He is fighting for whom??

Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare  a 71 years old man who is especially recognized for his contribution to the development of  Ralegan Siddhi  a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India and his efforts for establishing it as a model village, for which he was awarded the Padma bhushan in the year 1992.
Anna Hazare started his career as a driver in the Indian Army. He spent his spare time reading the books of Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Binoba Bhabe that inspired him to become a social worker and activist^.During the Indo-Pak war he was the only survivor in a border exchange of fire, while driving a truck^.During the mid-1970s he was again involved in a road accident while driving^.
After voluntary retirement from the army, Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi village in 1975.
On 5 April 2011, Hazare started a 'fast unto death' to exert pressure on the Government of India to enact a strong anti-corruption act as envisaged in the Jan Lok Pal bill, a law that will establish a Lok pal that will have the power to deal with corruption in public offices. The fast led to nation wide protest  in support of Hazare. The fast ended on 9 April 2011 with two of the most important demands of the movement - at least 50% members of the bill draft committee be a non-politician and Co-chairman of the draft committee be a non-politician - met by the  Govt of India.


The mother land surely is proud to have a brave son like this! But the question is- Will it change the present scenario? Eradication of corruption is that easy in the country like India which is 87 th on the CORRUPTION LIST?? Usually we put all the blame on the politicians! But what about those bureaucrats, Govt officials, even a peon etc?? 
 Have you noticed d bunch of ants surround the sugar cube?? Similarly, where there is big money involved – the corruption will most likely find its roots dug deep into the system. It is literally under every stone you turn. And, by now, most of us in India have learned to live with corruption as a part and parcel of our life.
In India, the tentacles of corruption are spread far and wide in all horizons of life and not just limited to government organizations.It is a massive phenomena and a real cancer destroying the benefits of globalization in many poor countries.

Society is made up of- We, the people! How many of us will consider ourselves totally flawless?? People those are in the Govt service how many of them can say , "we never took bribe!"How many of us are aware of our responsibilities?How many know the exact definition and the meaning of democracy and freedom.
Anna Hazare's sacrifice will go waste until we will change....No bill no Constitutional amendment or nothing can do until we will change....

Lokpal Bill-the distinctive features and the necessity

 Social activist Anna Hazare's hunger strike in New Delhi demanding changes in the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill entered the third day on Thursday. The anti-corruption campaign has now been joined by thousands of people. More than 150 people joining Hazare’s fast unto-death at the Jantar Mantar.Almost 5,000 people from all walks of life have gathered at Jantar Mantar to show their support for Hazare. Social activists and people in 400 cities all across India and foreign countries have come out in support of Hazare.In Bhopal thousands of people signed on a postcard addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi demanding introduction of Lokpal Bill in Parliament. Social activists and people in Lucknow, led by Medha Patkar, have backed Hazare's crusade.

Now What are the distinctive features of the Lokpal bill?

The bill introduced in the Parliament in the year 2004.

1.The bill provides for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries including the PM , provided the offense committed is within 10 years from the day the complaint is lodged.

2. The Lokpall shall consist of chairperson who is or has been a chief justice or a  judge of the Supreme Court and the two members who are or have been the judges of the Supreme court or the Chief justice of the High court.

3. The bill provides for a fixed tenure of 3 years for the Chairperson and the members.

4. The Chairperson and members shall be appointed by the President of India on the recommended of a committee headed by the Vice President of India and compromising the PM , the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Home Minister, the leader of the House other than the House in which the PM is a member and the leaders of the opposition in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

5. To ensure independence and impartiality , the bill provides that the chairperson or a member of the Lokpal shall not be removed from office, except by an order made by the President on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity. He can issue the removal order after an inquiry by a committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India and two other judges of the Supreme Court (Next to the Chief justice in seniority). 

India is a country where honesty and integrity in public and private life have been glorified and upheld in great epics like Vedas, Upanishads etc. But we can't deny the fact that India is one the most corrupt countries in the world.Bringing public servants under the scanner which makes them strictly accountable is the start of a movement against corruption in India.And one significant step in attacking the corruption in India will be the implementation of the Lok pal bill.

It is necessary...

What next??

According to the Constitution, India is a democratic country. This fact is quite controversial! Different people have different point of views on this issue. Is our country  mature enough for a Parliamentary form of democracy?-the question has been raised in so many peoples' mind. According to few, "Parliamentary form of democracy is nothing but a "derision"...It is a myth"..Someone addressed "DEMOCRACY" AS "LEMOCRACY"..But my point of view is not that much negative on this particular issue..This is not the topic of our discussion.

Last year, 2010 was a shameful year of the world's biggest democracy, India. Parliament had been disrupted for so many reasons. But "disruption' is not the new one.It has become a "TRADITION"...We are all used to it. But wash out of the entire session of the Parliament was SHOCKING... It was something which happened for the 1st time after the independence of the country. The deadlock in Parliament led to a huge wastage of public money. For the first time the Parliament has seen a complete shutdown. The deadlock between the Opposition and Government refused to die and continued with mudslinging from both sides equally.

 The wash out was due to standoff between the government and the Opposition over 2G spectrum scam. Opposition paralyzed Parliament during the Winter Session with no substantial business transacted in the 22 sittings that began on November 9. Opposition demanded  for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe into the 2G spectrum allocation issue. But was that really necessary when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Supreme Court were looking into it. It was also pointed out that a retired Apex Court judge was inquiring into the spectrum-related issues since 2001.
Anyway, to save the Budget session from disruption, finally the Government agreed to form JPC on February 22, 2011. On 24th February  proposes to form JPC in the Parliament. 30 member  committee will be formed comprises of 20 Lok Sabha members and 10 Rajya Sabha members. A good thing about the committee is not only the big parties but also the small parties will also participate in the procedure.
If these people want to proceed further by mutual understanding, then no problem with that. But some question and confusion are still remain.
It is hard to say how much we trust the "representatives" whom we chose and sent to the Parliament. It is also hard to say that how much maturity they showed!!!!!!Once I heard to say a little boy, "Parliament means that place, where people fight and quarrel with each other". I don't think that he was wrong! I don't know which kind of example we are setting to the entire world.
Throwing mud to each other can never be the solution. We have to understand that. JPC shouldn't be treated like any other committee which are merely a formality. The formation of JPC is not the end of all the  responsibilities but this is just the beginning! The entire world is eagerly awaiting for the future! -WHAT NEXT??

What a CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Television seems to be an idiot box to me though I had to change my mind. A daily soap forced me to do that. It gets me hooked. The name of the serial is "Subarnalata", is written by Ashapurna devi. The story was written in the back drop of 1920's  Calcutta. It shows a perfect picture of the society of that period. The orthodox narrowminded society. The writer portraits a real image of the minds of the people of the era, which was engulfed by the darkness of illiteracy and superstition and social evils.
The story is the perfect description of the life-style of women of that period. In that period in an orthodox middle class society,  the biggest crime and the unluckiest incidence was the birth of a girl child . A woman had to confine themselves in the kitchen, no right to education or in short no right to think or live.
I like one of the dialogues of the serial, the most in which Subarnalata said"girls shouldn't breadth, girls shouldn't think, girls shouldn't feel hungry or thirsty, girls shouldn't laugh loudly; girls shouldn't even live because this is the crime to be a girl." . She said the lines when her mother in law was teaching her the rules and regulations of the society. Ironically a woman was snatching the rights of another woman. The society is known to be a "male dominating" society but in most of the cases women are the main culprit to make another woman's distress. It doesn't matter in which period we are living in, either its 1920 or 2011 but the situation is almost the same.
In the previous episode of the serial, the family members especially Subarna's mother in law overwhelmed with joy when her elder daughter in law, gave birth to a boy child. The mother in law wasn't happy for the girl children which her elder daughter in law gave birth before. Those children are unloved and ignored of the family.
This is the picture of 1920's orthodox middle class society.
Now we are living in the 21st century. Wonderful! Now woman has to right to education, right to live. There so many articles in our constitution which empowers woman like reservation in the Lok Sabha, Bidhan sabha, Panchayats etc or articles which promises "Equal pay for equal work"or "no gender discrimination" etc etc...Yes woman has the right to live.

But isn't it strange that despite of having "the right to live",whenever we open the news paper, every single day there are stories about dowry victims, sexual exploitations in work places, eve teasing and many more..How can we forget female infanticide cases????....Yeah the time has been changed. Can't find out the change yet.

Few days ago one of our neighbors came to invite us for a house party. The lady was so delighted. You know why?Her daughter gave birth to a boy child. She said that she prayed a lot for a "boy".

I laughed in my mind. This is 21st century not 1920s...

And what a change!

What is our role?

Politics is one of the most discussed topics in our time. You will always find somebody who has a different opinion on this topic than you. But there is one thing to which everyone will agree, “Politics is a dirty game.” Once somewhere I read a quote about politics which was really funny, “Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly and for the same reason." That’s the only job left for us, “Maintain a safe distance from this and criticize.” That’s it. As a citizen of a great country like India, we this is our right.
I shouldn’t tease like this. Yeah this is true that to keep ourselves clean, we prefer to keep ourselves miles away from this dirty politics. After the 15 th Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi invited every educated youngsters of the country to come forward and join the politics. He wasn’t wrong. Even I do believe that maintaining a safe distance is not a solution. He also took the credit that their party gives opportunity to the youngsters.  Over two dozen young Congress leaders had been elected as the Minister of Parliament.
But I have a question Mr. Gandhi. Did you really mean “all the educated youngsters of the country?” It means our kind of ordinary youngsters having no political background, can also join? My another question to you is among these young congress leaders, how many of them belong to an ordinary family background (except Ashok Tanwer)?  
The young Congress MPs, which include Union Ministers, are


 Ajay Maken (Grand son of Om prakash Maked),
 Jyotiraditya Scindia (Son of Madhav Rao Scindhia”),

Sachin Pilot(Son of Rajesh Pilot),
 Milind Deora(Son of Murli Deora),
 Bhanwar Jitendra Singh(Royal family of Rajasthan),

Deepender Hooda(Son of Bhupendra Singh Hooda),
  
Naveen Jindal [Industrialist (Jindal group)],

Shruti Choudhry (Granddaughter of former Haryana chief minister Late Chaudhary Bansi Lal and daughter of former Haryana agriculture minister and two time MP Late Chaudhary Surender Singh. Her mother, Kiran Choudhary was Minister of State for Tourism and Forest in Haryana's cabinet.)

Mausam Benzir Noor(Niece of A.B.A Ganikhan Choudhary),

                                                                        

Hamidullah Sayeed(PM Sayeed).

I’m neither dragging the opposition’s same old “pariwarwad” issue nor taking anyone’s side. Because “power” & “money”, these are two things which have the capability to move everyone’s head. Those who talk about “pariwarwad”, I don’t think that they are exceptional in this case. In this game, every player is the same.

Then what will be the role of us as a citizen of a “democratic country?”  Of course we play a major role; we vote, then we maintain a safe distance and criticize. In short, we play a major role of a silent viewer.

Who is responsible?

 The ghost of match fixing has returned to haunt world cricket. Three Pakistani cricketers, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Kamran Akmal including Captain Salman Batt allegedly involved in deliberately underperforming in the Lord’s Test that England won by an inning. Cricket fans across the world expressed their extreme disappointment at the scandal. Based on a sting operation conducted by News of the world, the metropolitan police arrested Mazhar Majeed allegedly lured Pak fast bowlers to deliver three blatant no ball by the agreed moment of the game.

What a shame! But this is not the new one. This type of incidence is quite common in South Asian country like Pakistan.

We can’t deny that cricket is a big game of money and in South Asian countries like India and Pakistan, cricket is treated like a religion. Everyone is so passionate about the game. I remember in 1996 World cup when Pakistan was defeated by India in the quarter finals, the Pakistani people went out of control. They came on the street, burnt the jack straws of the cricketers; they were crying seemed like someone passed away, few people committed suicide. It proves the craziness of the people for the game. But sometimes it’s really unfair, because when your team performs well, you treat the players like God. But when the team looses, you burn their jack straws, attack them etc. Once again I would like to give the example of 1996 World Cup. When India won in the quarter finals and qualified to the semis, people worshiped the posters of the cricketers by flower garlands and all that. But in the semis, when Sri Lanka beat India, there were shoes on the posters instead of flowers. Was that fair enough?

Cricket has not been a “gentleman’s” game any more.

Match fixing and all the scandals cause the disgrace of the game. Greed forces the cricketers to do such thing no doubt about that but perhaps more or less we, the cricket crazy public are also responsible this.

Think about it.

Where are we living?

 Today in the morning, a news made me stunned! I didn’t believe my eyes. The news was, around 100 NREGA workers in Gudaliya village, dist Tonk, engaged in digging a stretch of land for the past 13 days were paid Rs.1/- as wages. The district administration is justifying the payment saying it was a small area collectively dug by the workers. The district collector said, “"There is no scam or corruption as all the concerning documents have been checked properly. All entries are proper and in place. A sum of Rs 1,215 was decided after measurement and it was equally distributed.”
I should tell you the back ground of NREGA(National rural employment guarantee Act),before the name MG (Mahatma Gandhi) was added and renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National rural employment  guarantee act. It was the most optimistic project of the UPA Government. The act was brought about by the UPA coalition Government supported by the Left Parties. It was enacted by the Legislation on 25^th August 2005.

The aim was, enhancing the livelihood security of people in areas by guaranteeing hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members in any rural household willing to do public work related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage Rs.100/- per day, whether or not they belong to BPL population(below poverty level). The UPA Government promised a lot. The aims and objectives were pretty impressive like works must be targeted towards a set of specific rural development activities such as water conservation and harvesting, afforestation, rural connectivity, flood control etc. In FY (financial year) 2010-2011, the outlay for the scheme is Rs.40.100 Cr. The Government is even planning to open a call center for the convenience of the people.

Government makes plans, allocates money but the responsibility of the proper implementation is vested on everyone especially the officials who have been appointed for the job. The people of the village (most of them are farmers) have been suffering from drought for last few years. No option left for them except choosing this. The collector is justifying herself and the procedure.
There are so many poverty elevation programmers in the country but still more that 25% population lives below poverty line though. As long as the corruption exists, there will be no any other way to get out this situation.
  I was asking myself a question “where are we living?”