This blog has moved permanently to blog.reweyou.in along with all of the posts that are present here. From now on, posts will only be published on our new blog.
Our subscribers are requested to subscribe to the new blog to continue receiving updates.
Recently there has been a furore on the social and news media over the documentary by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin, India’s Daughter. It became an even more hotly discussed issue after the Indian Government banned it in India, citing ‘objectionable content’.
Objectionable content. What is that even supposed to mean?
I think it is an excuse. The Government is offended that a ‘foreigner’ penetrated ‘our’ system and exposed us. The Government says that the content of the film is against women and gives a platform to rapists. Is it against women for showing how deep-rooted the problem of gender inequality is? Or does it give a platform to rapists by exposing their sick mindset? Or is it because educated lawyers of our country are ready to set fire to their sisters and daughters if they ‘shame’ the family? Or for showing that a convict, Mukesh Singh, is not only without a drop of remorse but also goes on to say that women are more responsible for rapes than men, and that they shouldn’t resist while being raped? It is upsetting, disturbing, even unnerving at times but it is certainly not objectionable.
But then, it is far from perfect. The documentary, much like Slumdog Millionaire, does show India as a third world country of uncivilized, slum dwelling people who drop out of school to earn a living. It seems as if the British take pleasure in this sort of portrayal of a previous colony. Despite India’s efforts and achievements, we are still known as a country of snake-charmers, infected with poverty. And now the ‘rapist’ tag has been added to it.
And then there is the issue of the name. Firstly, why would you name the film India’s Daughter when all you are going to do is talk about the mentality of the people who raped India’s Daughter? Even if we let that go, isn’t India’s Daughter a patriarchal name, especially when you’re condemning a patriarchal society? Was she nothing more than a daughter? Was Jyoti Singh Pandey not the brave young woman with great dreams, who toiled hard to pay her college tuition fees, who fought against her attackers? Was she not India’s heroic citizen? Was she not India’s Hero?
I mentioned how the documentary exposed the true mindset of the average Indian male. However, I did not actually mean it. Because, well, there is nothing being exposed. The documentary does not tell us anything new. We are all well aware of this mindset. And that is because it is deeply ingrained into our society in one form or another. We see it every day, and we ignore it every day. It has made way into our ‘comfortably-ignore zone’. We ignore the daily embodiments of this mentality, whether it be domestic violence or dowry or female foeticide, and live happily in our bubble. Until one day, someone bursts it. What the film shows is not merely a case of victim blaming. It is something that has become a branch of the tree that we proudly call Indian culture, as a result of generations of gender inequality. As ashamed as I am to admit this, it is true. We are a diseased society, and too ashamed to admit it.
So I grant you that it is not a great film. And it’s portrayal of India is not great either. But that is no reason to ban it. Because this is not fiction. It is the truth of our society. And it is high time we stood up and took responsibility for our society. Banning something that offends you is a simple thing. Putting an end to it is something else entirely. But hiding the truth is not going to cut it (not that the Government could do an even mediocre job at hiding it). It is our burden to carry and our war to fight.
We can keep raising questions and continue criticizing all levels of our society but the truth is that all charity begins at home. This documentary is more about India’s sons than about its daughters. India’s sons of tomorrow are growing up today. Let us raise them well.
Pending
Pronunciation: /ˈpɛndɪŋ
Definition of pending in English:
(adjective)
Awaiting decision or settlement.
Pending. Somewhere between cases in the Supreme Court and Facebook friend requests, I’m sure you’ve heard the word.
I usually trust the Oxford Dictionary and I’m sure you do too. But, unfortunately, this is not what pending really means for the average Indian. Unless, of course, there is some covert practical implication of the word ‘pending’ when a dead person’s next of kin waits for ‘justice’.
A week ago, Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan announced that 63,800 cases are pending in the Supreme Court. If you think that’s a big number; wait. The High Courts across the country have 4.4 million pending cases and the number of pending cases in the district courts even overshadows that with a mind-numbing figure of 20 million. All in all, there are over 2.5 crore pending cases in our country.
According to the Census of India (2011), India has a total of 247 million households, which puts an average household size to 4.9 people. Which means that at least 12.5 crore are awaiting pending justice. That’s one in every ten people in India.
The above statistical analysis only counted the family members living in the same household. But what happens when such a pending case affects more than once household? What if it affects 10 households? Or even worse, an entire constituency? Well, here’s news for you: 186 out of 541 (34%) winning candidates whose election affidavits were analysed by the Association of Democratic Reforms, admitted to having pending criminal cases against them. So, one in three MPs has a criminal (not civil, mind you) case against him/her. Which also goes on to mean that there is a one in three chance that you’re directly affected by this.
Coming to what has been haunting our nation; there are over 31,000 pending rape cases in India. And it typically takes 3-4 years for a verdict to be pronounced in a rape case. Caveat: the previous statement holds true only for cases where there are one or two witnesses. Gang rapes and justice are not even in the same time zone.
On the seemingly brighter side of things, around 1200 Fast Track courts have been set up across India to speed up the delivery of justice. Which is a good thing, except for the fact that the numbers mentioned above are all despite the presence of these Fast Track courts. Last May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the Centre do its best to fast track pending criminal cases against MPs. However the Supreme Court recently announced that MPs are not special, hence their cases cannot be especially fast tracked.
I sometimes wonder what the word JUSTICE is even doing in the Preamble to the Constitution of India. Just saying.
Ever wondered why an MP/MLA with the brightest and sharpest of minds, the one you considered a logical and rational person, gets so silent when it comes about voting in the parliament for a bill? Why he says that he will follow the High command orders, whatever they are? Doesn’t he have his own will? Is he a coward? Why the person who once so strongly advocated an anti-corruption bill voted against the ‘Lokpal Bill’?
Most of the people think that their elected representatives do not do their job and become corrupt when they enter in politics but only a few of us know that there are certain limitations over our elected representative too. In a free country like India, your elected representatives can’t vote freely!
In 1985, during the regime of Rajiv Gandhi, an amendment (52nd) to the Constitution of India was brought into force. This amendment inserted into the constitution ‘The Tenth Schedule’, popularly known as the Anti-Defection Act. The act laid down the guidelines for disqualification of an elected representatives on the grounds of their defection to other political parties or going out of their party’s line of action.
According to this law, a member would incur a disqualification under paragraph 2 (1) of the 10th Schedule when
This means that whenever a vote is to be taken in the parliament, he will have to vote as per the instructions he gets from his party high command or else be prepared to face the consequences. He will not only lose his party membership but will also be disqualified as an elected representative from the House!
That’s why no matter how influencing a politician is, he will have to vote what his party has decided. While this stopped the frequent party changing attitude and bribery among elected representatives, it also forced many MP/MLAs to go against their free will. Because of this Act, many politicians change their parties and quit their membership in Lok Sabha as the elections come close. Some of the MPs who recently changed their parties are: Jagdambika Pal, D. Purandeshwari, Jasa Barad and Satpal Maharaj, among others.
In the 52nd amendment itself, there was another paragraph added (Paragraph-3) which stated that the disqualification will not take place as mentioned in the 10th Schedule if a faction of such people arise in the party which claim that a split has been there in the party and the number of such people is more than one third of the members of the legislative party. However, in the 91st Amendment Act (2003) this paragraph was also removed from the Schedule and now there is no way a member can oppose his party without losing his constituency.
On one hand, while this act seems a barbarian gag on the mouth of your democracy, it also helps significantly speed-up the process to pass legislative bills in the assemblies and Parliament. Now there is no need to whip all the members of a party in line with party guidelines and ensure that they vote accordingly. This also helped stopping to a large extent the bribery and selling-buying business that was widely spread around in the lanes of Parliament.
But the crucial question is: “Is it worthwhile to turn freedom into a sacrificial lamb?”
The war trumpet has been sounded. After one of the most intense rounds of campaigning ever witnessed in the National Capital Territory the Election Day is finally upon us. This year voters are expected to turn up in huge numbers as polling begins on 7th Feb, to elect a stable government and end the year-long President’s Rule in Delhi. The Election Commission (EC), with H. S. Brahma, the newly appointed Chief Election Commissioner at its helm, has worked hard to ensure a free and fair run up to the polls. Apart from the multitude of hoardings and advertisements from the contesting parties trying to woo Delhites in their favor, posters bearing slogans and pictorials for spreading awareness about suffrage, or the Right to Vote and its importance are also displayed in abundance. Renowned Olympian wrestler Sushil Kumar has been roped in by the EC to inspire the youth to come out in large numbers and cast their votes. The atmosphere is buzzing with electricity! So let’s have a look at the who’s who in this year’s Delhi state assembly elections as well as some general facts and figures.
The contest is being touted as a tripartite struggle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Indian National Congress (INC). BJP has projected Kiran Bedi, who has recently joined the saffron fold, as its Chief Ministerial Candidate, whereas, the Congress campaign is being spearheaded by Ajay Maken as its candidate. The AAP is lead by ex-Chief Minister Mr. Arvind Kejriwal whose resignation from the post of CM in February last year had ended AAP’s 49 day rule in the Capital. Since then Delhi had been under the President’s rule. While the AAP has admitted that the resignation was a mistake and have promised the people of Delhi a slew of reforms and a corruption free government, the opposition parties have wasted no time in labeling Kejriwal as a quitter.
As the Election Day draws nearer, slugfest between rival candidates have intensified manifold. Accusations and counter accusations have been rained without any relent since the beginning of the campaign by each party; the BJP has alleged recently that the AAP was involved in money laundering offences. There have been reports about violations of the model code of conduct as well by few candidates. For those who are scratching their heads over “code of conduct”, in a simplified form the Election Code of Conduct or the Model Election Code is a set of guidelines and regulations which every political party and its cadre are expected to follow until the successful completion of the elections and the declaration of results. Till now, the combined efforts of the police and the city administration have ensured that the skirmishes were kept to a minimum level. The South West Delhi office of the EC has even provided a WhatsApp number (9871051644) where citizens can report any violation of the poll code.
Among the CM candidates, Kiran Bedi of BJP had made the headlines for her sudden inclusion in the party and almost spontaneous declaration of her candidature for the top post. This had evoked mixed reactions from the politicians as well as the general public. While the move was welcomed by many, on the other hand she faced sharp criticism from various sectors. In-fighting among the BJP cadres was evident since state BJP chief Satish Upadhyay was not given a ticket. Though Mr. Upadhyay later proclaimed to the media that the decision was taken keeping in mind the best interests of the party, his supporters were quite unhappy with the proceedings. But over time things calmed down and Ms Bedi held a number of rallies and meetings with party workers. Ironically, it has been widely pointed out that after Mr Harsh Vardhan, present Union Minister of Science and Technology and former chief of the Delhi BJP unit, joined the central government the BJP had been left without a prominent face in the national capital. Hence, experts have opined that is was a strategic move by BJP’s central leadership to include project Kiran Bedi as their CM candidate. She will contest from the Krishna Nagar constituency.
Lately, Congress VP Rahul Gandhi has entered the poll battleground to bolster the prospects of INC. He has held several rallies and drew large crowds of supporters in favour of CM candidate Ajay Maken, who will contest from the Sadar Bazar constituency. Mr Maken has been elected from Sadar Bazar three times in a row. He is one of the most experienced legislators in the INC camp. Whereas, AAP chief Mr kejriwal has filed his nomination from the New Delhi constituency, from where he won in the 2013 elections.
With 11763 polling booths in 70 constituencies, and a total 673 candidates who will be voted for by over 1.33 crores Delhites (provided that the whole electorate comes out to vote!), this year’s elections will be something to keep track of. The counting will take place on 10th Feb while the results are to be declared by 12th Feb.
Team Reweyou urges all Delhites to come out and make the best out of their votes. Keep visiting for in-depth discussions on other scorching hot issues. Happy elections!
I was recently talking to an old friend of mine and while discussing various aspects of ReWeYou I asked him about the different problems we face at the civic level. To check how aware he was about the Constitutional structure regarding accountability of elected representatives, I asked him a few questions. Below is a part of the conversation.
Think about the commonest problems you encounter in your daily life, in the civic sense. (No, really. Take a minute and do it.)
Water, drainage, electricity, garbage disposal, transportation and traffic.
(If you actually took a minute and gave it a thought, it is very likely that a few of these figured somewhere in your list)
And who’s fault is it? Who is to blame?
Why, the government of course!
True, that. And you’d hold their elected representative responsible in the next elections, right?
Obviously.
Which elected representative? The MP from your constituency?
Yes, it’s his job to look after the constituency. These guys forget about their constituencies after winning elections and just let them rot.
But isn’t an MP a ‘policy maker’? Don’t you think it’s the MLA’s responsibility?
Now that you mention it…I guess so. But isn’t the MLA also a sort of policy maker at the State level?
He is.
So, I guess they’re both jointly responsible as it must be one of their side duties, right?
Wrong.
This is what most people think. And when I say ‘most people’, let me remind you that I am usually in conversation with the well-educated-internet-using population of our country. The truth is that the majority of Indians are blatantly unaware of the duties, powers and responsibilities of the people they elect. No wonder these people make fools out of us every elections!
A series of RTI revealed, in 2011 (after around 60 years of a working Constitution), that the duties and responsibilities of the MP or the MLA are not outlined in the Constitution of India. And you were wondering why everybody plays the blame game? Let me state this clearly: basically, there is no ‘job description’ for the bunch of guys who the entire country comes together to elect and who are responsible for running our nation.
Take a moment to collect the fallen pieces of your mind and put them back together. And while you’re at it, pull up your dropped jaw.
Coming back, since their roles are not defined, how can we hold the right guy responsible? Well, let us try to simplify things a bit. In a broader sense, your MP is your representative at the Centre in legislative matters. The MLA has pretty much the same function on the State level and the Corporator in the Municipal Corporation. In other words, the MP represents his constituency’s interests at the Centre in legislative matters so that laws are made keeping in mind the interests/problems of each and every section of the population. The MLA does this in State laws. He is also responsible for State matters such as law and order, education, land laws, education etc. The Corporator is responsible for civic issues such as roads, bridges, water, waste management etc.
The importance of holding the right elected representative accountable for the duties which they are responsible for cannot be stressed enough. Take an example: if a Corporator realizes that people hold the MLA/MP responsible for his job, it will give him an excuse to adopt a more laidback approach and lower his level of performance. Similarly, it is important to hold the MP responsible for national legislative issues and not on local issue. Otherwise, it does not incentivise the MP to perform well/raise the right questions in the Parliament.
Most of the times, we go to an MP/MLA for a job that either requires signing/forwarding of petitions or at the most, making a phone call to some administrative/political authority. Understandably, these do not require a lot of effort on their part and they are usually happy to do this. This keeps them in touch with other people and if they are lucky and the work gets done, they get a guaranteed vote in the next election without having to do any real work!
Politicians have realized this.They know that most people have negligible idea about the duties of the office of an MP, MLA or a Corporator. People often mix them all up or believe that the government is a vague and ill-defined entity (and it is, in some aspects) where everyone is responsible for everything. Hell, people even meet their MP for getting a hand-pump installed! Needless to say, he’ll probably get it done. The people will be happy with their hand-pump and the MP will be content with his ‘confirmed votes’ but the point everyone misses is that he is not carrying out the actual duties of his office – raising meaningful questions/issues in the Parliament regarding his constituency. If people become aware of his actual responsibilities, he will have to improve his performance with regards to the real duties of his office in order to have a greater chance of winning in the next elections. That is the way a democracy is supposed to work!
So, if people want to see a change in the attitude of their elected representatives, people will first have to learn to hold the right person accountable. Because accountability matters. Actually, it is the only thing that really matters.
A very common misconception about voting rights is that one should have resided in a city or place for at least 3-5 years in order to be eligible to vote in that constituency. This misconception has led to a mindset among the youth to keep their names in the voting list of the city they were born in or the one in which their parents reside. This commonly prevalent notion prevents them from voting because most of the times they are either in their college or at their workplace. We need to have a better understanding of the rules for registration in a Voters List of any constituency. Let’s take a look.
Am I eligible to vote?
You are eligible to vote if you fit into the following criteria:
If I move to a new city, can I vote from there?
Yes, if you have lived there for a period of 6 months.
I have turned 18 but you are in your college/hostel. Can I vote?
Yes. As a student, you can register from your college even if you are studying outside your native city / place of permanent residence.
This is the exact rule of Election Commission of India:
“Students, if otherwise eligible, living in a hostel or mess or lodge more or less continuously, going back to his normal home or place of residence only for short periods, can be held to be ordinarily resident in the place where the hostel or mess or lodge is situated. However, if they so wish, they have the option of retaining their enrollment at their residence with their parents instead. [During intensive revision, students shall not be enumerated at their hostels. They shall be enrolled subsequently on application in Form 6 with bonafide student and hostel resident certificate].”
If you are residing in a hostel / mess and do not have an ordinary address proof document, you will have to get a Student Declaration Form signed by your college dean/principal/registrar and submit it along with your voter registration form. (Format of Declaration; open this in a new tab)
You are also allowed to register from your parent’s place of residence; however you CANNOT register from two or more addresses simultaneously. It is always advisable though that you register from your college, since you will spend most of the time in the year at this place.
I have my name in the Voter List of my native place. How can I register as a voter from my college?
First, you need to apply to get your name deleted from the voter list of your native place. You can login to http://eci-citizenservices.nic.in/ and fill the form to do that.
Alternatively, you can ask your parents to ask the BLO (Block Level Officer) to delete your name. Ideally, it should get deleted when voter list is being revised and you are not present at your address. But, they confirm all names of a family after talking to an elder member.
Secondly, you have to apply for inclusion of your name to the Voter List of the constituency where your college/hostel/lodge/mess falls.
How many times can I apply for deletion/addition to Voters List of different places?
There is no restriction on the number of times. You can do this as many times your place of residence changes.
Why should I take the pain and do this every time I shift to a different city?
You don’t need to do this every time you shift to a new city. All you should do is that, if any sort of elections are approaching (General/State), you should apply for registering your name in the voters list 2-4 months prior to that.
It’s not a very time-taking process. You can fill the form at http://eci-citizenservices.nic.in/ and upload some scanned documents. You receive an SMS regarding your appointment with an officer (ERO).
When you visit him/her, he verifies your documents and residence proof and adds your name. In some cities like Bangalore, you only need to send a copy of original documents to the ERO by post and not even visit the office.
It does not take a lot of time or effort on one’s part to complete this process. The Election Commission is simplifying the process every year to attract young voters. It is only because of our ignorance/laziness that political parties are able to carry out their typical caste-based campaign instead of an issue-based campaign.
We talk about politics, we discuss it on Facebook and Twitter, we write blogs and have debates in hostel rooms/mess table, but we don’t go out and Vote and all that discussion turns into a pile of intellectual rubbish . The traditional politicians have obviously figured out that it is the middle-aged and old voters that need to be tapped and not youths or college going students. Consider the population of college going students who do not live in their native places and so, do not go to vote; it is more than a million voters. Most of the students do not vote.
I think it is a great opportunity missed if you turned 18 and you had the chance to vote but you didn’t. You did not exercise one of the very first rights you get when you turn adult-the right to vote!
Not only students; most of the young professionals working in NCR/Bangalore/Hyderabad/ Mumabi/Pune etc. do not vote. They can vote if they are aware about the right rules and they understand the need to exercise their vote. If you start voting, they will have to think about your issues.
Why is opening a startup so easy and convenient in Singapore and not India? Many Indian youngsters have shifted to Singapore to run their start-ups because of lenient taxation and the support from the government there. Our politicians would worry about these issues only when you vote. They would change their agenda as you begin to vote. Because then you would matter to them.
Only you can make yourself matter. So go on and make yourself matter. Vote.
PS. For those who are above the age of 18 and don’t have a Voter ID yet, don’t forget to celebrate National Voters day on 25th January, 2015.
A lot of people struggle with the difference between Bills and Acts. A few even use them interchangeably. We’ll resolve that in this post.
So, what is a Bill?
The draft of legislative proposal presented before either House of the Parliament is called a Bill.
And what is an Act?
A bill, once passed by both Houses and approved by the President becomes an Act.
What does ‘passed by both Houses’ mean?
When a bill is first presented in a House of Parliament (Lower or Upper), it goes through three readings:
First reading (Introduction): The bill is introduced. Only the main features and principles are read. That is all.
Second reading (Detailed discussion/Amendments): Principles are read again, the bill can be referred to a Standing Committee if a report on some clauses of the bill is felt needed, clause by clause discussion over the bill takes place and amendments may be made (by a simple majority of the members present and voting).
Third reading (voting): The bill is voted upon. If it is passed, it goes to the other House, where the same procedure, as mentioned above, is followed. If there is an equal number of people both for and against the bill, then the Speaker of the House (who does not normally participate in voting) gets to cast their (deciding) vote. If the number of votes against the bill are more than the number for it, the bill is defeated. And the bill ‘dies’.
Hmm. And what if the bill is passed in one House and defeated in the other House? That can happen, right?
It sure can! This is called a deadlock. In this case, the President can summon a joint session presided over by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the deadlock is resolved by a simple majority. In such a case, the stance of the Lok Sabha usually prevails, since it has a larger (almost double) number of members.
And it has happened earlier. Three times, to be exact. The most recent one was in the year 2002, with the Prevention of Terrorist Activities (POTA) Act. The bill was defeated in the Rajya Sabha after being passed in the Lok Sabha. It was then passed in the Joint Session.
Cool! And what exactly does President’s approval mean?
The President’s assent/approval is the final part of converting a bill into an Act. If the President gives his assent, the bill becomes an Act. It is published in the Gazette of India and becomes an Act from the date of assent of the President.
And what if he doesn’t?
Well, in that case (which is called pocket veto), the bill goes back to the Parliament for reconsideration. The key point here is, however, that if, after reconsideration, the bill is again passed by both Houses of the Parliament, then the President must give his assent.
After all, the President is just a nominal head. The people’s representatives have the real power. Which in turn means that the people have the real power.
But the people aren’t kept informed of all the content of the bill while it is being converted to an Act, are they?
Of course they are! It’s a people’s government! Once the bill is introduced (first reading), it is published in the official gazette of the House to inform the people and get a democratic opinion on the bill. During the second reading too (before and after amendments), the bill is constantly circulated for the opinion of the general public.
Okay. One last question: when does an Act…umm…’start working’?
Haha. The phrase you’re looking for is ‘come into force‘. Or even more precisely: when an Act becomes the law.
An Act comes into force in the manner written in the Act itself (pretty circular logic, eh?), and as notified in the Gazette of India. It either comes into force the day the president gives it his assent or on some pre-decided date mentioned in the Act itself or on a date set by the Central/State Government.
Publishing an Act in the Gazette of India is the only officially established way to inform the public of a new law. Mind you, once this happens, the Act becomes enforceable by law. In other words, you cannot plead ignorance of it after the Act has been published in the Gazette of India. So we suggest that you get a copy.
We’Re with You! Are you with us? Because together, we’re going to change the system.
Ah, yes. I know what you’re thinking. You probably have that exasperated look on your face. And you’re not entirely wrong. After all, changing the system is one of the biggest clichés of our times.
You know what we think, though? Clichés are boring. Nobody likes boring. Hence, boring is neglected. Neglect leads to decay. Decay leads to…you get the idea. And we promise you that it’s not a good idea.
ReWeYou is for everyone: students, employees, employers, parents and any responsible citizen who wants to see progress (a.k.a change) in this world.
With ReWeYou, you can review (yeah, you guessed it!) any organization, from your workplace to your bank to your kid’s school. You can submit the problems you faced (which could range from lack of structure and unclean environment to employee behaviour and working conditions) to ReWeYou and rest assured! Then our team will escalate the matter and notify the concerned authority, while keeping you fully updated about the progress of your matter. If you’re an employer, it would help you get a better idea of your company, its working conditions, employee and customer satisfaction and it would help you create and solidify your brand.
And if you’re an aware and responsible citizen wanting to bring about some positive change close to you, you could even review the work done by elected representatives (or the ones contesting the elections) in your locality/municipality/constituency with ReWeYou. We aim to bring the reigns of progress right to the click of the mouse.
So, yes! We’re going after a cliché. And we’re coming after you. To give you the power to change the world around you. Not the kind of change that will take decades; this change will be swift and the way you want it to be. Because you matter. Because one person, sitting at their laptop, can change the world.
Maybe you’re that person. Well, We’Re with You!
PS: Subscribe to our blog (duh!) and keep yourself updated.
ReWeYou 