Lok Satta Party president and Kukatpally MLA Jayaprakash Narayan on Thursday said that strong curbs on election expenditure, delegation of financial powers for local self-governance and greater participation of general public in the democratic process would solve most of the problems faced by the nation.
“The country is caught in a vicious circle of political corruption, bureaucratic red-tape, and populist policies for which there are effective solutions. A lot depends on the attitude of people, at least 50 per cent of whom are said to be bribed by political parties for garnering votes. This should change while the entire gamut of issues is dealt through a comprehensive reformist agenda,” he said.
For instance, keeping at least a tenth of the funds required for development of a municipal ward at the disposal of local governments and spending them under the watchful eyes of an ombudsman would yield excellent results in the context of adverse impact of ‘centralisation of political and economic power’. Addressing a round-table on ‘Surajya udyamam’ in Guntur, Mr. Narayan said there was no reason for the present generation to be lost in a sense of despair as several good things have happened amidst all the ills that have been plaguing the country for many decades.
It would be unfair to tar all politicians in the country with the same brush of corruption as there were still a large number of good ones truly serving the nation while maintaining probity in public life.
The system of elections has to be streamlined with proper checks and balances for having the deserving men and women in legislative bodies. Besides, populist policies have to be kept in their confines as they have far-reaching implications.
Fractured polity
The fractured polity at the national level has its impact on development as regional satraps took more of the centre-stage. “This is evident from the performance of Congress and BJP in successive elections and they are not in a position to survive without the support of smaller parties which are wielding enormous clout in the States.”
MLC K.S. Lakshman Rao, former Minister Makineni Peda Rathaiah, BJP district president Krupa Rao, and city president Jupudi Ranga Raju, industrialist Kallam Haranadha Reddy, CPI(M) district secretary D. Rama Devi and others were present.
