Free UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice GS -Test 15

UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice GS -Test 15

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment has provided a permanent structural framework to Panchayati Raj Institutions resulting in silent social revolution. Comment. (150 Words) (10 Marks)
Because of several judicial pronouncements, Governors in States are no longer viewed as agents of the party in power at the central level. Critically Evaluate. (150 Words) (10 Marks)
“Indian constitutional machinery provides structures for procedural democracy, but fails to develop strong foundations for substantive democracy.” Critically Comment. (150 Words) (10 Marks)
The Doctrine of Neutrality is a bedrock of a constitutional democracy. How far are the constitutional offices of India protecting constitutional democracy in India? Analyse (250 Words) (15 Marks)
“Amendments adopted with haste and without much scrutiny and discussion have diluted the RTI Act and reduced transparency in public dealing.” In this light, evaluate how far the Right to Information (RTI) Act succeeded in ensuring the right to public service in India and how the new amendment might affect the process? (250 Words) (15 Marks)

Answers

1.The 73rd Constitutional Amendment has provided a permanent structural framework to Panchayati Raj Institutions resulting in silent social revolution. Comment. (150 Words) (10 Marks)

APPROACH:

Briefly mention about 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act
Mention its important provisions which give it a permanent structural framework.
Explain how it helps to empower the PRIs.

ANSWER: 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 has added a new part IX and the Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution. The 73rd Amendment envisages the establishment of Gram Sabha as the foundation of the Panchayati Raj System to perform functions and powers entrusted to it by the State Legislatures.

Structural framework provided to PRIs by 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act are:

Three tier local government: Panchayats shall be constituted in every State, Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels
GramSabha:Gram Sabha may exercise such powers and perform such functions at the village level as the Legislature of a State
Composition of Panchayats:All the seats in a Panchayat shall be filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat
Reservation of Seats:Compulsory reservation of seats shall be provided to SC and ST population in every Panchayat as per the proportion of population.
Uniform five year term and elections to constitute new bodies to be completed before the expiry of the term. In the event of dissolution, elections compulsorily within six months (Article 243E).
Finance Commission:Governor of a State shall constitute a State Finance Commission to review financial positions and make recommendations to the Governor about the distribution between the State and the Panchayats of the net proceeds of the taxes.

The above features provided the PRIs a structural framework. This helped to empower the PRIs to perform a silent social revolution:

Women Empowerment:Women become active stakeholders in the Panchayati Raj Institutions. They will be actively involved in decision making, policy implementation etc. improving their social status.
Improvement in Health and Education Standards: PRI can help in the implementation of Health and Family Welfare programmes by progressive transfer of funds, functions and functionaries, empowering them suitably to manage and supervise the functioning of health care infrastructure.
Convergence of Community Based Organisations and PRI:PRI-CBO Convergence Project is an attempt to enhance convergence between Panchayat Raj Institutions and Community Based Organisation like Kudumbashree in Kerala. The project uses centrally sponsored schemes as entry points for strengthening the CBO-PRI interface.
Implementation of Schemes:Community ownership is improved through the monitoring and oversight of local level institutions with active social audits and community participation. Eg: Constitution of village level health committees at the level of the Gram Panchayat is key for successful implementation of National Health Mission.
Proper utilization of different government policieslike National Literacy Mission and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for educating the rural men and women can also be achieved.
Inclusive Society:The reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in PRIs help in the mobilisation of lower sections of society and thus reduce the caste barriers.

Thus, the Panchayati Raj Institutions have largely resulted in social empowerment of the society.

2. Because of several judicial pronouncements, Governors in States are no longer viewed as agents of the party in power at the central level. Critically Evaluate. (150 Words) (10 Marks)

APPROACH:

Give a brief introduction about the role of Governors.
Mention why Governors are viewed as agents of political parties in the Centre.
Give judicial verdicts that outline the role of Governors and enhance impartiality.

ANSWER: Article 153 of the Constitution provides that each State shall have a Governor. The Governor is the Constitutional Head of a State as well as a Constitutional link between the Center and the States. As a result, the Constitution makers envisaged that a Governor shall have no interest in party politics except for proper discharge of his Constitutional functions.

Yet, the Governors are viewed as agents of the Central government. This is because:

Discretion of Central Government:It enjoys prerogative to appoint its men of taste and confidence for the post of Governor.
Non Consultation with State Government:There are instances where Governor of the State is appointed without consultation of Chief Minister of the state government
Sarkaria Commission reports indicate that more than 60% of the Governors had taken active part in politics, many of them immediately prior to their appointment
Appointments and Removals:When the parties who are elected to the Centre Government changes, there is a tendency of mass removal or appointment of the Governors indicating partisanship in appointments. Eg: Janata Government appointed ten new governors in different states in 1978.
The Governors recommended the President’s rule under Article 356 in a partisan manner during political instability in the States.

Judicial pronouncements are laid down that outline the role of Governors in the state. They are:

Hargovind Pant v Dr. Raghukul Tilak case:The Constitution bench has made the following observations regarding the Office of Governor.
- The Governor is not under the control of the Government of India. His office is not subordinate or subservient to the Government of India.
- He is not amenable to the directions of the Government of India nor is he accountable to them for the manner in which he carried out his functions and duties.
- He is an independent Constitutional office which is not subject to the control of the Government of India.

President’s Rule Case:The courts laid down the law in respect of how the discretion of the Governor is to be exercised. This has been done to some extent as mentioned below.
- The Governor should explore all the possibilities of having a government enjoying majority support before he recommends President’s rule in a situation of political crises.
- Governor should test the strength of the ministry on the floor of the House. The Governor should take the view of failure of constitutional machinery only after testing the strength on the floor of the House
- The Governor can dismiss the State Government only where a Chief Minister refuses to resign after the ministry is defeated on a motion of no-confidence

Buta Singh Case: Supreme Court’s observations on the apparent role of Bihar Governor Buta Singh in 2005 is a landmark judgement.
- The Governor dissolved the Bihar Legislative Assembly and sent report recommending the imposition of Article 356 alleging horse trading between political parties.
- The court observed that the Governor’s drastic and extreme action under Article 356 cannot be justified.

B P Singhal Case: The newly elected central government had removed the Governors of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Goa in July, 2004 after the 14th Lok Sabha election. When these removals were challenged in the court, Supreme Court held that:
- The President’s power to remove the Governor cannot be exercised in an arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable manner.
- The power of removing Governors should only be exercised in rare and exceptional circumstances for valid and compelling reasons.
- A change in central government cannot be a ground for removal of Governors, or to appoint more favourable persons to this post. It effectively helps the Governors of States to discharge their functions without partisanship.

India’s political system is a result of blending of both unitary and federal systems that has made the office of the Governor a political necessity in a Parliamentary form of government. The above judicial pronouncements help in making the post of Governor an independent impartial Constitutional office.

3. “Indian constitutional machinery provides structures for procedural democracy, but fails to develop strong foundations for substantive democracy.” Critically Comment. (150 Words) (10 Marks)

APPROACH:

Briefly distinguish between procedural and substantive democracy
List out the aspects of procedural democracy established in the Constitution.
Mention how substantive democracy and its elements are faring in India.

ANSWER: A democracatic country encompasses both procedural aspects such as political equality, effective institutions, free and fair elections, legislative assemblies and constitutional governments, good voter turnouts etc. and substantive aspects such as redistributive justice, entitlements such as health, education etc., socio-economic equality of citizens, tolerance for different opinions, ruler accountability, rule of law etc.

Constitutional machinery provides structures for procedural democracy such as:

It sets up composition and organisation of the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies, Legislative Councils etc. They act as supreme legislative bodies in India.
Under Article 324, Constitution sets up Election Commission of India to ensure free and fair elections without any political bias.
Under the Parliamentary form of government, the Constitution tries to make the executive responsible to the legislature.
The Constitution also sets up important institutions like CAG, UPSC, ECI, Judiciary to perform necessary functions like financial auditing, meritocratic appointments to government posts etc.
It also grants citizens inalienable fundamental rights as their privilege against the State from arbitrary executive and legislative actions. The fundamental rights like right to equality, right to freedom, right against exploitation etc. are part of this as well.

Procedural democracy was meant to contribute to the nation-building in India. It was laid down by the Constitution so that India would undergo a process of modernisation characterised by urbanisation, improvement of wealth etc. which would ultimately reduce caste, religious barriers.

Yet, the substantive democracy is not given equal emphasis in India. This is visible in the following ways:

Democratic decentralisation under 73rd and 74th Amendment Actgets impeded because women members of the PRIs are mostly proxies of the male members of their families.
The dominant social groups mainly dominate the institutions of the local self-governance bodies such as PRIs, urban local bodies. The vulnerable sections are still marginalised.
India’s socio economic inequalities are increasing over the years. The political equality given through universal adult franchise has not transformed into narrowing socio-economic inequality.
For instance, India is ranked 102 of 117 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2019, behind its neighbours Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Oxfam report suggests that the wealth of India’s richest 1% is more than 4-times of the total 70% poorest Indians.
The Constitution has prescribed provisions to reduce the socio economic inequalities through the Directive Principles of State Policy. However, they are made non justiciable and it is not mandatory for the executives to implement them.

Procedural democracy helps to retain people’s faith and moral approval in democracy. Regular elections have given space to people to hold their representatives accountable. They raise national consciousness among people and try to build substantive democracy outcomes through enhanced accountability.

4. The Doctrine of Neutrality is a bedrock of a constitutional democracy. How far are the constitutional offices of India protecting constitutional democracy in India? Analyse (250 Words) (15 Marks)

APPROACH:

Examine briefly about doctrine of neutrality
Analyse the performance of major constitutional offices in India.

ANSWER: Doctrine of Neutrality refers to adherence of impartiality and non partisanship by the persons when they are discharging their respective constitutional duties. It is essential for upholding the basic principles of democracy like rule of law, free and fair elections etc.

The various constitutional offices of India protects constitutional democracy by adhering to the doctrine of neutrality. Their adherence to this doctrine can be analysed as:

Election Commission of India:Article 324 of the Constitution provides that ECI is responsible for the conduct of free and fair elections in India.
- ECI adheres to neutrality by taking actions without party biases. The Model Code of Conduct and its violations during elections are strictly monitored by ECI.
- It enhances transparency in election processes through VVPAT, National Electoral Roll Purification Programme etc. and gains trust of citizens.
- Eg: T N Seshan enhanced ECI’s authority by improving the measures such as election observers and the Model Code of conduct.
- Election Commissioners are currently appointed by the President under the ruling government’s recommendations which can threaten neutrality.
- Centre for Media Studies reports suggest that almost 60000 crore was used in 2019 Loksabha elections way beyond ECI’s mandate. Close to 45% of new MPs in the Parliament have criminal records too indicating problems in ECI.

Speaker of Loksabha:Speaker of Loksabha is the presiding officer of the Lower House of the Parliament. Speaker is the true guardian of the traditions of parliamentary democracy. The neutrality of the Speaker is ensured by the following provisions:
- The Constitution of India provides that the Speaker’s salary and allowances are not to be voted by Parliament and are to be charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
- The Speaker can be removed from Office only on a resolution of the House passed by a majority of all the then members of the House.
- However, unlike the case of Britain, the Speaker of the Loksabha does not resign from the political party it is affiliated to and thus there are chances of partisanship.
- The Speaker has certified the Aadhar bill as a money bill even though it is alleged that it does not explicitly satisfy the criteria of the same.
- The role of Speaker is accused to be partisan while it considers the matters of disqualifications under Tenth Schedule.

Governors of State: Governor is the Constitutional Head of a State as well as a Constitutional link between the Center and the States. As a result, the Constitution makers envisaged that a Governor shall be neutral for discharge of functions.
- They are appointed by the President under the recommendations of the Central Government. These Governors are sometimes actively involved in the party politics till their appointments itself.
- It is due to these non neutral characters that Governors act as per the directions of the Central government and not with neutrality. Governors reserve the state bills for the President’s consideration under Article 200for political interests.

These constitutional offices require to be impartial for effective discharge of the constitutional machinery. Hence the recommendations for improving their neutrality shall be implemented to strengthen the democratic framework in India.

5. “Amendments adopted with haste and without much scrutiny and discussion have diluted the RTI Act and reduced transparency in public dealing.” In this light, evaluate how far the Right to Information (RTI) Act succeeded in ensuring the right to public service in India and how the new amendment might affect the process? (250 Words) (15 Marks)

APPROACH:

Give a brief introduction regarding RTI Act.
Mention recent amendments made to RTI Act.
List out the success of RTI in ensuring transparency and citizen centric governance.
Enumerate challenges caused due to the recent amendment.

ANSWER: The demand for the Right to Information Act originated out of the demand for minimum wages for workers belonging to the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. The immense success of RTI has helped contribute to reducing corruption among bureaucracy, enhancing disclosure of electoral candidates with official documents promoting transparency.

The RTI Amendment Act, 2019 was passed through the Parliament without any citizen consultation, bypassing examination by the standing committee without parliamentary scrutiny. The mandatory pre legislative consultative policy of the government was also neglected.

Changes introduced under the RTI Amendment Bill,2019 include:

Provision	RTI Act, 2005	RTI (Amendment) Bill, 2019
Term	The Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners at the central and state level will hold office for a term of five years.	The Bill removes this provision and states that Central govt. will notify the term of office for CIC and the ICs and thus no security of tenure
Quantum of Salary	The salary of the CIC and ICs (at the central level) will be equivalent to the salary paid to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, respectively. Similarly, the salary of the CIC and ICs (at the state level) will be equivalent to the salary paid to the Election Commissioners and the Chief Secretary to the state government, respectively.	The Bill removes these provisions and states that the salaries, allowances, and other terms and conditions of service of the central and state CIC and ICs will be determined by the central government. Thus, central government reduces the independence of CIC and ICs.
Deductions in Salary	The Act states that at the time of the appointment of the CIC and ICs (at the central and state level), if they are receiving pension or any other retirement benefits for previous government service, their salaries will be reduced by an amount equal to the pension.	The Bill removes these provisions.

The success of RTI in ensuring the transparency and right to public service is visible through the following ways:

Inspection of works, documents and official records.
Taking extracts or certified copies of documents or records.
Taking certified samples of material.
Obtaining information through printouts, other electronic formats etc.
The public authorities are required to make proactive disclosures through publication of relevant documents through various means of communication.

The new amendments can have detrimental effects on the whole transparency in governance:

Against Cooperative Federalism:The Central government has disempowered states by acquiring the right to appoint their Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioner.
Against principles of impartiality:The removal of security tenure and influence in salaries and allowances can influence the decision making of CIC and IC.
Amendments disempowered the citizens as a lot of citizens and activists have used the RTI as a medium to unearth corruption. The amendments act as a platform to dilute the RTI Act.
Apart from this, the Government has cut down the allocation for RTI by 63 per cent from Rs23.61 crore to Rs8.66 crore in 2018. In 2019, the allocation was further slashed to Rs5.5 crore affecting the institutional mechanism.

The main objective of RTI Act is to promote transparency, accountability in the working of every public authority and the citizens’ right to secure access to information. This free flow of unbiased information is however reduced by the changes done in RTI Amendment Act,2019.