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The Central Government
All the presidents of the provincial
panchayat shall constitute the All-India Panchayats. It shall be
uni-cameral because the system of having two chambers is
unnecessarily complicated and expensive. The term of the
All-India panchayat shall be three years.
8.1 Functions
The function of the
All-India panchayat shall be very limited in accordance with the
basic principle of maximum local and provincial autonomy. Its
functions shall be:
a. to defend the country against foreign aggression.
b. to maintain a national force of guardians for internal law
and order in times of emergencies.
c. to coordinate the provincial plans of economic development.
d. to run the ‘key’ industries of all India importance.
e. to manage the all India department of transport and
communications.
f. to regulate currency, custom and international trade.
g. to maintain a few educational institutions of all India
importance for technical and scientific research, and to advise
the provinces regarding uniformity of educational standards.
h. to shape the foreign policy of the nation.
The residual power shall vest in the federating units and not
the Centre.
8.2 Administration
1. The All-India
Panchayat shall be the chief legislative body; it shall enact
laws in regard to the functions assigned to it. The president of
the all- India panchayat shall be the Head of the State.
2. The federal panchayat shall appoint ministers or commissars
for various departments. These ministers shall not be the
members of the All-India panchayat. There will, thus, be a
separation of legislative and executive functions.
3. The central executive or the council of ministers shall be
fully responsible to the central legislature. The term of the
ministers shall be three years.
4. The Ministers will represent the best talent of the country
irrespective of party or communal considerations.
There shall not be any regular and rigid political parties in
view of a very large measure of local self-governments. While
every attempt shall be made to give a fair representation in the
central executive to all communities specially minorities, the
vicious principle of communal proportions shall find no place in
the future Constitution of Free India. In fact, when India
reaches the fully developed non-violent stage, there will be no
minority having a feeling of separateness or inferiority.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Accountable Bureaucracy
All India and state
services are colonial institutions. They are elite cadres
accountable to the national and state governments, designed to
rule over the common people at the local level. They are
permanent but transferable. Designed for colonial
administration, they were efficient in it.
These permanent civil services are now expected to ensure that
the political system adheres to the rules of government
business. However, being transferable, they are abused in a
democracy. Transfers have become a big industry. The political
system collects huge kickbacks for favoured postings and uses it
as a tool to subdue forthright officials.
In good democracies, every local, state and national government
appoints its own bureaucracy. The departmental heads are
identified through an independent selection committee or
nomination by the elected chief executive. An appointments
committee of the concerned elected body interviews them and
approves their appointment on contract for a period of 4-5
years, usually coterminous with that of the elected body. Their
services can be terminated only with the approval of the said
appointments committee. Since the opposition is represented in
these committees, it ensures that persons of dubious background
do not get appointed and forthright persons are not abused.
Such departmental heads protect their subordinates from unfair
political interference and abuse. This ensures that the
bureaucracy is accountable to the people. In some democracies,
sensitive positions such as those of the local police chief and
public prosecutor are made elective to ensure that they are
truly accountable to the people.
—- PEOPLE FIRST |