Putting power back in the hands of the people
Context
- A world bereft of an inclusive global community of trust is upon us. Racial genocides through history, blatant fascist leanings of the so-called “democracies”, and escalating hunger and disease in Africa and other parts of the under-developed world give enough evidence that democracy faces serious issues of populism, growing economic discrimination, overpopulation, and environmental degradation. Misgivings about moral progress, about mutual understanding, exacerbate the dismal situation that faces humanity.
- In this context, we should consider the concept of Direct Democracy in order to strengthen democracies across the world and put power back in the hands of the people instead of a few powerful leaders.
Direct democracy:
- In contrast to indirect or representative democracy, direct democracy, often known as pure democracy, involves citizens directly participating in democratic decision-making. The word is also occasionally applied to the process of directly electing representatives rather than indirectly through an elected body like an electoral college.
- Direct democracy devices include citizen assemblies, referendums, and initiatives, in which voters vote on issues rather than politicians or parties.
- Although direct democracy can be viewed as a full-fledged system of political institutions, it is more commonly associated with certain decision-making institutions within a larger system of representational democracy in modern times.
- A popular device called Referendums give the power to citizens to vote on a question or particular topic. The procedure might vary within countries, though, the objective of the process remains the same.
- Indian constitution does not allow referendums and there is no provision for it. But, a referendum on abolishing the monarchy was held in Sikkim and it resulted in the country becoming an Indian state.
Emerging voices
- And though there is a lot of rage to go around, we also share hope for a better world and a commitment to bringing it into existence through those who dream and work and think deeply to subvert any kind of state repression underpinned by violence and the manufacturing of fear.
- The motivation is to oppose the tyranny of the state through the understanding of the workings of unilateral majoritarian power and control. In this context, people must believe in the fact that though demonstrations and strikes have always been put down, they nevertheless advance the cause of progressive movements.
- The Congress party in India, for instance, has nothing much to write home about, but the Bharat Jodo Yatra initiated by Rahul Gandhi is a way of reaching out to the people to make them see the grim reality facing the nation.
- The pressure on the Government already exists, but it needs to grow. Democracy is more in crisis than ever before, with the onset of centralisation of power, with a foreign policy defying public opinion, with the media centralised, and with corporate control of the economy tighter than ever. It is our responsibility to publicise the anti-democratic actions of the state as much as we can because the political leaders will not do it.
- There may be a new, threatening world order emerging, which seeks to abrogate all individual rights and divide us along the extremist polarities that we thought had been neutralised. We move into this new stage of conflict carrying the risk of a nuclear tragedy, further exacerbated by the collective buttressing of a global crisis of the novel coronavirus pandemic, uncontrollable ecological disasters, and food and water deficiency.
- With the crisis of representation before us, tottering democracies across the globe can be brought to life with the crucial role of referendum or direct democracy, thereby defusing social, economic and political tensions and putting power back in the hands of the people. Alternatively, the peoples of the world have to be led by wise and informed leaders.
- Paradoxically, the brighter side of totalitarian politics, according to Zizek, is the apparent provocation of great intellectual outrage by thinkers who examine history from the perspective of the overwhelming anti-human or repressive movements.
Global initiatives:
- “2022 Resilient Democracies Statement” — signed recently by the G7 and four invited guests — was a recognition of the global decline in the institution of democracy. The idea behind the document is to tell the errant democracies of the world to “guard the freedom of expression and opinion, an affirmation of commitment to the very idea of democracy and a move towards opposing oppression and violence”.
- US President Joe Biden also started a D-10 (Democracy 10) Strategy Forum– an initiative to maintain a “rules-based democratic order” under the leadership of ten “leading democracies”. The “D-10” meeting represents over 60% of the people living in democracies around the world.
- This is in opposition to the growing number of autocracies and expanding non-democratic systems of governments across the world, from Russia, China and Myanmar to Iran, Belarus etc.
On rights for all
- Rights prevail only when they become relevant to the needs of the local communities especially through addressing important concerns such as impunity for atrocities, predicaments of free speech in the age of social media, ingrained exploitations of women’s rights, and violence against the marginalised.
- As B.R. Ambedkar in 1949 explained, “…political democracy cannot last unless it lies at the base of its social democracy…. in politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality… We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment….”
- Global transformist thought in the areas of social justice, universal human rights, rule of law, global anti-war movements and transnational amity remains an aspiration and a motivating dynamism behind all liberatory movements. It is the power of the people to act directly, stand up collectively before the state apparatus in the hope that they would overcome the challenges facing humanity.
Conclusion:
Our ability to build a global self-governing ideal or what Tennyson dreamt of, “the Parliament of Man, the Federation of the World” can rekindle a new energy at every step that we fail. It is here that democratic institutions will facilitate the defence of our fundamental rights and the promotion of a civil society.
Pitching India as a signature destination
Introduction:
- Recently a gathering of State Tourism Ministers to discuss on modes and mechanisms to develop tourism in India, came up with ‘The Dharamshala Declaration’ (2022).
- It draws inspiration from central government’s ‘Whole of Government’ approach, which enables the breaking down of silos and encouraging synergies across various government corridors.
Dharamshala Declaration:
- On the occasion of World Tourism Day (September 27), Dharamshala Declaration aims to recognise India’s role in contributing towards global tourism as well as focusing on recovery by also promoting domestic tourism — which has been overlooked for long.
- In the declaration, the Tourism Ministry has come up with a strategy and action plan to encourage more Indians to travel domestically and explore India’s natural, cultural, and spiritual beauty while simultaneously reaching the goal of an ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ (interaction and mutual understanding).
| The ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ scheme was launched to celebrate the cultural vibrancy of India while establishing a strong mechanism to inculcate nationalism and cultural awareness among the citizens of our nationIts seeks to strengthen cultural relations of various regions in the country and to encourage mutual connection between people residing in different states.It aims at conducting various activities throughout the year to strengthen sentiments for National Unity between the citizens of different states. |
- In parallel, the Ministry has also been working with the Ministry of External Affairs to identify 20 Indian missions abroad with the highest tourist footfalls to India and build country-specific strategies to attract foreign tourists.
Rethinking and reimagining tourism
- Tourism has been one of the sectors severely affected by COVID-19. The Government of India’s Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) was recently enhanced to ₹5 lakh crore to benefit enterprises in hospitality and related sectors such as hotels and restaurants, marriage halls, travel agents, tour operators, adventure and heritage facilities.
- The pandemic has also given us the time to reset and rethink the way forward for tourism in India. The Ministry of Tourism, after wide-ranging consultations, has prepared a draft National Tourism Policy 2022, which aims at improving the framework conditions for tourism development in the country, supporting tourism industries, strengthening tourism support functions and developing tourism sub-sectors.
- The guiding principles include promoting sustainable, responsible and inclusive tourism in line with our civilisational ethos. From Gautama to Gandhi, India has always spoken about the inherent need to live harmoniously with nature and within our means. The National Green Tourism Mission aims at institutionalising this approach.
- The National Tourism policy also aims to give impetus to digitalisation, innovation and technology through the National Digital Tourism Mission and skilling through the Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Mission.
- The policy also gives a special impetus to private sector participation through public-private-partnerships (PPP). Various other schemes involving PPP mode development will also compliment tourism sector, like the National Investment Pipeline (NIP) and the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).
Key features of draft National Tourism Policy 2022:
- To promote investment in the tourism sector, industry status is proposed to be granted to the sector, along with formally granting infrastructure status to hotels.
- It identifies 5 key areas to be given significant focus in the next 10 years — green tourism, digital tourism, destination management, skilling the hospitality sector and supporting tourism-related to MSMEs.
- Relief Measures and Taxation Breaks for the contact-sensitive industry, which has been the worst sufferer over the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic,
- Other framework conditions to help the sector, especially in the wake of the pandemic. The overall mission and vision is being laid out to improve the experience of tourists, foreign as well as local.
Potential during the G20 presidency:
- The country has an opportunity to position itself as a major tourism destination during India’s presidency of the G20 (2023). India welcomes delegates from the 20 countries/European Union, including personnel from the central banks and finance ministries ranging from anti-corruption and agriculture to health, culture and tourism and foreign ministers, and other ministerial meetings.
- Even as the final list of cities is being finalised based on a set of transparent criteria such as conference infrastructure, accommodation availability, rankings in Swachh Bharat and other parameters, close to 35 cities with this potential have already been identified.
- During this time, the plan is to ensure due rigour, dedication and showcase the country’s cultural richness while welcoming the world to India. The Ministry of Tourism also plans to work with other Ministries to bring in necessary interventions such as visa reforms, ease of travel, traveller-friendly and improved immigration facilities at airports.
Way forward: The goals:
- Over the past few months, all the major tourism indices such as domestic air passenger traffic, hotel occupancy and tourist footfalls have shown signs of recovery and are going back to pre-pandemic levels. By mid-2024, we would be at pre-pandemic levels, with India achieving $150 billion as GDP contribution from tourism and $30 billion in foreign exchange earnings with 15 million foreign tourist arrivals.
- By 2030, India is estimated to grow at 7%-9% compounded annual growth rate and we expect the enabling policy framework to bring in $250 billion in GDP contribution from tourism, 140 million jobs in the tourism sector.
Conclusion:
India’s age-old dictum of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ will come to the fore as it welcomes tourists across the world under a new age tourism policy.
