5. Challenges faced by Indian Democracy

• ✓ (a) political parties
• (b) courts
• (c) social organisations
• (d) none of the above

Answer: In a democracy political parties participate in elections and get political power.

• (a) Religious conflicts
• (b) Naxal activities
• ✓ (c) Deepening the roots of democracy
• (d) Importance to muscle power

Answer: The major challenge faced by all democratic nations in the world is Deepening the roots of democracy.

Answer: True

• Democracy is a continuous living process. Mere adoption of democracy does not bring democracy into practice automatically.
• Alert and conscious efforts are strictly required to sustain democracy, as it is necessary to understand threats to democracy in time and deal with them in a democratic manner.

Answer: False

Reason: In today’s left extremist (Naxal) movement, violence has increased and the importance of farmers’ and tribals’ problems has reduced.

Answer: True

• In India, the extent of corruption is said to be very high in the public sector, which reduces the government's working capacity.
• Specifically, corruption in the electoral process—such as bogus voting, bribing voters, and abducting voters—creates distrust.
• These malpractices directly reduce people's confidence and trust in the entire democratic process and governmental system.

• Left-extremism, also known as Naxalism, is a major problem in India.
• It originally began as an ideological movement to remove injustice against landless farmers and tribal people.
• However, over time, Naxalism has transformed into a violent struggle where the focus on the actual problems of farmers and tribal people has diminished.
• Today, left-extremist groups primarily rely on violent measures to oppose government policies, carry out attacks on police forces, and destabilize the democratic system.

• Corruption involves unethical and illegal practices, and its extent is said to be very high in the Indian public sector.
• It drastically reduces the government's working capacity at both the political and administrative levels.
• Corruption causes a delay in governmental work, poor public services and facilities, and leads to massive financial blunders.
• In the electoral process, it manifests as bogus voting, bribing, and abducting voters. This creates widespread dissatisfaction and makes people lose their confidence in the democratic system.

The following factors and efforts are required for the success of Indian democracy:

• Inclusion of Minorities: Though democracy runs by majority, minorities must be included in the decision-making process so that injustice is not done to marginal groups. Everyone's opinion should be considered important.
• Judicial Intervention: The Judiciary must continue making conscious efforts to make the political process transparent, notably by adopting strict measures to prevent the criminalisation of politics.
• Government & Social Initiatives: Successful democracy requires conscious efforts at the social and individual levels through projects like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and reserving 50% seats for women in local self-governing institutions.
• Increased Public Participation: Essential participation of people at all levels helps in shaping better public policies, particularly through interactions with those who are not in power.
• Implementation of Values: The values of equality, liberty, social justice, and secularism must be respected and practically implemented in the personal lives of responsible citizens.

The increased participation of criminals in the political process causes serious problems for the democratic system:

• Political parties sometimes give candidature to people having a criminal background or those facing criminal and corruption allegations.
• This practice significantly increases the role of money and muscle power in politics.
• It heavily compromises the integrity of elections and may also lead to severe violence during elections.

• The Judiciary in India is seen to be making conscious and continuous efforts to make the political process highly transparent.
• To actively prevent the criminalisation of politics, the judiciary has adopted strict measures.
• These measures include awarding strict punishment to criminals and explicitly prohibiting criminals from participating in the political process.