Cultivating conscience

On April 14, Tamil New Year Day, I was invited by a team of school students from all over Tamil Nadu, organised by a social movement organisation, to participate in a program to discuss the responsibilities of conscious and responsible citizens as voters. They were brought to Chennai by the social movement organisation to build their skills and capacity in an IT company. On the sidelines of the training program, the students wanted to have that discussion for three hours to draw the attention of the public through social media. All the students were from public schools and not from wealthy families. Hence, I felt it was necessary to accept their request. The entire program was designed and conducted by the students themselves. They asked me to listen to their presentations and make observations on their arguments at the end. I agreed to do so. The event was presided over by their leader, a girl studying in the twelfth standard. Among the participants, thirteen students had volunteered to speak in the program. They appointed a coordinator to regulate the meeting. What they lamented in the discussion is being presented here:

Even after seventy-five years of electoral experience, people are not conscious of the value of their franchise and hence cast their votes based on petty considerations like caste, religion, region, and material resources. Unless proper conscientisation is done on the role of citizens in fulfilling their electoral responsibilities, we cannot save democracy. Further, the franchise has been made a tradable commodity by both political parties and voters, which constitutes a punishable offense by law. Yet, neither group bothers to obey the law or uphold democratic values. Violations have now become a cultural norm, and this issue needs to be addressed seriously by well-meaning citizens of this country. To tackle this issue, efforts must be taken at different levels, primarily to educate people on the implications of practicing democratic values and virtues in everyday life. Today, our democracy is confined to elections alone. This educational process should be integrated into school and college curricula and promoted through Gram Sabhas, Ward Sabhas, and area sabhas of rural and urban local bodies respectively.

Political parties release manifestos during elections, which are solemn promises to voters. Many of these promises are impossible to implement, even if the party making them comes to power. The political parties know this, yet to lure votes, they make such promises. This is almost a form of cheating. It has been observed in the past that both national and regional parties make many promises during elections. After coming to power, they argue that the financial conditions of the government are not viable to fulfill these promises. This kind of cheating of the public has to be curbed, and the Election Commission of India must take some remedial measures. Some of the promises involve dole-giving. People do not want doles but basic facilities to lead a decent human life.

Ignorance and fear of the public are the capital for political parties to carry out their politics. India was freed from the colonial yoke through the freedom struggle, but people, particularly the poor and the marginalised, are not freed from the fear of the government and the dominant political parties. Against this background, the whole politics is constructed. Hence, the electoral process has been manipulated and managed by the dominant parties. Democracy needs truth, maturity, civility, decency, healthy debate, and discourse, which are absent in the electioneering process today. Who will change this culture is the big question. It must be done by the voters as responsible citizens, not as beneficiaries of the government. To date, the psychology created among the poor and marginalised is that the government is a donor, and the poor are the beneficiaries. Since they are at the receiving end, they hesitate to question and argue with the government.

The above psychology of the poor and marginalised can be changed through a prolonged awareness and sensitisation program to be conducted over about five years on the values of democracy and the responsibilities of citizens. Finally, the student leader narrated her dream of democracy, which she wants to see in India. Following their presentations, I was asked to make my observations. I made a few remarks and wrapped up the meeting. Indian democracy was born in turmoil and stabilised only in electoral democracy because of the party politics perpetuated in India. The political parties are not able to democratise themselves and the democratic institutions created by the Constitution of India. The society is not democratised, and as a result, it becomes a stunted democracy.

Political parties have neither reformed themselves nor been regulated through laws; hence, they behave as authoritarian institutions. They are not above the Constitution and the rule of law. A new major initiative must be taken to prepare society to influence the political parties. People must be educated on the values of democracy, and this should be done by a group of conscientised public intellectuals who are committed to democracy. After my concluding remarks, they appealed to the voters to vote for clean candidates without any criminal records and without expecting any reward for exercising their vote. They further committed to being part of activities promoting new education for democracy. The uniqueness of the program is that it was entirely organised and managed by the students themselves.

The writer is a former Professor and Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, Gandhigram Rural Institute. Views expressed are personal