THE RISE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS

Anna Hazare’s Movement has gathered an unprecedented support from the oft lazy Middle class Indians. Their unrelented support throughout his fast has stirred many sociologists. Whether one agrees or not with the substance of Hazare’s Lokpal bill, we are undoubtedly witnessing a remarkable social movement. What is surprising that Why has India’s urban middle class become the social base of Hazare’s movement? And why has this class chosen the route of movement led by civil society, as opposed to electoral politics led by political parties?
India now has one third urban population, according to the 2011 census. This growing is financially powerful and carries disdain for the politicians. Politics, for it, is not about democracy and constitutionalism. It is about delivering governance – even if it means electing CEOs to run cities rather than mayors and politicos. Corruption and bribery are obstacles to its progress. This is why it is backing the Jan Lokpal Bill. It may not know anything about the Bill’s specifics, or the Draconian nature of the Hazare version of it. But it will back the Bill just because it promises to put the fear of Lokpal into netas and babus. This new middle class is reared in private sector post 1991. It encounters the state only when it buys property, applies for a driving license, birth or death certificate, pays income tax, wants a passport, drives a vehicle or has an accident. These arenas of public life are highly corrupt.
Anger, frustration and helplessness has for the first time driven the middle class to come to streets and protest against corruption and assert its citizenship right to get a cleaner Government. The ironic part is that it is fighting for a bill which will reduce corruption at higher level but won’t bring in much change at their level. Routine corruption is more likely to go down if the middle class re-engaging itself in politics. Indian democracy is rural centric. Village panchayats receive more attention than municipal governance. Decisions about the city are made not by elected municipalities, but by state and central governments, who are more concerned with the rural vote. The situation has now changed. India is more urban and more affluent than before. The urban middle class should use the new political movement to return to electoral politics and start fighting for electoral reforms and push criminals of out Parliaments. They must take up issues which directly affects them. Like Police, economic, political & educational reforms. I would not debate about the merits & demerits of the Janlokpal Bill, but one thing is certain; reliance on civil society alone will not fix India’s governance problems, urban or rural. An anti-corruption Lokpal can only be part of a larger political process; It will not be a magic wand. . If the middle class wants cleaner and better governance, it needs to step into the arena of politics and change the system by engaging themselves into it.

This movement has achieved one advantage. It has shaken the politicians out of their slumber. It has sent a huge message across the Parliament that the time has come when the elected representative start behaving responsibly, else matters will now be decided in Ramlila maidan.

THE PIED PIPER

The Pied Piper

The hysteria of winning the World Cup in cricket has shifted gears and turned into anger against the overflowing cup of corruption. Led by the veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare in his fast unto death for a tougher JanLok pal bill, the Jantar Mantar of New Delhi has become the new Tahrir square. Hazare has stirred the deep frustration and the buried desire of the common man to stand against unbearable and shameful corrupt system of our country. We are forced to pay for every service to which we are entitled free of cost as a law abiding and taxpaying citizen. The spontaneous and incredible support to Anna across the country and on the virtual world is the result of the fast running scammometer of this government. His fast-unto-death, demanding the passage of the JanLok pal Bill and inclusion of the civil society in its drafting has resulted after the complete loss of credibility in the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

The toothless draft of the Lokpal Bill prepared by the law ministry has many loopholes. According to the government’s draft, the Lokpal or the ombudsman can receive complaints only from Parliament. The activists are rightly demanding the Lokpal be allowed to receive complaints from the public directly. In a country, where public officers are not known to be exactly responsive to genuine complaints, keeping them outside the ambit of law is counterproductive. The government also wants to keep bureaucrats, the root cause of corruption, outside the purview of the Bill. Both these provisions show the intent of the government clearly: pass the law but make it toothless. India undoubtedly needs an Ombudsman of the kind Anna is demanding. We have seen the efficient and excellent working of the CBI in 2G scam has resulted form its powers from the court. If freedom from the governmental control can make CBI strong, imagine what results a strong ombudsman can give in handling corruption.

While there can be no second opinion in endorsing Mr. Hazare's crusade, forcing the government to take a stand on the Jan Lokpal Bill without a full-scale debate and discussion on it is fraught with danger. Constant friction between the government and civil society will not yield any significant result. A solution should be worked out by enacting a comprehensive bill that borrows the best from the government and civil society. There are apprehensions in the government that by involving the civil society in the drafting of this bill will abdicate its absolute authority, and yielding to such pressure will strike at the roots of the Constitution. According to the some members of the government, Anna is derailing and hijacking the democratic process. He is being accused of undermining the importance of the constitutional representatives and law making authorities while trying to do good for the nation. These allegations show that the government is clearly on the defensive. Now that the majority of the demands of Anna Hazare, are being met by the government, it is being celebrated as the first winning shot against corruption. What remains to be seen is how will the merging of the roles of investigator, judge and prosecutor within one office eradicate corruption from Government offices. Before celebrating this win as a triumph of democracy let us hope that the joint committee members will rub their heads and brains together and come up with a Lokpal bill which will accommodate the demands of the ‘Jan’ and conforms to democratic norms as well.