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At a time when most of us are in despair at the abysmal state of governance in the country, the World Bank finding that this has improved in India continuously since 1996 brings some much-needed cheer. The survey talks of India leaving China behind on many of the chosen indicators: we score much higher on rule of law, citizens’ voice and state accountability. None of this is news for a decades-old democracy. Change of government through elections, an independent judiciary, reasonably free media and so forth are also part and parcel of a functioning democracy. On the other hand, we score fairly low on matters such as the ability of government to frame and implement policies and on the ‘regulatory quality’ of those on various, especially business-related, matters.
Ironically, the report came in a week where a handful were convicted 16 years after the Bhagalpur communal slaughter of 1989 and the government refused to give Parliament the details of a Central Vigilance Commission probe into the dismal state of military procurement. The enforcement of basic law and order and enforcement of contracts is something the Indian state is simply unable to provide, for its citizens and even for itself. A focus on police, prosecution and judicial reforms is dangerously overdue and goes to the heart of what is lacking in our relationship with the state. If this could be combined with a revamp of the weak right to information law, to oblige state agencies to publish the details of their working and decisions, the basic framework for the reform of everything else in governance would be in place.
We do, additionally, recommend that the Government of
India benchmark itself from year to year on this issue. Just as every state has committed itself since the past decade to a yearly ‘human development report,’ we could do with a governance development report from those entrusted with it. It would help concentrate minds on the issues in this regard and what needs to be done. |
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