Taking care

If the Election Commission has its way and elections are held only after July, Atal Behari Vajpayee will have the distinction of heading a caretaker8217; government for the longest span ever. Its laid-back approach can be attributed to the constitutional position which mandates that a new House should be constituted within six months of the last session of Parliament. This gives the commission enough time to hold the polls in a leisurely manner after sewing up all the loose ends in the electoral system. But it also means that a caretaker government will preside over the destiny of a nation for that long, a prospect that is fraught with disastrous consequences. As has been pointed out in these columns earlier, the term caretaker8217; does not figure anywhere in the Constitution. Thus, whatever be the prefix attached to the Vajpayee government, it is as competent as any other government to take decisions. In fact, in any situation where the nation8217;s interests are at stake, the government is duty bound to makepolicies and ensure that they are implemented. Despite this being the constitutional position, democratic norms evolved over the years prohibit a caretaker government from taking major policy decisions.

The moral injunctions against a caretaker government are premised on the fact that it is not answerable to Parliament. After all, power without responsibility is not a welcome proposition. However valid this argument may be, it has become somewhat irrelevant given the fact that the last few years have witnessed the phenomenon of the caretaker8217; government becoming something of a fixture in the country8217;s polity. The problem first arose when Charan Singh remained a caretaker prime minister for a few months after the Congress withdrew its support. It was treated as a loathsome aberration. But in the last few years there has been a series of caretakers8217; holding power for varying periods. There is no certainty that Vajpayee will be the last such prime minister. Thus it is time to have another look at the conceptof the caretaker government8217; with a view to redefining it so that governance is not put on hold during the period it is in charge. How interdependent national progress and capital growth are with political stability can be gauged from reports that the stock markets lost a mind-boggling Rs 70,000 crore since the government was rocked by the lady from Poes Garden. Fears that if a proper government is not in place soon it will have a deleterious impact on foreign investment are too real to be ignored.

If it is decided that a snap poll is not possible, the next best option is to redefine the concept of caretaker8217; so that the long-term interests of the nation do not suffer. The manner in which the Finance Bills and the Railway budget were passed in a special session of Parliament shows in extraordinary situations extraordinary steps can indeed be taken. Such a situation exists now when the nation is slated to have possibly the longest caretaker8217; government in place. When there is so much concern over howputting decisions on hold will harm the interests of the nation, it should not be difficult for mainstream political parties to sit together and work out a system that ensures that the caretaker8217; government is not unduly hamstrung in its functioning. Whether the President takes the initiative in this regard or not, the welfare of the nation demands that this issue be addressed urgently.