Another week has gone by, and the impression has been gaining ground within the public that several of the Honourable Members of Parliament prefer to speak outside the House rather than in the august precincts of the two chambers. The two chambers of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, are at the centre of the edifice of parliamentary democracy. By far the most powerful post in India, and increasingly becoming among the most powerful in the world, is that of Prime Minister, and the individual chosen for this honour is done so by the Lok Sabha, the Lower House of Parliament. To this day, several individuals of exceptional talent serve as Members of Parliament, and what the people of India expect from them is a scintillating fare of point and counterpoint, and ideally a situation in which a broad consensus gets reached on beneficial policies. Honourable Members need to ask themselves if such an expectation by citizens of India is being met by them or not. In a country where many follow the example of their elders, and in a way, MPs serve as the Elders of the nation, no matter what their individual ages may be, the example set by Honourable Members will have far-reaching repercussions on the rest of society. History cannot be altered by histrionics. Much of the attention of Honourable Members during the week was on Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, who overcame impossible odds to emerge among the foremost jurists and political leaders of post-1947 India. How Dr Ambedkar was treated by some of his political peers is a matter of public record. It was no secret that some Congress leaders disliked him, a feeling that in several cases was mutual. Seen from the perspective of the present, it is clear that some of the most important political leaders of that period erred in their dismissal of the qualities of Dr Ambedkar. It’s far better for the present generation to acknowledge such facts, rather than seek to dismiss them as motivated propaganda. Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen in Parliament need to keep in mind that being public figures, they constantly remain in the public eye. They need to ask themselves what they wish their children or friends to be like, and appreciate that being part of the centre of the machinery of democracy, they need to set an example for the rest of the population that is worthy of emulation. It is to be hoped that in future, Honourable Members of Parliament will function as exemplars of integrity and commitment to the welfare of the people of our country.
Karl Marx believed that human beings could strip themselves of impulses that are commonplace, such as the urge to benefit, if need be at the expense of others. In “Das Kapital”, Marx presented a schema that would work only were those entrusted with responsibilities to abjure notions of self and focus instead on the common good. In the main, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of post-1947 India, had the same confidence in the ability of individuals to transcend self in favour of nation. He increased the responsibilities allocated to officials while drastically reducing salaries from what had been paid by the British in their time. The consequence was that corruption multiplied, at the public cost. In a system, rules need to be uniformly applied, such that there is predictability about the way they are applied, and indeed about the rules themselves. Frequent changes in rules and regulations created a perception of unpredictability, which in turn served to damp down the appetite for investment in India. It did not help that the private sector was regarded as secondary to the state-owned sector. It did not help that in 1969 a decision was taken by the government of the day, seemingly on the spot, to take over the larger private banks from their shareholders and convert them into public sector enterprises. It has been claimed that as a consequence, lending to the weaker sections of society and to small and medium enterprises grew. Instead, what was witnessed was a torrent of depositor money into state-owner enterprises that were racking up huge losses. Looking at the way state enterprises were taking mammoth loans that they could never repay, unscrupulous private entities began doing the same, taking loans to fund projects that never got off the ground. Human propensities must be recognized. In the Soviet Union, it was the small privately tilled land which was much more productive than the vast amounts of land that were collectivised, thereby losing the private incentive. In India, small and medium enterprises are what support employment, and what is needed is incentives to ensure greater use of manpower rather than simply exchange human labour for machinery. Both are needed, and the human factor should be given attention. India under Prime Minister Modi is working to ensure that the economy of the country becomes the third largest by 2029, and Honourable Members need to ensure that such an objective is fulfilled. Each Member of Parliament holds a special position in the pantheon of democracy, and that position needs to be used to further public good rather than disruption.