By Fazal B Khan

After India gained Independence and became a republic, various landmark legislations have been passed, which made impact on social reforms, governance, on establishing democracy on firm footing, on bringing about land reforms, on redrawing political map, on alleviation of poverty, and rooting out corruption from public life etc.  It makes for a good academic reading as to the impact each of these legislations had on the polity, or on the aspect of political and social life covered by it.

The recently passed Lokpal Bill is a landmark law which came through 50 years after it was initiated. While some of such landmark laws were passed quickly to meet the needs some of such laws took decades to come through. Here is a brief look.

 Establishing Democracy

On gaining Independence our immediate task, besides making and adopting the Constitution was to have a system of holding elections to make a beginning of democracy, as per the constitutional provisions. Setting up the Election Commission of India in January, 1950 and passing of the two Acts with similar names viz. the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951 were done expeditiously.

The Act of 1950 is ‘an Act to provide for the allocation of seats in, and the delimitation of constituencies for the purpose of election to, the House of People and the Legislatures of the States, the qualifications of voters at such elections, the preparation of electoral rolls, the manner of filling seats in the Council of States to be filled by representatives of Union Territories, and matters connected therewith’.

The Act of 1951 is ‘an Act to provide for the conduct of elections of the Houses of Parliament and to the House of Houses of the Legislature of each State, the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those Houses, the corrupt practices and other offences at or in connection with such elections and the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with such elections’.

 

Agrarian Reforms

 

The Constitution (First) Amendment Act,1951.

During the freedom movement promises were made for bringing about agrarian reforms by dismantling zamindari system. After Independence, certain special provisions were to be made for advancement of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Similarly needs for some reasonable restrictions on the freedoms guaranteed under Article 19 were felt. In order to pursue these agendas of social reform, in all 13 amendments were made in the Constitution and two new articles 31A and 31 B and IXth Schedule were added to the Constitution by this Amendment Act. The laws passed by the State Governments dealing with land reforms and abolition of zamindari system, were included in this Schedule to protect them from judicial scrutiny. Today there are as many as 284 Acts of various States listed in the Ninth Schedule.

Equality and Dignity of Individual

Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955.

An evil of making differentiation on the ground of caste, birth had crept in the Indian society. Various reformers fought against this evil system. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar spearheaded the movements against this evil practice. The Constitution of India granted equality to all, irrespective of caste, creed, religion etc. After Independence it was necessary to end this inhuman practice and maintain dignity of the individual as a matter of fundamental right. As such the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 was passed by Parliament. The sub title of the Act said that it was an ‘Act to prescribe punishment for the (preaching and practice of “untouchability’) for the enforcement of any disability arising therefrom and for matters connected therewith.

Re-organization of States

At the time of Independence the whole of India consisted of the Provinces under the direct rule of the British India and the Princely States. In the Constituent Assembly a resolution was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru, recommending a redistribution of the Provinces so as to make them ‘homogeneous units based on linguistic, cultural, administrative and economic considerations” as soon as the new Constitution is enforced. The States Re-organization Act, 1956 was passed in this regard. In pursuance of the same the Seventh Constitution (Amendment) Act was passed in the same year and the States in India were organized on linguistic basis.

Checking Political Defections

Indian democracy started functioning from the first general elections held in 1952. From the third general elections it was seen that political defections were on increase bringing about instability to the elected governments in the States. In 1968 a resolution was passed to constitute a committee go into the measures to check such defections. At times they were frequent. From 1969 up to 1986 several attempts were made to pass a law to check this practice. Ultimately, in 1986 the Constitution (Fifty Second Amendment) Act was passed and Schedule X was added to the Constitution, which governs defection.

Environment (Protection) Act.

It was seen that in setting up industries, dams, power plants etc. too much risks were taken without regard to the damage to the environment. Harm to the environment and forests became a matter of serious concern.  Several movements arose for protection of precious and fragile natural environment of rivers, forests and other natural habitats. The passing of the Environment (Protection) Act, in 1986 was a major legislation for protection of our natural environment.

Veil of Secrecy Pierced

Corruption in administration was a big evil. In many cases it was not possible to find it out as there was no accessibility to the record. In a tehsil of Rajasthan complaints of massive corruption were lodged. An organization – Mazdoor Kisan Sanghatana agitated against this for years. When, at last ,the record was made open in 1990 the complaints were found to be true. In 1975, the Supreme Court, in a landmark  judgment, observed that The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way. There were several other agitations for transparency. Ultimately several States passed the Right to Information Acts, However some or the other limitations were found in those Acts. It was the Right to Information Act, 2005 that established the right of public to have access to the record of public bodies. This Act proved to be a landmark in enabling the public to access the public record and was instrumental in bringing about transparency in administration.

Livelhood to the rural poor ensured

India lives in villages. This has been and still  is a truth. Millions of small and marginal farmers and agricultural workers find it hard to make both ends meet. Maharashtra had passed an Employment Guarantee Scheme. There was a dire need to provide some stability of livelihood to the millions of poor in villages in the country. The year 2005 witnessed passing of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundreds of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled work.

Food Security

Poverty in India has been so pervasive that it is glorified as ‘daridranarayan’. However in this age of human rights and welfare states, poverty has to be fought against and alleviated as a matter of social justice. Various schemes of poverty alleviation have been launched, but the magnitude of the problem and vulnerability of the poor is so big that some radical decision was needed, which came in the form of passing of the National Food Security Act, 2013. This is ‘an Act to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Lokpal Bill

Sweden is a country credited with passing of Freedom of the Press Act (RTI like Act) in 1766 and was the first to use the concept of ombudsman, as early as in 1809, to safeguard the rights of citizens by establishing a supervisory agency independent of the executive in modern history. Several countries followed suit. The idea of a Lokpal (an ombudsman) was first mooted in 1963 when at the time of premiership of Jawaharlal Nehru; Mr. L.M. Singhvi had initiated a debate in Parliament to form a similar institution. It took 50 years, several attempts and mass agitation when the idea saw the light of day, as both the Houses of Parliament passed the bill, and much sought after  LOKPAL became a reality on the first day of the year 2014. This new Act is expected to put an end to the corruption in the country, as a watchful eye of the powerful body will deter them from doing so, and if any instance of corruption is seen it is expected to be acted upon properly.

(The above 10 laws are of universal application in India. The Hindu Marriage Act, the Hindu Succession Act, and the Special Marriages Act are also important laws that brought reforms)

(The author is retd. Dy. Secretary, Urban Development Department

and Ex- Magistrate)