The traditional “Representative Democracy” tends to limit citizen participation to voting, leaving actual governance to politicians. Participatory Democracy on the other hand emphasizes the role of every citizen to be a part of the decision making process. It envisions a society where citizens can communicate their desires face-to-face with their political representative. The community meets to discuss issues concerning its affairs like education, corruption, transport, economy, government schemes, crime, health etc. and selects few representatives to report the same to local officials. These local officials then report these concerns to the central elected representative who is then bound to act upon these. The central elected representatives are then required to reply with written copies regarding the action taken within a specific time frame.
Participatory governance can be associated with decentralization in which efforts are made to shift power and resources away from a single state center in order to improve responsiveness and accountability. There are different types of decentralization, including de-concentration (shifting decision-making personnel from a capital to various districts), devolution (transfer of authority to sub-statewide government) and delegation (transfer of powers to public corporations or special authorities). Decentralization should not, however be seen as a necessary condition for participatory governance. A strong center of government can promote and be enhanced by the participation of citizens in policy formulation and implementation as well as the monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation.
The idea is to provide a flexible schema of information delivery in order to improve the quality of government services. Central to the success of participatory governance is strong leadership and a political will and commitment to bring about changes suggested through the participatory governance experience. The onus will be on the people to make sure that the participation is extensive and accountability assured. This will prevent local heavyweights and government representatives to dominate the community decisions. These measures are meant to tackle problems such as inefficiency in the conduct of official business, ineffective participation by the weaker sections of the public in local governance, lack of transparency in the planning and implementation of projects, weak financial condition of local bodies, no accountability for any wrong-doings, poor recovery of taxes, misuse of taxpayer money etc. so rampant in representative democracy.
Participatory form of governance plays a critical role in providing a platform for the voice of the people to be heard. It also promotes accountability by ensuring broader involvement of elected representatives. It will provide a forum to develop leadership qualities and promote avenues where voluntary work is encouraged. Our state needs to be people-oriented and capable of addressing the socio-economic needs of its entire population, especially the poor, marginalized and oppressed. It will provide a platform to spread awareness regarding various schemes and acknowledge basic rights of an individual. It envisions a society where dignity of labor is respected and local unemployment is minimal. Incidentally
We have the panchayat system operating at the village level that acts as a mini-version of Participatory Democracy. Here the citizens can meet through “gram sabhas” to discuss various aspects related to the governance at the local level. These meetings provide ample opportunities for citizen and non-governmental organizations to discuss their concerns and participate in the decision making process. However the ground reality is that the decisions taken are the sole prerogative of the ‘Sarpanch’ and other members of the ‘panch’. Another distressing thought is that these decisions are open to veto by the bureaucracy, the members of which are mostly non-Goans who have scant respect for the wishes of the people. These babus actively support the plans of our unscrupulous netas to sell our
The aam aadmi is growing increasingly disillusioned by the lack of transparency, responsiveness and accountability shown by our politicians. The RTI (Right to Information) Act drafted to examine the issue of lack of transparency in our government offices has become useless. This is because either the controversial files suddenly go missing or the officials take their own time to file the reply. If the public officials are determined to do their duty, they are transferred post haste by our corrupt ministers from one remote outpost to another until they toe the line. Our ministers are busy plotting methods to increase their bank balance at the expense of the taxpayer’s money and our land. The government machinery it seems is rusted and the only oil that will let it function smoothly is cold-hard cash.
The disconnect between the public and the officials is obvious by the plethora of schemes mooted by the government that are only detrimental to the life of the average Goenkar. Our communidade and agricultural lands carefully nurtured by our ancestors for centuries are being usurped by outsiders for creation of housing colonies or slum vote-banks. The greed to make a quick buck along with the archaic “Mundkar Act” is causing Goan landowners to sell off their land. Mega-housing projects are coming up all over the place, their prices putting them well beyond the reach of the common man or are usually reserved for a particular (non-Goan) community. The once beautiful villages now resemble concrete urban zones with our neighbours akin to strangers from another planet. Many ambitious real-estate development plans are finalized without consulting the people who will be affected by it. The vote-bank politics is attracting migrants and soon Goans will be a minority community in our own state. Migrant slums are breeding grounds of criminals, but the cops are loathe to raid these areas as these non-Goans have political overseers who milk them for their votes.
Ministers are going on foreign trips with huge entourages consisting of extended families at the tax-payers expense. Lavish parties are organized for ministers, bureaucrats and party oficials and nonchalantly billed as a state expense. Government contracts are awarded without inviting any tenders to contractors so the concerned ministers can receive kickbacks. The rising crime graph and increasing notoriety mean that the once popular tourist destination is receiving fewer footfalls. The government promises that 80% jobs in every industry would be reserved for locals but non-Goan owners ensure that people from their region get higher priority in the absence of any checks. This is because of a conspicuous superiority complex where Goan folk are presumed to be lazy troublemakers unlike the migrant worker who works without complaints regarding deary working conditions or poor remuneration. The indiscriminate mining is laying havoc to the ecologically-rich Western Ghats, with Goa receiving minuscule royalty from the forex income generated.
The good news is that post the S.E.Z (Special Economic Zones) agitation, the Goenkar has risen up to be counted. Never have we felt such a rebellion spread in our villages and fire burn in our hearts since we fought for liberation from the Portuguese. The need for urgent reforms to our political setup by introducing concepts of participatory governance is felt now then ever before. It can be implemented in our setup by revamping the functioning of the panchayat. The gram sabhas must be held on a regular basis every month, wherein important decisions regarding community welfare should be taken up. The representatives of the villagers and the members of the sarpanch, should then have a forum to meet the ministers concerned and present their case. The ministers are duty bound to give written replies to the village before the next gram sabha convenes. Apart from this every public project with huge budgets are bound to seek approval at the village level through majority votes. The role of the bureaucracy should be confined to act as a mediator between the people and government. The role of information dissemination is crucial to the success of this type of governance and the bureaucracy can also act towards this. Ministers in their role as public figures are also required to submit quarterly reports regarding how they utilized the tax-payers money.
The concepts of the 73rd and 74th amendment of the Constitution of India would be implemented both in letter and in spirit. The 73th amendment deals with the powers of the Panchayat and more importantly its gram sabhas. It was meant to promote village level planning and pave the way for ensuring grassroots participation in governance. The gram sabha was constituted as the crucial link between the community and the state to provide avenues where development initiatives can be planned by villagers. It set all aspects of local life like land use, agriculture, forest conservation, health care, small scale industries, education, cultural activities, social welfare, maintenance,schemes for economic development and social justice etc. to be governed by the gram sabha and Panchayat.
The 74th amendment call for increased responsibilities and financial powers to municipalities, adequate representation of weaker sections and women, regular and fair conduct of local elections, and constitution of Wards Committees, District Planning Committees, Metropolitan Planning Committees and State Finance Commissions to oversee local governance. It also provide a basis for State Legislatures to guide the State Governments in the assignment of various responsibilities to local bodies in the village and towns. The modus operandi for devolution of power to district, taluka and village level committees are given in its guidelines. Thus the local government now includes the elected members (such as the Mayor, President and Councilors, who are representatives of citizens), the nominated members (persons having special knowledge or experience) and the ex-officio members (such as the MPs and the MLAs, who are responsible for spending funds received from the government on various development works within their constituency).
In today's world where e-governance is the new age mantra, the internet can go a long way in promoting the concepts of participatory governance. To this end, efforts can be made to bypass normal communication hierarchy by providing information kiosks in every village, preferably at the Panchayat. Here, ordinary denizens can submit queries directly to the concerned ministers or bureaucrats in a open blog. There facilities can also be provided to obtain any official documents like land and family records or even government notices. The government can digitize all its records or files as a means to prevent controversial files from suddenly missing. Efforts should be directed towards revamping and expanding the information technology sector. With the digitization of records, effective data retrieval and and overall efficiency can improve, especially with regard to answering RTI applications and monitoring official schemes.
The system will aim to create politicians whose roles are analogous to corporate managers. As the public face of the people the politicians would be expected to be well behaved and law-abiding citizens. A minimum qualification of being a graduate in any discipline would also be necessary, though this norm could be relaxed in the initial transitional period as political old hands help the new leaders learn the ropes. The setup will also have small terms of two and a half years each for every cabinet minister, with no minister holding more than one portfolio. In case of any irregularities or scams, the ministers are duty bound to resign and portfolio transferred to the chief minister. The crux of the matter being that the administration becomes more responsible towards the welfare of the people.
Participatory democracy promotes the creation of a liberal society where respect for freedom and fundamental human rights is paramount. This form of democracy helps liberate the human mind to pursue avenues that were previously frowned upon like political and social activism. The idea of providing a voice to every individual would help lower the thrall of morbid religious fanaticism, ethnocentric thoughts, prejudiced feelings and discriminatory behavior. The role of professional private organizations will also be promoted with corporations being encouraged to adapt a social project in lieu of its product promotion.
The institutions that ensure promotion of justice, will have to be revamped. The police force and judicial courts need reforms targeted towards ensuring disputes are resolved quickly and the guilty given strict punishments. The reimbursements given to law officials also needs a overhaul as the salary difference between high ranking officials and juniors is disproportionate to the work done. An example of this disparity being that the Advocate General of Goa(one of the smallest states in India) commands a salary that is five times what the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India receives. Goa has been at the mise en scène of several high-profile cases that has brought it international notoriety which could have been resolved if investigations were conducted promptly. The onus again goes to the people to demand for a post-haste, free and fair trial, especially in front-page news invoking crimes involving foreign nationals.
The advent of participatory democracy in a state like Goa will have to however be preceded by declaring Goa as a state with "special status" within the republic of India. The last few years has witnessed a onslaught of immigration both from India and abroad. The state's population has tripled since liberation from the Portuguese notwithstanding the relatively low birthrate of native Goan populace. The granting of a special status to Goa will ensure that the state preserves its unique identity within the multiplicity of India. The demand for a special status can be justified as Goa joined the union territory of India in 1961; more than 10 years after the formulation of the Constitution. The Constitution of India under Part XXI provides for temporary, transitional and special provisions to be made by Parliament with respect to certain states. Within this Part a provision under Article 371 has states like Jammu & Kashmir issue statutes for regulating/restricting ownership and transfer of land especially with respect to sale of land to non-residents/foreigner. Similar stipulations are also implemented to states like Sikkim, Mizoram, Nagaland, Uttaranchal etc.
There have been many calls for
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