“Indian democracy is on the verge of collapse due to dynastic politics and the use of money and muscle power in elections,” Karnataka High Court Acting Chief Justice K Sreedhar Rao said.
Delivering a talk on ‘Ills of Democracy and Indian Economy’ on Tuesday, he spoke strongly against the unlimited terms of government for politicians and said that India needs to follow the American way and institute one limited term for each politician.
“If we limit a person from getting elected multiple times, criminalisation and political corruption will end. Any person with quality must have a chance. Elections in India today are hopeless,” Justice Rao said.
He also spoke out against reservation in constituencies based on caste and suggested implementation of the rotation system which is currently being employed in local bodies.
Speaking about the Lokpal Bill, Justice Rao observed the passing of a bill in Parliament only would not suffice and a constitutional National Crime Investigation Agency is the need of the hour instead of a statutory body like the CBI which is government-controlled.
“Only an independent constitutional body can fight corruption in the government and not a statutory one like the CBI,” he said.
Justice Rao lashed out at the banking and lending policy and termed it ‘stupid’ as it supports depositors who want to play safe and ruined entrepreneurs who are willing to take risk.
“While depositors are being paid high interest, small scale industries are charged high interest in repayment. This is a sort of punishment for entrepreneurs,” he said. He also rubbished the Indian wage policy saying it gives more importance to administrative officers than hard labour. He suggested to start a labour bank in every taluk and fix the rates for employing labour.