War On Terror- A Lesson From Sri Lanka

War On Terror- A Lesson From Sri Lanka

The triumph of Sri Lankan army over LTTE speaks a lot. The longest bloody war in recent times has come to an end not a day sooner. LTTE had over decades become a very strong rogue army with global covert support in terms of supply of arms and ammunition. It was the only terror outfit with air force and naval capabilities though not comparable to full-fledged establishments. The Sri Lankan State had to sacrifice many political top leaders and thousands of citizens over decades of terror. LTTE had perfected the art of suicide attacks and succeeded in killing of Rajiv Gandhi and President Ransinghe Premdasa of Sri Lanka. It spread the culture of suicide attacks and terrorism.

The political will and firm resolve of President Mahindra Rajapaska was the main reason for success of Sri Lankan forces. He was undeterred in the final stage of fight to finish in spite of global outcry and call for ceasefire on humanitarian grounds. There were pressures to enter into negotiations to end the war and minimize civilian casualties. While safety and rescue of civilians was the top priority of the government, they did not flinch and blink. As it emerged later, it seems some powers wanted to protect Prabhakaran of LTTE. It was clear vision and political will which led to total elimination and annihilation of LTTE. If they had dithered like their predecessors, LTTE would have had stretched life line as in the past.

With the bitter war coming to an end, the immediate priority now is rehabilitation of the civilian population and restoration of law & order and civic amenities. Politically, the most important step would be to win over the sympathizers of LTTE and find a lasting peaceful solution to the aspirations of Tamils within the constitution of Sri Lanka.

The global war on terror started after 9/11. After 8 years, we are yet to see any logical conclusion on Af-Pak front which is the epicenter of global terrorism. U.S. & the NATO forces have the latest of technology as compared to the terror groups and yet it is strange that perhaps even the beginning has not been made for a conclusive phase. Should a mighty force called U.S. take longer than eight years to bring the terror groups under control?

The political will on the part of Pakistan and Afghanistan is very important for success of the war on terror. The Sri Lankan forces did not have sophistication of technology as much as they would have wished. LTTE controlled areas seemed to be invincible at one stage. The military and political strategists coordinated extremely well for the success of the mission with surgical precision. We have not seen any war come to an end with this decisiveness and relatively swiftly as done by the government in Sri Lanka and considering the not so long tenure of Mahindra Rajapaksa. The war experts need to closely examine the reasons for success against equally deadly enemy.

At home, in India, we have been having Naxalite problem for several decades. While the situations are not comparable, are we waiting for the situation to go out of hand? Recently 16 police personnel have been killed at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. Thousands have laid down lives in the past. 17 States have been struggling with different levels of menace and morale of the police force is down as never before. The issue has been hanging for want of clear direction and political will. The police force is awfully inadequate and ill equipped to fight.

On another front, in what way the Naxal hit areas are different than Swat Valley? The state governments have found it difficult to run the administration in some of these areas controlled by Maoists. The politicians in some of these areas could not even hold election rallies due to fear of terror strikes. Election Commission had to change timings to ensure people reach home before dark. For the first time the Maoists have targeted even election officers. With Maoist gaining ground in Nepal and Chinese support for the same, it is long overdue for the nation to move the issue on top of the political agenda for positive action. We must learn from the neighborhood that problems can not be brushed under the carpet without facing the consequences. How many million voters reside in these areas who may have avoided going to the election booth due to fear of the gun? We must bring them into national mainstream before it is too late.

While we need not take the conflict to fully armed intervention, we need to raise the level of composite dialogue with the objective of addressing the root cause with reforms. It is essential to bring the warring groups to the discussion table to resolve the issues earnestly. No war has yielded peace without paying heavy price in terms of human lives, taking development back by 5-10 years and bitterness to last life time and generations. The long term cost of any war is in multiples of budgets for growth & development. One can not put a price tag on human lives lost. Development and empowering people to participate in growth is the only alternative to armed conflict.

With no non-sense Home Minister P.Chidambaram back at the helm of home ministry, I am sure the centre-state syndrome would vanish to present a cohesive political force while efforts are directed to upgrade the fighting police personnel. There should be internal time frame for sorting out this vexed problem so that we can have the so called "inclusive growth" of all segments of society.

Vijay M.Deshpande
Corporate Advisor,
Strategic Management Initiative,
Pune

May 29, 2009

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Agenda For Inconvenient Reforms-Open Letter to Dr.Shashi Tharoor

Open Letter to Dr.Shashi Tharoor

Dear Dr.Shashi Tharoor,

At the outset, my heartiest congratulations to you, on getting elected to Lok Sabha from Kerala. It is very exciting to see a professional like you contesting an election and taking a plunge into the murky world of Indian politics. You deserve another bouquet for not choosing the Rajya Sabha route to get into parliament like many worthy leaders.

Why did I choose you to write open letter? You were named a Global Leader of Tomorrow by World Economic Forum in Davos. A lot of professional people see in you tremendous potential to lead the country in future. You offer new hopes to be able to initiate the process of reforming the Indian political scene with fresh and young blood.

You have rich background of international experience of seeing closely the functioning of democracies, autocracies, monarchies, anarchies, successful nations and close- to- failed- nations, developed world, the developing world and the least developed world. You have all seen from riches to rags nations, from arrogant to rouge nations, from capitalist to communist nations. With this rich experience, you come to parliament as a breeze of fresh air. Welcome to Lok Sabha 2009.

You have the tremendous skills and gearing for mass communication having been Under Secretary General of United Nations in charge of communications & public information. You have the diplomatic skills to deal with 190 plus member nations of UN. You understand the nuances of global participation in the process of development and sharing of opportunities. You have seen alternative economic models at work globally. You are familiar with diverse subjects like nuclear proliferation, ecological conservation, global financial meltdown, economic apartheid, health care and education. I and many like me feel that such formidable and diverse experience should not be lost in the murky politics of caste based segmentation, political dynasty or nasty politics. Nation needs people like you to take the initiative to bring the reforms in different streams of national endeavor.

Reforms in the fields of education, healthcare, labor, human rights, judiciary and police, electoral systems, taxation etc are awaiting innovators and crusaders, to take the initiative for real transformation of the society for inclusive growth. It does not matter what portfolio you hold as Member of Parliament. What matters is a platform as sacrosanct & broad based as parliament to do what you can and what you believe in. But the expectations run high and the time is 5 years. So the agenda has to be loud and clear.

You are going to be a role model for professionals to take plunge in the politics. The last time nation was grateful when Dr.Man Mohan Singh, a professional economist, became the finance minister. He has achieved for the nation what the politicians could not have done. People have given mandate to Dr.Man Mohan Singh to continue. And yet it is time again to look forward beyond immediate future into next decade to some one to carry the baton forward in spite of the politicians around. Professionals would certainly like some one of your caliber to kick start of some important and far reaching reforms without losing time.

Here is the small wish list out of mountain of desirable reforms:

A. Reversal of Decline in Value Systems of the Nation:

The value system or the lack of it in the global financial world has been exposed by the meltdown all over the world. The companies at the receiving end of bailout packages have been classic examples of the malaise I call “Value Management Deficiency (VMD) Syndrome”.

We need torch bearers and a movement for restoration of faith & integrity in the complex business environment to uphold the values and fight wide spread & deep rooted fatal virus of “VMD Syndrome”. Whether it is private or government, the annual reports, balance sheets and conduct of an organization must reflect & reaffirm the value system to the stake holders assuring integrity and earning their faith. Management of value systems must be assigned priority in government, businesses, political systems and other walks of life.

Political as well as corporate governance need to undergo drastic surgery for survival of the economy and the nation. Mayawati sacks 17,000 police personnel and High Court orders reinstatement or face contempt of court. Mayawati imposes NSA against Varun Gandhi and Supreme Court reverses it. This and similar instances every day show how the value systems are being twisted out of shape. Political governance must raise the bar of ethics. In the west a doctor has to undergo an “Ethics Course” every year as mandated by the governor. This reflects their urge to uphold the value system. But where are we heading? Is there any “doctor” or all are patients?

B. Political Leadership Institute of India:

We have lot of politicians but only a few leaders of national stature. How can we develop leaders for future out of the material we have today over a period of say ten years and on continuous basis? Can the political class come together to set up a Political Leadership Institute of India as in independent institution? Let past Presidents or past Prime Ministers of eminence be the patrons. The emphasis should be on refining understanding of issues than on passing an examination. It should be structured to suit Indian needs. It should be a “finishing school” on the way to leadership and statesmanship. When India can provide talents & leadership for technology & business to the world why not for politics? Military generals the world over have gone through Indian military training establishment at some point of time in their careers. Can India provide an international institute for political governance say by 2020!

C. The Issues at the core of Naxalite Movement:

India has faced the problem of Naxalism since the sixties and not much has been done to resolve the problem. Frequently, we read about Naxalite attacks on innocent people and the policemen. It seems the issue is a football between the centre and the states. Today the movement is widespread from north to south in 17 states. With Maoist gaining ground in Nepal and Chinese support for the same, it is long overdue for the nation to move the issue on top of the political agenda for positive action. In what way the Naxal hit areas are different than Swat Valley? The state governments have found it difficult to run the administration in some of these areas controlled by Maoists. Election Commission had to change timings to ensure people reach home before dark. We must learn from the neighborhood that problems can not be brushed under the carpet without facing the consequences. How many million voters reside in these areas who may have avoided going to the booth due to fear of the gun? Elected representatives have to also work for those who did not vote. We must bring them into national mainstream before it is too late.

D. Electoral Reforms:

With Lok Sabha 2009 elections just over, we need to look back and enlist electoral reforms necessary. There are number of suggestions I have made on my blog on the subject. Some of them are listed below:

1. Empowering politicians to bring better future to people should be the purpose of positive vote. Empowering people to uphold the values and initiate change should be the purpose of negative vote. The new provision should permit a voter to choose the worst candidate for casting negative vote if no suitable candidate s found. A positive vote for the best candidate or a negative vote for the worst candidate should be the basis for election.

Net positive vote polled by a candidate should decide the winner. This will discourage parties from fielding criminals and inefficient candidates for election. While bill for reservation for women in parliament has been gathering dust, the criminal or tainted lobby seems to have secured 30 % ( 150 out of 543) reservation in Lok Sabha 2009! Is this the “inclusive growth” we are promised?

Proposed provision of “None Of The Above” option being considered will be effective only when negative votes polled are more than the winner’s margin. Until then negative vote has no value.

2. At present the political parties are not giving any detailed profiles of contestants on their websites. Only there is hard sell for the leader of party. Project the leader and hide the candidate seems to be the policy so that the dirt and non performance of candidates does not come out in the open.
Information is power. “Right To Information” is a corner stone of constitution of India. Empowering voters to take well informed decisions is moral and constitutional duty of all the political parties, the Election Commission of India and stake holders in the process of conduct of free and fair elections. Deliberate denial of information to voters is at best a strategic breach of trust. Let us use the technology to initiate the change for better.

3. It must be made mandatory to mention at the nomination stage the details of court cases / FIRs pending against the candidates even if not yet charge sheeted or convicted. Let the people be the judge and not the prosecutors or candidates. They should also be required to declare that they or their family members have no accounts in foreign banks. Non-declaration must be made punishable offence. Wrong declarations must lead to disqualification and callback at any stage. As per RTI Act, voters have right to full information on the candidates and therefore Election Commission of India is duty bound to make this information available while accepting nomination of a candidate. Election Commission must make public past performance & detailed profiles of all contestants on their website.

E. CBI Reforms:

1. Can CBI be supervised by a 3-man Board comprising a retired Chief Justice of India, a retired Chief Election Commissioner of India and a retired Attorney General of India? This panel can ensure upholding high standards and values enshrined in the Constitution of India to reverse the degeneration of CBI. The Director of CBI can be elevated to Director General appointed by the President with full autonomy and reporting to 3-man Board.

2. Alternatively, if politicians have to be at the helms of CBI as the home minister is, then the “Chairman” may be the ruling party nominee (i.e. home minister), along with “Dy.Chairman” a nominee of the leader of opposition. CBI director should report to Dy.Chairman. As long as both Dy. Chairman & Chairman accept the mandate and charter of CBI they can work with or without friction. Opposition members are also elected by people and equally competent and responsible to contribute in streamlining and smooth functioning of the organization. This way they can ensure that the fights are fought before decisions are made. They will not waste time of parliament & judiciary and public money on investigation for decades as has been the case of say Bofors or Delhi Sikh riots. This will minimize the chances of political bias since after next election the boot may be on the other leg. In US administration, a number of key positions are held by opposition members.

There are host of other more important issues facing the nation no doubt. But they would be addressed in any case. Nobody would take above initiatives because elections are over and they do not feel the need to bother about change. After all haven’t the present systems made them Members of Parliament? So why should they change anything? Crusaders are required to initiate and manage the change & transition to the future. Management of value systems has to be somebody’s baby too. We can’t throw the baby with the bath towel. Can we?

We don’t think that you coming from UN system feel comfortable, in the august gathering of parliament, sharing benches with 150 colleagues having criminal cases against them!

Vijay M.Deshpande
Corporate Advisor,
Strategic Management Initiative,
Pune
May 21, 2009
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CBI-Ping Pong Of Indian Politicians

CBI- The Ping Pong Of Indian politicians

Corruption:

Other day waiting at my dentist, I read an article in January 2008 issue of The Reader’s Digest titled “Gandhiji’s Last Day” by Tushar A. Gandhi, the great-grand-son of Mahatma Gandhi. I am tempted to quote from the same: “Another painful issue was growing corruption of Congressmen. Gandhiji had received a letter from a veteran freedom fighter who had written that Congress legislators were even making money by protecting criminals. ‘People have begun to say’ the letter concluded ‘that British Government was much better’…” Mahatmaji died the same evening on January 30, 1948 before he could reply that letter.

For Independent India, we may say, that was the genesis of corruption in public life. It is safe to say that Congress ruled the nation without a break for almost 30 years till Morarji Desai became Prime Minister in 1977. By then corruption and criminals in politics had taken deeper roots. So let us give credit to the ruling party for the legacy of the nexus of corruption & criminals about which the veteran freedom fighter gave early warning signal to Mahatma Gandhi. Congress failed to address the deficiency in management of values so dearly nurtured and practiced by Gandhiji. The nation is sick with what I call “Value Management Deficiency Syndrome” -VMD Syndrome. We continue to rue the same till today.

The Mandate:

Central Bureau of Investigation is a very important institution and constitutional body to safeguard the rights of the people support the judiciary and contribute significantly to the process of delivery of justice. A quick internet search takes back a reader to 1941 when CBI was established by the Govt. of India as Special Police Establishment (SPE) to assume its present avatar as CBI in 1963. The mandate was to investigate corruption among government’s public servants. Later this expanded to include almost everything criminal.

Over last four decades, CBI has transformed itself into a high profile weapon of political class and is wielded effectively whenever the powers that be are threatened with uncomfortable situations involving political survival. Over last 20 years CBI has been used at the time of elections at centre as well as in state assemblies to pull out skeletons of other politicians to win brownie points more as tactical leverage. Quattrocchi has been in and out of CBI’s file at the will of the politicians. Bofors guns keep roaring or falling silent with sleight of hands of CBI. Mayawati, Mulayam Singh, L.K.Advani, Narendra Modi of current political flock have felt the heat every now and then. Advani is the only one to have been also the boss of CBI as home minister. He too has been accused of making CBI crawl on Babri Masjid.

Erosion of Values:

Over last few decades CBI must have done commendable professional work behind the scene, I am sure. However, the visible outcome of all their efforts is shaped by the political interference. Filing a charge sheet can take five years and hearing can take another five years. The speed is assigned by the political masters. We have seen the recent cases of Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. They got the clean chit from CBI just in time to be able to contest elections but were thrown out by public outrage. We can be sure the clean chit would become tainted once the government at the center changes. The timings of any actions are not a matter of coincidences.
The very purpose of creation of CBI was investigation of corruption with other Add-On’s. Today corruption has scaled heights surpassing the Everest. Every six months or so, we read about arrest of a DGP or DIG or such high levels in Police department. Latest is the case of CRPF scam with Rs.350 Crores in loot. Chara Ghotala, Fodder Scam is lost in the fodder of politicians. Sukhram case languished for years on. If we consider the rate of conviction of politicians as a measure of success of CBI’s functioning then the record is abysmally poor. Which means crores of public money is spent on hoodwinking public!

CBI is an arm of government, read ruling party, to investigate corruption in public servants, again read opposition members. That is the reality. It is only Supreme Court which has been able to give directions to save situations from worsening frequently but that speaks a lot of poor governance by the home ministry.

How can CBI be made more independent, transparent and accountable? Should it continue under home ministry or be an independent autonomous authority like Election Commission of India? Over 60 years of experience operating as a department of govt. of India has lent it more susceptibility. One can not wish away completely the influence of ruling party or who ever is influential enough. The degree of influence is directly a measure of susceptibility. We can only try to minimize the same by making channels of decision making more independent and some of them redundant too.

We need to manage value systems to prevent deterioration in moral values and principles enshrined in the constitution of India. It is not abdication by top brass of CBI, but hijacking of decision making process by political forces. India today is not just world’s largest democracy but also “corruptocracy” i.e. democracy and bureaucracy mired in corruption. CBI needs to function in exemplary fashion to do justice to its mandate on core issue of corruption.

Restructuring of CBI:

It would be naïve to wish away the political influences completely. How can we ensure that political process provides a balance if not neutralize the biased decision making over ruling the top brass of CBI? The only way to achieve improvement (if not total elimination) in this aspect is to pit two opposite poles against each other so they stay together. We need to explore some of the following alternative structural changes:

1. Since CBI is a constitutional body it can be made permanent and independent. CBI’s website states their motto as “Industry-Impartiality-Integrity”. These are the “values” they are supposed to uphold while delivering the process of investigation leading to justice. ‘Impartiality’ is their middle name and ‘Integrity’ their last name which are perceived to be threatened. They are a classical case of VMD syndrome. Can they function as a professional organization to uphold the values without supervision of home ministry?

2. Draw a lesson from functioning of Election Commission of India which is a constitutional body. Three CECs taking collective decisions with consensus have established a formidable reputation for the institution feared by all politicians. They are required to uphold the “Values of rights of people to elect their representatives to parliament and assemblies through free and fair elections”. They have done it with acceptable standards of governance. They have in fact brought some “law and order” in conduct of election. Since CEC can uphold the values, why not CBI? Can CBI be restructured on these lines?

3. Can CBI be supervised by a 3-man Board comprising a retired Chief Justice of India, a retired Chief Election Commissioner of India and a retired Attorney General of India? This panel can ensure upholding high standards and values enshrined in the Constitution of India to reverse the degeneration of CBI. The Director of CBI can be elevated to Director General appointed by the President with full autonomy and reporting to 3-man Board.

4. If politicians have to be at the helms of CBI as the home minister is, then the “Chairman” may be the ruling party nominee (i.e. home minister), along with “Dy.Chairman” a nominee of the leader of opposition. CBI director should report to Dy.Chairman. As long as both Dy. Chairman & Chairman accept the mandate and charter of CBI they can work with or without friction. Opposition members are also elected by people and equally competent and responsible to contribute in streamlining and smooth functioning of the organization. This way they can ensure that the fights are fought before decisions are made. They will not waste time of parliament & judiciary and public money on investigation for decades as has been the case of say Bofors or Delhi Sikh riots. This will minimize the chances of political bias since after next election the boot may be on the other leg. In US administration, a number of key positions are held by opposition members.

I am sure over the last two decades, CBI and government would have spent more than Rs 64 Crores on Bofors case to investigate bribe of Rs 64 Crores! This is the worst case scenario.

The time has come to take drastic measures to restructure CBI and let it uphold the values enshrined in their charter for the benefit of the people of India within the constitutional framework. Let the restructuring be a tribute to the veteran freedom fighter who wrote letter to Gandhiji.

Vijay M. Deshpande,

Corporate Advisor,

Strategic Management Initiative,

Pune

May 15, 2009

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Electoral Reforms Based on Information Technology

Vijay.M. Deshpande

Post Election Agenda

Now that the process of Lok Sabha election is behind us, it is time Election Commission of India undertakes the reforms on top priority to make it voter friendly.

Electoral Reforms Based On Technology

India is a democracy with a billion people and elections spread across the length and breadth of the country call for a marathon task perfected by Election Commission of India over last 60 years. It is no mean achievement to organize the elections spread over a month. Having said that let us not be complacent with the comforting thought that we are the world’s largest and proven democracy. As times change and new technologies make our jobs easier, let us grab the advantages of technology for the benefit of the masses and probity in public life.

Web sites of Political Parties:

Though disappointed with the experience of attempting to cast my vote as elaborated in my previous blog, I visited the websites of all important parties. While websites of most of the parties provide details of leaders, manifesto and list of candidates, to my surprise CPI (M) and Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (Raj Thackeray) have given detailed profiles and photographs of candidates contesting elections on their website.

Congress website gives history, achievements, organization, manifesto and details of office bearers and list of candidates but does not give detailed profiles of contestants. BJP’s website is extremely user -friendly, informative, enables interaction of voters, provides for blogs to be posted and they even sent a e-mail reminder to those registered to vote on the due date. But this also does not go beyond the list of candidates. NCP’s web site gives details of all office bearers, their ministers, manifesto, etc but gives only list of candidates with no profiles. Telugu Desam, AIDMK, DMK websites are in vernacular languages and so difficult to comment. BSP web site gives list of candidates without profiles. I found only unofficial web site of RJD and therefore not worth any comments (May be their web site is “unofficial” because everything posted on that can be denied if necessary conveniently!).

In these days of internet, the political parties can make use of technology to periodically get feedback on perceptions of people about the candidates before & during campaign and take corrective actions in election strategy as well as tactics. They can even provide voters list of their area on their web site well in advance. E-mail campaigns can be undertaken by seeking registration of people on line. I was very happy that I could even post a blog on Mr.L.K.Advani’s site.

Some leaders were innovative to use mobile phone technology to address thousands of people in a rally in far away Orissa. Why not then give detailed profiles of your candidates through internet technology?

Electoral Reforms Suggested:

The website of Election Commission of India also does not give the details of the candidates only the listing. So is it that even Election Commission of India does not have the basic data? They have all the data before accepting nomination. If they do not capture any data in nomination forms then God save us. The only rationale they may advance is that they do not have adequate staff to enter the data on their computers. This is not valid again because the candidates can be asked to submit data on a non-rewritable CD in standard format instead of scanning an application form. The data on CD has to be verified before accepting nomination and can be uploaded immediately on the website of the Commission. So the logistics of providing data is easily manageable.

Following reforms using IT solutions are suggested relating to capture and dissemination of essential information on political parties and candidates to facilitate the voters:

1. All political parties registered with Election Commission of India must have official web sites on which they must disseminate information on candidates contesting elections as well as on performance of elected representatives.

2. At the nomination stage during elections, parties must submit full profile of their candidates in prescribed format on CD to Election Commission and once approved, upload same on their official web site. Election Commission also must do so to ensure authenticity. This must be done within one week of filing nomination before the election.

3. It is duty of Election Commission and political parties to facilitate voters with single point data on candidate with photo, qualification, positions held in public life, achievements, wealth declared, overseas bank accounts (Swiss?) if any in his/her name or family members’ names etc. Candidate must also mention promises to be made to voters other than party’s manifesto during the campaign for specific constituencies so that one can verify the status of achievements periodically. The forms should be designed in such a way that no column can be left blank to get benefit of doubt or ambiguity. It should be clear “yes or no” so that the candidate is accountable and responsible for declarations made by him to election commission.

4. It must be made mandatory to mention at the nomination stage the details of court cases / FIRs pending against the candidates even if not yet charge sheeted or convicted. Let the people be the judge and not the prosecutors or candidates. Non-declaration must be made punishable offence. As per RTI Act, voters have right to full information on the candidates and therefore Election Commission of India is duty bound to make this information available while accepting nomination of a candidate.

5. In case of independent candidates also, they should have their official web site like political parties and there can be no concession on submission and dissemination of information as above. Alternatively they may be allowed home pages on officially approved web sites of office of election commission of respective state government giving all the information.

6. A voter elects a candidate based on the programs and policies declared before election. Any switch of party would undermine this premise and therefore would amount to breach of trust. There must be an undertaking by the candidate that he / she will not change, join or switch over to another political party, unless resigns from elected post, till the next election for same position. This will ensure that voters are not short changed and cheated on information and promises given during election process.

7. Provision of positive vote for best candidate and if no candidate is suitable then negative vote for worst candidate with net positive votes polled to decide the winner. ( See my blog “ Indian Elections & Declining Value Systems” dated April 8, 2009 for details)

8. It is duty of the Election Commission of India to ensure uploading of information regarding voting arrangements giving location of polling station, booth number etc well in advance ( at least 10 days before election date) on their websites with powerful search engines to meet the peak demand on election day.

9. Lok Sabha and Delhi State web sites provide good information on work done by the sitting MPs / MLAs. But one does not find web sites like Delhi state assembly for all states to give information on MLAs. It is not enough to give attendance record, number of questions asked and number of debates participated in. Verifiable progress on ground positions of various activities, projects, promises made in manifesto, contributions made in parliament or assembly, work done on various committees etc must be first posted by Lok Sabha / State Assemblies on their web sites and then on the web sites of the parties concerned so that information is available in vernacular languages also. This may be done on continuous basis. Profiles of individual sitting MPs and MLAs must be updated by parties to reflect Lok Sabha / State Assembly report on web site. The parties may give additional information not recorded in Lok Sabha or Assembly proceedings about the candidates on their web sites.

10. The web sites of all the state assemblies must be exhaustive, uniform and standardized in scope of information. Sources for capturing data & information should also be standardized and approved agencies of the government.

11. This should be applicable to Rajya Sabha / upper houses of the states also in similar fashion.

Information is power. “Right To Information” is a cornerstone of constitution of India. Empowering voters to take well informed decisions is moral and political duty of all the political parties and stake holders in the process of conduct of free and fair elections. Deliberate denial of information to voters is at best a strategic breach of trust. Let us use the technology to initiate the change for better.

Vijay M. Deshpande

Corporate Advisor,

Strategic Management Initiative,

Pune

May 07, 2009

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