Time to FIX these dirty politicians.

Many countries have an ombudsman, an independent authority to look
into citizens’ complaints against government.

The Lok Pal bill has been introduced eight times in the Lok Sabha in the last
40 years without becoming a law! Is there anything left to say?

How to fix the politicians.?

The negative vote is a vote which allows voters to register their disapproval
of unsuitable candidates in an election—of which, needless to add, there is
no shortage in India—by registering ‘none of the above’.

The State of Nevada in the US provides for a negative vote; Spain and France
have a version called the blank vote. If the number of negative votes is greater
than the votes obtained by any of the candidates in an election, a repoll
could be mandated, with earlier candidates barred from standing again.

A Public Interest Litigation petition, filed in 2004, is currently pending before the Supreme Court to include the negative vote option in the Electronic Voting Machines.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court recently found sufficient merit in the
petition to recommend its consideration by a larger Constitution Bench; the
government, opposing the petition, had argued for its outright dismissal.

In a hangover from the colonial period, the anti-corruption law mandates that public servants cannot be prosecuted without the prior sanction of the government.

For a Union minister, the permission must come from the President (read council of ministers)—an unlikely event, as it could destabilise the government. For a minister in a state government, the discretionary power rests with the governor.

More often than not, this power is used by the political party ruling at the Centre for its own political advantage. The CBI, despite having the evidence, could not prosecute Mayawati in the Taj Heritage Corridor case, as both NDA and UPA governments at the Centre held back the UP Governor from giving permission.

Political parties are responsible for the quality of the candidates standing for election. Do they allow their grassroots members to participate in formulating their policies and programmes and selecting their leaders and candidates?

Is the voice of the rural voter, who comprises twothirds of the electorate, heard when parties come up with their land acquisition policies? In other words, is their internal functioning democratic?

Keeping tabs on a government by the press or civil society is possible only if there is easy access to information. While the Right To Information (RTI) act is undoubtedly a step ahead, it still puts the onus on the aggrieved citizen who must painstakingly pursue his quest for information, often with unsatisfactory results. The RTI is not enough.

Why should information that can help evaluate the efficiency of a government department (and provide assurances that its operations are above board) not be in the public domain and made available on department websites?

The legislature is supposed to be the safeguard provided in the system against the misuse of powers by elected public servants. Deriving its power from the people’s mandate, it is in theory supreme.

It helps form the council of ministers from 15% of its members and exercises control over it. In practice, however, it is the power of the party with the legislative majority that prevails over the legislature.