The Policy Monitor
The principle-based approach of the positive duties of the Indian state has benefited its large population of poor and marginalized, it has also shifted focus from creating agency for the disadvantaged to limiting the discussion to the quality of public service delivery.
For India’s urban areas to become more growth-oriented and productive and to increase the
capacity of the administrators, it is critical to build an excellent urban infrastructure, with
efficiency in service delivery and funding at the top of the priority list.
While the Central Government undoubtedly provides strategic leadership, state legislatures have a critical role in not just transferring capacities, assets, and functionaries, but also in creating an empowering environment through administrative and institutional transformation. A close assessment of total municipal income reveals that they accounted for only 1.08 percent of GDP in 2007–2008, and then dropped to 1.03 percent of GDP in 2012–2013.
While the introduction of this bill is in the right direction, certain provisions are a cause for concern as they seek to provide blanket powers to the state. Additionally, provisions for data localisation, cross border data transfer restrictions and compliances are expected to add a significant financial burden on insurers.
Democracies need to evolve both to cater to the needs of citizens and meet demands of the new generations. In this regard, India has been debating over the issue of Proportional Representation (PR) versus First – Past – The – Post (FPTP) for decades.
The middlemen thus give traction to voices that would otherwise be not heard owing to their distance from the state that still exists. They enable thousands, if not millions to avail social protection that is guaranteed as laws.
With about 60% of the Indian Population involved in agricultural work and agrarian distress being an omnipresent issue, it’s high time for the Government to recognize and deliver a means to the section of individuals that will curb inequality to a considerable extent.
Holy Cross and Bible
Contrary to the belief that industrialisation ubiquitously gives rise to wealth disparity, by allowing capital owners to keep accumulating excessive profits, in the last 25 years the world has seen a converging trend in equality. However the most populated countries, China and India, have seen a general rise in inequality.
Many researchers, in the past, have investigated the underlining relationship between
hierarchies and productivity in organizations. I am particularly interested in how hierarchies
play their part in Government set-ups and if at all it enhances or negatively affects
productivity.