Tranparency desperately required

Legislation making it mandatory to have maximum tranparency in all public works across India whether the projects are of Central, State or District level bodies, right up to the Panchayat level. BACKGROUND - From Rajiv Gandhi to his son Rahul Gandhi, we keep hearing how of each rupee that the government spends, only 15 paise - or 10 paise or whatever - reaches the target group. We need to bring in transparency across all public projects. For instance, if a road is being repaired in Amravati, the contractor needs to put a notice board there which clearly mentions the following- 1. Total cost of the project - repairs in this case 2. Time lines - start of the project and promised deadline for it to be completed 3. Name of the contractor along with the name of his company, its address and telephone number 4. Name of the government department responsible for the execution of this project. 5. Name of the government employee who is directly responsible for overseeing this project, along with his working phone number. 6. Name of the employee's immediate supervisor along with his designation and phone number. 7. Clear mention of the penalities that are likely to be imposed on the contractor and / or the government supervisor if the project completion is delayed with reference to the timelines expected. The legislation should also be clear that besides the contractors, even the government employees have personal responsibility towards completion of public works and delays will have an impact on their future promotions within the department.

Back to basics

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Edit Blog Posts The more we learn the more we go back to the past. At least the past that India was witness to, when it used to be Bharat.One of the great religions of the world, Buddhism, born in India, professes very clearly the love for all living things no matter how dangerous they may be. At its core, Hinduism professes the same respect for nature and all things living. It is the religion that treats even rivers and mountains as living beings.I am not professing religion here. All i am saying is that we need to get back to the basics and spread awareness amongst people around us, living where we live, the importance of being in tune with the environment.Tumblers made of clay - kullhad, plates made of leaves - pattal, are important milestones towards eliminaton of harmful stuff like glass and plastic. These not only generate local employment but also are very environmentally friendly. Tradition in India preaches that one can attain Nirvana if one plants 5 trees - Banyan, Peepal, Neem, Mango and Tamarind. Imagine if we were to get a significant chunk of our 1 billion people to plant 5 trees such as these shady trees in their lifetime...Just imagine the possibilities.I remember when i was a kid and when my family used to go to Hridwar to take a dip in the Ganga, my grand dad used to tell all of u to wash our feet outside the river Ganga before we enter her holy waters. One had to take care to wash feet away from the river so that the dirty water did not flow into the Ganga. Imagine if we were able to get this simple fact to each Hindu who takes a dip in the waters of the Holy river Ganga. If people wash their feet and enter the waters, i am sure they will think twice before letting sewage get into the river.These are but two examples merely to illustrate that the need of the hour is to ensure that the message of environment reaches the masses rather than being restricted in the boardrooms, on blogs, on the internet and some five star hotels. We need funds directly at the grass roots level. What we dont need is government sponsored actions on the ground. What we do need is government sponsored rules, regulations and policies that insist on Environment first.Unless we bring in some local benefits in this environment drive, government can do little. If we care about human beings around the world, we must accept that it is not the planet that is in danger, it is Us.

In India, plant the traditional trees

Subsequent to my earlier post, there are several Indian trees that are inherently capable of reducing pollution, both, of air and of sound. They not only reduce pollution but help in significant improvement in the quality of soil and water retention. The icing on the cake is that if planted in significant numbers within cities they help stabilize and even improve the water table. With so much power retained within them, it is a pity that such fabulous trees have lost out the mind share of our intelligent and modern town planners.Neem, Peepal, Paakad, Jamun, Mango, Banyan, Bel trees are known for their high water retentin capabilities since times immemorial in India. In fact the botanical name of Neem - Azadirachta Indica - is derived from a persian word given to it by Arab traders when they first came to India. The traders found that this tree grew just about every where in India and hence they started referring to it as Azaad-Darakht-e-Hind - The independent tree of India.These trees not only retain high quantities of water but also help reduce sound pollution, specially beneficial in urban centres - since their wide canopies break sound waves. The widely spread out canopies further aid in a higher level of retention of Carbon di Oxide than most other trees. Their leaves and fruits falling to the ground help improve the nutritional value of the soil below in no uncertain terms. These are proven scientific facts and also substantiated by the value assigned to these trees in our Vedas. Right from Ashok to Sher Shah Suri there are records of how they insisted on planting these trees along highways, urban centres, shelters for traveller and water baoulisThe advent of the Britishers did not do anything to diminish this. Infact the British further aided in planting green trees all along the Highways they developed. It is the advent of Democracy and the rise of the people in the lat 60 years that has impacted our tryst with destiny so significantly. The sab chalta hai attitude has impacted our environment as much as any other facet of our daily lives.Further, the so called literate population, aided and abetted by what it feels is the correct 'western truth' has further aided the downfall of our country in as little as 6 years. They have not yet realized that even the 'West' no longer practices or preaches what they continue to abide by to this day.This is the reason why i feel that our future lies in the hands of the millions who are religious, even though they may be illiterate because while they may be illiterate, they are certainly not uneducated, as mentioned even by Pandit Nehru. The key is to be able to associate the environment with religion and then spread the word around across the length and breadth of this country.Now for some scientific facts -A single average tree absorbs 12 kg of CO2 while providing enough Oxygen for 4 human beings for a year. Trees planted in a single hectare of land absorb more than 6 tons of CO2 whereas a single long haul flight generates about 3.75 tons of CO2.1. Trees and plants that help trap dust particles, reduce temperature and trap other exhaust particles - Neem, Amaltas, Sheesham, Cane, Peepal, Mango, Jamun, Arjun, Saagwan, Tamarind2. Trees that help convert wasteland to fertile land - Babul, Arjun, Gulmohar, Kadamb, Amaltas3. Trees that reduce sound pollution - Ashok, Neem, Kachnaar, Banyan, Peepal, Semal4. Trees that help reduce air pollution significantly - Bel, Siras, Neem, Ulu neem, Bougainvillea, Sheesham, Peepal, Mahua, TamarindWe dont need too much funds. We need a lot much more of dedication and conviction and people on the ground to do that. Are we ready...

Dear Advaniji,

First of all let me congratulate you on the election results. Yes, Congratulations. I have always felt that statesmen like you need to be the guiding forces behind the seat of power rather than sitting on the seat itself. I would rather that people like you be the Bheeshma Pitahmas of Indian politics. We badly need you to do something good for Indian politics. There are things to be done and with no one as tall in your party, you are in the best position to do so. And there has never been a better time for you to bring about this change. Has there?

I would request you to now dwell on the state of the BJP. This was supposed to be a party with a difference. What happened? Why is it so very similar to the Congress? I would request you to step up from your current position and become the leader of the think tank that would ensure a turnaround for the BJP. You need to spear head change at the grass roots level. You took the road less travelled. In fact you made the road for yourself. And then what happened? Well, whatever happened, its always for the best, in the end. You will be known forever in the history of India to have given it the most credible party of opposition to the Congress because you gave a different vision to India.

India badly needs a strong right of centre political party. The BJP is the best suited to provide that. Let the BJP be the new Conservative party of the UK or the Republican party of the US. No, you don't need to replicate them. Its simply an analogy I am trying to draw here.

There is work to be done on several fronts, viz., reducing the over bloated bureaucracy, reforming the police force across the nation, strengthening our intelligence and security systems, improving the morale of our security forces and agencies, reforming the federal structure, redrawing the state boundaries across the nation, devolving power to the people, introducing welfare programs like social security, improving the tax laws ... Oh, there is just so much to do. Will you make sure that the BJP brings these important issues to the forefront? If the left is able to influence the entire nation's policies just by being present in two states and with 60 odd seats, why cant the BJP? Think about it.

You need to enthuse your cadres. You need to bring about radical changes through out of the box thinking and through actions that enthuse the young and the middle classes. Your party has no equal. You can do this far better than anyone else. If you do indeed, you would always be remembered in the history of this great nation.

The BJP is in the unique position to ensure all round development of the country through active involvement of the Sadhus. Why is it that almost all Hindu temples are generally dirty places? How come Gurudwaras are always clean? Cant the BJP excite its cadres enough to cleanse temples across the country? What about genuinely pursuing the goal of cleaning the Ganga? What about developing all centres of importance as mentioned in the Ramayana? Lets have a proper tourist circuit for all the places where Ram went from Ayodhya to Lanka? Let's develop them full and proper with excellent road and rail connectivity. How about international airports in Garhwal and Kumaon? Connecting the teerth sthals to the world. Putting Auli on the world map. Why don't we have railways high up in the hills when your party is ruling there?

Who can do this better than the BJP? If the BJP talks Hindutva, this is the Hindutva that would make each Indian proud of the BJP as no other single activity will. Hundreds of thousands of people would benefit and the publicity will be immense.

Let's talk development. Who better than the BJP to spark the nation's imagination through connecting the rivers across the nation? How about enthusing the greens through a mega project connecting all the forests in India through kilometer wide corridors across the nation? With the LTTE gone, how about exciting the Tamils? Let's have a road and rail connection to Sri Lanka. Let's rebuild the Sethu Samudram. What says? What gives? And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Or as it is said in the Puranas, Bhageerathi Prayatna.

All this and much more can happen if you take charge. And you need to begin by ensuring radical change from the past. Advaniji, let's have genuine, internal elections within the BJP for all positions including those of the party president, the leader of the Lok Sabha and the leader of the Rajya Sabha. Let these elections be through secret ballot. Let these elections involve all the registered members of the BJP from across India and abroad.

If the Democrats and the Republicans can and do hold regular elections in the US for its party positions, i am sure the BJP can too. In fact it would be a true trend setter that would pressure all the other parties over a period of time including the Congress. Nothing will enthuse your party cadres more than the fact that the leaders have risen from the ranks. The fresh blood, the fresh views and the fresh politics will do what nothing else can or has. Sir, let's just begin.

You have single handedly introduced new lexicon to Indian politics. You need to do so much more than just be the Prime Minister of India.

Regards

Gaurav Lavania

Managing Director

Sosaco Nigeria Ltd.

Lagos, Nigeria

Rise of regional parties in India

If we look at the history of the rise of regional parties in India, it would be apparent that their rise has been a direct result of the decline of democracy in the Congress. While the Congress up to the late sixties had many and more strong regional leaders, Indira Gandhi's ascent saw a decline and then a disappearance of all Congress leaders worth anything.

A gradual disconnect between the Congress and the regions resulted in the gradual appearance of strong regional leaders whose only reason to exist was to make the voice of the region heard in the corridors of power in Delhi.

The regional leaders usually started their careers with violence as they soon realized that just speaking wont make a difference to either Delhi or to Indira.

Violence created fear, damaged public property, brought in the media specially the Delhi centric English newspapers thereby making it possible for each distant region to make its voices heard in Delhi.

Communists were amongst the first to tap into the disgruntled sentiment in Bengal and Kerala. South states followed next and soon the movement spread to the Hindi heartland.

It's a no brainer then that the Congress which only lived on the good image of the pre Independence era and the work done by Nehru and his team, found little time to ensure speedy and grassroots development at the rural, semi rural or urban centres.

Congress leaders from the 70s onwards were busy setting their finances right, to bother about either the rich or the poor citizens of India.

With most of India being illiterate, communication across the country not being easy and people generally being poor, it was a cake walk for the Congress.

Rahul Gandhi, despite living with the Kalavati's of India has still not understood this problem. He still revels in the fact that he is likely to be the new leader of the Congress, a Congress that is hardly like the Congress of Nehru.

Even today, however, it is not late, for either the Congress or the BJP, to undertake inner party reforms and inculcate a sense of democracy within the parties.

If both, the Congress and the BJP as the two predominant national parties, start holding genuine, honest and regular elections internally, across all levels of their parties through their registered party members, right from the taluka and village level, they will throw up quite a few pleasant surprises and natural leaders at the grassroots level. This should be somewhat on the pattern of the elections that happen at all levels within the Democrat and Republican parties in the US. While families can all run for elections and try their hand at power they must come through proper elections. Even when sycophants talk of decisions being taken by the High Command, it should still be mandatory for parties to hold elections, voluntarily and willingly for the good of their own parties.

These leaders will then be the eyes, ears, hands and brains at the local level for both these parties and their connection with the citizens at the local level will be far more direct and deep enough for them to be able to push the general voters to come out and vote.

Democracy is not about the Indian parliament alone. It is about letting the voice of the people go right from the Andamans and the Anantnags to Delhi. More than that it means that people from Andamans and Anantnag needn't even wait for their voice to reach Delhi. They should be able to get their work done at the local level with only very specific issues of national and international level being raised in Delhi.

Unless the INC and the BJP bring in inner party democracy, their hopes and desires of having single party governance in Delhi will all go in vain.

Little do they realize that the regional parties are but a reflection of a lack of democracy within their parties.

While the INC has been used to governance, it is quite surprising indeed that the BJP, not ever having been associated with the Congress or its ideology has evolved into much the same thing that the Congress used to be.

We need these two parties to be somewhat on the lines of either the Dmocracts and the Republicans or the Conservatives and Labour.

We also need inner party democracy on the same lines as the above mentioned parties.

Unless they dont work on their own systems, policies and ideologies, there is nothing to distinguish between them as well as them from the multitude of regional parties. And if there is nothing to distinguish then there is no point, from the voter's point of view, to go out and vote.

If it means that this would result in a decline of democracy in India and will impact the concept of India in the long run, well, let me break the news, aren't we already there?

India and its Politics

We are all hankering after several issues with our politics and yet we don't even know whether the large majority of our country men and women have even heard about these ongoing conversations amongst the elite of this nation.

Does an average voter even in Shahdara, forget about Jodhpur, even know that there is serious talk going on in Delhi about introducing the right to reject all candidates who stand for election with a None of the Above option? And why should it be "None of the Above" and not "None of the Below"?

Do the people at the India International Centre or at the Election Commission or wherever else understand that these days there are no ballot papers circulated amongst the voters and that when one goes to actually vote on the EVMs, its quite overwhelming a task to read through all the names and then press the button. If one starts to read through all the signs and names, it would take a very literate voter at least 5 minutes to go through all the names and then press the button. Do we know that the electoral officer sitting there would not permit each individual voter to go through each name? If a very literate person would take that long, imagine how intimidating it would be for our illiterate masses to have to go through a large number of pictures and images searching for their candidates unless they happen to belong to a specific and popular political party.

Do we know that EVMs, at least the one where I voted, don't have candidate names in alphabetical order? Instead, someone decided that the Congress, BJP, BSP and SP will constitute the top order and they are all there in the beginning itself. So, if I had to look for an independent candidate who perhaps deserved my vote on account of being honest or simply because he is standing on behalf of Election Watch, it would be quite a task to search for his name. In fact I know of some well educated professional people who went looking for his name but when they were at the EVM, they were overwhelmed at the sight of so many names and signs and then spending less than a minute staring at the EVM, they quickly went ahead and pressed the button for their second choice lest the Election Officer wonder why they were taking so much time. Needless to add, the second choice inevitably fell on a candidate from one of the organized political parties. If this happens in Lucknow, imagine what would be happening in the rural areas.

Further, it wasn't the heat that kept a lot of people away from the elections. It was the loss of interest. We can't keep saying that our votes are very valuable and then imagine that voters would part with their "valuable" votes for less than valuable candidates. Have we ever heard of someone giving away his or her "valuables" to a thief just like that?

For the election commission to keep saying that there are far too many people in this country so election after election they will continue to have problems with the electoral rolls, well sorry, but that is the truth and its not a secret. We have all known this fact since ages. So wake up, Election Commission. Start working now so that such problems are avoided in the next election. But guess what, they too are Indians like the rest of us. And we all know in our hearts that Indians don't like working unless they have to.

Af-Pak and the Indian sub continent

One has said this before....the entire Indian sub continent, from Afghanistan to Myanmar to Thailand is one all encompassing civilization with a shared 5000 year old history. The only option available to this place is to be held together somewhat on the lines of the European Union and essentially the way this entire region was bound culturally aeons ago but independent politically. Since this cannot happen overnight, the process is likely to continue for another 100 years if not more. Of the entire subcontinent, the division of India into India and Pakistan is the most unnatural. As such this would be and should be the first to glue itself back together. While politically this might be harakiri at the moment, it is the only natural state for these two political entities. The two are like mercury and are bound to get together sooner rather than later.I foresee an era perhaps 50 years from now where there would be a redrawing of the subcontinental map and perhaps Pakistan as we know of it today will not exist. Some of the western parts would go to Afghanistan, some of it will remain independent, some of the north eastern parts would get merged with India / Kashmir while some of the central parts would continue to remain hubs of terrorism and under siege from the US, Israel, India and Iran.