T Thomas: Agenda for 'Generation Next'

Our young parliamentarians have a role to play in improving the standard of public life

There seems to be a convergence of political and economic philosophies across the world. The old ideas of class disparity and class struggle are no more relevant in the developed world, not even in the developing countries.

The world has also moved away from the leftist ideology of state ownership. Even in the former Soviet bloc, which was the home of communism, these philosophies are no more prevalent.

Over the past 20 years, China has embraced a market economy and private enterprise with greater vigour and enthusiasm than India. Indian communist parties are now like a rudderless relict.

For Indian voters, loyalties based on caste, religion, and language are paramount. It will probably take several generations and a much larger scale of urbanisation to meld populations closer together.

Even in cities, where people of diverse backgrounds have to live closely together, the loyalties of caste, religion, and language exert a significant influence.

For instance, in relatively cosmopolitan Bombay, one cannot imagine a Hindu winning an election in Mohammed Ali Road or a Muslim winning in Dadar! Political parties have to choose candidates with the right caste and language affiliation.

However, this pattern of political loyalties is not peculiar to India. It is there in Western democracies as well. The House of Commons in the UK has been called the Church of England at prayer! Even in the US, it was difficult even for a charismatic John Kennedy as a Catholic to carry the heartland of the Protestant mid-west.

And part of George W Bush's strength is the support of the Christian Right even today. It is better to recognise the reality of these loyalties and cope with them than to ignore them and live in an imaginary world of what is nowadays euphemistically called "secularism".

On the other hand, political parties have to play a role in bridging the divisions in society. Some parties are able to manage such divisions better than others.

In India, the Congress has been able to act as an umbrella for a variety of people. This is because it was founded initially on the basis of the strong ideology of winning Independence for the country, as expounded by Mahatma Gandhi.

It also had the good fortune of being led for long periods by Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who were truly secular with no commitment to any religion. Therefore, it earned the loyalty of minorities including Muslims and lower castes.

Later, under Indira Gandhi the Congress imbibed the ideology of socialism based on state intervention, which partly neutralised the Left.

Voters are persuaded by how far candidates are acceptable figures and also by the ideologies of their parties. As economic prosperity advances, socialism and the "garibi hatao" slogan espoused by Indira Gandhi become obsolete.

So the Congress needs a new ideology. The party and the country are fortunate in having an array of well-educated, intelligent young men and women who have the added advantage of belonging to well-known political families.

Responsible citizens should help them to mature into honest and competent leaders of tomorrow. Other than Rahul Gandhi, there are Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Jyotiraditya Scindia, etc.

The other political parties too have intelligent, young parliamentarians who can make a difference. One example is the DMK's Dayanidhi Maran.

Two objectives for young MPs could be investment promotion and employment creation, and removing hurdles in the way of these goals.

Many of the hurdles, in terms of government licensing and controls, have been perpetuated to provide a source of power and pickings for politicians and administrators. We have to think of an alternative, legal source of income for them.

In the US, successive presidents have had inherited wealth or income from their professions. In India, there are not enough millionaires (other than cinema actors) willing to take the risk of investing their wealth in building up and sustaining a political career.

In the UK, many politicians are lawyers, or married to them (like Tony Blair!). In India it is not possible for an MP to devote time to his profession and also attend to parliamentary and constituency duties because of the distances involved.

The solution is for the government to pay an adequate remuneration to each MP. The cost for 800 MPs is not great, and is well within the resources available.

This does not automatically mean that corruption in public life will diminish, because there remains the question of funding elections, but it will be one step in the right direction and will attract more honest and decent people to enter Parliament.

Election funding is an issue that has not found a proper solution, and here too state financing should be explored with proper controls and penalties for those who step out of line.

Finally, the role of the state should be re-defined so that the scope for pork-barrel politics is reduced. All of this will be facilitated by the entry into parliament of new, young MPs with a public rather than a private agenda.

Once the standard of parliamentarians improves, the tenor and quality of government will hopefully change as well.

The third major objective could be integrated rural development, which will not only improve the lot of the 700 million people who live in the rural areas, but also strengthen the base of the party.

Farmers are intelligent and innovative. From my experience of initiating and managing an integrated rural development programme in Etah, which used to be one of the most backward districts of UP, I can say with confidence that if 100 companies can be persuaded to adopt one district each in the more backward states, it will make a tremendous impact.

What they will have to do is to recruit, train, and employ about 10 (it could be more, in the larger districts) agricultural diploma-holders who know the local language and are familiar with local irrigation, communication, etc.

They can work as agricultural facilitators, living in one village and overseeing agricultural practices in surrounding villages. The company will be able to work out arrangements with banks to advance money to farmers, with the intermediation of the supervisor, for buying improved seeds and fertiliser.

The supervisors will help ensure that the inputs come in time and are used efficiently. They will also see to it that when the crops are harvested, the loans are repaid. In short, they will act as friendly guides.

In the eyes of farmers, a government servant is a man of authority they are suspicious and afraid of. Also, given the attitude of most government employees, they do not implement the schemes worked out in state capitals.

As has been seen in the case of some NGOs, privately funded facilitators can play an effective watchdog role in making sure that the money that the government spends, and the programmes that the government runs, do actually reach the intended beneficiaries and that people make use of them.

A private company's supervisor has no authority and is therefore not feared but trusted; at the same time, he can help prevent waste and theft.

He knows that his continuance in employment depends on the performance of the villages under his care. If our new young MPs spend time to study this model of development and replicate it in their rural constituencies, it will help them to establish a strong base and build links with the people in their constituencies.