1. India is an agricultural country.
2. Democracy is an industrial political system.
3. In 1947, our leaders made the disastrous mistake of imposing an industrial political system on an agricultural society.
4. Whatever problems we see in Indian democracy today – corruption, violence, casteism – are the result of this anomaly.
5. Our leaders opted for universal adult franchise in 1947. Instead they should have put two restrictions:
a) You can vote if you have completed primary education.
b) You can contest elections if you have completed a degree.
6. With these two modifications, Indian democracy would have been a success.
7. India is the world's largest democracy, yes. It is also the world's most corrupt, violent and casteist democracy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Franchise cannot be excluded based on education - else the educated would become elitist. Another example of education - how would primary school education make a difference in a person's voting ability... Also, the education elite are the ones who are corrupt and not the uneducated.. The uneducated mostly go about their daily lives.
I guess in 1947, literacy was 15%. Thats the number of people who could read & write. A less number would have completed primary education and far less would have a degree.
That requirement would mean running democracy with 10% of population.
Note: How many voters now, in India, who have completed primary education vote for corrupt, violent & casteist candidates? I guess most. So does education make it any better?
interesting take soma ...
Post a Comment