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PPublic institutions in which roles, responsibilities, resources, rewards and expectations do not align with constitutional mandates run the risk of sub-optimality at best, and complete breakdown at worst. Thus, while in public life they tend to take responsibility ‘by hand’ for governance and development intervention in their areas, the path to executive power is a ministerial post after being elected to the legislature.
But not all opposition MPs/MLAs and most members of the ruling party have any ‘formal role’ in the administration. However, for all MPs and MLAs, it is imperative to ‘nurture’ the constituency and get re-elected to remain in the political arena. Their electoral merit is a function of how well they are able to respond to the ‘expectations’ of their constituents – in terms of social and physical infrastructure as well as the delivery of welfare programmes.
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The primary focus is re-election
In the strict sense of the word, according to the principle of separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, the role of MPs and MLAs is limited to a comprehensive discussion on legislation, the budget, and the scrutiny of statutory reports placed in it. House. To be honest, it is not practical for them to go through the realm of paper without a secretariat and research support.
However, as most MPs and MLAs would agree, most of their time is spent not on their parliamentary and legislative work, but on responding to requests from their voters on any subject – from admission to schools, hospitals, fee waivers To help with matters ranging from land conversions, to court cases, police matters to licenses of all kinds – from firearms to liquor stores – and from land conversion matters, to the declaration of a public holiday after a local deity.
Most of these are executive functions – under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Commissioner, Municipal Commissioner or Police Commissioner. But as public representatives, MPs and MLAs are expected to intervene even if they know that what their constituents are seeking is not within the realm of the possible, and at times beyond the realm of legitimacy. Many MPs and MLAs have admitted to me that they have to adopt the public image of a fighter who can work – for how they will win the next round. Therefore, it is clear that when they are elected to legislate, they are re-elected not on their legislative competence, but on their effectiveness in functioning in administration and in letting their stakeholders know that they matter. Huh.
No wonder that for all the bipartisan consensus among political parties about decentralization under the aegis of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments in 1992, Members of Parliament were furious that they felt that mayors and presidents of district panchayats raised them. Have given. wide powers of their protection. In order to pacify them, the MPLAD (or Local Area Development Fund) scheme was introduced to enable MPs to ‘recommend development works in their constituencies with emphasis on sustainable community assets based on locally felt needs’. was offered as a prop. Where it started with Rs 1 crore annually, now it has been increased to Rs. Rs 5 crore Per year. How can legislators be left behind? MLAs stand up in many states Rs 3 crore per year under MLA LAD.
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Bureaucrats in similar crisis
If MPs and MLAs are in a quandary, so are district magistrates, municipal commissioners and police commissioners – as they have the legal authority to run a fair administration and intervene in development. This is where the conflict arises. And while some issues can be resolved by tactful handling, mutual understanding and non-adversarial communication – skills we try to teach at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Uttarakhand – there are often instances when The mismatch is quite obvious.
It can range from alignment of development projects to land acquisition compensation norms to crop damage assessment or permission regarding timing, place and extent of public gatherings and in some cases even sections of the law applicable in criminal cases. . The Code of Criminal Procedure talks about magistrates – both judicial and executive as well as police officers and prosecutors – yet elected representatives feel that it is their responsibility to advise not to interfere.
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political patronage
Is there a way out? In my opinion, it is high time that those who want ‘hands-on’ participation in governance in public life should be encouraged to join the municipal corporations and district panchayats. Sardar Patel, CR Das, Subhash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru all started their political careers as mayors, but soon after independence, the mayors’ powers were curtailed by ambitious chief ministers who worked for the development of the area and the main municipality. Brought functions as water supply and sanitation. under state governments.
The opposition to decentralization comes not so much from All India Service officers – because they know they have to work with the political executive – but from the state-level political leadership that will substantially curtail their powers of patronage. Large municipal corporations and district panchayats, aided by complementing IAS, IPS and IFS officers with their counterparts from state services, can provide governance and development interventions at the district level, and also mobilize the necessary resources to carry out services .
Citizens will also know that they can approach the elected officials at the local level in case of any issue regarding implementation. This will not only strengthen democracy at the grassroots level, but will also give more time to MPs and MLAs to focus on what they are elected for – make laws and keep the executive in check.
Sanjeev Chopra is the historian and festival director of the Valley of Words. Until recently he was the Director of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. He tweeted @ChopraSanjeev. Thoughts are personal.
This is the second part of the article.state of state‘ series that analyzes policy, civil services and governance in India.
(Edited by Prashant)
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