Emphasising the importance of decentralisation and good governance, Jayaprakash Narayan, founder and president of Lok Satta Party, said it was a means of reaching out to the grassroots.
“India has put up with an inherent prejudice against localisation of power,” he said.
Speaking on ‘Governance and politics - need for a new paradigm shift’, at the quarterly lecture series organised by the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) on Wednesday, Dr. Narayan said: “The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments were gigantic frauds that created underpowered local governments. However, Kerala has been a successful model of social engineering in the country by giving power to local institutions, while the rest of the country shied away from it.”
He also commended the State’s achievements in human development.
Dr. Narayan, formerly a physician and bureaucrat, was critical of the asymmetry of power between ordinary citizens and those in power.
Calling for a genuine rule of law and an efficient system of accountability to further the country’s development, he said: “We are still a poor country in large measure. Nearly 90% of Indian citizens are economically weaker and less stable.”
Dr. Narayan’s address also dealt with the erosion of the electoral system in the country. “There should be an effort to bring the best and brightest into politics to change the status quo,” he observed.
CPPR chairman D. Dhanuraj presided over the function.
Published - November 23, 2017 01:12 am IST
