Making governments accountable via civil society

The story: As India slumped into the second Covid wave in 2021, it starkly exposed the gaps in holding the government in power accountable. There is a

Making governments accountable via civil society

---

• The story: As India slumped into the second Covid wave in 2021, it starkly exposed the gaps in holding the government in power accountable. There is an urgent need to look at how India's civil society works.
• What is civil society: This term refers to associations or communities that work above and beyond the state. India’s civil society has many actors - (i) grassroots organisations that connect to the last mile and provide essential services, (ii) think tanks and academic institutions that offer new policy ideas and generate evidence, (iii) advocacy organisations that build support for causes, and (iv) large impact funds and philanthropists who decide how these organisations get funded.
• Shortfalls in functioning: Many governments in India have been wary of the potential of the civil society, and have tried to curtail the kind of activities that civil society actors can engage in. Philanthropists and donor organisations are unable to support initiatives that strengthen India’s democracy and its accountability mechanisms, for fear of retribution. Close to 90% of total donor interest in India was targeted towards primary education, primary healthcare, rural infrastructure and disaster relief. Other challenging areas such as human rights and governance got minimal funding. Many civil society actors also focus on engaging with narrow policy problems.
• Implications: In the absence of a strong push from civil society, the democratic institutions have no intrinsic incentive to reform. In today's challenging times, India thus had little or no push to hold the government responsible. The judiciary was helpless, with judges having trouble in getting answers from the government. Even Parliament barely met in 2020.
• Road ahead: There is a strong need to re-examine parliamentary rules that are heavily tilted in favour of the sitting government, and it's essential to strengthen the hands of the judiciary, bolster federalism and the independent media. Creating transparency in decision making within the executive is another key priority. Civil society organisations need to broaden their agenda to include issues that strengthen India’s institutions. Philanthropists need to fund initiatives that empower citizens.

 

Join PT courses | PT Youtube | PT App | Contribute |  Testimonials