What is Government in the Indian context?

From an everyday perspective, the Government is that force that seems to be a consensus ruler of the country.  One can break this down further to the invisible hand that provides certain services that only a consensus-chosen body is allowed to provide – law and order for example.

Government cannot be looked at through this narrow prism of being a service provider because it is a monopoly player in this regard. It can make the rules for providing services and what services it provides.  This is a warning to society, irrespective of what kind of political system one exists in; it can be argued that a monopoly service provider called the Soviet state was more tuned to a mass of people’s needs after the Bolshevik revolution; it can also be argued that the biggest democracy in the world is most regressive in policies for the mass of people as it can be said of the US.

But coming back to that crucial word called ‘consensus’… the compromise or unanimous mandate of all. This is then to confer the role a majority of people to the right to governing policies over the minority. This is the essence of leadership in a democracy. Fortunately, it is the constitution that then restricts the government form reigning chaos upon a minority.

The crux of the matter, therefore, is that government whether a servant of the public or its ‘parent’ cannot be allowed to rule citizens lives. Sounds obvious but the hard work in this regard is that citizens cannot simply ‘outsource’ custodianship of constitutional rights to a government. Let no citizen forget that a majority government can change constitutional rules. It is akin therefore to a service provider revising the terms of service when it deems fit.

But we are forgetting a pillar of the democratic state – The judiciary. Most people are familiar with the simple fact that should the government trample upon your rights or contravene law, you can take the government to court. Most importantly, these adjudications result in the setting precedence. This makes Judiciary out to be a knight in shining armor to the citizens, which in most cases might even be an accurate assessment; however, this in large part depends on an efficient Judicial system and honest law enforcement. Many pronouncements and variables and constants have been stated above, the reality of the situation is beyond theory and warped and this is extremely visible in India.

The Government of India was born in 1947 and like all newly-formed governments, glistened of idealism. It even brought forth one of the most superior constitutions in modern history – at least considered so at that time. The constitution nearly 70 years hence looks more like a book of amendments and loopholes for backdoor amendments. Nevertheless, it is a governing document that has dispensed justice and most amendments have worked positively.  But times change, idealists die, idealism dies, and practicality and survival instincts take over. If the first governments were charged with the duty of building a nation, the subsequent governments were charged with growing it; however, this is where the corruption of the state begins. It eventually leads to the subversion of democracy itself.

India is in the growth stage and has been for long. From a transition from a socialist state, to a social democracy to finally the Neoliberal machine that it is now stands testimony to that.