Contrary to the claims made by the protagonists of the new economic order under Globalisation, democratic space has indeed shrunk. In a day long seminar on `Shrinking Democracy’ that was held at Vasudev Tripathi Hall, Shahpur, Ahmedabad on 20-12-2009 a large number of social activists, trade union leaders, industrial workers, and slum dwellers met to discuss the issue. Welcoming the participants, Dr. Mukul Sinha, Chairman of the New Socialist Movement introduced the subject and said that in the present era of globalization the voice of the common man was being throttled and democratic space was shrinking in all the spheres, be it the judiciary, legislature or executive.
Speaking on the occasion, former Chief Minister Shri Suresh Mehta was very critical about the functioning of the Gujarat Government in conducting the legislative and other businesses. He lamented that whatever little space the MLAs had in the existing democracy was also vanishing. He indicated that the assembly met only once in six months for two days. One day was reserved for condolence and obituary. The second day was reserved for shoutings and walkouts! MLAs have no say in the governance now. MLAs, media, and voters are all managed.
Speaking on the manner in which the democratic procedures to unravel corruption was being sabotaged, Shri Mehta spoke about a scam in the SUJALAM-SUFALAM SCHEME. While scrutinizing the accounts of a particular department in the above scheme, the CAG had noticed certain discrepancies and sought an explanation from the government, The government first initiated an inquiry through an IAS Officer, which, prima-facie, found that there were irregularities. However, for carrying out further enquiries, the government appointed another Committee which also came to same conclusion. Till date neither the report of the CAG nor the enquiry report has been tabled in the assembly! He also pointed out that in vibrant Gujarat, within a short span of three years, the number of people below poverty line has from risen from 78,000 to two lacs.
Coming down heavily on the demolition of hutments in big cities and urban areas, Shri Mahesh Bhatt said that though the right to shelter has been recognized as a fundamental right, it has still remained a dream for urban poor. The very object of enacting the Urban Land Ceiling Act was for the equitable distribution of surplus land so as to provide residential accommodation to the urban poor. Now this piece of welfare legislation has been repealed to make way for shopping malls. Moreover, section 40-J of the Town Planning Act provides for mandatory reservation of 10% land for housing the urban poor. However, the real question still remains – What has happened to the 10% land reserved for housing the urban poor?
Shri Amrish Patel, the General Secretary of GFTU, spoke against the creation of Special Economic Zones and the denial of labor laws within SEZs. Dr. Mukul Sinha spoke about the exploitation of tribals by of the corporate houses in connivance with the government who grab their land and other resources like minerals below their land. He said that the entire issue of “fighting” the Maoists was related to suppression of the tribal resistance. A common view emerging from the day long seminar was that the judiciary had failed to uphold its historical task of being the watchdog of democratic values and it was left to the people to rise for protecting their democratic rights.
No comments:
Post a Comment