Civil society is looking forward with hope and some apprehension at the revival of the National Advisory Council under the chairmanship of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. NAC under Sonia Gandhi is being welcomed especially because it offers a space for dialogue between Government and civil society though it is also felt that it could be a political brand building exercise for her party .
Says farm activist Vijay Jaywantia: How does it matter if Sonia Gandhi's dissent from the Government on some issues helps her image so long as it helps the people. He cites examples like BT brinjal and is hopeful that NAC may be a good forum to take up a lot of issues which are otherwise not in the radius of the policy makers. He has a farmers income policy, besides strategies to push pulse and oil seed production on his wish list for the NAC.
Former NAC member NC Saxena welcomes the NAC and says that food security and hunger ought to be priority for it in its new avatar.
The NAC’s second coming would be handicapped however by the absence of a common minimum programme. Aruna Roy former NAC member speaking to Business Standard recently underlined this saying a written document of promises similar to CMP is a must as it would provide a measure of accountability to the NAC.
The NAC was formed in 2004 under the previous UPA Government and basically tried to follow up on the matters mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme and ended up with two significant legislations viz the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Right to Information Act.
Roy says that the NAC provided the first official space for dialogue on key policy matters. “Whether it was the rehabilitation commission or RTI or NREGA, we had a series of discussions to which a wide spectrum of people were invited. That bureaucrats also attended these meetings added to the importance of the discussions,” Roy says.
NAC lost its clout after Gandhi stepped down in 2006 after the controversy over office of profit. Two of the members Roy and Jean Dreze stepped down even before that citing differences.
Mira Shiva public health activist is optimistic about the NAC but feels that people should not burden it with too much expectation. Let others in the Government also be expected to do something, she says.
She is hoping that the NAC would look into ways to prevent early deaths caused by hunger and ill health.
Deep Joshi Magsaysay winner and founder of NGO Pradaan says: NAC is a well meaning thing and it may lead to good things, who knows! But on a more serious note he says that he would expect NAC to look at better implementation of some existing programmes like NREGP, education, and health.
K S Gopal activist and member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council welcomes the formation of the NAC as it offers some kind of advocacy with the Government. NAC should hold consultations outside and tap expertise in various fields, he says.
