Debutant Aam Aadmi Party's victory in the recent Delhi Assembly elections has set a good example of the strength of democracy in India, said Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Friday.
Addressing the keynote session of a jam-packed session at the opening day of the seventh edition of Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), Dr Sen said the ice has been broken for the party, even though it had a long way to go.
"They have a long way to go, but the ice has been broken and the dire need to witness some administrative reforms, can't be denied," added the economist who has been vocal about his criticism for Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Praising the new party, which shook the politics of the country, Dr Sen said it sent an example of how grassroots problems could be rightly raised as electoral issues.
"Democracy is an important part of our country, we have to put it to apt use. The power of democracy has skilfully been used recently by Aam Aadmi Party," he said.
The Nobel laureate said the current need of the government was to introspect on certain issues. "Do subsidies waste economic resources? What is 'fiscal responsibility' of any government? Will subsidising diesel, electricity, food and offering low-cost cooking gas among others help country grow both democratically and economically? We really need to think deeply on it," he said.
He advocated the smart use of available resources by the people of the country to help build a healthy environment to sustain economic growth.
Dr Sen, who has been vocal on a number of contemporary issues used the platform to voice his criticism of the recent Supreme Court judgment which criminalised homosexuality. "Article 377 of the penal code was turned down by the court. The apex court 'reversed a reversal' and made a strictly private behaviour, a public crime. Is it democratic?" asked Dr Sen.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/amartya-sen-says-aam-aadmi-party-win-good-for-democracy/1/338324.html
source - India today
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