A lot has been said about the political condition of the country. And as Indian citizens we have accepted the political condition of our country. But some people are strving towards making a difference and improving governance in India. A group of 11 highly motivated professors from IIM, Ahemedabad formed an organisation called ADR - Association of Democratic Reforms in the year 1999. Since then this organisation which is headquartered at Ahemedabad, Gujarat have made attempts to improve the governance in India simply by ensuring that they screen the backgrounds of the political candidates and by ensuring the accuracy of the voter's list in the state of Gujarat.
As was expected they met with quite a bit of resistance from almost all political parties apart from Congress. Congress was the only party which gave ADR its full support.
ADR won two landmark judgment from the Supreme Court mandating disclosure of criminal, financial and educational background of candidates contesting elections. They made good use of the Right to Information act for getting this one passed. It worked with the Election Commission to ensure that ordinary citizens have a right to access the information declared by candidates. It also worked with the media since October 2002 and has played a significant role in bringing this issue to light. It has built up a network of partner NGOs in different states and has been actively involved with them in doing Citizen Election Watch work exposing the criminal and financial background of candidates. So far, this has been done on Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh. Click here to see the kind of work that ADR had done for the General Elections in Delhi in 2004. They have stated clearly the candidates who have criminal cases pending against them and the assets that they have and the tax that they pay. These are things that every Indian Citizen should know in order to choose a deserving candidate. Unfortunately, in many parts of India, citizens still do not have access to this kind of information.
But the right steps are being taken. The progress is slow and dismal but progress is there. I, as a normal Indian citizen hope to see some good changes being brought about in the process of electing the leaders of our country. It's a small start but a start nonetheless.
In the meantime, the Indian constitution has also empowered the Indian citizens with the power of deciding not to vote. It is a matter of debate as to how many Indian citizens are actually aware of this kind of a provision that has been made for them.
It is a gentle breeze right now... but a breeze nonetheless... hoping that it will soon turn into a major force which will re-shape Indian politics forever. So, definitely.... I can say that ADR is another ray of hope..... in the jungle of politics...
As was expected they met with quite a bit of resistance from almost all political parties apart from Congress. Congress was the only party which gave ADR its full support.
ADR won two landmark judgment from the Supreme Court mandating disclosure of criminal, financial and educational background of candidates contesting elections. They made good use of the Right to Information act for getting this one passed. It worked with the Election Commission to ensure that ordinary citizens have a right to access the information declared by candidates. It also worked with the media since October 2002 and has played a significant role in bringing this issue to light. It has built up a network of partner NGOs in different states and has been actively involved with them in doing Citizen Election Watch work exposing the criminal and financial background of candidates. So far, this has been done on Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh. Click here to see the kind of work that ADR had done for the General Elections in Delhi in 2004. They have stated clearly the candidates who have criminal cases pending against them and the assets that they have and the tax that they pay. These are things that every Indian Citizen should know in order to choose a deserving candidate. Unfortunately, in many parts of India, citizens still do not have access to this kind of information.
But the right steps are being taken. The progress is slow and dismal but progress is there. I, as a normal Indian citizen hope to see some good changes being brought about in the process of electing the leaders of our country. It's a small start but a start nonetheless.
In the meantime, the Indian constitution has also empowered the Indian citizens with the power of deciding not to vote. It is a matter of debate as to how many Indian citizens are actually aware of this kind of a provision that has been made for them.
It is a gentle breeze right now... but a breeze nonetheless... hoping that it will soon turn into a major force which will re-shape Indian politics forever. So, definitely.... I can say that ADR is another ray of hope..... in the jungle of politics...
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