Citizens’ Report on Governance and Development 2010 ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS Advisory group Amitabh Kundu Gowridasan Nair Jagadananda Lalit Surjan Maja Daruwala P.V. Rajagopal Pamela Philipose Rajesh Tandon Vinod Vyasulu Contributors Parliament Girish Nikam Inputs and involvement of A. Surya Prakash, Chakshu Roy, Rajesh Jha and Venkitesh Ramakrishnan is acknowledged and deeply appreciated. Judiciary Videh Upadhyay Policies and practices Amit Sengupta, Bhaskar Goswami, Kaushik Ganguly, Manish Sisodia, Pooja Parvati, Sanjay Vashisht, Subrat Das, Surajit Mazumdar Local self-government Abhijit Dutta, Debolina Kundu, Manoj Rai Editors Amitabh Behar John Samuel Yogesh Kumar Research and report coordinating team Himanshu Jha Ashwini K. Swain Administrative support Shubhro Roy Bhairav Dutt We acknowledge the support of NOVIB for their generous support towards research and publication of this Report. We express our deep sense of gratitude and acknowledgement to CYSD for housing and facilitating Social Watch as one of our national ally in the National Social Watch Coalition. Contents iii Citizens’ Report on Governance and Development 2010 NATIONAL SOCIAL WATCH Copyright © National Social Watch, 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. First published in 2011 by SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B1/I-1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road, New Delhi 110 044, India www.sagepub.in SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320, USA SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP, United Kingdom SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd 33 Pekin Street #02-01 Far East Square Singapore 048763 Published by Vivek Mehra for Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd, typeset in 10/13 Minion by Star Compugraphics Private Limited, Delhi and printed at Artxel, New Delhi. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available Citizens’ report on governance and development 2007 / Social Watch India. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. 1. India—Politics and government—21st century. I. Social Watch (Organisation) JQ231.C63 320.954—dc22 2007 2007021787 ISBN: 978-81-321-0627-2 (PB) The SAGE Team: Rekha Natarajan, Arpita Dasgupta, Rajib Chatterjee and Umesh Kashyap Contents List of Tables, Figures, Boxes and Annexures ix Preface xiii INTRODUCTION XV Parliament Watch xvi Functioning of the Parliament: Conducting Business xvi Inside the Parliament: The 15th Lok Sabha So Far xvi Performance of the Members: Who is the Best Performing MP? xvii Conflict of Interest xviii The Working of the Parliamentary Committees xviii Policy Watch xix Judiciary Watch xx Local Government Watch xxii Looking Ahead xxiii 1. PARLIAMENT: CHALLENGES OF THREE Rs—REPRESENTATIVENESS, RESPONSIVENESS AND RESPONSIBILITY 1 Introduction 1 Functioning of the Parliament: Conducting Business 2 Inside the Parliament: The 15th Lok Sabha So Far 5 The 15th Lok Sabha: Post Elections Patterns 6 Inside the Parliament: Issues Debated 7 Top Performers of the 14th Lok Sabha 9 Conflict of Interest 14 Increase in ‘Wealthy’ Members in Both the Houses 15 The Changing Nature of Membership: Potential Conflict of Interest? 16 The Working of the Parliamentary Committees 17 Inside the Committees 19 Concrete Proposals 20 Conclusion 23 2. REPOSITIONING PUBLIC POLICY: BALANCING GROWTH AND EQUITY 38 Fiscal Issues: Patterns of Public Spending 38 Fiscal Stance of the Union Government 38 Public Spending on Social Sectors 40 Implications of the 13th Finance Commission Recommendations 41 Revenue Foregone due to Tax Exemptions 42 Sectoral Overview: Health, Education and Agriculture 43 Inequities in Health Sector of the Year Gone by 43 vi NATIONAL social watch State of the Public Health System 43 Public–Private Partnerships 45 Access to Medicines 45 Education 46 Policy Developments 47 Enactment of Right to Education Act 47 Increasing Privatisation in Higher Education 48 School Vouchers: Panacea or Pandora’s Box? 50 Issues in Implementation 51 Farm Sector Report Card: The Agrarian Crisis 2008–10 51 Growth and Productivity 52 Impact of Implanting Unsound Technology 52 Drought and Floods, 2009 53 Agriculture versus Industrialisation 55 Reforms and Liberalisation 56 Farm Income and Farmers’ Welfare 57 Conclusion 59 Rural Employment and Livelihood Security 60 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme 61 Allocation and Utilisation of NREGS Funds 62 Impact of NREGS 62 Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) 64 Budget Priorities for Rural Development 65 Emerging Challenges 65 The Price Rise: Plight of the Aam Aadmi 65 Climate Change: Challenges, Opportunities and Responses 70 Growing Climate Threats in India 71 Country’s Economic Imperatives of Energy Security for Sustainable Development 72 Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capability 73 Climate ‘Responsible’ India: A Drive towards Clean Energy 74 Home Work: In Process through Domestic Actions 75 Recommendations: Climate Policy Framework for Policy-makers 77 Accountability and Transparency 77 Right to Information 77 Sword of Amendment 78 Government’s Attitude: Denial of Information 78 Definition of Information 78 Missing Records 78 Voluminous Information 78 Pending Investigations 78 Conclusion 80 3. STATE OF THE INDIAN JUDICIARY: ISSUES AND ASPECTS IN JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE AND JUDICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY 82 I. Specific Cases, Issues and Proposals on Judicial Accountability and Reforms 82 Issues in Judicial Corruption and Transparency 82 The Supreme Court is Subject to the Right to Information: A Review of the Landmark Decisions of the Central Information Commission and the Delhi High Court 82 The Facts and Subject Matter of Controversy 83 Contents vii January 2009 Decision of the CIC 83 Delhi High Court’s September 2009 Decision 84 Delhi High Court’s January 2010 Decision on Appeal 84 CIC Decision that Appointment of Judges is a ‘Public Activity’ 85 Justice Dinakaran Controversy 85 Corruption By and Within Lawyers: A Sting Case Reveals All! 86 Law Commission Reports on Restructuring Supreme Court, Judicial Reforms and Implementation of Human Rights 87 Report 1: The Idea of Splitting the Supreme Court of India: Law Commission Raises the Issue Again 87 Arguments For and Against Division of Supreme Court 89 Report 2: ‘Poverty as a Denial of Human Rights’: Human Suffering and a Call for Implementation of Pro-Poor Judgements of the Supreme Court 89 A ‘Right without Remedies’ Legal Regime and ‘Justifiable Human Suffering’ 90 Report 3: Reforming Practices in Courts and the Habits of Lawyers: Some Suggestions 91 Proposals in 2009 of the Ministry of Law on Law Reforms 92 National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reform 92 National Litigation Policy 92 National Arrears Grid 93 Pendency of Cases, Judicial Vacancies and an Open Question 93 National Minimum Court Performance Standards 95 Regulation of Public Interest Litigation by Supreme Court 95 II. Mapping Key Court Cases from the Last Year 96 Key Cases on Civil Liberties and Gender Justice 97 Crimes in Custody: Is the Police Listening? 97 Cases in Gender Justice 98 Cases on Freedom of Speech and Expression 100 Case on Implementation of Disabilities Act 100 Key Cases on Environment and Development 100 The Yamuna Flood Plain Case 100 The Ganga Expressway Case 101 The Aravalli Mining Case 102 Key Cases on Social and Economic Rights 102 Case on Right to Water and Duty to Research on It 102 Right to Safe Education Case 103 Right to Health and the Duty of Hospitals 103 Right to Shelter of Jhuggi Dwellers 104 Right to Livelihood and Rehabilitation of Tribals 105 Key Cases on Rural and Urban Local Governance 105 Case on Reservation in Panchayats in Tribal Areas 105 Formation of Municipal Corporation a Constitutional Requirement 106 Slum Development for Minorities: A Constitutional Ideal 107 Conclusion 107 4. THE STATE OF DECENTRALISATION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN INDIA: INTERROGATING INSTITUTIONS, PROGRAMMES AND SERVICE DELIVERY 111 Introduction 111 Decentralisation and Local Governance in India: An Overview 112 Institutions of Local Governance: Status of 3Cs 115 viii NATIONAL social watch State Election Commission 115 State Finance Commission 117 District Planning Committee 118 Implementing Centrally Sponsored Schemes: Role of Local Institutions 120 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGREGA) 120 National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) 123 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) 124 Decentralised Service Delivery in India 128 Conclusion 130 General Annexures 140 List of Tables, Figures, Boxes and Annexures Tables 1.1 Time Lost in Both the Houses 2 1.2 Number of Days in Each Session 3 1.3 Time Spent on Budget Discussions in Lok Sabha 3 1.4 Number of Bills Passed 4 1.5 Top Five Members of Parliament on the Basis of Attendance, Debates, Questions and the PMBs in the 14th Lok Sabha 12 1.6 Dramatic Increase in Assets: Some Specific Examples from Lok Sabha 16 1.7 Bills Referred to the Committees SCs/JSCs/DRSCs (5th to 14th Lok Sabha) 18 1.8 Average Per Cent of Attendance in Committees in 15th Lok Sabha 20 2.1 Total Magnitude of the Union Budget 39 2.2 Union Budget Expenditure on Social Services 40 2.3 Combined Expenditure of Centre and States on Social Services 41 2.4 Tax Revenue Foregone in the Central Government Tax System due to Tax Exemptions/Incentives/Deductions 42 2.5 Elementary Education