Reforms: December 2013

Friday, December 6, 2013

67% of Rajya Sabha members crorepatis, 17% face criminal charges

NEW DELHI: Over two-thirds of Rajya Sabha members (67%) are crorepatis while 17% have criminal cases pending against them, according to latest data analyzed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

In a report based on analysis of 227 out of 245 Rajya Sabha members — excluding the 12 nominated members and seats lying vacant — ADR said 38 members have declared criminal cases against them, out which 15 (7%) face serious criminal cases.

While Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) S P S Baghel from Uttar Pradesh has a case of attempt to murder against him, Congress's Parvez Hashmi from Delhi faces charges of voluntarily causing grievous hurt. T Rathinavel of AIADMK from Tamil Nadu is accused of electoral offence.

The average asset of the 227 Rajya Sabha MPs analyzed is Rs 20.17 crore. Among major parties, the average asset of Rajya Sabha MPs from Congress is Rs 16.74 crore, BJP MPs (Rs 8.51 crore), BSP MPs (Rs 13.82 crore) and CPM MPs (Rs 39.65 lakh).

Rajya Sabha MP with maximum assets is Mahendra Prasad of Janata Dal (United) from Bihar with belongings worth Rs 683.56 crore, followed by Vijaya Mallya, Independent member from Karnataka, (Rs 615.42 crore) and Samajawadi Party's Jaya Bachchan from Uttar Pradesh (Rs 493.86 crore).

Only nine MPs have declared assets worth less than Rs 20 lakh. BJP's Anil Dave from Madhya Pradesh has declared lowest assets worth Rs 2.75 lakh, followed by Trinamool Congress's Mohammed Nadimul from West Bengal (Rs 3.19 lakh) and Shymal Chakraborty of CPI-M from West Bengal (Rs 5.47 lakh).

At least 32, or 14% MPs, have not declared their PAN details.

A total of 12 members of Rajya Sabha are nominated by the President and are not mandated under current laws to submit their affidavits to the Election Commission.

Source TOI dated 7th Dec., 2013

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Pace of justice in India

Pained at the pace of justice in our country, says Uma Kant Misra, who was acquitted in a case of embezzlement. Sharat Pradhan reports.

A Kanpur based postman, who was punished 29 years ago for alleged embezzlement of Rs 57 was given a clean chit by a Kanpur court last week.

Uma Kant Misra, who superannuated three years ago, has been acquitted of the charge, but far from bringing a smile on his face, the court order has left him bitter. The false charge had kept him suspended from service for 29 years, during which all he received was subsistence allowance.

During the course of his duty as a postman, Misra received Rs 697.60 towards distribution of money orders. “I distributed Rs 300 and returned the remaining money to the post-master. But the post-master alleged that the money returned by me was short by Rs 57.60. He built a case of embezzlement against me and got me suspended on the prima facie charge,” says Misra.

All of Misra’s efforts to prove himself “not guilty” went in vain and his plea was not heard by the higher-ups. The case was handed over to the police, who made it a case of criminal breach of trust. “With my very meagre resources I could do little to establish my innocence. Somehow I managed to approach the local court where it took me almost three decades to prove that the accusation of pocketing Rs 57.60 was false,” he said. “I must have visited the court at least 350 times over those three long decades,” says Misra.

Asked if he was finally happy with his acquittal in the case, he said, “What happiness can this order bring to a man who could not provide education to his children, who has to beg before others for his daughter’s marriage and who was only struggling all his life, not merely to feed his family but to prove to the world that he was framed in a false case.”

“I am pained at the pace of justice in our country. I am sure if I had money, my case would not have lingered on for so long. You see how notorious and dreaded criminals manage to get relief because they can engage expensive lawyers, who can give all kinds of twists and turns to bail them out. If you are poor you are condemned to suffer,” added Misra.

Source: rediffmail.com

Election Commission, one of India’s finest brands

Democratic elections provide the method through which citizens assert their civil and political rights. Founders of modern India adopted universal adult suffrage thus reposing faith in the wisdom of the common Indian to elect his/her representative to the seat of power.

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.