news details |
|
|
| Citizen voter can sentence a corrupt politician to political death | | LOOK THROUGH THE MIST | | Daya Sagar
Common man raises fingers on all the public institutions around him. In the Films of Fifties the Villain wanted to marry a Lakhpati’s daughter, then in Sixties he was Villain who was engaged in black marketing/ currency rackets. Then followed the Villains who were Dons of the criminal/ smuggling world. And times have come when the Villain is played as a Political Leader. The Boss character as played in Indian films has changed from an ordinary negative element of the society to even a Political “White Collared Legislator” of the day. Films do reflect some thing that exist in the society and takes a general character. Crime and Corruption appear having become synonymous. It has become rather impossible these days to punish a criminal element of the society through normal procedures. Many allege that reasons lie in the fact that even some legislators join hands with the corrupt. Time has arisen to correct the politician. The Voter Citizen can only do.
A government employee is paid pension after retirement because during the service days under service rules he is debarred from taking up any private business enterprise. This (pension) compensation is given to only government employees and not to those engaged by a private person. This day service / retirement security benefits for government employees have got so inflated that government is finding it too hard to bear the this social liability. But the provision is wise and can not be done away with.
In a democracy like India the Legislature is elected/ selected by the masses to work out the requirements/ priorities of the society to be executed out of the common pool and regulate those engaged on regular basis as government employees. Another paid full time “Executive” infrastructure is created ( through the Legislature) in the form of Cabinet for execution and management of common order. The rules and the codes in official terms have failed to deliver. The procedures and the government machinery have failed to punish the culprits.
With the numbers growing commitment has been falling. In independent India after 1947 the forests have squeezed but the Employees in forest departments have increased many folds. J&K used to have hardly three Conservator Level officers but now J&K may be having about half a dozen Principal Chief Conservator level officers .The infrastructure to check the social and material crimes has increased to such a level that when in early 1950s J&K had only one IGP this day J&K may have at occasions half a dozen officers of the level of DGPs . Awareness about one’s duty towards society was supposed to grow through education but instead the jails are falling short for accommodating criminals . Pending cases in the courts are aging in years . State Vigilance organizations are growing but the accused subjects are remotely convicted . Agencies like CBI are so much over loaded that they have started expressing helplessness to accept more cases and a big majority goes unpunished . A Government School teacher could not afford even a cycle in 1960’s and this day some of his class could be seen owning scooter / even a Car but the educated / economically better/ those from even education departments do not send their children to government schools since they do not treat the government schools worth it .The list is long.
The conditions this day demand very very special surgical and clinical treatment. When accountability bill was passed by J&K Legislature in 2003 , during discussions some MLAs said that even the State Vigilance Organization was under the shadows of doubtful integrity. The Accountability Commission took two years for even entering its own premises. Unfortunately now the Legislators/ Parliamentarians and Judiciary are also being questioned .The commissions set for enquiries including judicial commissions are not yielding. Suggestions have been made to undo practice of setting up commissions since it costs the state exchequer .
Books of laws and codes are filling the libraries but the laws are not delivering. Every other morning suggestions are coming for framing newrules/ codes. Mr. Arun Shorie had very precisely summarized ………“Government structure is like a Coral reef… when lapses come to public view , another layer gets added to take care of it”….. “ministries and departments are silos with multiplication of ministries….every question is referred to half a dozen silos…every reform is lost in the maze”.
Since long many have been suggesting that there should be a system to call back a corrupt or dishonest Legislator. Dr. Ram Rattan Khajuria who could be even credited with the credit of being the promoter of concept of Voluntary Social Action in J&K was so harsh on me that he accused the writers like me for not initiating a debate for evolving a system to call back the Legislators of corrupt/ inefficient/ criminal conduct. True , no one has been able to suggest the methodology for the same. How could it be ascertained that a Legislator has reached the level of corruption from where he has to be made to vacate the seat, who will ascertain it and how will the return be ordered.
So far the only answer appears lying in our electoral system. No doubt in a normal course it could be only after five years but five years is not too long a period . A Legislator will again return to the common man for seeking his vote for reelection and then the non performing or and dishonest leader could be sentenced to political death. No case file is to be constructed , no written record of reasons of punishment is to be kept. More over such dismissal through denial of vote support can not be challenged in any court of Law. The rejected politicians has to plead his case for reconsideration only before the common man who denied him vote.
Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was asked by members of a Women Society while at Kolkota that why his party was giving Mandate to the corrupt and dishonest. A simple inexperienced but honest Mr. Clean had said that the corrupt comes to seek the party ticket with thousands of voters endorsing his request , how could he deny such a ticket seeker and explain his the refusal. Under the law the Government machinery / functionaries have to support every action taken for or against some one with proper documentation and opportunity to the accused. Where as, as per Mr. Gandhi the Voter is like the Almighty for a vote seeker. Rajiv asked “why do you vote for an dishonest person to whom Congress gives a ticket”. Mr. Gandhi’s words of 1985 still appear to me to be the only likely answer in a democratic system for calling back a non performing legislature . May be there is some other solution and it could be worked out later. Why do not we think of or debate some solution to the problem that we so frequently discuss ? Or we discuss just to pass time. We need to introspect.
Direct action in material/ physical terms could be anti democratic. We must go by democratic means. When punished through a democratic process ( like elections to Legislature/ Parliament) no one can take the shield of rules and procedures/ or benefit of doubt. A voter citizen can sentence a politician to political death by casting his vote against the criminal/ anti social element who may be contesting elections. No proof is to be given, no file is to be written, no advocate is to be engaged. A voter citizen is the total judge. A voter citizen has no judge above him/ her except his/ her conscience.
Once the Politician is corrected, honesty will be delivered by the government servant. But the Voter Citizen will have to correct the self first. The common man will also have to become honest by shedding selfishness that our system has given to our society over the years thereby making the corrupt politician quite safe.
I must have patience to stand in a queue wait for my turn. But in case I wish to break the que I will be adopting corrupt means and have no right to discuss the menace of corruption casually across a Dinner table.
(Daya Sagar is a leading coloumnist on J&KAffairs [email protected]) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
