The commissions we really need

When we hear the word ‘commission’ these days, we mostly associate it with kickbacks from contractors who carry out public works. But there is another thought that is also important. A large chunk of the problems in the country can be fixed by reforming a few Commissions.

1. Election Commission: Our election system is clearly letting through a lot of people who are unworthy of public office. The blame is mostly with the parties that give them tickets, but the EC could easily thwart most of them. Today, the Commission believes that merely holding elections free of violence is a big achievement. Not really. The paramilitary forces that provide security during polls do most of that. The Election Commissioners should rather be judged by the core purpose of holding polls -- enabling all people to easily make informed choices.

All, informed, easily -- these are the key words. The Commission should be reformed to include specific mandates -- increase voter enrollment, improve the accuracy of voter records, create a single national database for voters, make it easier to vote in elections, help the public know more about the candidates and their parties and manifestos, increase the turnout in elections, and speed up counting of votes so that it’s complete within an hour after polling ends.

The EC’s jurisdiction should also extend to local elections. Today, state governments (and the Centre, in the case of Delhi) delay local polls and choose to directly run municipal bodies, sometimes for long periods. Bengaluru is a prime example, going without a BBMP council often, including now. The scheduling of local polls, and delimitation for them, is rarely completed on time. With the EC in control, this can be fixed.

2. National Finance Commission: This body does a bunch of things, but it is best known for fixing the transfers of money from richer states to poorer ones. That’s good, but there has been a problem with it all along -- this money is not clearly translating into better development in the poor states. If anything, the gap between rich and poor states is growing.

The NFC should come up with a mechanism to ensure that redistributed funds from the richer states are only spent on education, healthcare, transparency in government, and protection of rights in recipient states. Also, the contribution of the donor states should be acknowledged in these initiatives. And the formula for calculating the transfers should also include a gradual but time-bound end to it. Helping others help themselves should end with them helping themselves.

3. The Competition Commission: The CCI has twin acts to perform -- to ensure that producers have a level competitive field, and that consumers, too, are protected. There is some progress on both, but also a glaring omission. Public sector undertakings are given a free pass, although they too run many entities providing the same services and goods as the private sector -- banks, housing, power and water supply, transport, telecoms, health facilities, mining, airports, etc.

The CCI’s responsibility to consumers cannot depend on the shareholding of producers. It should regulate PSUs, especially those that include some non-government shareholders too, along the same lines as private sector ones. If the State wants to be a market player in any sector, it must be treated like any other participant. The way things are now, the ministries are the prime movers of the PSUs, and in the process, the line between promoter and regulator is erased.

4. Information Commission: For all the song and dance over the years about making government more transparent, it remains largely a black box. Voluntary disclosures of information are rare, and even querying departments’ data and information online is difficult in most cases. The ICs have not moved the needle much on this, and largely that is because they have not tried hard enough.

The Information Commissions at the Centre and in the states are led almost entirely by ex-bureaucrats. Despite the law and reminders from the Supreme Court, the appointments have not become more broadbased. This is a recipe for the status quo. If we want things to change, we have to bring in people who advocate that and will advance it if empowered.

There are a few other things – the UGC should be shut down, the Judicial Commission should be as per the law originally passed by parliament, the Statistical Commission should be able to publish its reports independent of the government, and the work of municipalising rural areas into urban ones should be automatic. I will elaborate on these in future columns.