Breakdown in communication and trust between the government and citizens resulted in heavy hardship as citizens lost access to basic services. There are lessons to be learnt from Punjab, Kerala and Odisha. We need to build enabling infrastructure that helps communities to act freely to meet their own needs.
Posts published in “Governance”
India is said to grow at night while the government sleeps. Freedom Gazette is rethinking India’s institutions in order to make our government more transparent, accountable and effective in solving everyday problems.
Voter targeting is enabled by collecting personal data, including online shopping history, likes, shares and comments. The use of such personal information for political messaging can help spread misplaced fears of potential attacks on what people hold dear. Democracies need better privacy laws.
There is an urgent need to understand human behaviour to aid policymaking. Why do people refuse to wear masks? Why do they insist on leaving their homes despite no urgent requirement? Behavioural insights can help governments nudge people towards socially desirable behaviour.
Thousands of people have failed to receive COVID-19 relief measures because the welfare system was broken to start with - from ration cards to worker documentation. But some governments put up quick and temporary solutions, which should now be strengthened.
In a 2019 survey, 36 percent of Indian police officers admitted to meting out their own punishment for minor offences rather than pursuing a legal trial. Half of the public surveyed also supported such atrocities. India needs both social and legal reform to ensure better law enforcement.
Editor-in-Chief Mohamed Zeeshan spoke with Jayna Kothari, a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India, regarding the contrasting attitudes of the Supreme Court and the High Courts towards internet bans, equitable access to legal aid, and much more.
The contrasting experiences of Germany, Belgium, the United States and India show the importance of wise national leadership, trust and coordination between the Centre and the states, and respect for the rule of law during a crisis.
Kerala’s success in the fight against COVID-19 is due to its unique participatory governance model. People have worked hand-in-glove with the government, each complementing the efforts of the other, through community engagement platforms.
Technology has helped preserve some normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing us to stay connected with each other and to work from home. But violations of privacy by various service providers has shown that we need to reimagine how our data is used by industry and government.
The Anti-Defection Law has created a democracy of parties and numbers in India, rather than a democracy of debate and discussion. Lawmaking is increasingly driven, not by the compulsive force of a party’s argument, but by the brute force of a party’s numbers in the legislature.