Road to 70: Then & now

LEGISLATIVE

Undeniable rise of fractious politics

Data suggests the average age of Members of Parliament has been increasing over the years. This is not the only change that has come about in 70 years. The positions of Speaker of the Lok Sabha and chairman of the Rajya Sabha have undergone profound changes - while their powers in the statute books remain the same, their political clout has increased. The quality of debates has tended to be patchy: anecdotal evidence suggests that despite the pervasiveness of social media, MPs are not as internationalist as they used to be in the 1960s (at the height of the war with China, for instance) or the 1980s (during the Gulf war). A worrying aspect that concerns all Indians is the undeniable rise of fractious politics and the trend of disrupting the House as a parliamentary tactic. Although India has shrugged off colonial bondage, 70 years on, Parliament continues to cling on to privileges of MPs: criticism of their conduct can, in theory, get you hauled up.

EXECUTIVE

Pressure on bureaucracy has been growing

In 2012, Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy described India as a "bureaucratic nightmare" among the 12 Asian countries it covered. It cited inertia and corruption as some of the factors ailing Indian bureaucracy. This is true but only partly. It was the bureaucracy that made sure the division of Pakistan in 1971 did not lead to a refugee crisis for India; it is the bureaucracy that managed the aftermath of the tsunami. But, it also cannot be denied that pressures on the bureaucracy - especially political interference - have been growing. When an Indian Police Service officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre committed suicide some years ago, he cited political pressure on him to extort money as one of the reasons for his extreme step. More bureaucrats have been booked on corruption charges in the past 10 years than ever before. On the other hand, India's bureaucracy has held its own when faced with complexity in decision-making.

JUDICIARY

PIL turns a nightmare for the rulers

Although the Constitution devotes only 24 articles to the Judiciary out of 400, the courts' power has grown like a banyan tree and planted roots in every field of political life, providing shelter to the common people. Courts have brought down central and state governments, reinstalled some of them, and sent Cabinet ministers to jail when the telecom spectrum scam and coal swindle broke out. Judges have not only interpreted laws but drafted these, as in the Vishaka judgement relating to harassment of women at the workplace. They have also suffered enormously for taking on powerful politicians. Judges also had their low points during the Emergency, when citizens had no right to life and liberty. But, soon they recouped and as if to atone for their acknowledged sins, they competed in expanding the scope of fundamental rights and introduced public interest litigation. Now, the fear is that courts' doors have been opened too wide and public interest litigation has become a nightmare for the rulers.

MEDIA

From only DoorDarshan to news on the go

Satellite television channels in the mid-90s began the biggest transition in Indian media. From only Doordarshan (the public broadcaster of the country), Indians were suddenly exposed to a range of private channels, which meant 24X7 news, much beyond what the government wanted us to watch, and TV shows one had only heard of till then, from both foreign and Indian broadcasters as well as Indian. The number of channels has grown to 886 at the last count, of which 487 are entertainment-focused. But, there's a growing concern over lack of original programming and loud studio discussions replacing traditional news coverage. Despite the large number of TV channels, newspaper readership has continued to grow, especially driven by the vernacular press. However, prominence of online media in the past couple of years is giving competition to both newspapers and TV channels. Social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook, too, have a significant role to play in the media space.