Reservation Policy

Reservation is a big issue in India. What is the basic objective of reservation, why necessity of reservation arises. I am strongly against current reservation policy. Generally many peoples who are talented do not get proper opportunity to go ahead and someone with less talent goes ahead. Reservation must be given only to those peoples who do not have proper infrastructure & financial incapable to use their talent for betterment of society. Some big officers who are from reservation quota are are able to arrange good facilities for their wards but still they get reservation which is really injustice to the talented and needy peoples.

Reservation must be given to poor and talented peoples, It should not be on the basis of caste & religion. Caste and religion divides the society which leads to tension between different communities and we know about the communal riots in India in last 2-3 decades.

To fight against the reservation Medical students stand and started their protest but no political party came in support of them and neither any NGO, individuals, students from other streams came to support them.

The main point is absence of political support to these protesting students which clearly present the aims & objective of political parties. All political leaders and parties are just fighting to gain power, acquire money for themselves. They don't think about society and nation as claimed by them and they draw their manifesto to gain more and more votes.

I think current reservation policy must be stopped immediately and a national reservation policy must be drawn on the observation given by representatives from every section of society. I think we must invite some international experts for the same who do not belongs to India.

Political Corruption

We all want clean image, honest political leaders who can lead our country but as you know it is very hard because honest and clean peoples do not have the money for campaign and to distribute money to voters. Now a days voters make a team on the basis of their caste, community, religion etc. and put demands in front of candidates. Only those candidates who have the big chunk of money (money which earned through wrong means) with them can fulfill the wishes of these types of voters and later after getting victory these candidates work to get back their money which is paid by all voters(common man) in form of taxes. The money required for campaigning in a lok sabha constituency is minimal one crore although as per election commission norms it is only few lakhs rupees. If a candidate puts one crore rupees in election and also provide his time then after victory he will aim is to recover this one crore rupees plus the cost of time which is invested. Lets take another example when someone have worked for a candidate during his campaign, he is called worker, the worker may be giving his time or his time & money or time, money, contacts etc. After victory of candidate he ask the candidate to give him his part of slice by putting his men on government jobs or giving admission to his known in educational institutes or favour him awarding government tenders/contracts and the leader due to under obligation have to fulfil this thing and also to recover his own invested money. So the big questions is who is behind the corruption in politics.

 

I request all the voters to do voting without any greed and favour. Give your vote to the candidate who is clean and honest. Please don't vote on the basis of caste/religion it will lead to division in society.

 

Democracy Index: India stands 35th out of 167

 This news source is heavily sourced form Wikipedia and Rediff news portal.

India is not a full democracy but a flawed one, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2008 Democracy index. The conclusion is drawn on the basis of the country's performance on 60 indicators which measure electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture.

The Democracy index ranks India 35th out of 167 countries, among other nations considered 'flawed democracies' including Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil.

Pakistan ranks at 108 out of 167.

The good news is that with an overall score of 7.8 out of 10, India is close to the category of 'full democracy' nations.

India's scores take a beating in the category of political participation and political culture. The index also points out that "unwieldy and sometimes uncooperative coalitions" often hinder economic reforms. Though government functioning scores decently, corruption and lack of government accountability drags down the score in this category. Hence, "uncooperative coalitions "dragged India down in this ranking! (That is why I say that bar must be raised for regional parties for a national participation otherwise they will continue to play spoil-sport!)

The Economist has in a study examined the state of democracy in 167 countries and attempted to quantify this with an Economist Intelligence Unit Index of Democracy which focused on five general categories; electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture.

The countries are categorized into:

1. Full democracies—scores of 8-10.
   
2. Flawed democracies—scores of 6 to 7.9.
   
3. Hybrid regimes—scores of 4 to 5.9.
   
4. Authoritarian regimes—scores below 4.
   

Sweden scored a total of 9.88 on a scale from zero to ten, which was the highest result, while North Korea scored the lowest with 0.86.

According to Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index 2008:

# 1: Sweden

# 2: Norway

# 3: Iceland

# 4: Netherlands (Holland)

# 10: Australia

# 17: Japan

# 18: USA

# 21: UK

# 108: Pakistan

# 161; Saudi Arabia

# 163: Burma (Myanmar)

Last (# 167): North Korea


Methodology

As described in the report, the democracy index is a kind of weighted average based on the answers of 60 questions, each one with either two or three permitted alternative answers. Most answers are "experts' assessments"; the report does not indicate what kinds of experts, nor their number, nor whether the experts are employees of The Economist or e.g. independent scholars, nor the nationalities of the experts. Some answers are provided by public opinion surveys from the respective countries.

1. "Whether national elections are free and fair";
   
2. "The security of voters";
   
3. "The influence of foreign powers on government";
   
4. "The capability of the civil servants to implement policies".
   

The details of this study can be found in this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index

Unite against Criminal Candidates: Do not Vote for them!

Of course we know (literate as well as illiterate voters) that goons are ruling us. Some of the  political leaders have criminal records (hence we can call them criminals), majority are tainted: tainted by corrupt practices, nepotism, and favoritism and inefficiency. The charges against many of these leaders have not come into light or have not been proven! But the major perception is that the current herd of political leaders- spanning across all political parties - are self-serving.

Thus it is clear that 2 major diseases that afflict our democracy are: Criminalization of politics and lack of accountability.

Thus does this slogan make any sense: Vote and choose a clean leader? This voice has become very prominent particularly in these elections, thanks to the technology (blogs, text messages, social networks, twitter, TV and radio, etc). When all political parties are giving tickets to goons in these upcoming Lok Sabha elections of 2009, who do we choose? The dilemma is understandable.

Let me express what I feel on this issue:

Decriminalization of politics requires policy changes. Elections are a few weeks away, so we can not count on this. Whereas the public, NGOs, eminent social leaders and activists must continue their struggle to press for the electoral reforms on a national basis, for the current Lok Sabha elections, here are my simple formulas:

1. Vote we must. Each vote counts. We get a holiday from the government on this day (hence it makes much more sense to at least perform this holy ritual!). Meanwhile have we secured our papers for the eligibility to cast a vote?

2. Best value of vote: Let us make a pledge: Whatever political party I like, my vote will go to the best candidate among the current contestants. That means, who is least corrupt, who has shown interest in public affairs, who has done the best development work (may not apply on a newcomer), who has ignited least of the caste and religious passions. 
Hence, I will vote not on the basis of caste, creed and religion.

3. Vote for national parties:  Without sounding like contradicting my point # 2, I would urge to vote for a national party. These are Parliamentary elections, not assembly elections. The regional parties by securing tits and bits of LS seats will play the role of middle-men and will 'hang' the nation! They will always look for opportunity to stall the central governments even on regional issues (now think, is that justified?). They will be on big sale during festivals like "No confidence motion). 

4. Vote one and motivate another to vote: Let it be a chain reaction.

 It is generally seen that illiterate voters come out in good numbers and vote en-bloc or en-masse! No grudges! At least they are voting. But educated voters need to come out and vote. 

As I wrote yesterday that in the survey by The Economist , India stands at 35th out of 167 and we are classified as a "Flawed Democracy" and not even a full democracy: thus much needs to be achieved in that direction! Our struggle is long, but first step first: let us focus on these elections: try to choose the best lot!

# Cast your vote: each vote counts!
# Motivate others to vote. Wake them on the voting day!

# Let law-breakers not become law-makers!

Pilibhit Drama

The comments by Varun Gandhi in a public election meeting invoked NSA ( National Security Act) against him. Now he is behind bars at Etah Jail in Uttar Pradesh.If we see teh scenario from starting it raises so many questions in my mind which are as follows :-

- First One is that District Administration acting on behalf of the central powers who might want to play a similar game as happened in Royal family of Nepal few years ago means to damage/end the carrier of Varun Gandhi.

- Secondly does history is repeating itself, as in the case of Mr. Sanjay Gandhi S/o Late Shri Indira Gandhi, Ex-Prime Minister of India, When Sanjay Gandhi publicly stands against the wrong policies & decision (according to him).

- It may be also possible that by highlight the issue BJP wants to attract more and more Hindu votes in view of its failures in construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

-May be media is highlight the issue more than required and taking this oppourunity for increasing their popularity and revenues

- BJP is trying to re-draw the Mr. Narendra Modi Victory in Gujarat in last election due to hard hindutva face of Mr. Modi.

- Mr. Varun & Mrs. Maneka Gandhi trying to implement the thinking of this father Late Shri Sanjay Gandhi who died in a accident due to unknown reasons.

- Madam Mayawati, BSP Leader may wants to take election benefit (making alliance with congress/shifting other castes vote banks in his favour) by posing herself as a strict administrator in front of Janta(Common men)

DEAR READERS,

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Reason of Corruption

We all knows about the corruption in our country. We talk about it, raise many question and wants solution of corruption which had very wide reach in the system. It is increasing everyday like anything and had its roots and branch in every department of the system whether private of government sector. But what are the reasons behind the corruption? Why does it happens? I think there are many reasons behind it some of which are as follows :-

- Inability to meet the basic requirements of life

- Greediness to become more rich

- Fear of survival against changing circumstances

- Wish to become more powerful

I think corruption is somewhere has its roots deeps in our history. The TIP given to waiter, INAM given to maid, festival gift given to sweeper/dhobi/guard/driver/others are all branches of tree of corruption in one or other way.

Lets take a example of Some Big Land Lord in a village in ancient era of India or pre independence. Landlords used to keep the lower class / middle peoples for households, farming and others jobs and takes lot of work from them without any defined time limits and criteria to pay, landlord used to pay them a very little/small amount against their services which is not sufficient to complete the daily needs of workers so they request something extra which is given to them in the form of small Inam/ little value Gift on Festivals/functions to show the kindness of landlords. Actually this is the stage from where corruption starts, with the passing time this inam/gift system after the work has taken form of bribe and its is now a part of system. So to remove corruption we need to improve the condition of lower class peoples by stopping their exploitation.

In modern times small class peoples are known as lower class/4th class peoples working in offices and still not getting proper reimbursement against their services to complete their daily needs by wrong means they tries to do earn some money. To become richer and more powerful senior officers take bribes and increase corruption due to their greed. They think that with the help of money and power they will be able to sustain themselves in case of any problem/tough time. In between senior officials/lower class middle level executives working feels that when everyone is earning by wrong (corruption) means so he also get involves in the same thing due to environment effect, stressful life and his wish to go upward.

To remove corruption we must stop exploitation of small peoples/lower class and Implement Anti-Corruption measures from TOP ORDER/Upper Class the results will definitely improve. Anti-Corruption departments performance must be analysed on regular basis by independent bodies whose members are from Government, NGOs, RWAs, etc.

Antarctic Peninsula - Ice Textures [PICS]

Amazing photos from The log of Rachel and Kevin Fox's trip to the Antarctic Peninsula.

read more | digg story

Huge Antarctic Ice Shelf Headed for Collapse

The Wilkins Ice Shelf has been cracking in new places recently and images released by the European Space Agency show that it will probably very soon break off entirely. A 62 square mile piece broke off in May 2008.

read more | digg story

Eye Blindness & Eye Donation

In large population of India many peoples are suffered from the problem of blindness. Many of these patients are not aware about the solution of the problem or feels that solution is not located in their nearby area and even many thought that it is not possible to restore their eye sight. Eye vision of many blind peoples can be restored by giving them the donated eyes but a large number of peoples are not taking initiative for registering themselves for eye donation due to religious views, less awareness, hesitations etc. Many times some peoples are not able to register because of formalities involved or don't have the time to go to the eye bank/hospital to register them so online registration facility for eye donation must be started. It may be available right now but I was not able to find it. In comparison to other countries India is far behind in eye donations instead of its large population.

Government/NGO's are working hard to fight this problem but results are not up to the mark. As per my observations, in small towns peoples are ready to donate but in big cities don't because of busy life or some other reasons as mentioned previously.

I think some eye donation camps must be organised like blood donation camps in big factories/corporate sector/colleges where a large number of peoples works and gather regularly.

I am in the process of doing the registration for eyes donation and I request all the blog readers to register for eye donation so that when you go from this world someone else can see the world through your eyes and in this way you will live even after your death. We should remember that Indian history/culture is known for its kindness and many of our religious leaders & famous kings in the history have donated themselves so lets come forward and keep our culture alive.

Dial 1919 in eye donation helpline.

Dear friends please come forward and post your ideas for eyes donations.

Unsafe Indians Roads: Personal Discipline + Stringent Laws Will Help

See this statistics: India, with just 1 per cent of the world’s vehicles, accounts for 10 per cent of the road fatalities worldwide and has the worst accident record.

Last week, Punjab's Cooperation Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh died in a road accident. The media reports that his driver was driving the car at 110 KMPH at a bend. A day later, two dozen pilgrims die in a road accident as they were returning from Naina Devi. You might remember the tragic deaths of politicians like Rajesh Pilot who also died in road accidents.

Just some common and day to day observations:

1. Indians roads have become congested with so much trafiic that there is all around noise, pollution and choas.

2. Getting a Driving License is pretty easy: bribe the babu and you get it sitting at home without ever taking a road-test. Little do we realize that I may kill others or the babu realizes that ineligible candidate whom I am issuing this DL (even though my pocket is becoming fatter) may kill someone else!

3. We feel proud when our teenager (for discussion purpose, age 14- 15 years here) brother or child is handed over a scooter or motor-cycle or even a car and he/she takes on the cruise with a beaming face. We feel enormously proud that we have provided to our child what ever as parents we could do to improve his/her life! That false sense of pride! We forget that a teenager without eligibility for DL is not only a danger to himself or herself, more importantly to others: frankly this thought does not come to our mind! We are so much in love with our own kids that basic sense gets lost sometime!

4. We are aping the West as far as life style is concerned, but have we ever thought that western countries have stringent rules regarding issuance of DLs, traffic rules and regulations, pollution control and parking places. When we see the haphazard traffic and ruly driving styles on Indian roads, the question arises in mind: Are we civilized enough? Do we need the government all the time to tell us to obey traffic rules? Do not we have any character?

5. When stopped on a red light for crossing the red-light, why do we always try to influence the cop with our status (like being doctor or bank officer) for waiver? I did that, let me admit that! To save the penalty, we use our status? Is that ethical enough?

6. When driving on roads, our scorn for fellow passengers with less luxuries is many a time very obvious. We yell and shout at cyclists and riksha- wallas ! What kind of respect for fellow individual are we observing!

7. When there is breach of traffic rules, the money collected does not go to the treasury, but goes in the private pockets of the police and their officers! Think about the money our treasury is losing!

8. Over-speeding is a habit with majority of people. Honk, honk: is an obsession with us!

9. On even the best of highways, people drive on wrong side. I vividly remember my personal incidence! I was driving with my family from Delhi to Jaipur in 1999. The Delhi-Jaipur highway was beautifully constructed (after seeing western countries, I still feel that highway was pretty good). We took a tea-break somewhere and as we got back on the highway, the road ahead was slightly curvy. In clear day light, on a national highway, there came a car dashing towards us from totally opposite direction (the highway was 4 lanes with a clear cemented divider) and in a blink of the eye, zoomed pass us. Since the road was curvy, both cars could not see each other from appreciable distance! It was just plain luck that the two cars were in different lanes! Otherwise there was no way to prevent the head -on collision! Nothing happened, of course but I still remember that incidence and shiver runs down my spine! Where does the government come in picture here? The craziness of people, I would say!

10. We construct roads and they are gone in next few months! Who siphons away the money? the public gets poor quality of roads as the money has gone to the govt officials, contractor and local MLA.

11. The traffic cop is standing on a busy intersection in a major metropolis-where the traffic has created a furnace of toxic gases. Does this traffic cop has any additional health safety measures granted by his employer? What additional insurance the govt has given to him for job-related health risks (occupational risks)?

This negative sounding critique does not mean that we can not improve upon! Our roads can be as safe, our traffic can be regulated. What is required: discipline, stringent laws, and a 'driving-character' that needs to be inculcated!

Stray Animals in India: Do We have any Policy?

Public concerns do not always refer to the issues of corruption, accountability, justice. Of course, these issues are very dear to Mission India foundation (MIF). Since my friend Krishnan - A GreenPeace corp- almost threatened that he would withdraw his support from MIF if MIF did not pay attention to environment ( Al Gore of Tamil Nadu!), my curious brain started roaming on Indian roads and I said to myself: "Got to take up a public issue, man!" And here we go: Apparently small and trivial issues sometime if paid attention look worth-discussing. Let us take this example of stray cattle.

India is home to approximately 60 million stray cattle. That sounds astounding!

What are the implication of stray animals:

1. They destroy the aesthetic beauty of the surroundings (without getting the wrath of animal lovers!).

2. They cause accidents on the roads, they may cause injuries to kids, elderly people.

3. They contribute to environmental uncleanliness, filthiness (think of pigs, dogs).

4. Monkeys play havoc with life, material and resources.

5. More importantly, they cause diseases like tetanus; dog bite can cause rabies / hydrophobia. Pregnant ladies in contact with cats can acquire Toxoplasmosis (the disease can affect the growing fetus adversely). Monkey bites have resulted in grievous facial injuries and even deaths. similarly, other zoonotic diseases are well known.

We are so immune to seeing the pigs, cattle, dogs roaming around that we think this is a part and parcel of Indian life! I had the same impressions until I came out to USA. Very different: No dogs, no pets roaming around without the chains! You do not see cows, buffaloes anywhere (of course, here also we get milk! But the animals remain where they are supposed to be: in the custody of the owner! Very basic Principal: "You own the animal, you got to keep it!" Hence, whereas baby-sitters are available here to take care of your kids, you can also find pet-sitters to take care of your pets when you are away from your home! Funny! Is not it!

Now I know that the American model of cattle-rearing is not possible to be emulated over India, but there must be some solutions that we need to find to check the menace of stray cattle. Any takers!

Two Party System: India is NOT Ready for That Yet

Mr. Kulbir Singh Chadha from Rajpura has urged in The Tribune that India should adopt a two-party political system. He writes:
"The time has come when we should wake up and vote for a candidate with a clean image. The impending political instability may hamper development. Past experience has shown that regional parties have not played a constructive role, rather they have time and again brought the nation on the brink of disintegration. We too should adopt a two-party system. The countries with a similar system have done well."

I am not against two-party system. Ok, here is my take on this: India is not ready for this as yet. The way our system works, if a 2 party system is introduced, it will open the flood gates for politicians and political parties to loot the country even more. Political parties operate without accountability, the governments continue to function without keeping their promises, they are not able to curb the corruption. Infact, 2 party system is, for practical purpose, already in existence in many states. Examples include of Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, etc.

The corridors of power in such states have amply demonstrated that people frustated with the incumbent government vote (say, DMK) them out to replace opposition party (say AIDMK). Over next 5 years, AIDMK's rule will be characterized by blatant corruption, muscle-tactics, nepotism, and non-development and shameless promotion of family rule. Frustrated, the voters will bring in DMK again after 5 years and DMK will do no different as far development is concerned. Haryana has seen this time and again; Uttar Pradesh since last decade has been held captive by the 2 political corporations: Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav. All this can be summed up by one term: "Revolving Door Democracy (ROD)"

Why people do it? Why voters vote in the same party after 5 years which had been thrashed out in previous elections? Why voters indulge in this The answer is very simple: voters do not have a choice.

Now think about applying this concept of 2 party rule over the Center. Let us assume, India opts for 2 pol parties, hence Congress or UPA and BJP or NDA. The country will see the political doors revolving around these 2 parties and they will give a hoot to the masses! Each party knows now that chances of winning the next Parliamentary elections are well 50 %, hence a culture of indifference to the issues will grow. The 2 parties will become political dynasties!

Yes, two party system is good if these reforms are put in action before. Some of the examples are:

1. The 2 major political parties must have a mechanism of intra-party democracy in place. Think about it: If Congress has become a family -rule, is there anything that I-the voter- can do about it? Nothing, whether I support Congress or not, I have no control over this! I am a helpless spectator watching this hype and hoopla. Similarly, do I know what are the financial assets of Congress or BJP? No, I do not because there is no mechanisms in place that show the things clearly.

2. The 2 political parties must evolve mechanisms how candidates are chosen for the elections. Since such mechanisms are not in plcae, what we see is that come elections and all of a sudden, strangers appear on the stage: Sanjay Dutt, sitting Member of Parliament Menka Gandhi handing over the rein to her son Varun Gandhi ( Is Pilibhit a Lok Sabha constituency or Menka's personal fiefdom?), or the public is made to gulp outsiders down their neck ( Sashi Tharoor). Or criminals re given tickets: I heard Sajjan Kumar and Tytler are being nominated by Congress from Delhi. Recollect Delhi Sikh riots!

In current scenario of our democracy, at least people have the option to vent their anger by selecting from many parties. Though multi-party democracy has its own ill- consequences (hung verdicts), but the pol parties remian under some restraint.

Implement 2 party system once we have placed sound check and balances in place. Without that, the pol parties will grow into political monsters!

PS: By the way, I was checking the official website of Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana for some data about the previous assembly and LS elections and strangely, no information was there . The icon 'Election Statistics' when clicked shows this message: page under construction. Babus are sleeping! Crappy ways are maintained the government websites in India and that speaks volumes of their commitment to further the cause of transparency and accountability!).

Indian Army

Every year a big slice of whole budget goes for Defence sector, millions of taxpayers money is spent on the modernization of security forces but on Sunday, 29th March 09 in Hindustan Times Delhi edition reported that only 850 pouches of a bleeding control medicine has been purchased for soldiers fighting in Jammu & Kashmir. To read this news go to www.hindustantimes.com and check e-paper of 29th March 09.

As per the news approximately 100000 (one lac) soldiers are involved in counter-terrorism operations and soldiers are purchasing the medicine out of their own pocket or by making a fund in their unit/battalions. This medicine is readily carried by every soldiers of US forces working in Iraq and Afghanistan, then why not by Indian soldiers.

It is a matter of shame for the army, it should take care of its man-power in serious ways. Army is already facing a crunch of junior level officers and if this type of incident happens it will lower the morals of our fighting soldiers which will create a big problem.

Important point is that we should not forget that all the good/modern equipments are operated / used by humans only, if we have less number of soldiers and if we lost many of them in war due to non availability of medical facilities it is a matter of shame. Where that all millions of rupees of defence budget is going. Is the incident another indicator of corruption involved in Army. Few years back on TV, I listened the view of MP in Parliament that for getting the job of soldier/hawaldar/other ranks in army you need to pay bribe as per the rates slab decided according to ranks, and the common peoples pay that bribe by selling their lands/assets/home or by taking money from others. If the soldier fighting for the nation has these problem how he will concentrate on his ultimate aim (fight against enemies of our nation), in this scenario he will do all wrong works to repay loans or save his home, so the corruption system must be ended.

I am not much aware about the procedures of army/defence sector but i can say that some steps must be taken to remove this problem (corruption) so that our nation remains always safe from external enemies.

Medical facilities must be provided to soldiers on urgent/immediate basis to save their precious life and save the moral of security forces.

Vote is the Crucial Weapon to Establish Democracy

In upcoming LS elections, each and every vote will count. This is the single most potent weapon to demand national security, guys! Everyone of us is not a soldier that we shall go and protect our borders. Let us fight with the weapon we all have: our vote.

I strongly feel that for nation's stability, weed out regional parties. Vote for a national party. The regional parties came into existence for local aspirations, good enough: no grudge against them. But what the heck they are doing here on the national scene: trying to extract their pound of flesh! They will just spoil our future in terms of national stability and progress.

I reproduce below sentiments expressed from two different sources ((These excerpts were taken from The Tribune) in this regard:

1. Voting Mantra:
WG-CDR CL SEHGAL (retd), Jalandhar writes: "It would be a far better proposition to have a coalition of two or three bigger parties than having a conglomeration of two-dozen smaller parties, each pulling the country in a different direction. The way certain regional parties are ditching both the UPA and the NDA, the duo should stop being at each other’s throat on every issue and leave some room for reconciliation after the elections.

I would advise the voters to choose any of the mainstream national parties and reject the small regional parties. Here is a voting mantra. Vote for a national party, vote for stability, vote out smaller regional parties, vote out instability."

2. Jurists Appeal to the Voters:

Harbhagwan Singh, former Advocate-General of Punjab and Haryana; Justice P.K. Palli, former Judge of the Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh High Courts; and Jagmohan Singh, former member of the Punjab State Law Commission, in a joint statement have urged voters to elect “innovative, dedicated and transparently honest public men” to the Lok Sabha in the ensuing elections. They also exhorted the electorate to shun and oust corrupt and criminal elements from the body politic of the country.

They said the young and newly enfranchised electorate should see that the self-serving people with parochial outlook did not enter the august house of Parliament. To keep the unity and integrity of the country, it was necessary that candidates sponsored only by national parties and parties having wider representation in the country were preferred so that the tendencies leading to Balkanisation of the country were nipped in the bud.

My Neighbors

In the big scenario of metropolitan advance cities of today we are losing our social contacts/ apsi bhaichara/padoswad. Even many of us not known to the family/person living next door to us or if known then it is totally a formal relation means saying hello when we are leaving for office or meeting once a while when meets by chance. In some posh localities of big metropolitan cities peoples are not aware about the problems of their neighbors. Even if someone is in hospital or some is going out of station neither we care to inform our neighbors nor the neighbors try to inquire. Sometimes in case of deaths neighbors do not think about the arrangement of basic facilities (food, water, activities related to crimination) for the affected family. In case of some functions like marriage peoples do not participate like a neighbors but like a guest who comes at last moment shakes hands, eats dinners and goes back.

In small village peoples lives like a family, every neighbors is like a family member. Peoples works in functions like marriage and stand together in tough times.

Here lines of Ms. Jahnvi (a lead role in movie Lago Raho Munnabhai') comes to mind that we are connected to Internet, knows latest news about the world but do not knows about the neighbour. We get the time to do every work in this world but we forget to call our elder family members in village. It is reality of metropolitan life.

The main reason behind end of social contacts is too much busyness, stress on every individual, and self cornered heart. TV is another big cause behind this problem as all small children, housewives, elders members stick to it instead of meeting to each other.

Please suggest the ideas which could solve this problem.

Retrogressive Education Policies!

Today, I read a news that says that individuals with age more than 30 years can not enroll for LLB studies. Bar Council of India (BCI) has asked Ravi Shankar University in Chattisgarh to follow this directive.

If the news item is correct, what a retrogressive step it would be! What an irony!
According to the news item, BCI has further added that the age restriction would be 30 years for general category of the applicants and 35 years for SC ST category. It is so ludicrous that depending upon what caste I was born, the State would decide my fate about my educational achievements in my life! There can not be a more destructive step for the society that this.
Following is the news item that appeared in Adaalat Blog (courtsey Mr. Lokesh):

30 साल से अधिक आयु वाले अब एलएलबी में प्रवेश नहीं ले सकेंगे। बार काउंसिल इंडिया ने छत्तीसगढ़ के पंडित रविशंकर शुक्ल विश्वविद्यालय को एक फरमान जारी कर यह बंदिश लगा दी है। एलएलबी की पढ़ाई के लिए अब तक आयु सीमा की पाबंदी नहीं थी। शैक्षणिक सत्र 2009-10 से इसे अमलीजामा पहनाया जाएगा। बार काउंसिल ऑफ इंडिया ने एक पत्र भेजकर प्रवेश में आयु सीमा का सख्ती से पालन करने कहा है। पत्र के मुताबिक सामान्य वर्ग के लिए 30 एवं अनुसूचित जाति एवं जनजाति वर्ग के लिए 35 साल आयु तय की गई है।

बार काउंसिल ऑफ इंडिया ने अन्य कक्षाओं के लिए भी आयु सीमा में संशोधन किया है। पहले बीए एलएलबी में प्रवेश में सामान्य वर्ग के लिए 22 तथा अन्य वर्गों के लिए 25 साल की आयु सीमा निर्धारित थी। अब इसे 20 तथा 22 साल की गई है।

इस फरमान से कानून की पढ़ाई करने वाले सरकारी अधिकारियों के अरमानों पर पानी फिरने की संभावना है। क्योंकि एलएलबी की पढ़ाई के इच्छुक सरकारी अधिकारियों को प्रवेश नहीं मिल पाएगा। दरअसल कई आईएएस अफसर विधि की पढ़ाई करते हैं। कई अफसर आयु सीमा पार करने के बाद विधि की पढ़ाई करते हैं। ऐसे अधिकारी सेवानिवृत्ति के बाद किसी कंपनी, फर्म या सरकार के विधि सलाहकार बनने में भी कामयाब हो जाते हैं। अब तक लगभग सभी कॉलेजों में आयु सीमा की अनदेखी की जाती रही है। सरकारी अधिकारी को भी प्रवेश देने में आयु सीमा को दरकिनार किया जाता रहा है।

RTI: Do not Leave it in Lurch!

Indians got their RTI (right to Information) Act in place, which is supposed to usher a new era of transparency and accountability. That is so nice. CIC (Central Information Commission) oversees the RTI implementation all over the country. Mr. Shailesh Gandhi, Central Information Commisssioner says observes:

1. "The government has created the CIC and left it to fend for itself."
2. To a question, "How would you rate the information commissions in various states?", he quipps: very poor.

This speaks volumes of the current state of affairs of RTI. The public has to demad a better accountability of RTI itself! I look at this isisue this way: The democracy becomes effective only if there is a balance of Raj -shakti and Lok-shakti. The governemnt enacted RTI, good enough! but if the people (Lok shakti) do not wake up the realities and demand a better system, no one will deliver them. As citizens how aware and duty bound dow e feel towards our society!

Following are the excerpts of the interview with Mr. shailesh Gandhi, Central Information Commissioner, that appeared in The Tribune. Worth reading!

Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has been promoting and teaching Right to Information (RTI) to various sections. He has conducted over 500 workshops for citizens and officers in slums, clubs, offices and colleges.

Having used the RTI to inform citizens about the Maharashtra CM’s Relief Fund, stopping misuse of over Rs 1000 crore in the redevelopment of Mumbai’s Crawford market and curbing political interference in police transfers, he is today among the six Central Information Commissioners.

In an interview with The Sunday Tribune, he discloses some thorny issues which are hindering the CIC. Excerpts:

Q: Why is the CIC lagging behind?

A: Pending cases is the main problem. There is acute shortage of staff with the Information Commissioners. We are unable to clear more than 1500-1700 cases per year. If we have adequate staff, we can settle at least 4,000 cases.

No proper systems and norms have been put in place as to how the CIC should function in the country even though more and more people are filing RTI petitions. The norms need to be identified and put in place. The commissioners and the staff also need to be trained on how to handle the cases.

Q: Should the RTI be made more stringent and its scope enhanced?

A: No. Presently, adequate number of bodies and offices are covered by it. This would mean amending the RTI Act itself, which would not be advisable. There would be no improvement as such.

Q: How is the Centre’s attitude towards the CIC?

A: The government has created the CIC and left it to fend for itself. Its response should be better to help deliver the goods. The commissioners don’t have the brief to tackle senstive issues which differ from department to department.

Q: What should the Centre do more about dissemination of information?

A: Transparency should be institutionalised. The RTI has ushered in a cultural
change and everyone should understand it. Of course, this change will come
about gradually.

Q: About four Commissioners have retired and their posts have not yet been filled. Isn’t it affecting the work?

A: Some Commissioners have been appointed. The Act provides for 10 Commissioners besides the CIC. If there were seven of them, it would be adequate to settle the cases.

Q: How many cases do you receive every month? Has the average increased
over the years?

A: Last year the CIC received about 15,000 cases. This year it would be much higher; the monthly average of cases has risen to about 1500. This will further go up if the backlog of cases is reduced.

Q: You also receive false cases. Why? How can this practice be checked?

A: It is a common problem with every law or Act and the RTI is no exception. It is a reflection of the present-day society. There are rogues everywhere and every law is misused. There is need for attitudinal change in society.

Q: How would you rate the information commissions in various states? Shouldn’t they be strengthened to become more effective?

A: Very poor. Most commissioners settle hardly 700-800 cases per year. The best disposal, outside the CIC, would be about 1500 cases per year, which reflects a very poor state of affairs.

The number of pending cases is on the rise and it is turning out to be alarming. If this continues over the next four to five years, the Act itself would be dead. The situation needs to be resolved by the government on priority.

Q: What is the CIC’s most important achievement? And how has the RTI empowered the common man?

A: The RTI has empowered the citizen in letter and spirit. He can now sit at home and seek information from the government which it is bound to provide. And the RTI’s real strength is that it is deepening the democracy in the country. Over the next three to four years, there can be a sea change in governance, provided we are able to clear the pending cases.

(Backlog of RTI cases alarming: Gandhi by Girja Shankar Kaura/The Tribune March 29,09)

Election Money

After announcement of general elections all political parties have started their election campaign and as per estimates on an average constituency require two - three crores rupees funds. As per rules all the candidates needs to declare their income, assets while nominating themselves and the maximum limit for election campaign per candidate is only few lakhs rupees so their are two sides of a candidate who is fighting election.

First one is legal aspect/way which is presented in front of Society/Janta/Election Commission/other concerned.

The second aspect which is much more bigger than the previous one is the Black/Illegal aspect about his assets/budget/expenditure for election. In this second aspect a big amount of money is spent on election campaign but the question is how the money is arranged and used and why the election commission is not able to track it so that guilty / leaders opting wrong way will removed from fighting election and our Political system will become an arena of clean leaders.

The above scenario shows that a big much parallel economy is working. In general local terms we call is black money which lies in the pocket of capitalist/corporate bosses/bureaucrats/political leaders which is earned through wrong ways like corruption, scams, by not paying taxes and they they deposit this money in foreign countries banks and the resources of our nation goes to other countries so all these activities must be stopped and bring all that black / illegal money into white and when this money comes into white the prosperity will automatically comes to general common man.

To bring the black money into white we need clean politics which is again dependent on black money so it shows that a complete cycle is going for which we need weapon to break and bring the path out of this black circle.

My dear friends please suggest all the ways / ideas which you think can break this cycle and bring the new path.

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Corruption: the Major Issue for Elections

Corruption is the major issue for the upcoming LS elections, but it should not surprise the countrymen that political parties are just not talking about it. Instead, the national and regional political parties are busy aligning and re-aligning, shuffling and re-shuffling their stands! Purpose: How to increase the bargaining power so that in post-poll market, they will be able to raise the bar. Raise the bar for ideals, and principles! No, raise the bar for extracting maximum for the power-sharing.

The three fronts are emerging: i) BJP and its allies making NDA, ii) UPA now representing mainly Congress as all the allies have deserted it, and iii) Third Front: a conglomerate of various parties who do not believe in pre-poll alliance and are not ready to even guess until elections are over because they will weigh the possibilites after the results are out. Expect these self-serving parties to do the task of nation-building!

My fellow countrymen, leave your notions of party ideologies, shake the boxes of your affiliations! These are parasites who are sucking our blood, draining our (tax payers') money and just busy politicking! Not to disparage the honest and sincere political leaders, I must say that unless the whole vision of what politics is all about, our democracy will remain in peril. We need elected leaders who commit to nation building by focusing on education, health, better public and civic administration, national security and integrity, social security for the all (particularly underprivileges masses), economic security, etc. We do not elected leaders who have come to understand that politics is all about indulging in populistic measures and making false promises!

The only solution for the short term:

1. Come out and vote on the day of voting!

2. Vote for candidates based upon the track-record, performance and profile. Do not be swayed by caste and party affiliations.

3. Destroy Regional Parties: Vote for candidates who can provide clean leadership. Throw these small regional parties out of the window as they are going to pollute the post-poll environment by extracting their flesh. These regional parties should not have any stake on the national issues! They were created to fulfill local aspirations and at national level, they will at the best create instability by producing a hung parliament!

Until political reforms are brought in so that the menace of cross over (dal badal) , unholy post-poll alliance is checked and pol parties are disciplined, these short term measures will at least give some relief to stabilize our democracy.

Nano Car

Image via Wikipedia

The launch of Nano car by TATA motors is under much discussion. A hot topic of discussion. Middle class service man is eyeing on this car. The price tag of Rs.100000/- (Rs. One lakh only) is really attractive for all Indians. The daring step is initiated by Ratan Tata, the Captain of Industry and even after problems of Singur, West Bengal plant he is able to keep his promise with all Indians. Really Rattan Tata is a man of his words.

So many variants of Nano will be available and booking forms are available from TATA Group of Companies. But what is the future of Nano, some of the points attached to this car is :-

1. Will it help in increasing demand of cars and a weapon to break the recession period

2. What about the traffic problems.

3. Is it environment friendly and will not contribute to increasing pollution

4. Will be successful on Indian Roads like other vehicles of TATA Motors ?

5. Renovation of taxi/auto standards of general passenger(lower class)

6. For how much time the price tag of Rs.100000/- (Rs One lac) is maintained.

7. Question of Reliability as many parts of this car is not made up of metals which raises a question of reliability and total life of vehicle.