Urgent Need of Institutional Reforms In India.

Taking the contemporary situation of the country in mind, what do you think, does India require any kind of institutional reform? Indian Constitution has provided us with solid institutional framework, then why do you think the institutional mechanism in our country is failing? The arbitrary influence of government in the independent institutions like Election Commission, Enforcement Directorate, etc. has increased and they are being used as political tool. The Independence of these bodies is cornerstone of democratic governance. The activities on the part of government in recent past such as, introduction of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 which has removed the Chief Justice of India from selection panel, replacing him with a Union Cabinet Minister, this act was a shift that gives the executive 2:1 majority in the appointments. Bodies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), while not strictly constitutional bodies (they are statutory bodies), are vital to the constitutional machinery, selective prosecution by these bodies is also disputed question. The Right to Information (Amendment) act, 2019 gave the central government, power to set the salaries and tenure of information commissioners which were previously fixed by Law. This makes Information Commissioners, "employees" of government rather than independent adjudicators, reducing their ability to rule against government in transparency disputes. All such actions are leading the institutions in becoming a political tool, rather than allowing them to act independently, and fulfill their constitutional object of running this country on the principles of democratic governance. The recent controversies regarding the governors role are also crucial, governor being appointed on the advice of the central government, acts as an agent of the central government in the state to strengthen the federal ties and play a crucial role in the state-centre relations, but the influence of central government on the governor is biggest threat to states autonomy. The recent situation in Tamil Nadu where the governor has kept the bills pending for long time, and later withheld assent and returned them, the assembly re-passed the bills, after re-passage the governor reserved them for presidents consideration. The Hon’ble Supreme Court while deciding on this issue held that, governor cannot indefinitely withhold bills, once a bill is re-passed governor normally must give assent, reserving the bills for the President after reconsideration was invalid. The judiciary being an independent body could deliver the decision which subsided the misuse of the governors in opposition ruled states, that is the importance of independence of constitutional bodies in protecting the democratic structure of India. If these bodies are influenced and being used for ulterior motives of the Union Government, then there will be no democracy to be saved and no federalism to be protected. The country is also tackling with the simmering situation of religion and identity based politics, to deal with all this things there is an urgent need of institutional reforms.

The kind of institutional reforms that can save the country from this situation and help to keep itself as a democratic structure will be discussed in the next blog, so, stay tuned!!