- Created on Friday, 10 January 2014 18:26
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THE Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has further lowered his stature by letting petty politics overshadow his unfulfilled obligations. While doing so the other day, he frittered away an opportunity to make amends and redeem his reputation.
One need not discuss here Dr. Singh's vitriolic attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at his stage-managed national press conference where many core issues did not figure at all.
A lot has already been said and written about Dr. Singh's remarks against Mr. Modi. The final say should now be left to the electorate. Let the voters decide whether Mr. Modi would be a nation builder as PM or a degrader of national unity like Dr. Singh.
PM has indeed allowed fissiparous forces weaken the country. He needs to be judged by his own words and actions on this charge.
In his opening remarks at the press conference, PM stated: "Our democratic Constitution and the institutions of our democracy are the cornerstone of Modern India. All of us who wish to build a better India, rid of poverty and corruption, must respect these institutions and work through them. They are the legitimate instruments in our hands, with all their limitations. No one individual or authority can substitute for the due processes of democratic governance."
Great words indeed. But has PM practiced what he preaches? No. A few facts would justify this charge, which historians must not overlook while judging Dr. Singh's performance.
In its first tenure, UPA started sincerely its work on federalism but did not care to carry it forward. It let Centre-State relations worsen.
Take the case of PM-chaired Inter-State Council (ISC). It is a constitutional body with a mandate to meet at least thrice a year as specified in the Presidential Order constituting ISC issued in May 1990 under Article 263 of the Constitution. ISC has not met for the last seven years! It last met on 9 th December 2006.
In that meeting convened to discuss atrocities on scheduled castes and tribes, Dr. Singh urged CMs to "address themselves to this major task of nation building which rests on the shoulders of each one of them. Let us together build a nation which is great and also inclusive."
And in a previous ISC meeting held in June 2005, Dr. Singh stated: "I am quite confident that this healthy institutional framework and practice of consensus building will continue to help us in future and would add to strength of our national polity."
PM has hardly done anything to build national consensus on Centre-State disputes, leave aside other contentious issues such as population control and civil code. PM did nothing to dose the fires of Telegana agitations including violence over the years. With UPA playing political card over Telegana with an eye on coming Lok Sabha polls, the demand for Statehood from several regions across the country has gained momentum.
Is it not the foremost duty of PM to lead the country out of worsening internal strife including Naxal violence?
PM did not intervene when West Bengal Government recently stopped export of potatoes to other States to check price rise. This ban hurt neighbours Jharkhand and Odisha, resulting in build-up of inter-State tensions. All such problems should be nipped in the bud by ISC. The institutional mechanism for resolution of disputes is in limbo.
Like ISC, its Standing Committee (SC), which is chaired by Union Home Minister, is moribund. SC was formed in 1996 for continuous consultation and processing of matters for consideration of ISC. SC has not met since 29 th March 2005!
PM has turned a deaf ear to the repeated plea from different quarters for convening meeting ISC and for strengthening federalism.
UPA, during its second term, has not uttered a word a word about the unfulfilled promises given under the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP), which had articulated its commitment to strengthen federalism.
Unveiled in May 2004, NCMP stated: "The UPA government will make the National Development Council (NDC) a more effective instrument of cooperative federalism. The NDC will meet at least twice a year and in different states. Immediately, the NDC will take up the issue of the financial health of states and arrive at a national consensus on specific steps to be taken in this regard. The Inter-State Council will also be activated. All centrally-sponsored schemes except in national priority areas like family planning will be transferred to states."
The UPA's failure on NDC is similar to its performance in the management of ISC. Did the Voter returned the UPA back to the power in 2009 on the supposed belief that NCMP would be consigned to dustbin?
Dr. Singh is yet to realize that the Centre's arrogance and the States' parochial approach on different issues have all combined to harm the national unity. The worsening Centre-State ties are perhaps the biggest stumbling block in inclusive socio-economic development of the country.
As PM and as ISC Chairman, it is Dr. Singh's duty to listen to issues raised by the States and strive for solutions. And issues are aplenty.
In August 2013, Punjab Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal called for ISC meeting to discuss the issue of Punjab farmers being denied permission to buy farm land in certain States.
A year prior to this, Mr. Badal lambasted UPA for weakening federalism and called for reinventing ISC.
A Punjab Government release had quoted Mr. Badal as stating "the tendency of the Center has been to usurp, through open and clandestine ways, the powers and authority of the states already ensured by the Constitution. This tendency was on the rise at a scale never seen before."
The release added: "In certain cases, this violation of the constitution by the Center has been nothing short of flagrant, with the Centre willfully legislating on issues that fall in the States purview."
He suggested that Inter-State Council's Secretariat (ISCS) should be attached to the Secretariat of the Rajya Sabha rather than being a department of Government of India (GoI). All initiatives on the concurrent list may first be discussed in the Inter-State Council and approved by 2/3rd majority before given any legislative shape."
Similarly, other CMs have demanded early convening of ISC. Both BJP and its mentor L.K. Advani have demanded convening of ISC to discuss different problems faced by the States.
The public has right to know the fate of ISCS' initiatives to strengthen federalism. In its Results Framework Document (RFD) for 2012-13, ISCS, for instance, resolved to obtain Cabinet approval for its proposal to strengthen and activate ISC and its Secretariat "within a definite time frame."
When PM has time to preside over Cabinet meeting for ordering setting up of a Commission of Inquiry into questionable incidents of surveillance in Gujarat and two other States, he could have certainly taken a Cabinet call on ISC.
ISC is sitting on several important studies on certain issues that have emerged following economic reforms. Dr. Singh has not cared to facilitate their availability in public domain, though he never gets tired to parroting UPA's commitment to transparency.
ISCS has also framed a proposal to transform itself into a strong, efficient and autonomous organization. It has also prepared agenda papers on the follow-up action to be taken on 273 recommendations of C ommission on Centre-State Relations (CCSR) that submitted its report in April 2010. CCSR was constituted by UPA in April 2007 in keeping with NCMP.
UPA has, however, not shown the political will to take a call on the CCSR's road-map for the country's future and resolution of lingering socio-economic problems.
After political retirement, Dr. Singh should mull over his failure to fulfill UPA's several promises including a few dating back to his first 100-days agenda in 2009.
He should certainly ponder what CCSR Chairman and former Chief Justice of India, Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi, penned in the foreword to CCSR report.
Justice Punchhi observed: "In the seven volumes of the report, the present Commission has tried to address a range of complex issues which have come up in Centre-State relations in the context of social and economic developments that have taken place over the years since the report of the Sarkaria Commission of 1988. The dream appears to have been disturbed and the invocation to the Indian people to enjoy the great festival of life with others gone hollow."
He also noted that "with the rise of regional parties and coalitions, states seemed to gain the upper hand in many spheres of governance. The Centre found itself hamstrung even when there was serious breakdown in law and order in some areas. The growth of the unified market which is one of the main factors driving nations to come together to form federations was unable to gain the momentum warranted by its potential, despite the mandate of freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse within the Indian Union envisaged by Article 301."
Dr. Singh, these issues are far more serious and important than Mr. Modi or his alleged misdeeds. National unity and healthy federalism can't be overlooked in the quest for political brownie points at Government-funded press conferences. Many Congress stalwarts and TV channels are already doing excellent job in Modi-bashing and inadvertently strengthening his prospects for the post of PM.
The Nation should be grateful to Dr. Singh for opting out of the prime ministerial race under the 2014 polls. He should have resigned long time back to prevent the country's drift towards uncertainty and to save his own reputation. Thank God he didn't go the Gorbachev way.
(Published by taxindiaonline.com on 8th January 2014)
