Civil Services Bill, 2009

Article from TOI

Pros:

• Will take out such moves that are currently being seen in UP. CM wont be able to transfer officials at will.
• Will involve Opposition in such appointments. I have always believed that appointments of posts such as EC, CBI Chief, Supreme Court Judges (they are still decided by a panel) and of posts like Auditor General should be done with consensus. I know for consensus it may be that there is no appointment if Opposition plays a destructive role but it will also ensure that these bodies remain independent. It could be done with say 75% majority with no party allowing 'whip' in such cases. So that even honest members in destructive parties can help in breaking a deadlock. And I believe that more than 75% of our MP's are good enough. Its another matter that just the bad ones keep showing their faces in public.
• Better criteria for appointment for top posts.

Cons:

• Directly conflicts with the federal structure of India. Centre having say in administrative tasks of states.
  
• Administration is there to assist the CM in its working. With CM bound by these rules in administrative postings it may not be able to perform to its full potential.

What can be done is:

• Newly elected government should have right of transferring any official without any rules.
  
• Central body should not be too much involved in the process. And in any case it should not have the final say. This is to ensure that centre does not take over the state.
  

Fixed term of Government

This is regarding the suggestion made by L K Advani that a government should have a 'fixed tenure' of 5 years and polls should be simultaneously held every 5 years in months of February.

Now the benefits are very obvious:

• Huge (I really mean huge) decrease in poll expenditure (both of EC and political parties)
• Better voting percentage (February weather along with voting once every 5 years will surely move many more voters out of their homes than now)

Although the benefits may be counted as 2, both of them will have a large scale effect on how government works. First of all model code of conduct days which very much limit governments options will be less. Secondly government will be able to focus more on managing the country instead of campaigning every now and then.

But here comes the problem. How do we really implement it?
Advani said that if a party loses majority then a next government should take over immediately. But what if (as is usually the case) no party has majority? It will lead to hell lot of horse trading with too much scope for corruption. Not a good option.
Also its but obvious that a minority government can hardly work.

Also he said that our government system was following that of Britain and India should adapt the system to its needs. Very well said but it would have been much better if he would have specified atleast some adaptations to atleast initiate a debate. Also I dont thing there is anything wrong with the system, Its just that parties are not good enough to get a majority.

One suggestion that I even gave before and that still can be done is:

• Completely de-link the role of MP with development of the constituency. MP should only be there to raise issues of national importance. Development should only be linked with the State government.
  

I know there can be several arguments against it (I can myself think of many) but still I fell this is one way that can help in improving the current scenario. I feel that all the things that affect day to day life of public should be subject of state. Also more tax should be levied by the state government and not by the central government.

I know that this can have many negative effects but it is one direction debate can be initiated in.

Till then am happy with the current system :)

Few Questions!

There are some questions that I would like to ask major political parties:

Congress:

• Regarding the recent statement by our PM than he will revive economy in 100 days; What steps will he take to do so? Also why were they not taken 100 days before the elections?
• What will be the position of Rahul Gandhi?
  
• Will Tytler come back in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha?
• When will the NSG hubs be active in various parts of the country? What happened to all the equipment that was promised after Mumbai attacks?
• Will IIT's and IIM's just become state institutes considering the fact that they are being opened up in each and every state?
• What steps are being taken by the government for the black money stored in Swiss banks? According to PC some steps were being taken. When will they give results?

BJP:

• How many more Godhras and Babri will happen in 5 years?
• When will India attack Pakistan as being said during campaigning? Will it be another cost-intensive exercise as the one that happened after Parliament attack? What were the advantages of that?
• Do you really plan to build Ram mandir or is it better for your future electoral prospects that it is not build? If you would like to build it then what steps did you take during 5 years of NDA rule?
• Why should a party be given National mandate when it is not even present in major South Indian states?
• How do you plan to improve economy? In five years of opposition there were only walkout's. Never was a single concrete step given to the government that could have helped the country. Will walkout really solve India problems?
• If NDA loses this time then what will be the fate of L K Advani?

Left:

• Will you allow India to do any trade with USA? Or should it be just China?
• Whom did you support during 1961 war?
• Will Arunachal Pradesh still be with India after 5 years of Left rule?
• Will I be able to 'earn' my own money and 'own' lands after 5 years of rule?
• What will happen to someone who echoes his own personal views that are not supported by Left? Will he become an outcast like Somnath Chatterjee?
• Are you pro-SEZ or anti-SEZ?

SP & BSP:

• Will every park be either called Lohia park or Ambedkar park?
• Will police force be disbanded to allow your goons to function easily or will it become part of your gang?
• Currently it is said 40 paisa of every Rupee spent reaches the poor. In your regime what will that amount be?

For all of them:

• When will criminals be in jail?
• When will corruption end?
• When will the government really work of sarva-hitaye?
• When will MP's really debate in parliament? And not just with their bodies but with their minds?
• Will ever a opposition play a constructive role? Or is opposition meant for staging walkouts only?

There may be countless more questions but I can only think of these currently.