We must jump in before laws are made

State, Market, Society

Once every few months, a large group of people descends on New Delhi or one of the state capitals to protest a recently passed law. In addition to what they say to the government, they also try to rally public support. And another set of people takes the legal route, to try and stop new legislation through the courts. Why don’t these citizens do more to be heard before the laws they don’t like are passed? Why do we hear about these issues after the fact, in so many cases?

There are several reasons for this. The bulk of the problem stems from the fact that governments usually do not let the public know much about upcoming legislation. The first time people hear of the government’s intent to pass any law is when it is introduced in the Assembly or Parliament. As a result, there is no opportunity to respond to what is being proposed. In fact, anyone who wishes to say anything usually has to scramble, because most bills are passed on the day they are introduced, or the next day.

There is a simple solution. Whenever a new bill is introduced, there should be a minimum period for public input on the proposed legislation. During this time, individuals, interest groups and institutions should be able to scrutinise the bill and submit formal representations to the legislature. In fact, such a waiting period could be used even while making administrative decisions. That will ensure that there is a lot less angst or opposition to any step after it is taken.

Why isn’t this done? Why are voters largely in the dark about what their elected representatives are about to do? In most cases, the answer is a disappointing one. Our netas don’t want us to get too close to their ‘governance’. They would also prefer not to be questioned by the media. Instead, they operate on the principle that once they have been elected, voters should leave it to them to do as they choose, and trust them unquestioningly. This reduces everything in representative democracy to nothing more than pressing a button on election day.

The political leaders like it this way. It suits them. And if urban voters find it difficult to track what’s being done in our name, it’s considerably harder for citizens in rural areas. And although the media regularly reports on what happens in the elected Houses of the people, that’s not enough to know what happens before bills are introduced. And MLAs and MPs are usually not asked about their individual votes. Instead, it’s all about what the political party, or rather their ‘high command’, decides. That’s too distant for most people to engage with.

But at least some of this can be changed and some citizens’ groups are taking a more active interest in knowing and even steering the work of legislatures and governments. We saw this in the way the BMLTA Act was passed, to create an integrated land transport authority for Bengaluru. More than the government, this law was championed by advocates of public transport and sustainable mobility. They took it upon themselves to propose the legislation, and even wrote parts of it. That was followed by months of rallying sections of the public, and also nudging the government to introduce the bill.

That’s rare, and not how most legislation comes to our attention. But it’s an example of what can be done. We need to remember that a lot of laws do not originate from the lawmakers. Behind every new law are those interested in seeing it passed. They’re finding ways of working the system to get what they want. And many civil society organisations too have had such successes. NREGA, the Right to Information Act, women’s reservation -- these things saw the light of day because of champions outside the legislatures. We should learn from those.

In Bengaluru, a new wave of citizen movements is starting to form. Usually, such groups focus on civic challenges in their localities, but larger interventions are also possible. We saw, for example, that the government and BBMP recently committed to some steps for a climate action plan for the city over many years. Clearly, it is possible for people outside the government to steer what happens in it. In fact, a lot of people have been doing it -- like lobbyists and businesses. We could do that, too.