The first point itself is so wrong. Adult franchise is so much misused in India that we find so many wrong people leading the country. Along with adult franchise, there was a need to have some kind of criteria for people to get elected. That is missing.
RE:Five decisions that changed India
by Ramachandran venkatesh on Aug 15, 2007 05:29 PM Permalink
I do not agree with you statement that adult franchise is wrong. Consider the unscruplousness of our politicians. If the poorest and weakest sections of the society did not have the right to vote they would have been crushed openly in manner worse than what any dictator has done. This problem could have been solved if our constitution had been written with emphasis on protection of individual rights. Our constitution tried to created a strong central government that was elected by the masses. This government was given power to interfere in every aspect of life in the country. Such a system will ultimately lead to mob rule. India needed a constitution that provided a government whose powers were most limited and cutailed. Through a series of checks and counter checks (through institutions like judiciary, election commission, parliament etc) it should have been ensured that no government institution could act arbitrarily. The procedure for ammending the constitution should have been far more difficult. Any mention of religion, caste in any government procedure or office should have been strictly prohibited. The profile of a government servant should have been as one who earned the maximum in society but whose powers were most limited. Today the profile is exactly the opposite. The result -INDIAN CORRUPTION
RE:Five decisions that changed India
by Abhay T on Aug 15, 2007 05:04 PM Permalink
Think about it. Its not about education. How do you know who is a right or wrong person? There are millions of educated people doing wrong things and tens of millions uneducated people doing right thing. A country can't peogress without human equality. If the control was given to only 10% educated people, this country would have becmome a much messier state than Pakistan. India didn't have common language, religion. It was plagued by castism, poverty, illiteracy. Without human equality country wouldn't have progressed. So, adult franchise was the RIGHT decision. Political leaders reflect the society they represent. Social changes requires much longer time than you think. So, the progress is always slow. When people talk about Japan, they forget the state of India in 1947. It is easier to construct new bridges and buildings but bridge the gap between different communities it takes much longer.
