Assessing Development And Democracy In India Politics Essay

Assessing Development And Democracy In India Politics Essay A strong centred democracy has been at the heart of Indian nationalism since independence with its many languages, religions, ethnicities. In adopting the Westminster parliamentary system, India substituted the monarchy for an elected President and a legislative body consisting of a bicameral structure that includes a lower house – the Lok Sabha  and  an upper house the Rajya Sabha  Ã‚   [ 2 ]   . India is now the world’s largest parliamentary democracy, some 714 million people were eligible to vote in last year’s election   [ 3 ]   . Members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected every five years with representation divided among India’s States, and seats apportioned  according to population. Members of the lower house the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by the legislative assemblies of the federal States and the President nominates twelve members to the Rajya Sabha based on distinguished reputations in the realm of the arts, sciences or public service   [ 4 ]   . The president is elected to office for a five year period by members of both houses. All citizens over the age of 18 years, regardless caste or religion are eligible to vote and turnout has stabilized at approximately 60%, which is particularly high by international standards   [ 5 ]   . Under Jawaharlal Nerhu’s (the first prime minster of India) nationalist ethos encompassing non alignment, socialism and secularism, the latter was the intended safe guard for religious minorities from majority rule. In an affront to the notion that democracy is a ‘Western luxury’ that developing countries cannot afford   [ 6 ]   , India’s body politic has remained markedly stable since independence, a notable exception in post colonial states. It is also viewed as an anomaly because of its incredibly diversified social strata and its ability to continue functioning as a democracy (Kothari 2005). There is no distinction for basis of ci tizenship along ethnic, religious or caste lines nor has there been any religious qualification for holding office. There has not been any significant state intervention to abolish the caste system   [ 7 ]   , although ‘untouchability’ was made illegal in the Constitution   [ 8 ]   the system has been left undisturbed. Independence and the adoption of democracy has however not resulted in any state-led political agenda of social reform, by in large society has been allowed to reform itself in a laissez faire way. A proportion of parliamentary seats and a percentage of public sector jobs were/are however reserved for members of  Other Backward Castes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs)  and  Scheduled Tribes (STs). This reserve falls under Positive Discrimination (PD)   [ 9 ]   . Bhimrao Ramji  Ambedkar (a member of the untouchable Mahar caste), provided the Dalits with their first real hope of transcending caste discrimination (Luce, 2007), ensuring that equality along caste lines was enshrined within the Constitution   [ 10 ]   . While caste disparity has not yet been alleviated in a substantial way, it has given the Dalits a feel for political mobility   [ 11 ]   . Constitutional provisions. As regards India’s post independence economic policy, it adopted a model of self-sufficiency and import substitution   [ 12 ]   . Influenced by the Soviet example of a mixed economy it turned its back on trade and foreign capital imports on the premise of being a self-sufficient industrialised nation   [ 13 ]   .This failed to take capitalize on India’s early start in modern industry   [ 14 ]   , with it rehashing many of the industries which were already in place but which, were in its view tainted by imperialism. As a result industry suffered (Bhagwati, Desai and Sen, 1997).