DEMOCRACY is more a way of life than a form of government. defined by Abraham Lincon as the government of the people, by the people and for the people, it’s a form of government in which the sovereign power is in the hands of the people. They exercise either directly or indirectly through their representatives. In a democratic form of government adopted in India, each citizen, irrespective of caste, creed, sex or religion gets full opportunity for expressing his/her choice at election time. He is assured - both social and economic justice.

          For India, democratic ideals are not new. It is as old as India - a concept which has been carried from century to century, till the constitution of India documented it. The archaeological discoveries of Cholas, Cheras and Pandiyan regimes in south India have revealed that democracy and its sprit were both practiced in equal measure. As enunciated by Uttaramerur inscriptions, voting and the system of elections were also practiced.

Today India is the largest democracy in the world with a population of over 130 crores. However, it lags behind many respects. It is a crying shame that nearly 30 percent of our people are still living in below poverty line (BPL) even after more than five decades of independence. There must be something wrong in our democratic system where the majority of the electorate wielding real power live and die in abject poverty. The hungry man is periodically asked to choose between the ballot and his daily bread; given a choice, he would any day prefer the latter. We may claim from rooftops that the country has achieved stupendous progress in agriculture and industrial spheres, but the fruits of this progress have been monopolized by only a handful. It’s a fact that, with each passing year, the rich are becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer. This lopsided distribution of wealth of wealth has generated cynicism among the people – a portent signal poses a threat to our democracy.

          In spite of conflicting and diverse nature of the interpretation, certain parameters have come to be associated with a truly democratic society. These includes universal adult franchise, free and fair periodic elections, multi-party system, independence of press and judiciary, fundamental rights of people, freedom of dissent, tolerant of opposition etc.

          India today proudly proclaims its position as one of the foremost democratic nations of the world. India after independence had decided to adopt the parliamentary system of government. The founding fathers, truly inspired by egalitarian zeal, had ensured universal adult franchise without any discrimination. India had its first general elections in 1952 and the democratic processes have been vigorously functioning over since.

          There are other cardinal facts that make democracy in India strong. The parliament represents people. The election commission of India is a powerful constitutional body to conduct free and fair election. The accountability of the parliament maintaining cultural identity of minorities, the fundamental right as a whole, independent judiciary, secularism etc. are known the basic features of the constitution. These tenets of basic structures are supposed to be strong cementing force of the Indian democracy and they do mean that the people of India are wedded to democratic way of living in harmony.

          India has got a multi-party-political system. Political parties, big or small contest elections to the state legislative assemblies and parliament. During the last few years, the single party rule has almost come to an end. This may be due to the springing up of many regional political parties and also that people have become more and more politically conscious. Coalition government with minimum programs can have a large representative spectrum and also that the reins of power are not with the absolute grip of one political party

          Now more than half a century of independence most of the citizens are wondering as to what extend the solemn promises enshrined in the constitution have been kept and in which direction our democracy is going

          There are people who feel that the system has not been successful in a big way and the very aims of democracy have not been achieved. The charges made are that a very large number of peoples are illiterate. Nearly about 26 percentage of the people are below poverty line. There is a wide gap between rich and poor. Large number of people have no gainful employment. There is no limit to such assertions. They just show that how mixed up their expectations are with the success of the democratic system. There is illiteracy in many Afro-Asian and Latin American countries which have either military governments, dictatorships or are totalitarian states.

          The reasons are not far to seek. The liberal humanistic principles which can result in the establishment of a just and human society have been subjected to criminal negligence. The process of election has become suspect. It has been marred by the allegations of rigging, booth capturing and bogus voting. Communalism, casteism, religious fundamentalism and inter-caste tensions have been carefully cultivated by the get rich quick politicians and false democrats. They have created an environment in which the future of democracy has become bleak. This is a direct fallout of the criminalization of politics and politicization of crime

          The role of opposition is crucial in successful working of democracy. Today the constructive opposition, which is one of the essential democratic elements, has withered. multiparty political system has become more a bane than boon. For the proper functioning of democracy, a healthy opposition is needed. Besides that, is needed educated electorate, independent judiciary, free press and above all, unimpeachable moral integrity. Does the Indian democracy possess all these? The answer, unfortunately, is negative

          But, to our credit, it can be said that we have had seventeenth general elections so far and have had a fairly representative government as well as viable opposition. Democratic values enshrined in our constitution, are our beacon light and our leaders follow them to the best of their ability within the given constraints of economic, ethnic, religious and cultural diversity as well as their political considerations. In this sense, the future of democracy in India is very bright

          It is however, a crying shame that we still fight over silly things. In a secular country, with no official religion, communalism raises its hydra head time and again with the result that people lose all sense of values. A new dimension has recently been added to the destabilization process of world’s biggest democracy in the form of terrorism, which has now entered the hi-tech era. This must be stopped forthwith and all our energies be channelized towards nation building activities. We must gear ourself to work for the amelioration of the poor.