All concerned citizens of this country should support the move by eminent people like Azim Premji, who is not merely an industrialist but a great philanthropist as well, and others to bring good governance to the top of the agenda of the country (IE,19/1/11). Up to now good governance was the cry of the middle class. The corruption that has overwhelmed the country has made even the elite to join the fight as it affects India's growth potential too.
The eminent people are in favour of strengthening the office of Lokayuktas as well as independent investigating agencies and the law enforcing bodies. This has been the plea of many NGOs over the years. Even the Supreme Court had asked the government to reform police functioning. The police require functional autonomy. We have seen how the CVC has been appointed – not with the concurrence of the leader of the opposition but by a majority constituted by the PM and HM. CBI's changing stance on some of the politicians accused of accumulation of wealth beyond their known sources of income again shows how its functioning is being compromised. All these positions have to be filled up with the concurrence of the leader of the opposition to carry conviction of impartiality. They all should be monitored by a committee of the Loka Sabha.
To ensure good governance there has to be transparency and accountability in the functioning of the state. There has to be democracy even in the functioning of the political parties – internal democracy. Funding of political parties should be transparent and accountable. The eminent people should present a paper on good governance and mobilize public opinion to ensure that it is adopted by all the political parties.
January 21,2011.
*******
