The Great Indian Tamasha

While we are all drowning first in the media created Anna revolution and then the so called people victory, I cant help but think that just like always...the common people have been made a fool...earlier it was only the politicians and now politicians plus some so called self-appointed representatives of people of India. In this article, I want to critically examine what really happened over these 12 days, in terms of the expectations raised and the ultimate result. Lie 1: The Jan Lokpal bill is the panacea of all corruption in India While the lokpal is an instrument towards ending corruption, it was dangerous on part of team Anna to raise the expectations of people so high that a legislation would simply rid India of all corruption. Also the fact that most people supporting Annaji were against corruption but the link established by teamm Anna that fighting corruption is equal to passing a lokpal bill and that too a Jan Lokpal bill was wrong! Lie 2: Its is a people victory and a...

  Discussion Note The Right to Education Act & Its Implementation Some Concerns 1.      Background The pre-budget Economic Survey of 2/11/2011, called for more reforms and bold decisions in education sector, including smooth implementation of the Right to Education Act, to make the most of India’s young population for economic growth. “Reaping the demographic dividend needs a vision, a long-term plan, and bold decisions,” the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament said. It said that given the advantage of a young population, the realization of the demographic dividend is another factor that calls for reforms in the education and health sector. The RTE Act “must face no implementation deficit for it to work towards realizing the demographic dividend,” it said. Keeping this bold vision in mind, the document below outlines some possible areas of discussion to further embolden and strengthen this landmark legislation. 2.      Discuss...

1. Introduction The global trend towards decentralization of government focuses attention on local government as an institution responsible for economic development and addressing poverty and social exclusion. The 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution has followed this pattern towards decentralization to local government. As a result, urban local bodies across India are creating mechanisms for local planning and development, with greater powers than previously. The process offers mega-cities the potential to develop their own economic and 'quality of life' policies, integrating them in global city networks; or leading to exclusionary policies, prioritizing the requirements of the elite at the cost of the majority. Experiences with decentralization show that this process does not ensure greater responsiveness to citizens' issues. Whether local government becomes more accountable depends on the strength of local political processes and the influence of civil society o...