The essence of democratic governance is Rule of law. Delayed
justice, poor appreciation of evidence, and incapacity to apply constitutional
and legal principles to real life situations play havoc with people’s lives.
Failure of justice extracts a heavy toll from the society and economy. If we
examine the pendency of cases in courts, we come across two factors. First,
certain judges handle a much larger case load and yet dispose of cases swiftly
and fairly. Others take interminably tang, and yet fail to render justice. The
quality of justice administered depends on the quality of those who administer
it. The judiciary is completely independent and invulnerable to the vagaries of
politics and partisan pulls. The High Court has complete control over the
conduct and functioning of subordinate courts. And there are established
procedures for elevation to High Court and Supreme Court. Therefore, once
recruitment practices are sound, there are incentives for better performance and
effective monitoring at least until a judge is elevated to the High Court.
THE CENTRE is contemplating creation of an all India judicial
service (AIJS) on the pattern of the All India Civil Services. In its 15th
report, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice has recommended
its creation and directed the Law Ministry to take immediate steps for setting
up such a service. As of now, while most government departments have all India
service recruits, selected after an all India competitive examination conducted
by the Union Public Service Commission every year, the judiciary is the only
set-up that does not have an all India selection process. Incidentally, the
proposal for having an AIJS is not new anddraws its support from the reports of
the first, eighth and 11th law commissions. Even the Supreme Court is not averse
to the idea. For, in two of its judgments in 1991 and 1993, it had recommended
setting up of an all India judicial service. Article 312 of the Constitution
also provides for a national level judicial service. In spite of all this, the
proposal did not get far in the process of concretization and has been hanging
fire for over four decades now.
The Planning Commission has announced an average GDP growth
target of 8.2% for the Twelfth Five Year Plan period which runs from 2012/13 to
2016/17. While it is not as high as the 9% envisioned over a year back, it has
not been dragged down to the 7% levels which some allude to as the ‘new
potential’ of the economy. With the 8.2% target, the Commission seems to strike
a balance between the current and the aspirational. In this paper, we
disaggregate the 8.2% growth target into what could be achieved through a
business-as-usual approach and what would need added effort. We outline a simple
Cobb Douglas production function model which decodes India’s growth over the
last two decades and helps us outline alternate paths to 8.2% as we gaze into
the future. We discuss a variety of ‘extreme’ paths of growth which depend
heavily on one particular input at a time. We then go on to outline a more
plausible and balanced path, and discuss the key challenges surrounding it. We
conclude that 8.2% growth will neither come automatically nor easily, but what
needs to be set right
to achieve it over the next five years is clearly known.
National Defence Academy & Naval
Academy Exam (I), 2013 | Advt. No.03/2013-NDA-I
Candidates aspiring to join in Indian Defence Forces are informed a Good News
that UPSC which is a Government body Releases Notification for admissions to
Army,Navy and Air forces and 10+2 Cadet entry scheme of Indian Naval Academy of
NDA for 2013 which the courses will be commencing from 2nd Jan 2014.
Democracy in Lincoln’s famous words is “Government of the
people, for the people, by the people’. The rudiments of democracy are wellknown.
It is a form of government wherein every individual has a say. Democracy has
come a long way since the classical times when Aristotle in his classification
categorized it as a -perverted form of government. Rousseau’s concept of General
Will which had entrusted sovereign power to the masses paved the way for the
French Revolution with its cry of liberty, equality and fraternity. It marked
the turning point for the rise of modern democracy -ultimate authority of
government is vested in the common people so that
public policy is made to conform to the will of the people and to serve the
interests of people today we have indirect democracy where government is
conducted by the representatives of the people, who are elected at regular
intervals. Have we ever given heed to the kind of democracy we have in India and
under what conditions it had been established? Well, let’s explore this. It is
impossible to define Indian democracy as liberal, participatory or deliberative,
because it is a blend all of these at the same time. It is not enough to only
examine the formal presence of democracy but checking how effective are the
institutions and procedures by relating them to the conditions that sustain them
and reproduce them is equally important. So let’s check and examine what
conditions were present when democratic values and procedures were adopted.
