COVER.qxd 2/13/1950 7:25 PM Page 1 ISSN RNI No. DELENG/2012/48509 THE UGC Sr No. 1191/JOURNAL No. 63668 THE DISCUSSANT DISCUSSANTJournal of Centre for Reforms, Development and Justice Volume - VI Number 1 JANUARY-MARCH 2018 Rs. 500 SUPPORTED BY Volume - VIVolume 2018 Number1 JANUARY-MARCH ICSSR INDIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH DEDICATED TO DR BHIMRAO AMBEDKAR 14 April 1891 — 6 December 1956 DISCUSSANT_FRONT & BACK_INSIDE.qxd 2/13/1950 7:25 PM Page 2 THE DISCUSSANT Editorial Advisory Committee Professor Mahendra Prasad Singh Former Head, Dept of Political Science, University of Delhi & Editor, IIPA Journal Dr Chandan Mitra Editor-in-chief, The Pioneer, New Delhi Dr PK Khurana Principal, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi Professor JP Sharma Former Head, Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi Director, IMS, Noida Professor Sangeet Ragi Department of Political Science, University of Delhi Professor NK Chadha Former Head, Department of Psychology, University of Delhi Professor MP Sharma Department of Hindi, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi Professor Sudhir Gupta Dept of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi Sh Alok Jha, IRS Department of Customs and Central Excise, New Delhi Professor Ashok K Ghosh Chairman, State Environmental Advisory Committee, Patna Editorial Board Sidharth Mishra Editor Dr Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari Co-Editor Published and Printed by: Sidharth Mishra on behalf of Centre for Reforms, Development and Justice B-344, Nehru Vihar, Timarpur, Delhi -110054 and Printed at Om Printers, 324, Patparganj, Industrial Area, Delhi website: www.crdj.in email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] © The Discussant The view expressed are those of the authors For Copies: [email protected]; [email protected] DISCUSSANT_01_06.qxd 2/13/1950 7:25 PM Page 1 ISSN RNI No. DELENG/2012/48509 THE UGC Sr No. 1191/JOURNAL No. 63668 DISCUSSANT Journal of Centre for Reforms, Development and Justice DISCUSSANT_01_06.qxd 2/13/1950 7:25 PM Page 2 DISCUSSANT_01_06.qxd 2/13/1950 7:25 PM Page 3 content EDITORIAL : POLITICAL CHURNING IN RURAL INDIA 04_05 SECRETARY’S DESK 06_06 PROMOTING QUALITY AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA: ROLE OF FACULTY AND STUDENTS 07_18 DR. SANJEEV KUMAR TIWARI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, MAHARAJA AGRASEN COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI RAGHVENDRA KUMAR, TEACHES POLITICAL SCIENCE AT MAHARAJA AGRASEN COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI POLICING THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: NATURE AND DIMENSIONS ABHISHEK MISHRA, RESEARCH SCHOLAR AT THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI 19_28 CLEMENCY POWERS OF THE INDIAN PRESIDENT: THE LEGACY LIVES ON DR MADHURI SUKHIJA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, 29_38 MATA SUNDARI COLLEGE, DELHI UNIVERSITY SECURITY SECTOR RESTRUCTURING IN NEPAL: A CASE FOR 'HYBRIDITY' SAURABH KAUSHIK, PHD SCHOLAR, DEPT. OF PEACE AND CONFLICT STUDIES AND MANAGEMENT, SIKKIM CENTRAL UNIVERSITY 39_46 THE RISE OF CHINA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA DR RAVI K MISHRA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NEHRU MEMORIAL MUSEUM & LIBRARY, NEW DELHI 47_58 SHAPING POLITICAL PERSONA, CAMPAIGNS AND POLITICAL MOBILIZATION: MAPPING CHANGING ELECTIONS MOORINGS IN INDIA IN THE DIGITAL AGE 59_80 NAMITA NAGPAL, PURSUING PH. D. AT THE USMC, GGSIPU GITA BAMEZAI, PH.D. HEAD, DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MASS COMMUNICATION JNU CAMPUS AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE IMPEDIMENTS TO ONLINE SHOPPING AND FUTURE COURSE OF ACTION 81_95 DR ANUJA CHOUDHARY, BIT, MESRA, RANCHI SHORT PAPERS NARENDRA MODI’S JAMMU-KASHMIR POLICY: SWIMMING WITH THE TIDE AND NOT AGAINST IT 96_102 SAURABH DUBEY, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, SHAHEED BHAGAT SINGH (EVENING) COLLEGE, DELHI UNIVERSITY FUNCTIONALISM AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION: A THEORETICAL INTROSPECTION BINEET KAUR, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SGND KHALSA COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI 103_108 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AS TOOL FOR ENRICHING ENVIRONMENT SHAILENDRA MOHAN SINGH, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR SHYAM LAL COLLEGE (EVENING) DELHI UNIVERSITY 109_113 BOOK REVIEW SHEILA BIOGRAPHY: LAST WORD NOT SPOKEN 114_115 SIDHARTH MISHRA DISCUSSANT_01_06.qxd 2/13/1950 7:25 PM Page 4 editorial ONE NATION-ONE ELECTION: NEED FOR CAUTION ne of the main driving forces behind the promulgation of the Anti-Defection Law by the Rajiv Gandhi government in the 1980s was the brute majority enjoyed by the Congress party in the Lok OSabha. It had won more than 400 seats in the 1985 General Elections thanks to the sympathy wave which followed assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The Congress strategists loyal to Rajiv Gandhi at that point of time had advised for bringing such law which would keep the folk together lest the old school veterans carry out a coup against the reformist agenda of the ‘young’ Prime Minister. The law has withstood the trial of time and survived to end to some extent the politics of “Aya Rams, Gaya Ram”, which had come to make mockery of people’s mandate. Three decades later, another government led by a Prime Minister belonging to another party is now pushing for another major electoral reform - simultaneous holding of the elections of the Parliament and the State assemblies. The move comes as for the first time since Rajiv Gandhi’s term, we have a Prime Minister whose party enjoys absolute majority in the house and is also undisputed leader of his party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not only the undisputed leader of his the BJP but also its main poll campaigner. Ever since his ascendance started in BJP’s pantheon as party’s Prime Ministerial candidate in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls he has remained party’s undisputed poll mascot. He has been party’s campaign spearhead in the states which went to polls post-2014 Lok Sabha elections - Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and off course Gujarat. Of these states, the party faced defeat in just one - Bihar, but there it has managed to have its old ally Nitish Kumar now back in its camp. Over the next 18 months, polls are scheduled in the major states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattishgarh and also Tripura. There is a BJP government in the three states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattishgar held by powerful regional leaders Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh respectively. Though they would be the face of the party, they all are battling humongous anti-incumbency factor and to neutralize the same the role of the Prime Minister during the campaign would be vital. Thus there would be no relief for Modi the poll campaigner and it’s here that the issue of having ‘One Nation One Election’ becomes relevant. The propagators of this theory believe that with the administrative leader of the country getting repeatedly involved in poll campaign, governance suffers. This view is being aggressively articulated by Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)-backed think tank Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini Academy, Mumbai. THE DISCUSSANT JANUARY-MARCH Journal of Centre for Reforms, 04 2018 Development and Justice Vol.VI No.1 DISCUSSANT_01_06.qxd 2/13/1950 7:25 PM Page 5 The Academy is headed by BJP vice-president and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe. It held a brainstorming session, which was slotted as apolitical, but had its participants from Niti Ayog’s Vice chairman Rajiv Kumar, BJP chief Amit Shah, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, JD(U) secretary general KC Tyagi, BJD MP Baijyant Panda and Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrashekhar which clearly indicated the ideological leanings of the gathering. Though Sahasrabuddhe has been at pains to state, “We do not want to create any agenda by promoting this reform. The election phenomenon from Municipal corporations to Vidhan Sabha to Lok Sabha elections halts the development work and the movement of security personnel during elections is also another cost factor. Niti Ayog has also discussed on this reform and this will be proven as the mother of all reforms for a delivering democracy.” However, the major question is whether such a practice in the name of cost-cutting and administrative efficiency be able to deliver a robust democracy. According to former secretary-general of Rajya Sabha and later its nominated member BN Banerji, “Indian Constitution is federal in form but unitary in spirit.” Another famous constitutional expert DD Basu wrote, “Indian Constitution is neither purely federal, nor purely unitary but a combination of both.” The constitutional history of the country of the past seven decades which includes constitutional amendments and Supreme Court orders have all been directed towards strengthening the federal characteristics of the Indian state. This in practice has meant lessening of central superintendence over the state governments, greater functional autonomy to the state governments and allowing co-existence of diverse ideologies in matters of state-centre relationship. This has so far worked well for the democracy of the country though may have somewhat hampered ‘administrative efficiency’, as the case is being made out by Sahasrabuddhe. For achieving ‘administrative efficiency’ could another major feature of the Indian state - Unity In Diversity, be put to risk. The first state government with an ideology diverse from that of the Centre was that of Communist leader EMS Namboodripad’s in Kerala, which also became the first government to face