India at 75: Much of India's institutional arrangement is for show only

Even after 75 years, India remains politically feudal and colonial bureaucratically

This is the last in a six-part series in the run-up to the 75th Independence Day on August 15, 2022. It explores how institutions—Constitution, Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, Economic—have worked since independence.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Countries are judged by, amongst other things, how honestly they allow the people to choose their representatives in the legislatures and how well they hold their governments and their employees to account. Those who drafted the Indian constitution did make the necessary institutional arrangements. Indeed, India is not lacking in such constitutional and statutory arrangements. Here we discuss three such institutions.

But unfortunately, these institutions have not been very effective. Of course, ineffectiveness has varied with the institution and over time. But overall, it is probably fair to say that, like the economic institutions, they, too, have been very solicitous of the needs of the government in power, perhaps excessively so. Their independence has thus been abridged by themselves.

For example, the Election Commission of India (EC) is charged with the conduct of free and fair elections to ensure which parliament has enacted the Peoples Representation Act. That's the EC's playbook. It's not possible to capture all the deviations from it here but suffice it to say that despite all the complaints, the EC has managed to conduct elections that are by and large free and fair. This is a huge achievement in a country where the number of voters has increased continuously, as has the number of elections.

But it has failed to instil into political parties the need to stop playing Robin Hood. They have all tended to use taxpayer money for political benefit. This is why we are witnessing the debate over 'freebies' now, with even the Supreme Court getting entangled in it.

True, the EC has a "model code of conduct" — it should have been called code for model conduct — which seeks to ensure that governments don't use their power to gain an unfair edge in the election. But the code comes into effect only after an election has been announced. Before that, as we have seen in election after election, it is a free-for-all. No political party has resisted the temptation to bribe the voter with taxpayers' money under the guise of "welfare spending". And this has been going on since 1983.

As for the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), which is constituted under Article 146 of the Constitution, its performance has been irrelevant to outcomes. It only made a difference when it audited an auction of the 2G spectrum in 2008. Otherwise, its diligence in auditing a government's spending — and spending by other public bodies — has failed to alter behaviour. In short, no one cares about its audit reports. They are noted and filed. Their absence will not be felt.

Then there is the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). It was set up in 1964 but given the status of a statutory body. Its job is to ensure that functionaries of the central government don't indulge in corruption. But the senior bureaucracy has ensured that it remains a toothless body. Its presence has made little or no difference to government corruption because it has only recommendatory powers. Its resources are also limited. It has just 300 members. Most importantly, it cannot direct the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take up a case if it involves an officer above the joint secretary level. There are many other ways in which it is a supernumerary body.

The general pattern that emerges is that although India does not lack agencies to ensure good governance, they are mostly cosmetic in nature because, just as it was when the British ruled India, the bureaucracy is the real repository of all power. It protects itself fiercely in every manner possible. This includes negating all other agencies that exist to ensure good governance.

It is, therefore, fair to conclude this series by saying that even after 75 years, politically, India remains feudal, and bureaucratically it remains colonial. All the good intentions exhibited by different agencies and leaders have been unable to alter both attitudes and practice. Much of India's institutional arrangement is for show only. The only consolation the country has is that things are not worse.