The article is written by Naman Sherstra from the Department of Law, University of Calcutta. The article depicts the need for a political eligibility test for the elected representatives in India.

Introduction

It is obnoxious that we are living in a country where on the one hand the administrative executives are elected through the rigorous process of Civil Service examinations whereas, on the other hand, our lawmakers don’t need any eligibility for getting elected. The political structure of the system plays a very important role in the development of the citizens of a state and its smooth functioning for the state. With the passage of time, various structures have been tested in which most of them collapsed. The democratic form of governance is sought as one of the most suitable forms of governance where the power of the representation is derived directly from the citizens. However, the democratic form of governance requires certain conditions to be fulfilled in a nation otherwise it may not be able to turn out to give such results as expected. 

The old coming democratic system of governance has some flaws which are most often ignored and such flaws affect the proper smooth functioning of the political structure in a country like India. The caste and religion system, low literacy rates among the citizens to choose their representatives, a lower percentage of voting due to various factors, prevailing corrupt practices in the free and fair elections are some of these problems which become hurdles for the democratic system of the government to develop. The most alluring feature of democracy is that it vests a great power on the shoulders of the citizens and there is a proverb “with great power comes great responsibilities”. 

Hence, providing such great power of selecting representatives without any experience and existing societal lacunas may lead to a catastrophic situation in the democratic system. The inclusion of the political eligibility test may be a suitable solution for all the aforementioned problems. The candidates must be checked based on their character, administrative capacity, intelligence, leadership skills, family background, etc. There must be a test comprising all such aspects where the candidates who are willing to contest the election need to get accessed through such a test before getting tickets. The nature of the test shall be similar to the test through which the IAS IPS and other administrative officers are recruited. This will not only reduce the party-based monopoly in the democratic system but also provide a suitable candidate which will be beneficial for a healthy democracy. 

Flaunts in the democratic setup of governance

The Indian democratic system of governance has a number of flaunts which are accountable for a number of problems arising in the administrative system. A statistics on the democratic index shows that India being the largest democratic country in the world among 96 democratic countries stands 51 with the tag of “flawed democracy”. India got a score of 6.90 out of a total 10 on the democratic index. This index is calculated on the basis of five categories — electoral process and pluralism; the functioning of government; political participation; political culture; and civil liberties. The drop in proper functioning of the government and civil liberties are accountable for the fall of India’s rank in the global democratic index.

Literacy rate accountable for making good decisions

The literacy rate of any state plays an important role in the decision-making process. This is a common notion that an educated and civilized person is able to make good decisions in comparison with illiterate ones. A similar principle applies to the voting process where the uneducated people are not able to elect good representatives, due to a lack of prudence and better decision making. 

The literacy rate of India stands at 74.04 which at instance looks like good data, but this data is processed through the voter’s turnout. Various research data and studies show that educated people represent a minority in holding elections. This is because of the lack of good people in politics the educated people are getting disinterested in the polling process as the increase in the literacy rates do not turn to correspond to the voter turnout in India. So, the elections in India are decided by the minority votes of illiterate peoples. It implies that all of the important decisions shall be taken by those ones who are uninformed masses. If the literate masses are provided with the rights of voting curbing the rights of the majority illiterate ones, such action shall violate a bundle of constitutional provisions including Article 14, and 21.

The low percentage of voting rates

This is one of the most crucial problems faced by the government of India. There are various reasons due to which the voter turnout rates have been falling every election year. The reduction of interest in the literate people due to lack of good candidates is one of the major reasons behind the fewer turnouts. The incorporation of the NOTA (None of the above) in the elections were done in 2009. The percentage vote of NOTA in Bihar, one of the most illiterate states of India was approx 2 per cent in the 17th Lok Sabha polls. 

The migration of labourers and employed persons outside their respective homeplaces are also an important reason for the reduction in the voting turnout. However, the Election Commission of India has now launched online registration for voters from anywhere in their respective constituencies. The other reason behind the absence of the working class is due to lack of time to vote. The employees don’t permit their employers to go for voting, The similar trend used to exist in the USA when Congress changed the election day into a national holiday. India needs to adopt the same trend to increase voting turnouts. 

The disinterest of the youth in politics is also one of the major reasons for the low voting per cent rates. The voting eligibility in India is decided by the Universal Adult Franchise which means that the persons who turn 18 are eligible to vote. However, a major part of youth doesn’t get themselves registered in the electoral rolls due to the above-stated reason. Despite its lack of education and knowledge about the constituencies and the polling booths in the rural areas is also a major reason. The Election Commission of India through air communication, newspapers, and advertisements tries to attract the attention of the people so that they can come forward and participate in the elections.

Role of religion and caste in elections

Religion and caste play an important role in the elections. People believe that electing representatives from their respective caste will be beneficial for them as they will work for them and feel them as their own leader. Even the political parties choose candidates on the basis of identification of dominant religion or caste in a particular area or constituencies. It is one of the major strategies used by the parties to win elections.

A larger part of the fund is invested in such rural areas to appease such voters and win the elections either by hook or crook method. However, the notion of caste-based politics is profoundly taken by rural voters as well as parties. The long regime of RJD in Bihar due to the dominance of a “specific caste” shows the importance of religion and caste in politics. Nonetheless, this trick is very less applicable in the urban areas because of more informed and literate people.

The solution to such a problem

There is a need for proper balance before countering such problems. The majorly suggestive solutions that come to mind are the change in the system of governance. The revocation of the democratic government and replacing it with other forms such as monarchy, autocracy would not be a good step. The democratic form of the government is considered as the people-oriented system of government where the people choose their government themselves. 

The other forms of the government would centralize the powers in hand where there are higher chances of citizens’ rights getting exploited. North Korea and China are good examples of it. So, despite changing the system of government, there is a need to eliminate bad leaders in the system. There are high prediction of ill policies and laws to be implemented if the elected leaders are illiterate or uninformed about the problems of the citizens, Hence, as the functional body of the executive is recruited through a process of the civil service examination there is a need of a kind of test which would be prerequisites before contesting the elections.

Need for the political eligibility test

The suggestive measure for the incorporation of a suitable politician in a democratic system of governance is a type of test conducted before contesting the election. The Election Commission of India should make it a prerequisite for all the political candidates who are willing to contest the elections. A kind of “Political eligibility test” would include different kinds of assessment to examine the political candidates. The political eligibility test shall comprise of the following framework:

Criminal background 

It is a major aspect that needs to be accessed in the Political Eligibility Test. A person indulged in criminal activities or facing serious charges shall be discarded from contesting the elections. Such candidates are deemed non-law abiding ones and if they are elected this will not only bring instability in the society but also give a wrong message to the people who believe in peace and development.

Knowledge about their constituencies

A contestant must have knowledge of his/her constituency in a brief sense. The geographical; areas, existing problems in the constituency as well the needs of the people. The knowledge of these things is the important one that every willing candidate must possess. The candidates shall be assessed orally about the knowledge of their constituencies.

Leadership Skills

The leadership skill is one of the important aspects that a candidate needs to possess. This skill is required in tackling the problems of their respective areas. A leader having good potency and leadership skills will be able to administer and develop his constituencies in a better way than the incompetent one. The selection of such candidates shall be done through the test. After passing the test the elected candidates shall be provided training in performing their roles in an effective manner. However, such a test must overcome the legal issues for getting implemented on the ground to earth level.

Legal provisions in according with political eligibility test

The fundamental issue arising with the political eligibility test is that such a policy must be in accordance with the existing legal provisions. The implementation of such a test would be quite costly but it shall have far-reaching consequences. This policy shall draw a bridge from ineffective governance to effective government. However, to initiate such policy shall require a diminishing in the rights of certain people which requires a legal and administrative consonance.

The Representation of People’s Act, 1951

The Representation Of the People’s Act, 1951 and the proposed system has many things that are quite similar to each other. Part III of the act deals with the disqualification of the member of parliament and the state assemblies on various grounds. The major grounds of the disqualification are criminal offences, disloyalty, corruption, and failure to lodge an account of the election expenses.

Similarly, the proposed test also includes a criminal background assessment where the candidates willing to contest the elections shall be assessed by their indulgence in criminal activities. However, the assessment shall be exhaustive as a mere criminal charge on the person shall not disqualify his candidature. The whole record of his life period shall be checked and in case he has been charged with an offence, the intention of the person behind committing such offence shall also be analyzed, So, the criminal background of the candidate shall be checked thoroughly in the test instead of judging him on the basis of the mere commission of the crime.

Constitutional provisions

Any kind of statute or public policy before implementation needs to pass the constitutionality test of three Articles 14, 19, and 21. Article 14 which provides “equality before the law and equal protection law” shall be put in front of the political eligibility test. However, the unequal treatment of any person is justified when the grounds are “reasonable differentia”. Article 14 puts a bar on class legislation but it doesn’t restrict classification. The elimination of the suitable candidate for elections is a matter of government policy and it should not be a violation of Article 14.

Article 19 of the Constitution of India deals with freedom of speech, expression, association, and trade. This article does not cover the ambit of public policy so the said test shall not be covered under any kind of realm of Article 19.

Article 21 deals with the “right to life and personal liberty”. This article has a very broad scope as any kind of statute or policy which violates the fundamental rights of an Individual and fails the test of said article is held unconstitutional. The Political eligibility test has also to pass the constitutionality test of article 21 as it eliminates a suitable candidate from others for contesting the elections. In Jamuna Prasad vs Lacchi Ram the apex court said that contesting elections is not a fundamental right but it is a special statutory right subjected to the terms of the act. If the right to free contesting elections shall affect the good governance such matters shall be harmoniously constructed. Hence, the right to contest elections is a statutory right and the political eligibility test shall not violate the fundamental right of the candidates provided under Article 21 of the constitution.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

The Political Eligibility test also needs to be in consonance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It would be quite difficult to ignore the provisions of such law and enact the policy. Article 25 of the ICCPR provides the provision of political participation. It states that no person shall be deprived of his political rights on the basis of caste, creed, religion, and so on. However, this provision is exempted from any kind of reasonable restrictions.

So, the criminal and educational background are not contrary to Article 25 of ICCPR. The arguments pertinent to the reasonable restriction as the political eligibility test includes shall be for the development of the nation.

However, the international provisions don’t directly form a part of Indian laws. International laws are used to express in the cases where the Indian laws stay silent. If the parliament passes any laws which are contrary to the International laws, the courts shall be bound to give prominence to the Indian laws. However, the apex court has said that any law whether it is a part of international law, if found contrary with the provisions of the Constitution and the legal framework, shall not be enforced. Since the political eligibility test fits well in the realm of the Indian Constitution and the legal framework, it shall not violate the provisions of the International laws.

It passes the “reasonable differentia” test under Article 14 of the constitution which shows that the policy shall deem fit under the term “without unreasonable restriction” used in Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Chances of implementation of the political eligibility test in the Indian Political System

The implementation of the Political eligibility test will be one of the most important steps that need to be addressed. It shall depend on the will of the government that how much interest does it show in the implementation of such a policy in order to move towards proper governance. In India, the elections are regulated by the Constitutional autonomous body called “Election Commission Of India”.

The Election Commission of India holds good experience in conducting elections for a long long time. The liability of conducting the test shall be on the Election commission of India. On the district level, and the local level the executive officer shall be liable for conducting such a test. Another problem that persists is the requirement of the funds. The political eligibility test shall require a large part of the funds to conduct the political eligibility test. Since holding elections requires a large part of the finances. Data shows that approx 50,000 crores of rupees were spent in conducting the 2019 general elections. 

The political parties use millions of rupees for spreading their agendas. The elections are majorly conducted on the taxpayers’ money so the Election commission needs to use the method of checks and balances before elections. There is a need to monitor the bank transactions and the funds of all the political parties during the election campaign. In rural areas, many times unfair means are used for winning elections. 

So, before filing nomination the candidates shall be accessed through the Political Eligibility Test where a declaration shall be made from them about all account details and the funds they shall use in case if after passing the test they shall go-ahead for the nomination. In case, if a candidate is found to have indulged in corrupt practices and criminal activities he will be disqualified in the political eligibility test. So, after attacking the details of the accounts and funds investment there are high chances of investment of lower funds in the elections. 

The first one is due to the elimination of non-eligible candidates and the second the revealing of account details and funds in the declaration. The agencies of the Election Commission will keep an eye on the use of such funds.

The political eligibility test shall be held by constituting a committee of retired and highly experienced civil servants who have worked with the Election Commission of India. The fair manner of conditioning tests shall come up with better candidates who will work for the development of the nation.

Conclusion

The democratic system of government is perceived to have the best system of governance across the world, However, every system has some lacunas due to various reasons but no system is completely perfect. So, there is a need for changes to be brought from time to time so that the system could give the optimum results. Indian democracy has been affected by the rust of corruption in the political system and lack of good politicians. The Political Eligibility Test would be a better measure to eliminate such lacunas and bring fresh eligible faces who are really devoted to serving their nations. 

The PET has been framed in such a way that it shall cross-check the willing candidates in every aspect from criminal background to leadership skill. This policy also fits reasonably on the constitutional and legal grounds. The government needs to implement this policy so that it can move the democratic system from ineffective to effective governance henceforth eliminating the existing lacunas. This policy will surely come up with flying colours and improve the ranking of India in the democratic index from “Flawed democracy” to “Full democracy”.

References

• Dora Babu Tadepalli, Assistant Professor of Social Sciences, Group of Adult Education, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Voting percentage flies in the face of literacy rates.http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/voting-percentage-flies-in-the-face-of-literacy-rates/464862/
• https://esaurabhchopra.blogspot.com/2012/05/public-international-law-exam.html

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