Question

Identify the challenges to democracy in the following descriptions. Also suggest policy/institutional mechanism to deepen democracy in the given situations:
• Following a High Court directive a temple in Orissa that had separate entry doors for dalits and non-dalits allowed entry for all from the same door.
• A large number of farmers are committing suicide in different states of India.
• Following allegation of killing of three civilians in Gandwara in a fake encounter by Jammu and Kashmir police, an enquiry has been ordered.

Answer 1

The challenge to democracy in the first statement is to provide equal status to all its citizens in spite of their caste.
The challenge to democracy in the second instance is providing farmers with subsidies which will help them to earn profits and have a satisfactory level of livelihood.
The challenge to democracy is to preserve the people’s trust in government arms like the police.