Democracy in India
Contrary to modern perception, democracy in India did not start in 1947 when the country attained independence from the United Kingdom but existed for millennia. Modern day India is the largest democracy in the world with over 700 million voters. Unlike in most other countries, modern Indian democracy started with universal franchise. Elections in India are regular, free, and fair and managed independently by the Election Commission of India.
India Joins Hypersonic Missile and Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet Clubs
DRDO announced that it “successfully flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet technology based missile using indigenous technologies.
Continue readingMultipronged foray to meet 2030 sustainability goals
India is collaborating with many countries to generate 450 gigawatts(GW) of renewable energy by 2030.
Continue readingContrary to modern perception, democracy in India did not start in 1947 when the country attained independence from the United Kingdom but existed for millennia albeit in a different form. An ancient form of democracy was documented by Rufus and Diodorous, chroniclers of Alexander of Macedonia as well as a detailed Constitution at Uttaramerur. The Rig and Atharvaṇa Vedās have definitions of a Republic and state cases where the ruler was chosen by a committee of ministers, elders, and scholars. The Rāmāyaṇa also provides a facility where the ruler asks his subjects to ratify his interest to nominate his son as his successor. The Mahabharatha also contains instances where the King seeks approval of decisions from either a Council of Representatives or of his people.
Modern day India is the largest democracy in the world with over 700 million voters. Elections are managed by an independent Election Commission (ECI) that cannot be manipulated by politicians, the administration, or officers of the government. The unique aspect of the Indian democracy is that it is built on four pillars. The Office of the President, the Head of the State, is elected through an electoral college. The legislature consists of elected representatives at the national and regional level. In addition, there is an Upper House whose representatives are elected by the elected representatives. The second pillar is the executive formed from an elected set of legislators at the Central and State level. The third pillar is an independent multi-level judiciary ranging from the Supreme Court that evaluates Constitutional issues and laws passed by the legislature to the local Civil Court and consumer courts. The fourth pillar is the so-called fourth estate that consists of a free press, civil society, and non-government organisations.
Unlike in most other countries, modern Indian democracy started with universal franchise. Irrespective of gender, race, class, or education, every Indian had the right to vote. France allowed women to vote a hundred years of democracy. Black voters in the USA were not allowed to vote freely till 1966. Switzerland allowed women to vote only in 1971. UK allowed universal franchise only in 1948.









Elections in India are regular, free, and fair and managed independently by the ECI. Voters anonymously declared their choice of candidates through electronic voting machines. Apart from the candidates representing a political party or as an independent, the voters are also provided a None of the Above (NOTA) option. Electoral rolls are based on electoral cards issued by the ECI where an applicant has to provide unassailable proof that he or she is a citizen of India. During elections, political parties have representatives who act as observers and overseers to ensure that there is no electoral roll tampering, ballot stuffing, or booth capturing by unscrupulous elements.
While the President is more of a ceremonial position, it is also one who holds the whole country together. The President is advised by the executive on setting the goals for the nation, accepting laws enacted in the Parliament, enforce laws on the Central and State governments, and also brings order to the country as and when required. The President also has the right to return an enacted law back to the Parliament for reconsideration.
The Federal Executive consists of a Prime Minister with a Council of Ministers who are all elected from either house. The Bureaucracy reports into the executive to implement the legislated laws and fulfil goals expounded by the President. Key bodies such as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Central Vigilance Commission, Election Commission, etc. act as free-standing entities funded and staffed by the executive but not answerable to them.
The Judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice of Supreme Court (SC) is the topmost jurist of the country. He or she leads a collegium of jurists who select the judicial personae at different levels. Unlike in most other countries, the SC has the right to review laws to test whether they break the tenets of the Constitution. The collegium system itself was a creation of the judiciary through a couple of judgements in the early 1990s. Many in the other three facets of the democracy believe that this was an autogolpe by the judiciary. No other country allows its judiciary to choose its own members. Recently, there have been calls for an Indian Judicial Service, akin to the Indian Administrative Service, where highly trained and intelligent individuals are inducted into the judiciary. A Judicial Accountability Act in 2014 sought to create a larger committee including the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition along with the Chief Justice to select people to the judiciary—this Act has been rejected by the judiciary.
India has a free press, very active civil society groups, and non-government organisations who put various governments on the mat for new laws, regulations, and processes. Even though various western ranking agencies rate India low on free speech and freedom to dissent, these constituents have almost unbridled power to say what they want to say on printed, digital, and social media almost to a fault. In some cases, just hundreds of people can hold up the entire nation of 1.4 billion people for months on end because they disagree with some laws that have gone through Parliament sub-committees, legislative discussions, Presidential scrutiny, and even judicial scrutiny. Press reports have caused governments to fall, ministers to resign, and also caused serving officers to go to jail.
The Indian democracy is not without faults some of them are architectural and some evolutionary. Firstly, the Indian democracy follows a first-to-the-winning-post model where a candidate who wins the most votes even though the majority of the votes were against him, is declared the winner. Secondly, while people are supposed to vote for the candidate based on her qualifications, voters really vote for a party and its leader regardless of the candidate’s qualification; in fact, most voters do not even know their candidate’s name. Thirdly, the democracy in the last 30 years have been driven by caste, race, and religion not by issues that need addressing. Hence, voters have been trained to elect someone like them instead of the best candidate for their cause. Fourthly, since there are so many elections organised, every year is an election year and those elected earlier have very little time to actually do some serious work; instead, they spend so much time on election campaigns updating people on what they have achieved so far. Fifthly, blatantly buying voters with money has been enhanced by promising free end products like television, computers, washing machines, etc in party election manifestos making bribing through promises of freebies of voters legal.






The Indian democracy is not without faults some of them are architectural and some evolutionary. Firstly, the Indian democracy follows a first-to-the-winning-post model where a candidate who wins the most votes even though the majority of the votes were against him, is declared the winner. Secondly, while people are supposed to vote for the candidate based on her qualifications, voters really vote for a party and its leader regardless of the candidate’s qualification; in fact, most voters do not even know their candidate’s name. Thirdly, the democracy in the last 30 years have been driven by caste, race, and religion not by issues that need addressing. Hence, voters have been trained to elect someone like them instead of the best candidate for their cause. Fourthly, since there are so many elections organised, every year is an election year and those elected earlier have very little time to actually do some serious work; instead, they spend so much time on election campaigns updating people on what they have achieved so far. Fifthly, blatantly buying voters with money has been enhanced by promising free end products like television, computers, washing machines, etc in party election manifestos making bribing through promises of freebies of voters legal.
Regardless of these faults, the Indian democracy continue to amaze other democracies for its capacity to absorb disagreement, chaos, and dissent. It continues to flummox totalitarian countries on how such a diverse country could continue to function democratically.
About
Agriculture contributes upto 51% employment and 15% of the Gross Domestic Product. India has the largest are under cultivation and produces the second largest quantum of produce exporting upto USD 38B to 120 countries.
Related Articles
Government Sites
Institutes
- Indian Council of Agriculture Research
- Indian Agricultural Research Institute
- Institute of Agricultural Engineering
- Plantation Crops Research Institute
- Indian Institute of Soil Science
- Institute of Vegetable Research
- Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research
- Directorate of Mushroom Research
- Indian Institute of Horticultural Research