The root cause of corruption in India

Want the Indian society corruption-free?

Change the Constitution

Change the function of the government - from 'ruling' to 'serving'. The government should not regulate life. It should only facilitate. Curtail the powers of the government. Lift all controls. Corruption will vanish.

The Prime Minister while making the oath of his office swears to uphold the Constitution as by law established and to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India. There is no mention of rendering any service to the people. He should say, "I will be faithful to the people of India and devote myself to their service and well-being."

Immediately after being sworn in, his first act is to make another oath or affirmation. This time he pledges not to tell any body what he does or comes to know of as Minister. This is treachery. He should pledge, "I shall hide nothing from the people."

Let us re-write this Constitution. Let us reconstitute India into a People's Republic devoted to the welfare of its people. Let all powers and all rights be restored and reserved to the people and all duties to the government.

A Summary of the Proposed Amendments to the Constitution

1. Omit the fascist words like, 'sovereignty', 'integrity', 'unity' etc. from Preamble of the Constitution. In a democracy it is the people who are sovereign, not the State. Substitute these words with: 'to provide essential services and to secure dignified means of living to all citizens without discrimination', as the main aim of the Republic.

2. The Oath of Secrecy be replaced by an Oath of Transparency.

3. The breach of oath shall be a criminal offence.

4. Article 52  arrogantly reads: 'There shall be a President of India'. This shall be amended to read: 'The people of India may elect a person to serve as President of India'.

5. The terms of President shall be reduced from five to four years, of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies from five to three years and of Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council members from six to four and half years.

6.  All discretionary powers of Ministers shall be abolished.

7. The Area Development Fund of MPs, MLAs and Councilors etc. shall be abolished.

8. The elected representatives shall have no powers to fix and to enhance their own salaries, allowances and perks.

9. All reservations of seats and jobs based on birth shall be scrapped.

10. The so-called anti-defection laws make MPs and MLAs puppets in the hands of all-powerful High Commands of parties. The article authorizing these laws shall be repealed. 

11. Parliament's legislative powers to impose any restriction on the Fundamental Rights of citizens on any grounds what so ever shall be scrapped. Arts.13(4), 15(3) to (5), 16(3) to (5), 19(2) to (6), 22(3) to (7), and 28(2) shall be repealed.

12. The Residual Rights of the people shall be restored to them.

13. Any amendment to the Constitution enhancing the powers of the State and/or curtailing the rights of the people shall not be passed without people's consent. All amendments made to Art.368 since 1950 shall be repealed.

14. There shall be fixed an upper age limit for compulsory retirement of all public servants including ministers, MPs, MLAs, etc.

15. No MP, MLA etc shall be a member of the respective House for two consecutive terms and for four terms in his/her life. A person who has not served for at least one full term as panchayat sarpanch or a municipal counselor shall not be eligible to be an MLA. Similarly a person who has not served at least one full term as an MLA shall not be eligible to be an MP.

16. Article 51A imposing Fundamental Duties on citizens of India shall be repealed.

17. The State shall enforce a uniform civil code. There shall be no personal/private law.

18. There shall be complete separation between State and Religion. Religion is a private matter of citizens. The State shall not interfere, protect, promote or facilitate any practice of religious nature.

19. A state of the Indian Union should have the freedom to secede from the Union if an overwhelming majority of its inhabitants (say 67% of total electorate) through an authentic plebiscite express a desire to do so.

20. The Directive Principles of State Policy (Chapter IV) shall include the following additional directions to the State:

1. Territorial disputes with neighboring states, if remain unsettled in spite of protracted negotiations, shall  be settled in the spirit of give and take, failing which they shall be submitted to arbitration.

2. The state shall pursue policies that promote international peace and friendship among nations.

3. The state shall work for general disarmament of all nations and a world free of nuclear arms.

4. The state should willingly submit to international laws, abide by international conventions, treaties and UN Charter.

5. The state should generously participate in relief efforts whenever any part of the planet woefully suffers from natural or man made disaster or calamity.

6. The stream of Indian nation should willingly merge into the mighty river of mankind and the Indian State into the global village, VasudeivaKutumbhakam.

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