English Essay The Democracy in India

 ENGLISH ESSAY THE DEMOCRACY IN INDIA

What is democracy

    It is said that among all the forms of Governments known to man, democratic form of Govt. is the best. The basic principle of democracy is Self-Government. According to Abraham Linclon, "Democracy is the Government of the people, for the people and by the people." Bernard Shaw has said, "Democracy is a social order aiming at the greatest available welfare for the whole population and not for a class."

Democracy in India

    India is one of the biggest democratic countries of the world. She achieved freedom in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Chakravarty Raj Gopalachari and other eminent personalities of that time decided to make India a democratic state. India became a democratic republic on January 26, 1950. In 1952 the first general election was held. There were about 17 crore voters at that time. The 13th general election is to be held in April, 2004. As per estimate the number of eligible voters this time is more than 60 crores. The elections in India have always been an uphill task. A poor country like India with a vast population, lost in narrow loyalties of caste, religion, regionalism and vested interests could not be expected to make any headway in democratic ideals which encouraged freedom of thought, speech and action. Some pessimists thought that India would disintegrate within a few years of getting independence. But their predictions have been proved wrong time and again. The success of 12 general elections prove that the essence of democratic spirit has now taken root in the Indian soil. Democracy is going to survive without any hindrance.

The goal

    In spite of the electoral successes, Indian democracy is yet to achieve the goal of democracy. Democracy is for the betterment of living conditions of all the people. But efforts to secure the greatest good to the largest number have been blocked by unscrupulous officers, legislators and ministers. The most glaring proof of this is the widespread incidence of corruption.

Unscrupulous representatives

    The elected representatives think that the membership of assemblies or parliament is a kind of job without retirement. The amenities of membership and vast scope for making money attract the leaders and criminals alike. The leaders tend to forget their promises soon after elections.

Multi-party system

Indian democracy is based on multi-party system. Majority of the parties is regional. They adopt divide and rule policy to be successful in the elections. Their basic norm is casteism and reservation. They are so self-centred. They never look towards the prosperity of the country. Sometimes the leaders take the help of the muscle power of criminals to win elections. Sometimes, the criminals themselves enter the fray. This leads to the criminalisation of politics.

Drawbacks

    Another drawback is that the first policy of all the parties is to win elections. There are thousands of politicians but very few statesmen. Since elections are contested by political parties, the merits of the candidates seeking elections do not count. Honest independent candidates normally stand little chance in elections.

How to mend

    The situation being thus, the wisemen should think of ways for strengthening the democratic system. There must be strong rules so that criminals cannot enter the fray. No party should be allowed to propagate casteism. Religion must be kept out of politics. Reservation must be done away with. Only meritorious and deserving people should be selected for good jobs. Cheap populism must be discouraged. The citizens must be cautious in choosing their representatives. They must show that they are the masters and the respresentatives are sent to serve, not to rule. Only this type of reformation will assure that the democratic system will be beneficial for the people of India. Otherwise, it will fail to eradicate poverty and ignorance. Unless this is done, the democracy will not be for the people; it will only be for the. politicians.

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