The 16th Lok Sabha
Dear Reader,
Neither the Parliament nor any Legislative Assembly is in session at the moment so I will be writing about 2 Acts passed and one Bill that has lapsed during the 16th Lok Sabha.
The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial And Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016
Leftist Analysis
This Act was passed to enable the Government of India to deliver financial and other subsidies, benefits and services to citizens in need of them. These are welfare schemes.
Welfare schemes are a key feature of leftist economic policies because they give the impoverished sections of the society access to pensions, rations, healthcare and education. They are a key feature of socialism.
Therefore we can say that this Act supports leftist economic policies.
Rightist Analysis
The Aadhaar Number is an identification number that must be used in order to use these government welfare schemes. Those who do not have it cannot access them.
Welfare schemes are not supported by the right-wing economic ideology. Right-wing economics supports capitalism. Rightists believe that poor people should not seek economic assistance from the government. They claim that these schemes are often misused by people who don’t need them.
This Act prevents the wrong people from using these schemes. It therefore addresses the right-wing criticism of welfare schemes.
Chapter VII of the Act provides for penalties of various offences committed with the Aadhaar system. This includes identity theft and fraud.
This satisfies the conservative desire for protecting the security of the citizens.
Authoritarian Analysis
The Aadhaar card is mandatory for every resident of India as it is a proof of residence. It is a personal identification that is valid for any government service. It must be used for opening bank accounts and booking tickets for train or air travel.
The collection of demographic and biometric information of all residents in India gives the government the power to monitor all of them. It helps the government keep a record of everyone, incase anyone of them needs to be viewed more closely for any suspicious activity. This satisfies the authoritarian goal of increasing the power of the state in order to protect the citizens.
Libertarian Analysis
This Act provides various safeguards to prevent the government from misusing this information. Which is the primary goal of libertarianism, to limit the power of the government in order to protect the liberty of the citizens.
Section 11 of the Act establishes the Unique Identification Authority of India which is a body created by the Central Government that is responsible for the implementation of this Act. This is an autonomous body which the government has no administrative control over. This prevents the government from having direct access to the private information of the citizens.
Sections 28 to 33 of the Act give the conditions under which information can be shared. Section 29 (1) states that biometric information cannot be shared with anyone. However other sections allow demographic information of the Aadhaar number holder to be shared as long as it is done so in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
The fact that the Act goes to great lengths to protect the information of the people satisfies one more element of libertarianism. The protection of privacy.
Centrist Analysis
This Act satisfies the leftist and authoritarian ideologies more than the rightist and libertarian ideologies more.
However the fact that it can be viewed favourably from each side (albeit to different degrees) shows that it is a fairly centrist legislation.
Personal Analysis
I think that this Act is necessary to make sure that government schemes reach their intended targets. It also gives every citizen his or her own ID which can be used throughout the country. This has reduced the need for citizens to carry multiple forms of ID on them.
I am a right-wing libertarian and so I oppose welfare schemes in general. However the Indian government is obligated to promote such schemes as per the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Indian Constitution. And so I cannot condemn the government for creating such schemes. And the fact that this legislation prevents the misuse of such schemes at least allays my right-wing fears of government wastefulness.
As a libertarian although this Act does give the government more power there are enough safeguards to prevent the government from misusing this power. And the fact that the Supreme Court has held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right gives me confidence that this Act will not be amended in order to violate the privacy of the citizens.
The Indian Institutes of Management Act of 2017.
Leftist Analysis
This Act allows Indian Institutes of Management to be named as National Institutions. This allows them to give post graduate degrees and Doctorates.
The Left believe that the government should actively promote educational institutions so this satisfies that goal.
Rightist Analysis
By making them National Institutions this Act gives the IIMs more autonomy.
The Right do not believe that the government should be involved in education. They believe that schools, colleges and universities should be owned by private individuals.
Therefore this Act does not satisfy any of the right — wing goals as it keeps these institutions under government control.
Authoritarian Analysis
The Authoritarians believe that schools, colleges and universities should not only be promoted by the government but also owned, administered and controlled by the government.
By making the IIMs National Institutes the Act gives them more autonomy. However the government still has some influence over their activities.
Therefore this Act is only slightly authoritarian.
Libertarian Analysis
The Libertarians believe that educational institutions should not only be not promoted by the government but should neither be owned, administered or controlled by it either.
By increasing the autonomy of these institutes it reduces the power that the government has over them although it does not eliminate the government’s power over them as they remain public institutions.
Therefore this Act is highly libertarian but not completely.
Centrist Analysis
This Act empowers the government to promote education by giving more autonomy to the IIMs without removing government control from them entirely. Therefore we can say that the Act is left-libertarian and slightly authoritarian. It does not satisfy any right — wing position.
Personal Analysis
I am pleased that the IIMs have been given more autonomy. Although I am a right-winger I do believe that the government should be involved in education because some people cannot afford private education.
Therefore I believe that this Act is necessary.
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2019
Leftist Analysis
The left wing view of criminal punishment is supportive of the reformative theory. That if the criminal is given educational and financial assistance he can be reformed into a productive member of society. This is because leftists give more importance to mercy than justice.
This Act does not promote this theory at all. It punishes the criminal quite mercilessly. Therefore it does not satisfy the leftist ideology.
Rightist Analysis
The right — wing view of criminal punishment is supportive of the retributive theory. That the criminal is fundamentally morally flawed and cannot be reformed and must be punished to satisfy the desire for vengeance in the society. This is because rightists give more importance to justice than mercy.
This Act enhances the punishment given to child sex offenders. However it does not harm the criminal but merely extends the length of his imprisonment. Therefore it cannot be seen to be punitive in nature.
Authoritarian Analysis
The authoritarian view of criminal punishment is supportive of the deterrent and preventive theories. That the criminal must be punished to deter others from committing the same crime and to prevent the criminal from repeating the crime.
This Act is an amendment of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012. It amends Section 4 of the Act to increase the length of imprisonment for child sex offenders from 7 years to 20 years at the least and to life imprisonment at the greatest.
This enhanced punishment both deters and prevents crime. Therefore it satisfies the authoritarian goal of criminal punishment.
Libertarian Analysis
The libertarian view of criminal punishment is supportive of the deterrent theory. It believes that the criminal should be punished to deter others from committing the same offence, but not in a manner that violates any of his civil rights.
This Act punishes the offender with rigorous punishment. It enhances the punishment which deters other criminals. However it also increases the power of the government.
Therefore we can say that this Act is slightly libertarian.
Centrist Analysis
This Act does not satisfy the left or right wing ideologies but does satisfy the authoritarian and libertarian ideologies, to a greater and lesser extent respectively. Therefore we can say that this Bill is mainly authoritarian in nature but libertarian enough to be slightly centrist.
Personal Analysis
I appreciate the Government for introducing this Bill. I believe that the punishment for sexual offences against children needs to be enhanced.
When it comes to crime I believe that each of the 4 ideologies have good theories of punishment. However I don’t believe any theory is universally applicable.
For this specific offence I support the rightist authoritarian viewpoint. I believe that such criminals should be given the death penalty or life imprisonment and no lesser punishment to satisfy the retributive and deterrent and preventive theories of punishment.
This is my analysis of these legislations.
Thank you for reading
