UPSC Mains 2013 GS Paper 2 Q10: model answer

When the Bharatiya Kisan Union under Mahendra Singh Tikait camped on Delhi's Boat Club lawns in 1988, half a million farmers won concessions without contesting a single seat. That is the informal face of politics: influence without office.

Structure

• Business: FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM.
• Trade unions: INTUC, AITUC, BMS, CITU, most linked to parties.
• Peasant groups: BKU, All India Kisan Sabha, Shetkari Sanghatana.
• Professional bodies: IMA, Bar Councils.
• Caste, religious, linguistic and student groups; and anomic movements that rise suddenly, like India Against Corruption (2011).

Functioning

• Lobbying ministries and parliamentary committees with memoranda and data.
• Pre-budget consultations, which business chambers use expertly.
• Agitations, bandhs and dharnas.
• Litigation and PILs.
• Media campaigns and, now, hashtags.

Strengths

They carry information to the state, give voice to interests that parties ignore and keep governments alert between elections.

Weaknesses

• Many are party appendages, so they mobilise for the party, not the member.
• Uneven power: organised business outweighs unorganised workers.
• Violent methods and short-lived causes.
• Little transparency on funding; India has no lobbying law.

Assessment

Pressure groups deepen democracy when they are autonomous and transparent. A lobbying disclosure register and open consultation on draft laws would bring the informal face into daylight. Until then, the loudest voice, not the most just one, will usually win the ear of the ministry.