Civics Padhao, Loktantra Bachao
(Teach Civics, Save Democracy)
Ever had your next-door neighbour argue with you regarding which political party did a better job at running the country or administering the state? Have you seen people fighting about who has taken the country forward and ended up debating for hours before going back home? Of course, you have, this is India. Well, that happens the world over, but India’s politics is as vibrant as its culture. A country which the west thought would balkanize within 15 years of its formation, is today a thriving democracy. However, despite successful elections over the years, civic literacy remains grossly inadequate, which is a matter of grave concern. The general public is usually unaware of the language used and what it means.
For example, the Citizenship Amendment Act. Irrespective of one’s political bias, one should at least understand the due process. When the controversial act was brought in the parliament, there was protest all over the country. Many states protested and passed resolutions, adding that they would not implement it in their respective territories. But rarely did the public stop to think that citizenship is a federal subject and the states have no right to act on anything related to it, except for going with the center.
The states are well within their rights to express their displeasure and pass resolutions against a citizenship law, but they are powerless when it comes to the implementation unless a court rules in their favour.
The general public needs to understand that the aspects of their lives are divided between center and state in the constitution. Given that India contains a large population of citizens who neither have the skills nor the time to critically evaluate the policy-performances of their governments (something that makes them gullible to political propaganda), how can we build better public capacities for civic literacy?
Let us look at another memorable case which caused some intense sensation back in the early 2010s. During the 2G spectrum scam, the newspaper front page flashed the figure of Rs.1.76 lakh crore loss to the nation. Understandably the country’s citizens were furious to be greeted by this news in their homes first thing in the morning. The figure was staggering and had credibility as it was provided by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. The usual phrase heard was how the ruling party had looted the nation of the amount of wealth specified (Jagannathan).
But did anyone minutely read the actual report? According to the report, it was a presumptive loss to the exchequer, not a scam. Let us understand the difference between the two. A scam is one where money is embezzled, possibly siphoned off to a politician, his/her aides, or bureaucrats whereas a presumptive loss is where the government possibly lost out on revenue due to taking ‘policy route A’ rather than ‘policy route B’. Scam is a criminal offence whereas presumptive loss may or may not be depending on the situation. In the 2G case, there was also a scam involved alongside but not for the amount specified in the newspapers. Maybe the media was partly responsible for repeating the word, “scam” over and over again. But did anyone in the public think about it? Not really, and the presumptive loss was turned into a scam. This happened because the people never questioned the CAG report or even bother to read it, primarily because of being carried away by emotions but also because of the lack of time and skill to comprehend the nuances.
As mentioned above, aspects of our lives are affected by policies crafted and implemented by both the center and the state. For example, law and order is a state subject for the major full-fledged states, the center can’t be blamed for it. Defence is a central subject, states can’t be blamed for it.
We have a three-tier system of governance, which has the center, state, and local bodies. The central government is primarily responsible for broad policy formation and has the power to supersede the states in many areas. The state government has the right to form its own policies along with being the monitoring and implementing agency for the policies enacted by the center, modifying it according to the needs of its people. The local bodies make sure that these policies are implemented at the grassroots. This is crucial and is something the people of India need to understand. (World Economic Forum)
WHAT CAN WE DO?
To impart such aspects of civic literacy, steps need to be taken in education. Civics as a subject needs to be taught beyond the 10th Standard. It should be made compulsory during college as well.
One does not have to go into details of the system, but provide a basic understanding, for example knowledge of center and state responsibilities, should be imbibed in students so that when they go out and vote, they know who to hold responsible for a certain task. To take a basic example, we should hold the center responsible for the railways and the state responsible for law and order.
In this field, an organisation named Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC) has already made strides and is moving fast towards imparting civic education in the primary education sphere.
Another great idea would be to make sure that advertisements about government projects are designed to show accountability. They can be mandated to show the authority responsible rather than the galaxy of politicians of the ruling party or print the government tier responsible for the project. This will help in increasing awareness amongst the general public and save time as well.
A last measure would be to hold political parties, politicians, and the media accountable for what they say on record. Our politicians use the confusion to their advantage to lure the public to the agenda of the party and distract them from the real issues. In the 2G Scam case, the issue of the need for effective policy in the telecom sector got lost in the debate on the report of the CAG (Jagannathan) and outrage about the “scam”. The media should also refrain from sensationalism and should be held accountable to provide informed opinions to the general public.
HAVE PATIENCE
I have added these beautiful pictures from our original constitution for people to realize the amount of work put in by our country’s founders in all aspects of civic life to give us this precious, comprehensive document and the least we could do is understand some basics which may help us make a prudent and informed decision when we vote.
It is a long process and will take time to implement. A start has been made by organizations like the Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC) and hopefully, more will follow, and the public would also be more cognizant of the lack of understanding of public policy on their part and work to remedy it.
Read The Poisonous Seeds of Political Rhetoric by Medha Ojha
Work Cited
“India 2015 — Renewing Infrastructure Finance.” YouTube, uploaded by World Economic Forum, 4 November 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRpw7KZP89w.
Jagannathan, R. “It Wasn’t about Rs 1.76 Lakh Cr: Read What CAG Really Said.” Firstpost, 20 Dec. 2014, www.firstpost.com/business/it-wasnt-about-rs-1-76-lakh-cr-read-what-cag-really-said-526325.html.
Sengupta, Shumon. “The Constitution Of India As A Work Of Art.” HuffPost India, HuffPost India, 15 July 2016, www.huffingtonpost.in/shumon-sengupta/the-constitution-of-india_b_7123326.html.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vardan is a Computer Engineer from Purdue University and a graduate of the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University. He has a keen interest in history, politics, impact investing, and the venture capital space.
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