Enabling Social Rights Through Proactive Public Policy: An Academic Auditing of Education and Health Sectors in India
| Author | Sangita Dhal |
| Published date | 01 January 2016 |
| Date | 01 January 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120160106 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ENABLING
SOCIAL
RIGHTS
THROUGH
PROACTIVE
PUBLIC
POLICY:
AN
ACADEMIC
AUDITING
OF
EDUCATION
AND
HEALTH
SECTORS
IN
INDIA
SAN
GITA
DHAL
Socio-economic rights are enabling instruments
of
healthy
democratic practices
in
every liberal society, which lead
to
empowerment
of
people
in
general and the marginalised and
underprivileged sections
of
the society
in
particular. These
rights compliment corresponding political
and
legal rights
of
citizens and thereby create conditions
of
good living. The
founding fathers
of
the Indian Constitution had firm belief
in
providing these provisions
in
the form
of
well-intended
objectives to bring about socio-economic justice. However,
these rights were mostly enshrined
in
the Directive Principles
of
State Policy (DPSP)
in
Part-IV
of
the Indian Constitution,
which are
not
justiceable. Despite political will, socio-
economic rights could not find their due place
in
the category
of
justiceable rights because
of
the economic constraints
of
the post-colonial state. On the other hand, the emphasis
on
political and civil rights had its historical justification due
to the legacy
of
the anti-colonial movement. The priority
of
the newly born Indian nation was political democracy
for
all rather than socio-economic democracy, which was a
much more complex and gigantic task to be achieved. Hence
political rights were incorporated as fundamental rights
in
the Indian Constitution. It is observed that though Indian
democracy gathered momentum and strengthened its roots in
political terms, consequent socio-economic democracy could
not be achieved due to the subsequent political discourse
in
this country due to the perennial resource constraints and
economic handicaps
of
the post-colonial state. However,
things started moving in a positive direction in the last two
decades.
With
the change
in
approach towards development
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INDIAN
JOURNAL
OF
PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
VOL.
LXI/,
NO.
1,
JANUARY-MARCH
2016
and
redistribution
of
wealth, the neo-liberal policies
of
the state
in the globalisation era have adopted a new model
of
rights
-based approach
of
social inclusion
and
equitable distribution
of
the fruits
of
development.
It
is
in
this context that this article
critically examines the education
and
health policies
of
the
state within the framework
of
the national goal towards greater
socio-economic empowerment
of
all communities hitherto
marginalised
and
alienated
in
the development narratives
of
post-independence India.
HEALTH
AND
education are the two basic criteria
on
which every society
is
judged
and
accordingly placed on the ladder
of
human development
index. When
we
make a distinction between developed and underdeveloped
world,
we
basically
try
to figure
out
the levels
of
income and standard
of
life. However, the nature
of
social sector commitment
of
the state shows the
real developmental goals, which is manifested
by
the state's policy towards
education and health. Thus, one finds critical linkages between levels
of
development and quality
of
demographic character, which is defined in terms
of
quality oflife, education and health. These two are inseparable objectives
of
any economic discourse in
any
society. This article focuses
on
two
of
the government's flagship programmes ofNational Health Mission (NHM)
and Right
to
Education (RTE) by critically analysing the various schemes
and issues involved in the context
of
providing good quality education
and healthcare facilities.
An
attempt has also been made to delve into the
prospects and challenges
of
implementing these flagship programmes under
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) prescribed by the UNO.
The
development narratives in India since last 65 years have more
or
less focused on this idea and the Constitution
of
India since 1950 recognised
the
significance
of
education
as
an
enabler
and
a vital instrument for
socio-political empowerment besides its role in facilitating employability.
Education was seen as vital for both improving quality
of
life
of
people
and
as one
of
the
most
powerful instruments for reducing poverty
and
inequality
and
thereby ensuring sustainable economic development
of
the nation. Article 45 (Directive Principles
of
State Policy in
Part-N)
of
the Indian Constitution made the state morally bound to provide free and
compulsory education
to
all children up to the age
of
14 years. However, it
has been observed
over
a period
of
time that
we
seem to
be
more focused
towards quantitative aspects
of
economic growth rather than qualitative
aspects
of
development. As a result, after so many years
of
Independence,
India is still struggling to meet its targets
of
literacy and primary health
care. Inspite
of
steady decline in the mortality rates, the policy planners in
the 1950s and 1960s were hopeful to contain population growth and take
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