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EC, one of India’s finest brands
Reforms on the agenda |
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IN SEARCH OF GOODWILL On the record PROFILE
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EC, one of India’s finest brands
Choice of electoral democracy for India was variously termed at that time as a giant leap forward, a bold enterprise and an unparalleled adventure. The makers of the Constitution had realised quite early that elections provide the starting point of justice and equality. Despite a 16% literacy rate and a caste-based hierarchical social system, the independence came directly to the hands of ordinary people in the form of a vote. Oppressed masses of India had voted in many elections before Switzerland allowed its women and Australia its aboriginals to vote.
A thriving and vibrant electoral democracy has been India’s distinct and durable identity at the global stage, long before it asserted itself as economic, nuclear or IT major. This brand, which was founded by our freedom fighters and makers of the Constitution, has been nurtured by Parliament, Judiciary, Political Parties, Media and above all by the People of India, with some distinct contribution from the Election Commission. Over the past 61 years, the Election Commission has delivered 15 elections to the Lok Sabha and over 330 elections to State Legislative Assemblies, thus facilitating peaceful, orderly and democratic transfer of power. Elections to the 15th Lok Sabha held in April-May 2009 have been described as the biggest management event in the world. It involved 714 million voters, 8,35,000 polling stations, 1.18 million Electronic Voting Machines and 11 million personnel. India’s electorate is larger than that of any continent and even several continents put together. The recently concluded elections to five states and union territory, which have been rated as among the finest, involved one fifth of the country’s electorate. The management of elections in India has continually evolved and still does, matching with the colossal proportions and ever increasing complexity of the
task.
Curbing black money The Commission’s journey has also witnessed change in both quality and quantity of its operations. In 1962, the voting process moved from the balloting system to marking system and then to the present system based on Electronic Voting Machines. Multi-member constituencies have given way to single member constituencies. Printed electoral rolls have now been substituted by computerised photo-electoral rolls. The Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) is by now a cherished possession of all citizens. Year after year, with engagement of technology and driven by a sense of innovation, and more importantly matching with the dynamics of the socio-political and economic processes of the Indian society, the art and craft of election management have been chiseled further. In the highly charged arena of competitive elections, where distrust is best guarantor of fair-play, the Commission engages all tricks for prevention of intimidation, election tracking and security & facilitation of voters. In this evolution, the ECI is presently at new crossroads. While India’s election management apparatus has quite effectively neutralised the challenges of muscle power and incumbency power, the Commission is aware of the battles that remain to be won. Election Commission of India is concerned that corruption can and in India does pollute the electoral process and undermines its real potential. It is a striking coincidence that when a debate on corruption is raging all around, the Election Commission has stepped up some determined measures to curb the use of black money during election campaigns. This also covers the new menace of Paid News: a corrupt nexus between political parties, candidates and media houses that seeks to hoodwink the expenditure rules and causes undue influence on electors. Transparency in the conduct and the process of elections, especially in the arena of election expenditure and accounting is being given top priority. Awareness campaign for ethical voting without falling for bribes and inducements is a new dimension of our efforts, for which Civil Society has come forward with exemplary support. Another issue that has engaged serious attention of the Commission in the past one year and more is voters’ participation. Elections have to be not only free and fair but also socially just and more participative. Otherwise there may remain a democracy deficit despite a correct election.
Turnout of young voters The Constitution from its very inception provided every 21 year old the right to vote in direct recognition of the role of the youth in the democratic process. The voting age was further reduced to 18 years in 1989 through a Constitutional Amendment. These two steps are nothing less than two revolutions in the Indian context, the potential of which is unfortunately, far from realised. This is reflected in the low registration and low turnout of young voters. Commission has responded to this predicament in a decisive manner. It has created a Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) wing, which rolls out comprehensive community outreach and multi-media campaigns in partnership with a host of organisations after carrying out a scientific survey of Knowledge, Attitude, Behaviour and Practices (KABP) of voters to fill up all possible gaps in information, motivation and participation. This initiative has returned impressive dividends in terms of higher registration and higher turnout in each of the recent state elections including record turnout in some states. In a historic measure, Commission declared 25th January, its foundation day as the National Voters Day (NVD) from this year with the avowed purpose to increase enrolment of voters, especially of the newly eligible ones. More than 52 lakh newly eligible and registered youth were given their EPICs at more than 8 lakh polling stations on the first National Voters Day. This has been billed as the largest exercise of empowerment of the youth on a single day, anywhere in the world. The Commission is aiming at even higher levels of impact during NVD 2012 and future years for making universal suffrage a reality.
Poll management It does not require any explanation that aspiring democracies around the world look forward to sharing the knowledge, skills and expertise at ECI’s disposal. Responding to increasing global demands, especially from Afro-Asian nations, the Commission is in the process of setting up an India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIDEM) that will serve as a training and resource centre in the critical sector of elections for both national and international participants. In the days to come, this Institute of India should hold light to the road of democracy worldwide. With the type of constitutional mandate that the Commission has, it cannot afford to sit on its laurels. There are several long pending reform proposals and some recent ones from the Commission, that aim at cleaning up the electoral process, so that the foundation can be laid for good governance and a corruption free polity. Countrywide consultations on these reforms are about to be completed, paving the way for adoption of due legislation. Some of these proposals deal with Criminalisation of politics and regulation of campaign finance, publicity and opinion polls etc. We would like to see these getting accepted by all Political Parties and Parliament. To conclude, the fierce neutrality of Election Commission constitutes the core of its strength. It is, therefore, surprising when EC is attacked for doing what all political parties want it to do. Certain amount of hue and cry is of course expected, as we experience from election to election. If you go for a life saving surgery, some blood will drip. We are taking this in the stride. For carrying out its sacred duty, assigned by the Indian Constitution, the Commission will not dither. It does not matter if there are no accolades. It also does not matter if there are brickbats. We have come to a stage in India when holding a free and fair election is no more a spectacular achievement. In fact not holding one would be an exception. This is India’s promise to its own people and to the world. The Commission is now looking ahead to add higher quality to election management – to enrich an already good brand. We will strive to make elections peaceful every time. There shall be no let off in the fight against money power in elections. The other goal is to have every eligible Indian on our electoral rolls and every Indian voter to vote in the elections. We will inform, motivate and facilitate our citizens to do so. The Commission has a simple vision: ‘Elections that are completely free of crime and abuse of money, based on a perfect electoral roll and with full participation of voters.
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Reforms on the agenda An
attempt to build consensus over electoral reforms will be made in July at a conference of political parties. The conference will deliberate on proposals finalised by the Election Commission after holding several regional consultations in various parts of the country. Debarring people accused of various crimes from contesting elections as soon as the courts frame charges and greater transparency in the working of political parties through internal democracy and financial accountability are just two of the proposals in the report being prepared. There is also a proposal that the political parties should receive donations through cheques. Another proposal suggests that nobody be allowed to contest from more than one seat in an election. Presently, if a candidate contests from more than one seat, and wins from all, he is allowed to retain just one seat. This necessitates by-elections, which also amounts to betrayal of the faith of the voter. Meanwhile, India is fast emerging as the ‘Global Guru’ of election management. Having successfully conducted elections since its inception in 1950, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is now gearing up to provide its expertise to the Arab world. The first country on its agenda is Egypt, where a people’s movement brought down the 30-year-old regime of President Hosni Mubarak early this year. As the Arab nation prepares for parliamentary elections in September, to be followed by presidential polls, ECI’s help has been sought to ensure a smooth election. The Egyptian side wanted to share India’s experience in areas like voter education and electoral participation, EVMs and technology based election tracking and facilitation systems, confided Akshay Rout, Director General of the ECI. There was also keen interest in the techniques used by the ECI for tracking election processes like SMS, voters’ helpline and videography. Egypt is not the only country. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) earlier this month invited the ECI for a meeting in Cairo to provide help to other nascent democracies in the Arab region. Mexico and South Africa were the other countries invited for the meeting. The ECI is also discussing with the governments of Delhi and Haryana for land acquisition and for subsequent construction of a campus for the India International Institute of Election Management at New Delhi. In the past, the commission has extended election management support on request to a number of countries, i.e. Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Cambodia, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. It has also signed MoUs with the UN and electoral bodies of Ivory Coast, Mexico, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Brazil and Russia and is in the process of finalising accords with Nepal, Mauritius, Egypt, Thailand and Indonesia.
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IN SEARCH OF GOODWILL For
almost three decades , the Indian Army has been running a `Sadbhavna` programme in Jammu & Kashmir and in the North East, aimed at generating goodwill for the Armed Forces and eventually the Indian State. People affected by militancy and anti-national insurgents are the target of the programme. The expenditure is funded from the Revenue Budget of the Army and has been of the order of Rs 45 crores, Rs 31 crores and Rs 44 crores in the years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively in Jammu & Kashmir alone. The North East component has been approximately Rs. 15 crores each year on an average during the same period. Activities funded under `Sadbhavna` include excursions by school children from far-flung districts and interior areas to places of interest outside the region, to places like Agra, Mumbai, Chandigarh and New Delhi. The Army has also been associated with the running of schools and vocational training centres for people, particularly women.
Impressive on
paper There are two Army Goodwill Public Schools (AGPS), schools of excellence with modern facilities, in Jammu & Kashmir. Many other projects involving construction of public facilities like shelters for people boarding buses, community centres, culverts and small bridges, playgrounds and development of water sources have also been executed. Nearly one thousand micro-hydel projects were also taken up in the early part of the last decade. On paper, therefore, the scope of `Sadbhavna` appears impressive. The annual expenditure of Rs. 60 crores or so on ‘Sadbhavna’, against a huge Army Revenue Budget of nearly Rs. 62 thousand crores and more every year, appears extremely reasonable and far from being a costly proposition. But a closer scrutiny reveals some disturbing aspects.
Contradictions The programme is executed by troops and field units while the stores are procured from the civil market with some quantity also taken from unit holdings. The deployment of combatant forces for such activities is said to detract from their normal role. The Service Chiefs have been periodically harping on the need to keep the defence forces away from civil activities. In the interest of more effective deployment of manpower on their primary duties, the Army`s involvement in `Sadbhavna`, also needs a review. The expenditure and impact of `Sadbhavna`has never been appraised in its totality. The expenditure on the labour put in by soldiers, the cost of deployment of unit stores and depreciation of machinery, vehicles etc. may not be insignificant if calculated precisely. Any programme has to be appraised from the point of view its outcome. In case of `Sadbhavna`, this is all the more necessary because a unique task of winning the hearts and minds of people affected by militancy and foreign-inspired insurgency has been given to the Army, which is already overburdened with security
responsibilities
At loggerheads Sharp differences have often surfaced between the state administration and the Army Command and Corps when `Sadbhavna`plans are drawn up. While in many of the militancy affected interiors of Jammu & Kashmir, the Army has indeed taken up relevant projects, this has not always been the case . The Army has also taken up projects which they have found convenient to undertake. The views of the State Govt. have not always been considered while selecting project sites or on machinery installed like pump sets, wells or on power generating systems. Advice given to the Northern Command to draw up an Annual Work Plan with the Jammu & Kashmir Govt. so that the projects are sustained subsequently by the State Govt. with its own resources, have not had a favourable response from the Army. As a result, after construction, many projects ( including micro-hydel units ) are languishing due to lack of proper maintenance by the State Govt. or local authorities. In many cases the Army continues to maintain and operate `Sadbhavna` assets.
Urban bias The tendency is to take up projects in urban areas or those involving large outlays. The purpose to nurture projects which can bear fruit in a short time, with visible outcome and at low cost, also tends to get defeated. This writer had an interesting experience while functioning as Internal Financial Adviser at Army HQs. The then Governor of the state ( who was an ex-Director of IB), once suggested that the Army take up construction of two toilets in each of the fifty odd schools identified by the Nagaland Government. Anticipated expenditure was a paltry Rs. 50,000/- per school. But the suggestion met with stiff resistance from the Dimapur-based Corps Commander. The Army was more interested in Assam Rifles under its command taking up projects in urban centres like Dimapur because that would have been easier to execute and would also have given them better publicity. It was finally at the intervention of the then Vice Chief of Army Staff that the project was implemented. While `Sadbhavna`as a special intervention can indeed be useful, it has to be ensured that the Army and the State Govts. work closely together. The author is a retired Principal Controller of Defence Accounts |
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On the record
Metallurgical engineer Satinath Sarangi arrived in Bhopal two days after the December 1984 industrial/environmental disaster. He was 32 years old at the time but was horrified and touched by the tragedy enough to decide in favour of staying on. He is today a key figure in the struggle for justice along with other survivors and activists. As Managing Trustee of the Sambhavna Trust, ‘Sathyu’, as he is called in close circles, is engaged in running a clinic, raising funds, contacting supporters and potential supporters and in conducting medical research with published papers in reputed journals. He is also a member of the ‘Bhopal Group for Information and Action’. Your reaction to the Supreme Court order rejecting the curative petition filed by the CBI ? This is yet another setback after the dismissal of the revision petition filed against Justice Ahmadi’s controversial 1996 order that quashed the charge of culpable homicide against Indian officials of Union Carbide and replaced it with a charge of death caused by negligence. The latest order is problematic on several counts. First, by saying that the 1996 Supreme Court order is not binding on the trial court, it expects a lower court to act against a specific order of the Supreme Court. This presumption is contrary to the universal practice of the courts. FIRs quashed by the Supreme Court are never reborn by magisterial acts. It has also dismissed survivors’ prayers along with the CBI’s petition on the ground that the CBI had neither sought revision of the 1996 order nor provided sufficient explanation for the delay of almost 14 years. The accused are yet to spend a single day in jail while 23,000 victims have been condemned to death with lakhs more suffering. We feel the Supreme Court has allowed convicted criminals to take advantage of the Government’s lapses. Why is enhancement of charges against accused Indians so important? Because it is clear from the evidence that the accused Indian officials were well aware of technology used by the Union Carbide and its inherent faults. They all either worked on or approved or had knowledge of the MIC Unit Operating Manual 1984 and knowledge of the consequences of deliberate and criminal degradation of an already fatally defective plant’s safety procedures. From 1973, when despite known hazards of MIC, the managing committee ratified the use of “unproven technology” that had seen only a “limited trial run” to later years when a series of “cost reductions” were implemented that grossly and fatally undermined essential safety features of an already compromised and inherently hazardous factory, Indian officials were in the loop. Safety systems were allowed to fall further. In 1979, the manual for “Start-Up Procedure” for MIC was altered. Instead of requiring circulation through the refrigeration system of the MIC to maintain temperate between 0° and 15°C, the manual changed the requirement. Between 1983 and 1984, safety manuals were rewritten to permit switching off the refrigeration unit. Safety audits in 1979 and 1980 recommended creation of an evacuation plan due to serious concerns in the safety audit. Recommendations were circulated for resolution but these facts were never formally disclosed to the government. In 1982, Operational Safety Survey conducted by UCC facility found a number of “major” concerns and possibilities for “serious personnel exposure”. Keshub Mahindra and others ignored the findings that pointed that there were 30 spots in the factory where a major disaster could occur. If Mahindra and other officials get away, lives and health of the ordinary people of this country will never be secure from corporate crimes. You are accusing the judicial system of succumbing to pressure ? On the Bhopal tragedy, the Indian judicial system has failed time and again. In 1989, the Supreme Court approved a settlement wherein people were paid one seventh of the amount originally asked by the Government of India and then in 1996 the world’s biggest corporate crime was reduced to the status of a road accident. What next ? The good part is all is not lost. We will go to the Sessions Court with additional evidence that clearly shows involvement of Indian officials in cost cutting and disregarding experts’ advice, suppressing facts and misleading local journalists on hazards posed by the factory. We will seek day-to-day hearing of the case in the Sessions Court and trial on graver charges in light of the new evidence. It has already been more than a quarter Century. How much longer could it stretch? The MP government has committed in the Supreme Court that it would provide day to day hearing. If that happens then the actual hearing can get over in one year but the delay would come from the accused who would like to keep the case going. The fight will possibly carry on to the next generation.
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PROFILE Iyenger, a living legend, is known for his unique style of Yoga, which has come to be accepted as “Iyenger Yoga”. The emphasis is on practice, precision and alignment of the body. His style is also different in so far as he has introduced self-designed props like belts, ropes, wooden stools and other forms of supports to allow the body to aim for a perfect alignment. Iyenger Yoga also differs in so far as the Guru insists on a particular sequence of ‘asanas’ or exercising. The Yoga Guru is candid in admitting that he has changed with the times. When most people in the United States were pursuing pleasure, Iyenger reached out to them with his Yoga, which, he claimed, would enable them to enjoy the good things in life, including sex. Taking off from Patanjali, the Guru stresses that Yoga is helpful for a healthy body, clear mind and pure emotions. Most people want health, wisdom, peace and freedom, he points out and claims that Yoga is designed to satisfy these needs. A chance meeting with Violin maestro Yehudi Menuhin ( who paid Iyenger the ultimate compliment by saying that the Yoga Guru helped him play violin better) changed his life. That meeting way back in 1952 led to the West discovering Iynger. Menuhin opened for him the doors of the wealthy and the powerful in Europe and the United States, personally introducing him to the royalty in several European countries. Among his disciples, he includes Pope Paul VI as well as Jayaprakash Narayan and J Krishnamurti. Cricketers Martin Crowe, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag too have turned to him for help along with several industrialists and contemporary politicians. The Guru’s impending visit to China has created a buzz because he has declared this to be his last visit abroad. He had been to Russia two years ago to demonstrate his art, craft and philosophy and on June 16 this year, he is expected to deliver the keynote address at the Indo-China Yoga Summit. Even in China, which has its own well developed system of martial arts, Yoga has apparently been gaining acceptance. It is claimed that at least 15 million people in China practice Yoga. The summit is expected to see a gathering of Yoga exponents and enthusiasts from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau and deliberations on the traditional fitness techniques. Bullur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyenger, ironically, was sickly when young. Prone to fall ill, he suffered from malaria, typhoid and TB before he was advised to practice Yoga at the age of 16. He took to it like fish to water because barely two years later, his Guru T. Krishnamacharya decided to send him to Pune to teach and preach Yoga. The rest, as they say, is history. The institution at Pune named in the memory of his wife, Ramamani, draws thousands of ‘students’ and ‘teachers’ from across the world. While Guruji now confines himself to attending a handful of people with ailments, the courses are run by his daughter, Geeta and son, Prashant. Every year the family retreats to Bullur in Karnataka, where he was born and where he runs an orphanage with the surplus generated by the institute at Pune. The Guruji’s austere lifestyle and philanthropy have added to the aura around him.
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Sparks
His brand of Yoga has been a run-away success and is now promoted across the world by certified teachers and ‘Iyengar Yoga classes’. Yoga, he says, is using the body to discipline the mind and to reach the soul. The challenge of Yoga, he adds, is to go beyond our limits—within reason. Of course “ if there is no wind in our sails, the only way is to row,” he adds.