33 and Beyond

"We must shape our course ourselves and by ourselves... Political power cannot be a panacea for the ills of the Depressed Classes. Their salvation lies in their social elevation. They must cleanse their evil habits. They must improve their bad ways of living.... They must be educated.... There is a great necessity to disturb their pathetic contentment and to instill into them that divine discontent which is the spring of all elevation"

The above was said by BR Ambedkar while advocating the introduction of special quotas for the socially challenged people of the country.More than 60 years after the introduction of his social reforms India lurks in the same old social divide with the differences becoming more acute.The Reservations over the time have gifted India SP's and BSP's of the day,leaders like Mulayam's and Mayawati's and a caste divide which makes the rise of Socially challenged people more difficult than ever before.It is in this backdrop that the RAJYA SABHA (the upper house of Indian Parliament) passed what is termed as the "HISTORIC" womens reservation bill.The Bill envisages to promote gender equality in the country by reserving 33% seats for women in the Indian Parliament.

Before I move on to discuss the implications of this controversial piece of legislation let me pen down some of the most important points enlisted in the Bill

• Reservation for women at each level of legislative decision-making, starting with the Lok Sabha, down to state and local legislatures.
• If the Bill is passed, one-third of the total available seats would be reserved for women in national, state, or local governments.
• In continuation of the existing provisions already mandating reservations for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, one-third of such SC and ST candidates must be women

An important point not mentioned above is that the reservation of seats would be done on rotational basis,implying each seat would be made reserved once in 3 years.Keeping the above points let me enlist my views on the ablove piece of legislation.

Reservation in any form has been a failure around the world.US introduced it for blacks ,yet blacks remain at the bottom of social progress in American society.Canada has introduced many pieces of legislation to empower women in politics but yet ranks a lowly 50th there.Contrast this with the progress Jews have made around the world after the Second world War.A devasted race after facing the brunt of Hitler,Jews today have become the most advanced social group in the world.Estimates range from Jews controlling 2/3 of corporate America to over 50% of fortune 500 companies. Some people estimate that Jews are the most influential group in American Congress.This all has been achieved without any social or economic reservations by any country but rather by the groundwork done by various philanthropist governments and organisations around the world.In this respect it is important to mention that besides proving ineffective reservation is counter effective for other social groups n the society.This results in overall decline in the standard of living and progress rates of the country.

Another point to be looked with great interest is some structural defects in women reservation bill.For one we all know the implementation of rotational policy will inhibit the development of grass root leaders around the country.Also another important fact is that the Congress government wants to implement the bill without adequate groundwork.for one there is inadequate knowledge about the bill in the poorest and most challenged members of society.Facing a great supply demand shortage of talented women politicians ,we might constitute 1/3 (though i have doubts even about the remaining 2/3) of the parliament consisting of pseudo Rabri Devi's acting as rubber stamp for the Lalu Parsad yadav's of the day.if this is what you call women empowerment then I pity all the women of the country.A recent issue of a leading national journal estimated that about 60% of the women elected through 33% reservation already prevalent at the Panchayati Raj system are nothing more than rubber stamps for their husbands.Further with low level of education penetration among the fairer sex it would be interesting to view ,if increased representation of women in the country would help in accelerating the social progress of the country in general and women in particular.Infact historically women have been known for the misuse of power right from Cleopatra of Egypt to Indira Gandhi of India.

Keeping in mind the general faults of reservations in particular of the Bill in particular, the positive implications for society as a whole seem questionable.A better and more effective way towards women empowerment is to work on the grass root levels with NGO's and panchayats to solve the problems from the roots.A huge amount of money and human resources need to be spent on woman education,stopping problems like female foeticide, spreading awareness among general public.Besides the parties advocating the so called "historic" Bill should introspect and redefine their ticket allotment system so that women have at least a fair chance to move up the political ladder.Without such support by political parties even 33% reservation would be ineffective and would introduce nothing more than rubber stamps in parliament,leading to creation of distance power centers and ineffective administration.Thus if we are really interested in making our women leaders of modern India ,instead of passing stupid bills in parliament its time we introspect and start working at grass root level

Happy Blogging

7 Reasons why girls are better politicians

Women seems to be ruling the roost in world politics.The last baston of male dominance seems to be going away and women are all set to dominate the world.So in this world of democracy ..we set to find out,why women are better politicians than males.And heres the list of top 7 reasons.

So just for fun here is it all :

1)Open Ended Answers:A politicain never gives a definite answer..remeber how the party rounded off the guilt of the corrupt politicain...a girl doesnt even know how to answer straight...remember how you had to work with your crytographer friend to decode her no :P

2)Horse Trading:Politics is a game of dynamism..you need to switch sides and swith them really fast.The girl you loved who eloped with your friend when he became a multi millionire..can you beat them at the game

3)Preceptions:Politics is a game of preceptions.Its your preception and not your work that wins you elections.Oh yes the whole world thinks your wife manages the house while its your poor soul that cooks the meal and then sleeps on d couch every night :)

4)Emotions:Playing on the emotions is a politicains favourite play.Remeber how Modi won gujrat and how your gf gets you to do all she wants...u need more explanations

5)Atitude:Politics is a game of right atitudes...of being snooty yet open ..of being devil yet playing angel...the girl next door..makes you feel like a beggar while the case should be the reverse :P

6)Time Managment:Its been 8 years and the babus at south block have still not decided between Boeing and Airbus....it took her 3 days ..20 traffic jams and 25 km of local market walk to buy that pair of jeans

And this is the best

7)Power:The social servant changed the party for the position of CM....if your gf doesnt control you..she'll change you :)

DISCLAIMER:All views expressed are just for fun and may or may not represent the personal views of the author and contributors :P

Reengineering Indian Democracy

Consider these :

• China a communist country is all set to take over Japan as the world's second largest economy in the world
• Cuba under Fiedel Castro has one of the most efficient public distribution, healthcare and civil support system
• Venezuela under Hugo Chavez is one of the fastest developing countries in the world which has paralleled its commercial success with corresponding improvements in infrastructure

Now let us contrast all this with the world's largest democracy better known as India.More than 60 years after independence we continue to reel under thaws of poverty,inequality and corruption..the very things we wanted to escape after independence.The Indian Police is nothing more than licensed "mafia" force which has used its capability and resources to meet selfish needs of corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and other high profile citizens.The recent Ruchika Gehrotra Case where a high ranking police official used all his power to delay justice for more than 19 years is just an example of the above.

Whats more ,though our patriotism drives us to be excited over the fantastic growth rates we have achieved in the past two decades,the reality is some real growth indicators like poverty eradication rate and quality governance index have actually shown a negative or flat trend in the same time period.Whats more their is an increasing problem of trickling down the effects of growth to the masses of the country.

So though despite some splendid achievements during the past 60 years,some of the most important functions of a state ,relating to equality,reduced income gaps,protection etc seem to have gone for a ride in the Indian state.A question certainly arises whether the so called liberties of democracy have played a reverse effect in the country.As a proof of the fact;during the emergency period under Indira Gandhi rule,India was actually successful in tremendously increasing its growth rates and move back the economy on track. Therefore would it have been better to have a dictatorship or communist form of government....certainly not but what is required is to re engineer Indian Democracy to meet the current needs of the state.Time has come that we move on to becoming pragmatic rather than continue living in the idealist mindset on which the Indian Constitution is based. Therefore I think the following aspects of Indian democracy ,needs to be re engineered as soon as possible ,so that the Indian state .. doesn't become a failed state soon

• Abolish UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE:While it would be impossible to argue on idealistic grounds.as to why we should not have UNIVERSAL FRANCHISE,a pragmatic sense and evaluation of the Indian sense would certainly convince us that we need to do away with UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE.A rough estimate puts only 20% of Indian population to have attended complete primary schooling.One of the objectives of schooling is to develop rational political thinking to make the person a responsible citizen by providing him basic knowledge in history,civics and purposes of existence of government and states. Therefore we can conclude that a high school graduate is in a much better position to vote and select a government.However the irony of the matter in the Indian context is that an illiterate slum dweller who would easily sell his vote for a bottle of locally made booze has same vote value as that of a professor in political science.I am certainly not suggesting complete abolishment of UAF (Universal Adult Franchise),but we can certainly create a weighed voting system,which puts more value to votes of educated citizens .Some of us might argue this is against the basic tenets of equality,however the question over here is not equality but the exercise of a precious right which is important for the future survival of the Indian State.
• Recalculate Vote Values:The latest reorganisation of constituencies has made politics more of a strategic game than a duty of a statesman.Politically shrewed reorganisation has resulted in decreased vote value of many citizens.by vote value I mean ,the no. of citizens who get to elect an MP.So while strategically important states like UP,witnessed the vote value of their citizens going up,the less important states have faced a continuous decrease in their vote value.We urgently need to reorganise our constituencies so that each one has same vote value
• Presidential two party system:Over the past two decades,the Indian Federal Elections (Lok Sabha) have been reduced to game of local politics.The fact that a pool of MP's from different state have the power to form government,has resulted in converting elections being converted to a stage for wetting out local issues.An implementation of a Presidential two party system,where the de facto head of the state is determined by total vote count ,with a minimal of 40% of eligible vote would help in tackling the issue.moreover this would help in solving the use of cheap tactics like horse trading across the continuum .Moreover under the present system of announcing the coalation partners and PM after the elections is nothing more than organised dynamic dictatorship
• Implement Strict Political Parties Code:There is an urgent need to amend the constitution and introduce a Political Parties Code.The Code should ensure that representatives of the parties and its dignitaries at various levels are elected by democratic elections.Moreover the important party positions should not be held more than twice in a row.This would help in reducing the "family politics" prevailing in the country
• Increased independence of head of state:Like the US President ,the PM once elected should be made more independent of the Parliament.The PM should be allowed to introduce bills and acts of everyday nature,without approval of parliament.Attendance to Parliamentary sessions should be made compulsory and attendance through modern means like video conferencing should be allowed.This would help in successful debates and quick passage of important bills
• Compulsory Administrative Courses:All persons elected to work in important public offices in capacities of ministers should have to attend compulsory political course which would aim to train them in handling affairs of their departments.Also primary school education should be a necessary precondition for a person to stand in Federal Elections

Pragmatism is the rule of the day.In recent times we have seen the failure of idealist concepts right from communism to free market. Therefore if we do not become pragmatic soon..the Indian State might be added to the failure list above