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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Reforming political funding

Reforming political funding

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published Published on May 26, 2010   modified Modified on May 26, 2010


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh iterated the need to have a larger political consensus on the issue of financing of political parties and elections, replying to a question during his press conference on Monday. But that is merely one, though critical, aspect of the wider need for political reforms in the country. It is an area sorely in need of attention.

For, even issues like building infrastructure, investing in health care and education, etc — clubbed as economic reforms — lie squarely in the political realm. India is seen to be largely a dysfunctional state, with a creaking, opaque administrative machinery, with unaccountability as the chief operating principle.

Add to that an utter lack of political will to take on issues, like, say, clamping down on power theft or evolving an effective and equitable policy on land acquisition. This stunts even the best of welfare schemes or policy measures and holds up growth. Not for nothing are we ranked 133rd on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, out of a total list of 183 countries, sandwiched between Malawi and Madagascar.

Then again, political reform in India isn’t just about focusing on economic and growth imperatives. It has to be envisaged as a much deeper process. Take, for instance, the huge number of political parties and the raison d’etre for some of them. Often, they espouse a politics centred around issues of caste or regionalism. Sure, in a polity as complex as ours, such issues do find resonance. But the point is to evolve into a liberal, genuinely democratic state with inclusive development at its core.

A vital aspect of that is to change the conception of politics. Instead of being seen as the key to effect social change, politics has become mired in power and pelf, as the means for elected representatives to get wealthy. There has been a failure to regulate and institutionalise political funding. That must be done, making such funding state-aided, transparent and audited. Internal reform must also be effected in political parties. The electoral system too needs a change, with proportional representation being a way out. That would be real reform, not catchphrases.


The Economic Times, 26 May, 2010, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/Reforming-political-funding/articleshow/5975175.cms


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