Comments
Elections to local bodies strengthen the process of democratic decentralisation, but the focus is totally missing in today’s ‘loudspeaker politics’, MA Oommen, renowned developmental economist, told Business Line here today.
Balloting is an element, a significant element, in the representative democratic process, Oommen said. But it is only one aspect, only an instrumental aspect, he added.
The intrinsic aspect of the elections is to promote freedom, justice, and the practice of everyday democracy. “Am sorry to say no one cares to project this basic theme,” he said.
Oommen was recently feted by a team of national and international writers who brought out a volume of individual perspectives in the form of a book titled ‘Development, Decentralisation and Democracy.’
Kerala Governor P Sathasivam released the book, published by Orient Blackswan and edited by Ash Narain Roy and George Mathew.
It carries the works of Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, Henry Veltmeyer, Manoranjan Mohanty, TK Oommen, KN Kabra, Francois Houtart, Joseph Tharamangalam, GK Lieten, MH Suryanarayana, Roy Bahl, KN Harilal, KJ Joseph, NV Varghese and J Devika.
Intrinsic aspect Decentralisation at the gram sabha is aimed at widening the avenues of people’s participation. This is what it was expected to bring in the State at large through decentralised planning and devolution of resources.
“How closer is this election taking us to a constructive and creative democracy in the state? Or is it again aimed at fragmenting the people on communal, caste and class, basis. This is very important.
“Nobody seems to highlight what is wrong with the decentralised governance within the State,” Oommen said.
District plan A district plan is a vital requirement for the democratic development process. Who has bothered about district plan methodology in spite of the constitutional mandate and constitutional requirement? Articles 243(G) and 243 (ZE) lay stress on exactly this.
For instance, health and waste management issues are highlighted as a bone of contention rather than as part of building a clean environment around you, Oommen said.
“But what you see is loudspeaker politics with no relevance to these concerns,” he added.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.