Lok Satta Party Launching 'Surajya' Movement

The Lok Satta Party is spearheading a citizens' movement for Surajya beginning from Andhra Pradesh on March 23, 2008 (77th death anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh).

Announcing this here today, Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan (Dr. JP) said that while the Swaraj movement sought freedom from colonial rule, Surajya movement aims to free citizens from the chains of corrupt and distorted rule. While Swaraj movement achieved its objectives through non-violence and non-cooperation, Surajya movement will be based on the power of the vote.

Dr. JP said the Swaraj movement has yielded us self-governance and since independence, significant progress has undoubtedly been made across several fields. "However, the present political and governance culture has reduced this hard-earned Swaraj to Swaha-raj where public good has become merely incidental to the fulfillment of vested interests of a distorted political culture."

Dr. JP said that the nation today faced several critical challenges. They include:

• Eliminating the pervasive and monumental corruption from our society and replacing the notoriously kleptocratic governance culture with a truly citizen-centric one
• Establishing a political culture that is free from criminals and political dynasties
• Ensuring equitable access to quality education, healthcare, and employment opportunities to every citizen irrespective of his or her position at birth
• Eliminating societal discrimination based on caste and creed, and providing genuine opportunities for vertical growth to all sections of society
• Ensuring true devolution of power to local governments, and empowerment of citizens
• Ensuring access to speedy and affordable justice to all sections of society and restoring the rule of law
  

Dr. JP said: "There is a pressing need to build a credible, just, and equitable society that provides dignity, justice, and opportunities for all."

A number of renowned social activists, including Magasasy Award winners, are taking part in the Surajya movement. They include:

:: Anna Hazare
:: Ramesh Raamanathan (Janagraha)
:: Madhu Kishwar (Editor, Manushi)
:: Desikan (Catalyst Trust)
:: Sandeep Pandey
:: M. V. Devasahayam
:: T. N. Seshan
:: Shiv Khera
:: Julius Rebero
:: Arvind Khejriwal

Dr. JP Calls Upon the Brightest to Enter Politics

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan (Dr. JP) has underlined the need for ensuring that the best of people enter politics since never before in India’s history the opportunities for resolving people’s problems are as many as they are today. “There are no problems, which are really intractable any longer, except old age and death, and perhaps taxes. In fact, most problems are amenable to simple, practical solutions, if only we leverage our strengths”.

Paraphrasing Charles Dickens, Dr. JP has said it is the best of times since we have the means and technology at our disposal to resolve people’s problems and it is the worst of times since we do not have many people who enter public office with competence, commitment, and integrity and with a passion for public service.

Addressing a gathering of software professionals and others on ‘Leadership in 21st Century India – Opportunities and Challenges’, Dr. JP today bemoaned that the conditions in India are so rotten that an eminent person like Dr. Manmohan Singh, roundly defeated in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, had to go to distant Assam to become a Member of the Rajya Sabha by a false declaration of residence.

Dr. JP said: “We, as a society, have enormous strengths. But as a society, building, nurturing, and developing leadership is certainly not one of them”.

Dr. JP said large sections of people feel that everybody in government -- politicians, bureaucrats, judges -- is a scoundrel -- and generalize that all rotten people in the country go into politics and all good people stay back. “Shunning politics and public office with such notions is, however, unwarranted and irrational. There are some very fine people in government just as there are very fine people in other walks of life. It is, therefore, absurd to conclude that scoundrels enter government and saints stay away”.

“Politics is perhaps the noblest of all endeavors because it is about reconciling the limited resources with unlimited wants, and reconciling seemingly irreconcilable conflicts among various groups in society, particularly in a very diverse and complex society. Without governments many things that are vital cannot be done.

“But unfortunately, politics has become the playfield of people who do not deserve to be there. Some are there because of their pedigree while many are there because of their money power or caste or muscle power. Strange circumstances catapult some others into high office.
“Such leaders rule the roost not because Indian people are stupid or irrational but because the problem is systemic. In the past 25 or 30 years, we have created disincentives for the right kind of people, and huge incentives for the wrong kind people, to enter politics”.

Dr. JP pointed out that there are answers to most problems. “Leadership is about identifying those answers, leveraging our strengths, and dramatically transforming the situation in the shortest possible time”. Dr. JP added that great changes in history all over the world had been wrought only when middle classes, the elite and the media joined hands, built appropriate platforms and launched concerted movements. “Do not expect the masses to be at the forefront of historical changes.”
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Dr. JP specifically dwelt on certain sectors, which call for transformational leadership.

Electoral system: While most of the countries, including Britain, are giving up “first-past-the-post” electoral system, we stick to it validating Macaulay’s observation, “Indians are the last living Englishmen”. It is time we switched to proportional representation.

Healthcare: We have one of the most disgraceful systems where public health expenditure is 17% and out of pocket expenditure, mostly by the poor, 83%. We rank with Cambodia, Burma, Afghanistan, and the Republic of Georgia all of which are at the nadir. We can introduce National Health Service as in Britain to provide access to quality health care to every citizen. In China, doctors in hospitals are paid their salaries from a county-level health fund. The people have the choice of going to any one of the 20 or 30 hospitals in the county. You have to attract patients and provide services to earn your salary. Money follows the patient.

Education: The failure of higher education has now hurt school education very badly. We have people with degrees like B.Ed’s and M.Ed’s but they cannot teach. Although we have one or two per cent of degree holders who are a match to the best in the world, the average university degree holder does not hold a candle to an average graduate in most of the civilized countries. We allowed this decline because of lack of leadership. We choose vice-chancellors based on their caste or region.

Dr. JP concluded by saying that we have to build incentives and institutions to change people’s attitudes. “Leadership is about creating institutions, identifying solutions institutionally and finding those things that work in the circumstances in which we are placed. We are not doing too badly despite all these impediments. But we can do much more.”

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Suggested Box Items:

Why there is a demand for criminals

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said today there is a market demand for criminals in our society because justice is so inaccessible. "People have to create criminals to get rough and ready justice through devious means. Or else, they have to swallow injustice and suffer silently".

Addressing a gathering of IT professionals, Dr. JP said, "Criminals are legitimized and seen as Robin hoods by many because they render privatized justice. For a price, of course. And from there, they graduate into politics."

Dr. JP said: "Our judiciary is in shambles. We are all being very polite, partly because we do not want to destroy the one remaining institution with some semblance of authority and credibility and partly because we are afraid of the contempt of court law. But the reality is, the judiciary is as appalling as other institutions of the State".

Dr. JP said: "Nobody in India dares to go to a court of law unless one wants to stall some decision by way of a stay order or to harass someone. If you have the misfortune of going to a civil court and if you have the good fortune of getting a verdict delivered during your lifetime, you must be lucky, goes the folklore in Andhra Pradesh. If you lose the case, you lament in public and if you win the case, you cry in private. It is a tragedy for both."

Dr. JP said that building a quality justice system, accessible to ordinary people costs Rs.500 to 600 crore a year. "Such a system is necessary for small cases because it fosters a culture of law, a rule of law".


The three unwholesome traits


Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan in his address to IT professionals dwelt on three peculiar traits of Indians, which need to be corrected. The first is that we have no sense of equality. We accept inequality by birth as a natural condition of human life. There is no moral outrage at this inequality. It is not an issue of morality. We cannot live in a modern democracy, in a market society, without respecting labor, and human beings for what they are.

The second is lack of trust. Trust is required in dealing with people and across groups. It is there inn a caste or religious group. In a profession, it is there as a trade union. But across groups, it breaks down. We cannot afford that because it ultimately undermines all of us. We require leadership to build bridges and institutions for trust.

Finally, we lack a sense of common fate. Nothing can be better illustrated than by our practice of keeping our homes clean and dumping the rubbish on the road. What you give comes back. There is no choice and that is why we have spotlessly clean homes and filthy streets. We fail to recognize that injustice anywhere will affect us in some form or the other everywhere. There is no escape from that.

Dr. JP Meets his Orkut Friends

Orkut is a social networking site popular amongst youth in India. Youth discovered it is a great way of being connected. One can find long lost friends, stay connected with current friends, and make new friends. One can create communities of their own on any topic of their liking or join existing ones.

Many communities have been created by earnest Orkutters on political topics. The communities have become hotbeds for emerging trends in political thought amongst Indian youth. Youth discuss here wide-ranging political ideas and thoughts. Youth discuss the state of the existing political culture and the need for a change and how we can bring about the change. They discuss the pressing need to combat the menace of corruption in our governance and politics.

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan and Lok Satta Party are popular among young Orkutters. There are more than 110 communities in Orkut dedicated to Lok Satta Party and Dr. JP. Thousands of youth are members of these communities.

They drum up support for Lok Satta Party and discuss the importance of ensuring to all equal opportunities for growth and ending any discrimination based on birth. They discuss the novel measures introduced by Lok Satta Party that stand testimonial to the party’s commitment to transparency and democracy. Many earnest, erudite youth desiring change participate in these discussions. They have been advocating the need for a New Political Culture in the cyber world.

LSP provided the virtual world Lok Satta Party activists a chance to get involved in the activities of LSP in real.

Dr. JP met his Orkut friends at the party head office at 1:30 pm on Sunday, 9th March and had an interaction with them. There was a lively discussion on the current political scenario in Andhra Pradesh. Dr. JP emphasized the need for youth to take an active part in politics. The youth expressed their support to Lok Satta Party and wished to participate in its activities.

The active members of the party then guided them on how they can get involved in the activities of LSP in their locality.


The meet concluded with the youth taking a pledge for a corruption-free, developed India.

Short-Term Sops Won’t Resolve Farm Sector Crisis: Dr. JP

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today pointed out that bank loan waiver for small and marginal farmers and one-time settlement for other farmers will provide only temporal relief to a small section of farmers. An overwhelming majority of farmers are outside the institutional framework and borrow from private moneylenders. The waiver is also iniquitous in that it rewards only defaulters and lets down borrowers who have repaid their loans.

Reacting to the Union budget, Dr. JP recalled that farmers continue to commit suicide although Governments have written off farmers’ loans off and on. Instead, the Government could have constituted a Rs.100,000-crore agricultural fund to resolve farmers’ problems once and for all by taking steps for increasing productivity and ensuring remunerative prices. “We need to ensure credit to every farmer, small trader and labourer, improve marketing infrastructure, provide direct access to consumer, and add value to agricultural produce. A one-time loan waiver will temporarily improve banks’ balance sheets, but the plight of farmers and rural poor will remain unchanged. There is a real danger of rural credit system getting paralysed as it happened in 1990s. The loan waiver, decided upon with an eye on elections, provides temporary relief for a microscopic section of farmers at the cost of long-term gains.”

Dr. JP said that the central allocations to both education and health constitute 0.7% and 0.3% of the GDP in a country with a billion-plus population. Promotion of corporate hospitals and private educational institutions will not scratch even the surface of the crisis in the education and health sectors. The Government ought to have made free and quality education and healthcare as the fundamental rights of the people. Although many small schemes have been announced to benefit women, minorities and disadvantaged sections, the allocations are meager. Instead of squandering away precious resources on hundreds of schemes that have potential for large-scale leakages, the Government could have come up with a single social welfare scheme to make a direct attack on poverty.

Dr. JP, however, welcomed the raising of income tax exemption limits and reshuffling of the tax slabs. This will pass more money into the pockets of middle classes and salaried employees. The Government should also be complimented for meeting fiscal management targets.

However, there are signs of growth slackening in recent months. Infrastructure bottlenecks remain, and our cities are getting paralysed. An all-out effort is needed to improve roads, coal and power sectors and urban infrastructure. A massive effort to provide education of good quality for 12 years to all children, and free and quality healthcare to all are vital to enhance productivity, sustain growth and reduce poverty. Rule of law and elimination of corruption are vital for high growth. None of these problems has been seriously addressed in the budget. Dr. JP appealed to all sections to find ways of confronting these growing challenges before economic growth slackens and the promise of a bright future gives way to despair.

India Faces Threat of Falling Apart If Issues are Not Addressed: Dr. JP

India faces the threat of balkanization unless systemic changes are carried out to provide political space to every group, said Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan here today. “Mere protestations of ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’, without addressing the basic fissures, will not rescue India from falling apart”, he added.

Addressing a “One India – One People” forum organized by the Lok Satta Party in the context of attacks against non-Marathis in Mumbai and other places in Maharashtra, Dr. JP pointed that political India has already been decimated since national parties, elbowed out of most of the States, are forced to join hands with regional parties. The first-past-the-post electoral system enables parties based on region and religion, language and caste to whip up narrow sentiments and ride to power. The so-called national verdict is nothing but an aggregation of State verdicts. Widespread illiteracy and universal adult franchise are an explosive combination ,which narrow-minded parties are shrewdly exploiting.

Dr. JP identified caste-based reservations as another issue that is tearing part the country. Instead of dissipating the anger of neglected sections through innovative solutions, political parties merely stoked the flames in pursuance of their vote bank politics. He feared the break-out of a conflagration in the hinterland of New Delhi where Gujjars and Meenas are fighting each other over reservations.

Dr. JP clarified that reservations are indeed necessary for sections neglected for centuries as an interim measure. They, however, do not provide a permanent solution. That, however, does not mean that the son of a Collector or the daughter of a Minister too should enjoy reservations simply based on their caste. A solution lies in ensuring that every one born in this country irrespective of his caste or religion has a right to free and quality education for 12 years and every one, willing and eligible, is enabled to purse higher education at Government cost.

The economically backward, who are not eligible for reservations in jobs and education can be given a weightage of say 10 per cent marks in the qualifying examinations considering their income and rural upbringing. Politicians, instead of forging such win-win situations, are deliberately and crudely provoking anger and hatred among sections of people.

On the recent developments in Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal where some politicians have tried to fan parochial feelings, Dr. JP said that the sons of the soil thesis should be dismissed categorically if India were to remain one. The right of every Indian citizen to pursue education or employment or business or profession or simply anywhere in the country is non-negotiable. Every Indian should condemn parochial tendencies, recalling Martin Luther King’s quote, “The silence of good men is more dangerous than the brutality of bad men”.

No Attempt to Arrest Leakages: Dr. JP on Budget

Hyderabad, Feb.15 - Mrs. D. Saroja, Mahila Satta Secretary, pointed out in a statement that liquor sales would shoot up to Rs.25000 crore in the coming financial year, if the Budget presented to the State Legislature is any indication. The Budget provided for an increase in excise revenue by Rs.866 crore during 2008-09. The Government would be earning Rs.11000 crore by way of excise and sales tax on liquor sales against Rs.8000 crore now.

Dr. JP said today that mere allocation of funds without a radical restructuring of systems was a futile exercise. There has been no substantial decline in poverty over the past two decades despite huge budgetary allocations. On the contrary, there has been an increase in the incidence of distress among vulnerable sections of the population.

Referring to the proposal to supply rice at Rs.2 a kg, he pointed out that going by the number of white cards already issued, the number of the poor exceeded the State’s population. On top of it, the Government now proposed to issue more and more white cards. On construction of houses for the poor, Dr. JP said the scheme was commendable but the Government turned a Nelson’s eye to the huge irregularities. Everybody knew about corruption in the execution of irrigation schemes but there was no word in the budget about curbing it.

Dr. JP said that the budget “does not address critical problems in education and health care or in tackling unemployment or making agriculture remunerative. For instance, Borabanda locality in Hyderabad with a population of over 10000 does not have a single Government school as a result of which even the poor are forced to send their children to costly private schools. Reposing its faith in ‘Aarogyasri’, which caters to a miniscule of people needing surgeries, the Government continues to neglect the public health sector. The Government fails to address the problem of the unemployed. Even if all the special economic zones materialize, they provide jobs only to less than 3 lakhs of people whereas there are 15 lakhs of educated unemployed. There is no attempt at making them employable by imparting the requisite skills or making farming remunerative with provision of credit, extension work and value addition. The so-called debt relief benefited only one-third of the farming community covered by official channels of credit while the remainder, dependent on private moneylenders, are pushed deeper into debt.

Dr. JP said that extension of quality education and health care free of cost to one and all, imparting of skills to the jobless and ensuring higher incomes to farmers alone will eradicate poverty.

Dr. JP complimented Finance Minister K. Rosaiah for abiding by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act targets and for extending scholarships and fee reimbursement to all backward class students on par with those of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

However, the huge debt burden of the State exceeding over Rs.100,000 crore exposed a serious structural problem. Most of the revenue the State realized on sale of Government lands and liquor went towards the repayment of loans along with interest.

Dr. JP Calls for Greater Participation of Women in Politics

Women should look at politics as a means of achieving self-respect and self-reliance for themselves as well as the people at large said Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan. He spoke at the self-employment training programme organized by Mahila Satta, the women wing of Lok Satta Party at the party State office. Representatives from Mahoobnagar Ideal Women’s Association provided training to women in making chocolate, surf, pain balm, liquid soap, shampoo. The women who acquired training will in turn train other women in their localities.

He said women should not get disheartened with the immediate problems they grapple with, but step forward with confidence and take an active part in politics. He said moving away of women from politics because it has got corrupt and criminalized will only aggravate the problem.

Dr. JP explained the women present the importance of their participation in local governance proposed by Lok Satta Party at the ward and district levels. He said women have developed an aversion to politics because bandhs, rastarokos, slander, and fighting have become an indispensable part of the prevailing political culture. He said the life of the common man will deteriorate further if the political culture remains the same. He said Lok Satta Party came into being to usher in a New Political Culture.

He said instead of becoming a private affair of a few as with other political parties, provisions have been made to enable genuine people’s participation in Lok Satta Party. He said LSP is built to be the property of the people and steps are taken to not cause any inconvenience to people during party events and maintain dignity even while criticizing someone. He said in a democracy the common man is king. He said empowering local governments and providing quality education, effective healthcare, and employment opportunities to all constitute the main agenda of LSP.

He said Lok Satta Party has reserved space for women in the organizational structure and party tickets like no other party has. He exhorted women to utilize this opportunity. He said greater women’s participation will expedite the process of ushering in the New Political culture.

He said setting up division-level governments to take governance to the door step of citizens ranks high on the agenda of Lok Satta Party for the coming GHMC elections and greater women’s participation in local governance will ensure 100% results. He exhorted the women who undertook training to in turn train women in their localities and help them stand on their own feet.

Mahila Satta State general secretary, Ms. D. Saroja, treasurer Ms. D. Manorama and Dr. Shoib, Mrs. K. Geetamurthy, Ms. Rama Devi, Ms. Subhashini, Ms. Gajanani, Ms. Umabala, Mudhosid, and Ms. Fatima have participated in the programme.

Competitive Populism Only Perpetuates Poverty: Dr. JP

In their unabashed quest to get into power at any cost, traditional political parties are indulging in competitive populism, charged Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today.
Pretending to be benefactors, politicians treated people as mendicants and doled out sops and handouts as if they owned the money. Unfortunately, Governments and the media conveniently glossed over the fact that politicians lorded over money collected from people themselves. They remained silent even as politicians exploited people's poverty, illiteracy and ignorance.

Dr. JP said that that no one would dispute that the State should protect the poor and the dispossessed in an underdeveloped country like ours. But it should not be at the cost of the Government's fundamental and primary duty of eliminating poverty and enabling people to stand on their own feet with dignity. "But in India politicians have developed a vested interest in perpetuating poverty and lost sight of the country's future".

Dr. JP was reacting to the sops being showered on people by both the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party with an eye on the elections to the Assembly and the Lok Sabha in the near future. If one party promises loans at 'pavala vaddi', the other rivals it with '10 paise vaddi'. If one offers to write off interest, the other promises to write off loans plus interest. If one promises subsidies on a product or service, the other offers to provide it free of cost. If one arranges free marriages, the other offers a golden 'tali'.

"What the nation needs today is a comprehensive social security scheme and not piecemeal and ad hoc relief".

Dr. JP said "doles and handouts will not mitigate the suffering of the poor or enable them to live with dignity unless Governments address people's basic problems". The Lok Satta Party, he said, firmly believes that people can live with dignity and partake in wealth creation only when all forms of discrimination based on birth are eradicated.

It is possible when:
:: Quality education is made free and accessible to all
:: Free and comprehensive healthcare is guaranteed to all
:: Youth are empowered to participate in wealth creation through acquisition
of skills.
:: Incomes of people in traditional occupations like farming and weaving are enhanced

Dr. JP said it was a shame that a visiting British Prime Minister has to remind the Indian Prime Minister on the importance of universal and free primary education. "It is time that the politics of competitive populism and plunder gave way to politics of promoting human dignity." There should be a national debate on the appropriate anti-poverty schemes and the methods of their implementation.

Dr. JP pointed out how inefficiencies and corruption prevented even targeted people from availing of Government sops. For instance, the people covered by white cards in Andhra Pradesh exceeded the State's population. According to the Planning Commission and the National Sample Survey, only 16 per cent of people in Andhra Pradesh with a population of 80 million are below the poverty line. But Andhra Pradesh has more than 18 million families with white cards, accounting for a population of more than 80 million, assuming that each family has four and half members. "Yet, we hear that thousands of genuinely poor do not have white cards. Similarly, we hear pensions meant for widows, the aged and the handicapped as also houses under the INDIRAMMA scheme are cornered by the rich."

Even when the schemes reach deserving families, there is corruption every step of the way. Typically, Rs. 3000 is the bribe demanded for releasing money under housing programme for the poor. As Mr. Rajiv Gandhi once said, only 16 paisa is reaching the people on every rupee spent.

Dr JP called for a national debate on education and healthcare for all, and on ways of eradicating poverty and helping people stand on their own feet with dignity. "Political parties must shed self serving hypocricy and cynicism, and treat people as soverigns and citizens with self respect, not as vote banks and mendicants".

Reply to questions on blogs

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You can also write in your queries to info@loksattaparty.com.

Amarendra Reddy Sagila
(Research and Advocacy - Lok Satta Party)

Comment on LSP's Position on Weightage and Dr. JP's Reply

Dear JP,

I appreciate your concern for the rural poor, and thank you for bringup some ideas (either good or bad).

I loathe YSR's true intentions of granting 4% reservation to muslims, and kcr braggings of 12% reservations to muslims. I absolutely agree with you that tinkering the reservation system for political gains trigger "kula kurukshetra" without a scientific study.

I see your commitment of adding 100 marks on a 1000 marks scale is hypocritical. You on one hand calls for a scientific study and on the other hand brings a random figure of 100 without any scientific study. Without stopping at that You are also suggesting the 100 marks idea as a panacea (gaurantees justice to all communities).

I see the other way. This 100 marks idea, further degrades/dilutes the amount of talent available in the country. Ambedkar has good intentions about the reservations, but failed to see in the long run it not good for any community (even to those who enjoy the reservations).


I think your idea is not a better one than Dr Ambedkar has envisioned.I think we have to address the issue at the cause not at the outcome. If rural poor is not getting good grades due to insufficient money provide them with scholarships. If the rural poor do not have access to the schools expand the education system and provide the access to schools. If the rural poor do not have good teachers recruit good teachers. If the teachers in rural area are not working well, then think of the ways how to make them accountable and think of ways to how to create competition among the schools, expand the private education system and create competing system that try to attract its customers (students).


I think 100 marks idea brings identical results of the ambedkar idea.Sincerely,Venkateswara Chowdary Penumuchu.

Sincerely,
Venkateswara Chowdary Penumuchu.


Dr. JP's Reply


Dear Sri Venkateswara Chowdary garu,

Thank you for the email. I agree with you on the need for quality education; but I disagree on the merits of a Weightage system as opposed to quotas.

1. Lok Satta Party is strongly and irrevocably committed to quality education upto 12th grade to all children, and higher education to all deserving students irrespective of means. Ultimately that is the solution to backwardness.

2. In the interim, there is a problem we need to address. Among groups included in affirmative action, only the better off are benefited. The result is caste wars: Gujjars vs Meenas; Malas vs Madigas etc. We need a policy framework to address this. A promise of eventual improvement of school education cannot put out these fires today. Equally, the rural and poor children from OCs are both angry and disillusioned. They need Weightage today.

3. Weightage, as opposed to quotas, encourages people to meet certain benchmarks. It is indeed hypocritical not to acknowledge that a rural or poor kid who may be brighter than a rich urban kid gets poor scores on account of poor schooling. And many such kids bloom later, if given a chance. They need both opportunity and hope. They cannot wait indefinitely in the hope that the next generation will have greater access to good schooling.

The 10% Weightage is arbitrary. Any number is bound to be arbitrary, and it needs to be decided on the basis of scientific surveys, and periodically revised. But Lok Satta is a political party; and in political communication you need tangible solutions for debate. The issue is not nitpicking on detail, but radically altering public and political attitudes on affirmative action.

With warm regards,


Jayaprakash Narayan
President

Reply to a Question on Dr. JP's comment about Modi Victory

Dear Lok Satta,

Being a staunch supporter of Lok Satta, I am very disappointed and disheartened reading Dr JP's statement today in Eenadu Internet edition regarding the election results in Gujarat. It says that Dr JP said people voted Modi for his 'honest governance'(nijayithi paalana).

After the recent Tehelka's tapes, some evidence of Modi's involvement by commission or omission in 2002 genocide is out. Rapists and murderers are still out free even after their own confessions (actually boasting) in front of the camera. Let alone apologising, Modi actually stuck to his hard core Hindutva campaign and directly or indirectly supported the 2002 genocide.

Modi is not corrupted, Modi is very efficient, Modi has developed his state, Modi has got enormous public support, Modi was elected democratically with a great majority and SO WAS HITLER. Should I say further?

I would rather prefer my country being poor and corrupted rather than being a rich but lawless state divided by religion or caste.

Honest governance is not simply a governance without scams. It also means not denying justice to any person in the name of religion or caste. It also means rulers speaking the truth.

Is Lok Satta aiming for Modi's governance?
I hope and I know that it is not. I would be very grateful if it is made clear.

Yours Sincerely
Siva

Dr. JP's Reply

Dear Siva,

Thank you for the email. Lok Satta has no intention to support communal agenda. The 2007 Gujarat verdict bucking the usual anti-incumbency trend and several local adverse factors needs to be interpreted in a citizen-friendly manner.

There can be two possible inferences of the verdict. First, hardcore Hindutva has won again. Second, it is unrelated to religious sentiments, and people responded to better delivery of services and reduced corruption. Clearly, the latter interpretation is both accurate, and is more likely to encourage parties to improve performance rather than polarize people on caste and communal lines. Such an interpretation in no way lets a government off the hook elsewhere. It merely emphasizes the importance of delivery to gain public support. The net result is a shift from communal agenda to development agenda. Clearly, genuine democratic governance and rule of law involve dignity, opportunity and justice. Lok Satta aims at all these. In today’s India, all three are at a premium and Gujarat reflects that deficit. Happily, there is no trade off between development and justice, and both need to go together. That we value development does not mean we value justice any less. Nor does it mean that poor development guarantees justice. We have to strive for both. That is our goal.


With warm regards,


Jayaprakash Narayan