Why I dont agree with AAPs regressive candidate selection process Lok Sabha today is far more representative of the Indian people than it was fifty years ago. The socioeconomic profile of members of the Lok Sabha since 1952 shows the dramatic changes that have taken place in regard to the empowerment of many disadvantaged groups. For example, in the First Lok Sabha, 51 per cent of the members were lawyers, doctors, journalists and writers. In fact, lawyers occupied one-third of the seats in the House. The representation of these professionals has fallen to 14.65 per cent in the Twelfth Lok Sabha. Similarly, traders and industrialists who had 12 per cent representation in the First Lok Sabha were down to just 2.25 per cent. On the other hand, though India is almost wholly an agrarian society, agriculturists had just 22.5 per cent of the seats in the First Lok Sabha. Their share in political power rose over the years and touched a respectable 49 per cent in the Twelfth Lok Sabha.12 (Annexure II and III). These figures reveal the process of occupational democratisation of the Lok Sabha that has been on and this has in to large extent equalised opportunity for political representation and power. What is true of the professions is also true of the castes. Though the Lok Sabha Secretariat does not maintain records on the caste composition of the House, the growing assertiveness of the intermediate castes and Dalits, and the increasing presence of their representatives in Parliament is all too obvious.There is a marked improvement in the educational qualifications of MPs, and many of them come from families, who are setting their first exposure to university education
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 04:54:53 +0000
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