DRAFT PROPOSAL:

Common Minimum Programme for all Political Parties:

BROADER AGENDA / KEY ISSUES / BACKGROUND
  1. INCLUSIVE GROWTH
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  1. Provide drinking water in each village
/ As against the target of 7,98,967 habitations* for coverage under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) during the Eleventh Plan, the coverage up to 31 March 2012 was 6,65,034 (83 per cent). (Source 12th Five Year Plan, Planning Commission)
(*The rural habitation is often a unit of differentiation used to define a community based on caste and creed and also by members who by and large share common language and cultural characteristics.)
Issue: Much of this doesn’t happen – and more importantly can’t happen - due to the centralised nature of implementation and built-in incentives for corruption. Expecting the existing machinery of government to deliver such a project is a pipedream.
Such work is done by local governments across the world through local rates/taxes plus some grants. We need a viable machinery that can deliver such projects on a commercially viable basis. Water trading rights have successfully been able to deal with many externalities. The government can focus on ways to recharge the water table: areas beyond the capacity of local governments or private enterprise.
  1. Self-sufficiency in power
(Minimum of 8 hours of power supply to rural areas to be ensured) / The Eleventh Plan estimated a terminal year (2011–12) requirement of electricity generation from utilities at 1,038 billion units (BU), implying growth rate of 9.1 per cent (CAGR) per annum over the gross generation level of 670.65 BU in 2006–07 (the terminal year of the Tenth Plan). As against the above, the actual generation from utilities in 2011–12 was 876.88 BU, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, implying an annual growth rate of only 5.51 per cent for power from the utilities. This has resulted in a demand–supply gap. On 31 March 2012, it was estimated that the peak deficit gap was 11.1 per cent and energy deficit was 8.5 per cent.
Issue: It is amazing that though there is demand for power (people are willing to pay) and there is ready availability of technology in the world, we have managed, through centralised decision making, to create shortages.
This needs state governments and even local governments to allow privatisation of the sector. The only role of government would be to ensure that the poorest are able to access power (through a direct social minimum payment).
Further, labour law flexibility would allow companies to operate in a staggered manner, thereby reducing peak demand. Today we have choked both the demand and supply sides of the market.
  1. 100% enrolment of children in elementary schools
/ Average enrolment rate is 96% for 2011-12. But average retention rate at primary level is stagnant at 74-76% since 2009
Issue: Just by asking more education won’t create it. Nor will funding schools create it. This is one more area of fundamental policy failure and no matter how much we “keep doing” what we are doing, we will fail.
Education requires a radical shift. All over the world, voucher programs have outperformed government schools – for very good reason. Why are we not recommending that?
  1. Health insurance for all, upto a defined amount
/ Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana or RSBY launched in 2008 is a very innovative programme. The objective of RSBY is to provide protection to BPL households from financial liabilities arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalization. Beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to hospitalization coverage up to Rs. 30,000/- for most of the diseases that require hospitalization. Government has even fixed the package rates for the hospitals for a large number of interventions. Pre-existing conditions are covered from day one and there is no age limit. Coverage extends to five members of the family which includes the head of household, spouse and up to three dependents. Beneficiaries need to pay only Rs. 30/- as registration fee while Central and State Government pays the premium to the insurer selected by the State Government on the basis of a competitive bidding.A beneficiary of RSBY gets cashless benefit in any of the empanelled hospitals. He/ she only needs to carry his/ her smart card and provide verification through his/ her finger print. For participating providers it is a paperless scheme as they do not need to send all the papers related to treatment to the insurer. They send online claims to the insurer and get paid electronically.
Issue: I’d like to see a detailed policy analysis which overcomes all issues of moral hazard involved, including government failure (corruption). I’m afraid the current Indian system is simply unsuited to any direct management of such programs by government. A totally failed bureaucracy can’t manage to even light a bulb in its own office, leave alone manage a health insurance program.
Yes, there is some merit in the underlying idea, but the process must be thought out from first principles.
  1. Women empowerment:
  • Education specific special provisions for girl child (eg. computer, cycle, scholarship,etc.)
  • Political empowerment of women (eg. Reservation in elected bodies)
  • Protection of women against major social problems (eg. taking a firm stand against retrograde steps like khap panchayat, valentine’s day celebration)
/ Policy measures such as the ones suggested below maybe emphasised upon to promote women empowerment in various aspects of lie :
a) Name of mother compulsory in admission of students in school
Issue: Let’s just call it a requirement to have names of both parents. “Compulsion” sounds draconian.
b) 50% reservation of women in panchayat, zila panchayat and local elections (bill pending in G gujarat governor’s office)
Issue: This is violative of equality under the constitution. Let people be free to elect. Much better for political parties to promote women and others, on voluntary basis.
c) Special scheme for villages who have all women administrative body
Issue: What? More bureaucracy? More “schemes”? Are we not sick of endless FAILED interventions by our incompetent governments?
d) No Stamp duty on properties bought in name of woman
Issue: This is unlikely to change the status of women, but will definitely give a huge advantage to those women who for some reason have to buy property in their own name. Untenable idea.
e) Forconversion of lease hold property into free hold property less stamp duty to be charged in case the property is getting registered in the name of the women of the household. This is already done by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) where duty at the rate of 6%in case of menand4 % in case of women has to be paid toor Land and Development Office (L&DO)
Issue: As above. Unnecessary red tape, and an attempt to indulge in social engineering, by giving undue benefits to certain women. Government has no role as social reformer.
f) Passing of Women’s Reservation Bill requiring reservation of one-third seats in Parliament for women candidates
Issue: One more case of violation of equality under the law. Why does gender matter? Let parties give 50 per cent or more seats voluntarily, to women. This is social matter. Let the government merely act as an umpire.
  1. Growth focus on employment generation especially for age group of 18 to 35
/ According to Planning Commission Report on Entrepreneurship of the year 2012, “India needs to create 10 – 15 million jobs per year.”
Issue: Good point, but once again, the role of government was not to DO this directly but to facilitate. That it has failed to do. Let it do that. There is enough capacity in the Indian private market to establish world-class training institutes under good regulation.
  1. DEVELOPMENT / GROWTH
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  1. Transparent, open & discretion free process for allocation of resources under the state
/ Issue: This is a motherhood statement. What does it mean? How does it differ from current processes?
  1. Effective measures to curb the role of black money in Indian economy
/ Issue: This is a motherhood statement. What does it mean? How does it differ from current processes?
  1. PUBLIC SERVICES DELIVERY
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  1. Ensure enforcement & compliance to Right to Public Services & Grievance redressal
/ So far 17 states have passed such an Act but the services notified are very restricted
Issue: Just passing an act means NOTHING. Hundreds of acts are violated. Let us build a system with capability to enforce a FEW key laws, than 1000s of laws with inability to enforce ANY law.
  1. Electronic delivery of services
/ The Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 27, 2011 by the Minister of HRD and Information Technology. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Information Technology on January 5, 2012, which gave its report in August 2012.
Issue: Most services do not need a law to allow them to go electronic. Let’s build basic systems of governance that deliver these things without requiring laws each time. It is amazing that bureaucracy needs a law for it to become efficient. Far better to implement modern principles of hire and fire. Getting rid of IAS and other tenured services is a first step to any progress in India.
  1. Minimum standard of civic services to be declared & maintained
/ Issue: This is a motherhood statement. What does it mean? How does it differ from current processes? And how can this be enforced unless the basic machinery of governance is changed?
  1. ETHICS IN PUBLIC LIFE
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  1. Lokpal for senior political functionaries & top most civil servants
/ The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, introduced on December 22, 2011, was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 27, 2011. The Bill was taken up for consideration and passing in the Rajya Sabha, which referred it to a Select Committee (Chairperson: Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi). The Committee submitted its report in November 2012.
  1. Lokayukta in each state for senior political functionaries civil servants
/ Till now only 19 states have the enacted the Lokayukta Act
  1. Institutional framework for administering civil servants
/ Issue: This is a very crucial issue. Needs a lot of explanation to clarify what this means. This underpins virtually everything else.
  1. Transparent institutional framework for appointment to constitutional/ statutory authorities
/ Collegium comprising of representation from ruling party, opposition party and judiciary to be formed for all such appointments
Issue: This is not part of the Westminster system which has flexibility to appoint through Cabinet. We need the Westminster system to work well, then this won’t be needed.
  1. Concrete steps towards police reforms
/ Recommendations towards this have come in the form National Police Commission Model Bill, 1980, recommendations have also been made by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Law Commission, the Ribeiro Committee, the Padmanabhaiah Committee, the Malimath Committee, and the Soli Sorabjee Committee, but no concrete steps towards its implementation.
Supreme Court of India in 2006 had asked the state to choose any of the models on Security Commission suggested by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Ribeiro Committee and the Soli Sorabjee Committee, all of which recommended it to be a multi-member body with sufficient representation from civil society and judiciary.
Six years after ushering in police reforms, the Supreme Court on April 11, 2013 took the first step for its implementation in "letter and spirit" and asked states to furnish within a week status of the Security Commissions which were to be set up to insulate the police from political interference.
Issue: specific reforms need to be highlighted, and let it be clear that without abolition of IPS, and substitution by an accountable police executive, you can never get police reforms.
  1. POLITICAL PARTY, ELECTORAL & LEGISLATIVE REFORMS
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  1. Time bound fast tracking of trial cases against elected public functionaries convicted of serious/heinous crimes
/ Time-bound fast tracking of all cases against elected public functionaries convicted of serious/heinous crimes and punishable with an imprisonment of five years or more, does not require any legislative amendment. It only requires an administrative order by Supreme Court in consultation with the Law Ministry. There are Public Interest Litigations before the Supreme Court of India on this issue.
  1. Politicians convicted by court to be denied tickets for contesting elections
/ The political parties need to commit loud & clear
Issue: needs to be specific: what types of convictions?
  1. Ensuring decriminalization of politics through appropriate changes in election laws
/ Concrete recommendations towards this have been made by a number of highly valued Committees like the LawCommission’s 170th Report on Electoral Reforms of 1999; recommendations from the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution of 2002; Election Commission’s Recommendations on the Electoral reforms of 2004; Justice Verma Committee Report of 2012
Issue: This needs to be specific.
  1. Ensured submission of annual asset statement by all MPs & MLAs & putting all such information in public domain
/ Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha laid down rules for asset declaration stipulates the one-time submission of asset details of MPs within 90 days, but the annual compliance to such a rule for asset declaration is not a part of these rules. Moreover, these one-time declaration of assets of MPs are not put in public domain as they are considered confidential documents that can be shared only with the approval of the Speaker/Chairperson of the House
  1. ECI to be empowered on registration and de-registration of political parties
/ Issue: Any individual can contest. Parties don’t exist in the constitution. Party registration should be managed through any usual registration of organisations legislation, unrelated to EC.
  1. Making Parliament functional
/ Ensuring uninterrupted functioning of the Parliament for a fixed minimum of days to make sure that the national interest is not jeopardised
  1. LAND ACQUISITION & LAND REFORMS
/ a)Concrete policy measures to ensure that besides compensation, a long-term source of livelihood generation (through an employment or appropriate equity participation) is ensured to the owner of the land (especially in case they are farmers).
Issue: In general, any long term involvement of government for specific people is problematic. A higher than market value can be paid at the point of acquisition, and if absolutely needed, part of it can be even paid in annuity – automatically through a bank - but anything else will create a mindless bureaucratic nightmare, and corruption.
b)Maintaining the balance to ensure that industrial and infrastructural growth also gets their due focus.
Issue: Under no circumstance should government have the right to purchase land for industry. For public infrastructure: yes.

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