- 50% voter turnout in Phase III
- ISRO send Bacteria Cells into Space
- Colombo offers conditional amnesty to LTTE Cadres
- Special Sessions Court ruled that Kasab was 21 yr old on the day of attack.
- Swine Flu epidemic passed peak and declining says Mexico
- Quattrocchi out of Interpol wanted list.
- LTTE restricted to 4.5 Sq Km area: Srilankan Army.
- Military action looks likely in Swat District.
- Deccan Chargers lead the points Table.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Week Gone By
Mumbai can't and Mumbai won't
2009 general elections are in its last phase, while it is heartening to see the voter turnout in some states like Andhra Pradesh, it was rather disappointing in states like Maharashtra and Bihar.
Major disappointment was when Mumbai went to Vote, a lot of hype was created and high voter turnout was expected. Politicians were seen as enemies at the time of 26/11 and there was a feeling that people have woken up and make politicians accountable. But 45% polling has proved that it was a false impression created by media.
I feel there are many reasons for this poor voter turnout,
1. No political motivation: No political party’s leaders are successful in discussing their problems or communicating their ideologies to the voters. Voters don’t see a change by electing any of the contesting members. They have lost HOPE and have resigned to the fact that things won’t change.
2. Discrepancies in the voter registrations: These discrepancies are alarmingly high, one cannot expect 80% polling with the current percentage of errors in voter lists. Election commission needs to take this up seriously and find a solution to this.
3. Violence: Election commission has released a statement that 2009 general elections are by and large been peaceful where 19 people have lost their lives. Of which 9 were civilians and 10 security officials. This in many countries would be considered as disaster but not in India. This certainly keeps voters away from polling booths, after all no one wants to risk their life to VOTE.
4. Willful ignorance: There are people who ignore the importance and responsibility of voting in a democracy, they throw a deaf ear to everything that’s happening around them. They somehow convince themselves that its “cool” not to talk, think or discuss about politics.
5. Weather conditions: Elections in summer did have an effect, temperatures were close to 45 C in many places and voter turnout in these places was low. Although we could do very little about the weather, some steps could be taken like providing proper shelter for the queues and extending polling time till late in the evenings.
There is one false belief that illiteracy is one of the reasons, I certainly don’t think so because India is only democratic country in the world where Right to Vote is exercised more by poor and illiterate that the affluent. It’s time the middle class and the upper class come forward and utilize their power rather than just complain. If you don’t vote you don’t have right to complain.
Although low polling percentage is still a problem in our democracy, thanks to the efforts of many NGO’s and media who ran campaigns like “Jagoore” and “VoteIndia” there was some improvement in many states in this election.
Important thing to learn from this election is that media or NGO’s should concentrate more on Voter registrations which would bring more transparency in the registration process and brings down discrepancies. A voter who registers himself a month before elections more often than not votes. We are a young country and we would have many new voters in every election, so its very important to have a easy and transparent voter registration process.
Mr. L.K.Advani after casting his vote has said that voting has to be made compulsory in India. I think it’s impossible to do that in India with its huge population and finding a deterrent for those who don’t vote would be very difficult.
We have seen many educated and young people voting this year, I have a sneaking feeling that will have a significant impact and there would be many surprises on 16th of May when elections results are announced. As always exit polls in India would be wrong, but that’s just my guess ;).
-Srikanth Achanta
Major disappointment was when Mumbai went to Vote, a lot of hype was created and high voter turnout was expected. Politicians were seen as enemies at the time of 26/11 and there was a feeling that people have woken up and make politicians accountable. But 45% polling has proved that it was a false impression created by media.
I feel there are many reasons for this poor voter turnout,
1. No political motivation: No political party’s leaders are successful in discussing their problems or communicating their ideologies to the voters. Voters don’t see a change by electing any of the contesting members. They have lost HOPE and have resigned to the fact that things won’t change.
2. Discrepancies in the voter registrations: These discrepancies are alarmingly high, one cannot expect 80% polling with the current percentage of errors in voter lists. Election commission needs to take this up seriously and find a solution to this.
3. Violence: Election commission has released a statement that 2009 general elections are by and large been peaceful where 19 people have lost their lives. Of which 9 were civilians and 10 security officials. This in many countries would be considered as disaster but not in India. This certainly keeps voters away from polling booths, after all no one wants to risk their life to VOTE.
4. Willful ignorance: There are people who ignore the importance and responsibility of voting in a democracy, they throw a deaf ear to everything that’s happening around them. They somehow convince themselves that its “cool” not to talk, think or discuss about politics.
5. Weather conditions: Elections in summer did have an effect, temperatures were close to 45 C in many places and voter turnout in these places was low. Although we could do very little about the weather, some steps could be taken like providing proper shelter for the queues and extending polling time till late in the evenings.
There is one false belief that illiteracy is one of the reasons, I certainly don’t think so because India is only democratic country in the world where Right to Vote is exercised more by poor and illiterate that the affluent. It’s time the middle class and the upper class come forward and utilize their power rather than just complain. If you don’t vote you don’t have right to complain.
Although low polling percentage is still a problem in our democracy, thanks to the efforts of many NGO’s and media who ran campaigns like “Jagoore” and “VoteIndia” there was some improvement in many states in this election.
Important thing to learn from this election is that media or NGO’s should concentrate more on Voter registrations which would bring more transparency in the registration process and brings down discrepancies. A voter who registers himself a month before elections more often than not votes. We are a young country and we would have many new voters in every election, so its very important to have a easy and transparent voter registration process.
Mr. L.K.Advani after casting his vote has said that voting has to be made compulsory in India. I think it’s impossible to do that in India with its huge population and finding a deterrent for those who don’t vote would be very difficult.
We have seen many educated and young people voting this year, I have a sneaking feeling that will have a significant impact and there would be many surprises on 16th of May when elections results are announced. As always exit polls in India would be wrong, but that’s just my guess ;).
-Srikanth Achanta
NREGA
NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) is said to be one of the best policies designed for the poor in recent decades. It was implemented in 2005. The effort of implementing this scheme goes to Left and Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghtan(MKSS), and National Campaign’s Right to Information(NCPRI). Not to forget Mr. Jacques Dreze for his significant contribution.
The Act is implemented to guarantee employment for at least 100 days per household per year. During the first year of the implementation there were some implementation flaws and that led to siphoning off money. There were many cases of false muster rolls. Only with execution of RTI Act the magnitude has been brought down. Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2005 with which anyone can request for the information of the muster rolls and can do the social auditing.
The idea of a social audit was conceived of by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghtan (MKSS) in the state of Rajasthan when it was found that there was large-scale fraud in drought-relief work. MKSS then demanded information from local authorities about work done and payments made and verified this by comparing official data with the field reality. Soon villagers realized that they had been defrauded and millions of rupees worth of work shown as having been completed was, in fact, never even taken up in the first place. Old public works were passed off as new. Local contractors and elites had received payments for non-existent structures. Wages were supposed to have been paid to people who did not exist in the village. This movement, which started in a few districts in the state of Rajasthan, led to a countrywide demand for a Right to Information (RTI) legislation and an employment guarantee Act.
NREGA, supposed to create purchasing power among workers. People working on NREGA sites spend this additional money, they create demand for commodities. The production of these commodities, in turn, creates demand for capital, raw materials and workers. The extra incomes so generated cause further demand, which again provides a stimulus to production, employment and demand ... and so on in a spiral.
Millions of small and marginal farmers forced to work under NREGA because the productivity of their own farms is no longer enough to make ends meet. NREGA will become really powerful when it helps rebuild this decimated productivity of small farms. Public investment in the programme incentivises private investment by small farmers and gives them a chance to return to full-time farming. Especially in the central Indian tribal belt, arguably the poorest parts of the country. Here earthen dams on common land have recharged wells of those poor farmers who earlier worked as labourers to build these dams. These farmers are now busy making a series of investments to improve their own farms.
Recently, with the impending financial crisis many NGO’s requested for the Act to be designed for the urban areas also. Who knows there might be NUEGA (National Urban Employment Guarantee Act) in near future?
-Optimistic Indian
The Act is implemented to guarantee employment for at least 100 days per household per year. During the first year of the implementation there were some implementation flaws and that led to siphoning off money. There were many cases of false muster rolls. Only with execution of RTI Act the magnitude has been brought down. Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2005 with which anyone can request for the information of the muster rolls and can do the social auditing.
The idea of a social audit was conceived of by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghtan (MKSS) in the state of Rajasthan when it was found that there was large-scale fraud in drought-relief work. MKSS then demanded information from local authorities about work done and payments made and verified this by comparing official data with the field reality. Soon villagers realized that they had been defrauded and millions of rupees worth of work shown as having been completed was, in fact, never even taken up in the first place. Old public works were passed off as new. Local contractors and elites had received payments for non-existent structures. Wages were supposed to have been paid to people who did not exist in the village. This movement, which started in a few districts in the state of Rajasthan, led to a countrywide demand for a Right to Information (RTI) legislation and an employment guarantee Act.
NREGA, supposed to create purchasing power among workers. People working on NREGA sites spend this additional money, they create demand for commodities. The production of these commodities, in turn, creates demand for capital, raw materials and workers. The extra incomes so generated cause further demand, which again provides a stimulus to production, employment and demand ... and so on in a spiral.
Millions of small and marginal farmers forced to work under NREGA because the productivity of their own farms is no longer enough to make ends meet. NREGA will become really powerful when it helps rebuild this decimated productivity of small farms. Public investment in the programme incentivises private investment by small farmers and gives them a chance to return to full-time farming. Especially in the central Indian tribal belt, arguably the poorest parts of the country. Here earthen dams on common land have recharged wells of those poor farmers who earlier worked as labourers to build these dams. These farmers are now busy making a series of investments to improve their own farms.
Recently, with the impending financial crisis many NGO’s requested for the Act to be designed for the urban areas also. Who knows there might be NUEGA (National Urban Employment Guarantee Act) in near future?
-Optimistic Indian
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