities.
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6. Though India’s overall record and experience as a working
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democracy (despite many centrifugal forces) are worthy to
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mention and though the bases of democratic debate have
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widened with the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments,
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the working of the institutions of parliamentary democracy,
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however, have thrown-up serious fault-lines, which might, if
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unattended, prove destructive of the basic democratic
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values.
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7. There is pervasive misuse of the electoral process and the
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electoral system is unable to prevent the entry of persons
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with criminal record into the portal of law-making institutions.
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8. The Parliament and the State Legislatures, owing to the
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inherent weakness of the electoral system, have failed to
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acquire adequate representative character. The 13th Lok
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Sabha represents only 27.9 per cent of the total electorate
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and the Legislature of U.P. represents only 22.2 per cent of
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electorate respectively.
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9. The increasing instability of the elected governments is
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attributable to opportunistic politics and unprincipled
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defections. The economic and administrative costs of
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political instability are unaf-fordably high and their impact on
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the polity is not clearly comprehended and realized. Though
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just four Prime Ministers ruled the country for 40 years out of
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the 54 years of independence and one political party alone
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was in power for 45 years, however, 1989 onwards the
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country saw five General Elections to the Lok Sabha. Costs
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of this political instability are simply colossal.
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10. The state of the Indian economy is disturbing. The economy
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is gradually sinking into a debt-trap. Economic, fiscal and
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monetary policies, coupled with administrative inefficiency,
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rule and hoodlum out-fits. Black-money, parallel economy
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and even parallel governments are the overarching
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economic and social realities. Legitimate governments will,
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in due course, find it increasingly difficult to confront them. In
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course of time these illegal criminal out-fits will dictate terms
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to the legitimate governments.
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