ప్రకృతితోనా వికృత క్రీడ?

 

మహమ్మారి నేర్పిన పాఠాలెన్నో

 

Janabalam Dec 2020

 Janabalam Dec 2020 can be downloaded from the following link

https://www.loksatta.org/documents/janabalam/janabalam-2020-12.pdf

Janabalam Nov 2020

Janabalam Nov 2020 can be downloaded from the following link.

https://www.loksatta.org/documents/janabalam/janabalam-2020-11.pdf

రాష్ట్ర రాజధాని ఎక్కడో చెప్పలేని స్థితిలో రాష్ట్ర ప్రజలు: భీశెట్టి

 

ఆపదలో వరద బాధితులకు ఆదరువు

 

ఇంకో తరం పాటు కృషి చేస్తేనే సుస్థిర భవిష్యత్తు.. అందుకే టీఎల్ ను యువత స్ఫూర్తిగా తీసుకోవాలి: జేపీ

 

Janabalam Oct 2020

Janabalam Oct 2020 can be downloaded from the following link.

http://www.loksatta.org/documents/janabalam/janabalam-2020-10.pdf

It’s politicians, not ryots, protesting against new farm laws, insists Kishan Reddy

HYDERABAD:  Union Minister of State of Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said that the Central government has no intention of abolishing Minimum Support Pprice (MSP) and in fact, it has made efforts to increase the income of farmers. Speaking at a round table meeting on ‘New Agriculture Marketing Acts’, organised by the BJP Kisan Morcha on Friday, he alleged that Opposition parties were spreading false information on the three new Farmers Acts. 

"It is the cadre of political parties that are staging protests against the Farm laws and not farmers," he added. "Now the situation is like ‘March to Urban’ and it should be changed to ‘March to Rural/Agriculture’. Our government intends to transform agriculture into a respectable occupation and not leave it to the mercy of the government by declaring MSP," he said.

Referring to procurement of farm produce, he claimed that the BJP had done better than the Congress and added, "If we look at the procurement data during the Congress regime from 2009 to 2013, it was very low. During that period, the Congress-led government procured 1,768 metric tonnes at `33,871 crore. Now, our government has procured 2,730 metric tonnes of wheat at `66,801 crore. It is 54 per cent more than what they had procured."

Coming down heavily on the Opposition parties, Kishan Reddy said: "If you have a problem politically with the new Farm Laws, shut your mouths and sit at home."Meanwhile, former IAS officer and founder of Foundation for Democratic Reforms and Lok Satta Dr Jayaprakash Narayan welcomed the the new Farm Laws, stating that it was the first step toward reforms and a lot more needs to be done.

"The reason behind the agrarian crisis in the country is due to the sins committed by politicians. Even if the agricultural policies are made with good intension, they delivered injustice to the farmers. Under new Acts, there is no restriction on use of marketyards. Now, the farmer is at the liberty to sell his produce wherever he wants," Narayan said. Disagreeing with the contentions of Opposition parties, he said: "Are we not buying Apple, Samsung and other devices despite knowing that corporates would benefit out of it? We should relinquish old-fashioned ideas when new laws benefit our farmers."

Courtesy: The New Indian Express

విపక్ష నేతలదే ఆందోళన

 

అద్భుతాలు జరగవు కానీ.. ఈ చట్టాలు అవసరమే: జయప్రకాశ్ నారాయణ

 

ప్రభుత్వ నిర్ణయాల్లో కోర్టుల జోక్యం తప్పు

 

Jana Balam Sep 2020

 Jana Balam Sep 2020 can be downloaded from the following link.

https://www.loksatta.org/documents/janabalam/janabalam-2020-09.pdf

Eliminating the avoidable Suffering

 

Jana Balam Aug 2020

Jana Balam Aug 2020 can be downloaded from the following link.

http://www.loksatta.org/documents/janabalam/janabalam-2020-08.pdf

Janabalam July 2020

Janabalam July 2020 can be downloaded from the following link.

https://www.loksatta.org/documents/janabalam/janabalam-2020-07.pdf

Janabalam June 2020

Janabalam June 2020 can be downloaded from the following link

http://www.loksatta.org/documents/janabalam/janabalam-2020-06.pdf

సంక్షోభం నుంచి పాఠాలు నేర్వాలి

Janabalam March 2020

Janabalam March 2020 can be downloaded from the following link.

http://www.loksatta.org/documents/janabalam/janabalam-2020-03.pdf

గాంధీని అనుసరించడంలో తడబాటు

గాంధీజీని సరిగ్గా అర్థం చేసుకోవాలి

గాంధీజీని అనుసరించడంలో దేశం తడబాటు

'మహాత్మాగాంధీ - సాంప్రదాయం, ఆధునికత'పై మార్చి 4న విశాఖ 'గీతమ్'లో జేపీ ప్రసంగం

కన్ఫ్యూజన్ లో ముఖ్యమంత్రి జగన్

ముగిసిన నాయకత్వ శిక్షణా కార్యక్రమం

ధర్మం కోసం పాటుపడేవారే రాజకీయాలకు అవసరం

చదువుతోపాటు పనులూ నేర్చుకోవాలి

పోటీతత్వం విద్యార్థుల ప్రతిభకు అవరోధం

స్థానిక ఎన్నికలు ప్రత్యక్ష పద్ధతిలో నిర్వహించాలి

కల్తీ ఆహారం నిరోధానికి చర్యలు చేపట్టాలి

Janabalam Feb 2020

Janabalam Feb 2020 can be downloaded from the following link.

http://www.loksatta.org/documents/janabalam/janabalam-2020-02.pdf

విద్య, ఆరోగ్యం, అధికార వికేంద్రీకరణలకు ఓట్లు వస్తాయని రుజువు చేసిన ఢిల్లీ

బాలల మేధస్సును వికసింపజేయాలి: జయప్రకాశ్ నారాయణ

బాలానందం...

మాతృభాషకు ప్రాధాన్యం

సాంకేతికయుగంలో తెలుగు వికీపీడియా కీలకం

మేడారం జాతరలో పాలిథిన్ సంచులు వాడొద్దు

వ్యూహాత్మక పెద్ద అడుగు అవసరమైన సమయంలో చిల్లరమల్లరకు పరిమితం: కేంద్ర బడ్జెట్ 2020పై జేపీ

నిలవాలి గెలవాలి సమాఖ్య స్ఫూర్తి

బాలల అభివృద్ధికి పాఠశాల విద్య కీలకం

కుల మతాలను విడనాడి పిల్లల భవిష్యత్ కోసం పోరాడండి

జనవరి 19న గుంటూరులో జేపీ పర్యటన

Vice President all for simultaneous polls

‘Of the 533 Lok Sabha members, 475 are crorepatis’

Hyderabad: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has called upon political parties to seriously consider the option of simultaneous elections right from panchayats to Parliament, across the country, to bring down the cost of holding elections by the Election Commission of India and also the expenditure by the political parties.

Apart from legitimate election expenditure, he said rise of illegitimate expenditure on vote buying is a great concern as it is making only the rich to be more qualified to become an MP, MLA -- than a well-qualified public spirited person.

“Of 533 candidates elected to the 17th Lok Sabha, 475 accounting for 88% are ‘crorepatis’. This paradox of poor India with rich Parliamentarians is raising concerns about growing role of money power in politics,” he said.

The Vice President was the chief guest at the inaugural session of the first annual national conference on ‘Indian Democracy at Work’ with the theme ‘Money power in politics’ organised by the Foundation for Democratic Reforms, ISB-Bharat Institute of Public Policy and University of Hyderabad at ISB here on Thursday.

Complimenting Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, general secretary, FDR, for his sustained efforts for generating public awareness about clean politics and its merits, the Vice President called for fixing governance system and effective regulation of political finance along with bold reforms to break the vicious cycle of corruption and erosion of quality of democratic polity.

Any reform would be opposed in the beginning but it would benefit every citizen, political parties and government in the end, he said.

To check this trend, political parties must be made accountable for implementing their promises and there must be a ceiling on populist announcements based on the budgetary resources of a local body, State and the Centre on the lines of FRBM Act, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said.

He said Election Commission alone can not control money power in elections and politics and it is the responsibility of political parties, government and the voters.

A voter would forfeit the right to question the government when he compromises on morals and accepts gift or cash for his vote. It is crucial to plug the loopholes in the anti-defection law to make democracy accountable and transparent, he said.

He appealed to the citizens to vote in elections based on character, conduct, calibre and capability of the candidates and not based on cash, caste, community and criminal prowess. That would be the ultimate solution to check money power in politics, he said.

Earlier Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said Indian democracy ensured peaceful transfer of power through elections and people cherish their freedom but shortcomings should be addressed to make democracy deliver better, he said. About Rs.1 lakh crore was spent on elections, most of it unaccounted, during the cycle of five years, undermining Indian democracy.

Prof. P. Appa Rao, Vice-Chancellor, University of Hyderabad, said university campuses should become the laboratory for reforms.

Mr. Rajendra Srivastava, Dean, Indian School of Business, proposed a vote of thanks.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Politicians divide people on caste lines: Ram Madhav

The BJP General Secretary Quotes Nehru & Marx At ISB Meet

Hyderabad: BJP general secretary Ram Madhav seemed to be in a candid mood at a conference at the Indian School of Business (ISB) on Friday as he told the audience that politicians divide society, based on caste for electoral gains. He however added not all caste as an institution was not bad.

He also suggested forming a separate Election Commission cadre as part of electoral reforms to avoid political interference during elections, even as he quoted Jawaharlal Nehru and Karl Marx in his speech.

Speaking at the two-day 'Money power in politics – Indian democracy at work’ annual conference, Madav batted for a liberal democracy and liberal constitutionalism.

He observed that society could run on its own without the interference of the government for 90% of its affairs. According to him, government was needed only for 10% of the time.

He even said that it was ok to lose an election for sake of good governance.

“Indian society was never government-centric, but governments have increasingly made people heavily dependent on them," he said and added that power should be contained and regulated.

Madhav did not hesitate to quote India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his speech. “Nehru was once asked why he was so fascinated by democracy,” he said. “He answered democracy was the second-best available form. He was against asked what the best form was. Nehru answered it was yet to be invented. We are following the best available form of democracy.”

He added, “In democracy, people are supposed to be masters. ‘Government of the people’ is being done, but ‘government for the people’ is partly true and ‘government by the people’ is not followed. The biggest challenge is to make democracy more liberal.”

Madhav quoting Karl Marx’s principle of the ‘withering away of the state’ said that that it is those who are in power who won't allow it to happen. He said Lenin refused to wither away the state as he enjoyed power.

“I am not saying we have to leave it to anarchy. There should be minimum interference of the government, that too at a local level.”

‘Caste is good, not casteism’

Speaking about the caste system, Ram Madhav said, “The previous varna system is gone but caste system exists in a different form. Caste is good. I am not propagating casteism in the country. As an institution, caste can do good for a community like many social and religious intermediaries. It was religious bodies that fed the hungry and not the kings those days. Once hunger is mitigated, every citizen can be productive.”

‘Need our own version of prez govt’

Ram Madhav believes that the country should slowly move towards its own version of a presidential form of government. “Politics today follows a highly incentivized model,” he said.

“The presidential system may disincentivize politics, but there are many other ways. Every new law made is bondage for the people. We should have laws that reduce responsibilities.”

Courtesy: The Times of India

‘Hyd declaration’ for curbs on money power in politics

After the two-day deliberations on ‘Money power in politics— Indian democracy at work’ at ISB, a ‘Hyderabad declaration’ was released enlisting steps to curb money power in politics. The conference organised by Foundation for Democratic Reforms (FDR) along with ISB and University of Hydrabad stressed on the need to disincentivise and deglamourise electoral office.

FDR president Jayaprakash Narayan said: “In recent decades, there has been an enormous increase of funds in political activity amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees. Realtors, land mafia, owners of educational institutions and big contractors make direct entry to gain access to the government. After the two-day deliberations, we came up with the Hyderabad declaration.”

According to the declaration, a concerted campaign should be taken up by civil society groups, Election Commission and citizens concerned on the consequences of money flooding into politics. The declaration also says that there is a need to strengthen and enforce legislations on political party funding and expenditure.

“There is no perfect electoral system. All electoral models have strengths and weaknesses. In the Indian context, elected legislators taking control of the fate of the government and becoming defector executives has led to competitive bidding for votes. Increasingly, a system of gift-giving to voters has developed. This has led to a vicious cycle of corruption, abuse of power and plutocracy,” said the declaration The conference said a national-level conversation on alternative electoral models is the need of the hour. Election commissioner Ashok Lavasa said that some pending suggestions made to strengthen the Election Commission would help address loopholes. He said at many meetings held by MHA, they did not discuss about electoral offences. He said state governments should investigate and prosecute the cases.

Courtesy: The Times of India

Former CEC moots ‘national election fund'

‘Candidates end up spending 20 times more than the prescribed limit’

Hyderabad: Former Chief Election Commissioner of India T.S. Krishnamurthy suggested creating of ‘national election fund’ with 100% tax exemption to facilitate public funding of polls.

Chairing the plenary session on ‘Legitimate Campaign Expenditure in Indian politics’ at the first annual conference of ‘Indian Democracy at Work’ with the theme of ‘Money Power in Politics’ here on Thursday, he agreed with the views expressed that the limit for expenditure imposed by the Election Commission for Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies could not be enforced. Candidates end up spending 20 times more than the prescribed limit, it was pointed out.

He however asserted that the source of money to political parties should be strictly regulated and bearer bonds did not promote transparency and they could also allow foreign money to come to the parties. He felt cash contribution to political parities was dangerous and there would be limitations even for the administration to check them.

On the suggestion of the Vice-President that simultaneous polls be held, he said it would require Constitution amendment. Reforms are not coming through as political parties want status quo to continue but unless the power of money is controlled, elections and democracy will not succeed in the country, he said.

Telangana State BJP president K. Laxman welcomed the suggestion for proportional representation to give seats to the political parties on the basis of their vote share rather than the ‘first past the post system’ which encourages rampant vote buying. Dr. Laxman said he was the victim of money power as he had lost by 200 votes in 2004 as he refused to buy votes. With advent of regional parties post globalisation, expenditure on elections went up enormously and role of caste, community and divisive politics increased. In 2019 elections, Rs.10,000 crore were spent by political parties in Andhra Pradesh and Rs.6,000 crore in Telangana.

Mr. Konda Vishweshwar Reddy said laws to reign in election expenditure failed as only 10% of actual expenditure was legitimate expenditure while 90% of expenditure was illegitimate/black money. The system needs to be fixed to attract clean people, he said.

Natasha Jog, Election Integrity Lead, India, South Asia, Facebook said since 2016, thrice the number of people were deployed to work on elections issue to make Facebook platform safe. “We brought down 2.2 billion fake accounts to check misinformation, and transparency was being brought on political advertisements.”

Courtesy: The Hindu

Poll expenses must be checked

Ram Madhav supports plan for direct election of PM, CM

Hyderabad: Money is required for politics but it should not be illegitimate. It is also important to define ‘illegitimate’ election expenditure, said Election Commissioner of India Ashok Lavasa.

Speaking at the plenary on “Illegitimate expenditure in Indian Politics”, he said that governments and political system alone should take the initiative for controlling expenditure in elections. Change for the better would happen fast when citizens adhered to social and moral values, he said.

Mr. Lavasa admitted that a situation was prevailing where no one but ‘crorepatis’ would win the elections. Yet, the Election Commission beyond a point has no power to control the expenditure in elections. In the last election, ‘crorepatis’ accounted for 37% of MPs elected and this time, the number shot up to 87%.

In a recent election in a State, it was proved that those who were awarded contracts a few months before the election gave large amount of donations. “A discussion on election expenditure should be held from various angles, including the campaign involving celebrities and media owned by political parties,” he said.

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said that they, in principle, supported the proposal for direct election of Mayor, Chief Minister and Prime Minister in the form of Presidential election. But without adopting the presidential form of institutions in other countries, a discussion should happen to suit conditions in our country.

“Huge amounts of money were being spent because of lure for power vested in political posts. At present, power was centralised at the highest level instead of being vested with people. Delegation of powers to local governments alone would bring down the monopoly of MLAs and MPs,” he said.

FDR general secretary Jayaprakash Narayan, who chaired the session, said that parties and leaders could bring forth reforms to make democracy work better and meet people’s aspirations.

“The Modi government has the wherewithal to bring in reforms for direct election of CM and PM, proportionate representation and decentralisation of power to local bodies and Mr. Ram Madhav should take initiative,” he said.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Conference on democracy stresses on political reforms

‘Hyderabad Declaration’ calls for reviewing the First Past the Post System and consider proportional representation

The two-day national conference on “Indian Democracy At Work”, organised to look at the shortcomings in democracy, particularly the flood of big money into electoral politics, passed a declaration to work towards political reforms in a gradual manner to tackle the multi-dimensional problem, here on Friday.

At its concluding session, the “Hyderabad Declaration” called for reviewing the First Past the Post System (candidate who gets the highest number of votes in a constituency gets elected to the seat) and consider proportional representation in place of FPTP and also direct election of the executive. The alternative systems, if adopted, should be tailored to Indian conditions with adequate safeguards to ensure wider regional representations in national power structure to prevent division of polity on caste and regional lines and ensure stability of governments, it said.

The FPTP makes winning every seat critical for political parties and leaders, thereby compelling them to resort to populist promises, offering inducements to voters and resort to poll management strategies that are in violation of the democratic spirit.

A national dialogue on alternative electoral models — clear separation of powers of the executive and legislature and direct election of the executive should be considered seriously, the Declaration said.

Organised by the Foundation for Democratic Reforms (FDR) in association with Indian School of Business (ISB) and University of Hyderabad (UoH), the conference was inaugurated by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and attended by people from various walks of life — political leaders and members of civil society organisations, civil servants, academicians, media personnel, social activists and businessmen.

Participants deliberated on the negative impact of illegitimate money power in politics and raised concern that it could undermine the very objective of democracy to work for all sections of people and give them a better life.

They endorsed that a robust legal framework was needed to ensure democratic functioning of political parties and regulate flow of money into the political sphere. A legislation should be brought to make parties choose their office-bearers through periodical organisational election and selection of candidates for public office through a transparent and democratic process.

Parties should be made to declare in time their annual income and expenditure and disclose sources of funding. Policy measures should be in place to enable political parties to raise and receive necessary funding in a transparent manner so that all parties have minimum financial support to carry out party activities and compete in elections.

Courtesy: The Hindu

చైతన్యంతోనే ఎన్నికల్లో ధనప్రవాహానికి అడ్డుకట్ట

ఎన్నికల వ్యవస్థ మారాలి: జేపీ

ఒకే వారంలో అన్ని ఎన్నికలు నిర్వహిస్తే మంచిది

అధ్యక్ష తరహా ఎన్నికపై చర్చ జరగాలి

ప్రజాస్వామ్య మనుగడకు ప్రమాదం

అధ్యక్ష తరహా పాలనకు వెళ్లాలి: రాంమాధవ్

ఎన్నికల సంస్కరణలు అవసరం

ధనప్రవాహాన్ని అరికట్టాలి

అధ్యక్ష తరహా దామాషా ఎన్నికల పద్ధతిపై చర్చ జరగాలి

ఓట్ల కొనుగోలు విధానాన్ని నివారించాలి

ఎన్నికల హామీలపై చట్టం తేవాలి

అక్షరాస్యతతో ఎన్నికల వ్యయానికి పగ్గాలు