Shaken by the 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai?? And back to normal life within a week???
Well, I am sure thats definitely the case with all of us.. and we continue to hate it...Do we really want to do something about it other than (rather, in addition to) just blaming the system / politicians..??
In addition to the immediate measures such as beefing up our internal security, upgrading the police system and improving co-ordination between intelligence systems to counter the terrorist attacks (which are pretty much the government jobs), I think each one of us must start to take a smallest step towards “the Ultimate Change” with at least the following:
Smallest step towards a bigger change: Stop paying those petty bribes.
Smallest step towards a bigger change: Stop paying those petty bribes.
The system is riddled with corruption. The filthy quality of bullet-proof jackets used by the Maharashtra Police bears blatant evidence to this problem. We have to try and uproot the corruption from the lowest level possible. Stop paying those petty bribes to the bureaucrats (babus), traffic police and tax officials. This smallest act of corruption is giving them the confidence to accept bribes for the vital issues such as defense equipments and equipments, weapons, technology required for National Security.
Please Vote
Register yourself for voting if you haven’t already. Please visit http://www.jaagore.com/. It is a good site and makes the registration process a matter of minutes. Though, the law requires you or your blood relative to personally go and submit the form to the relevant officer in your city / area.
As far I am concerned, I think I am gonna use the ‘Right not to vote’ under Rule 49(O), if I feel I have no good option to choose from. The chain mail has been forwarded so many times after all. I hope it serves its purpose this time around. (One can simply walk up to the presiding officer – Sign the register – Ask for Form 49A and Say she / he would like to vote for – NOBODY..!!) This is the closest Indian voters can get to negative voting.
Right to Information (RTI) Act
Everybody agrees that we need to DO something and that the political apathy is here to stay. Everybody agrees that some of us need to be present ‘On the ground’ and join mainstream politics to clean up the system. However, this isn’t obviously possible for all the professionals. Though, we have to be aware of our rights to make these thick-skinned men (read politicians and babus) listen to us and be accountable. And one of the most powerful rights is Right to Information. Lets choose one area / topic that we are interested in (e.g. Police training, highway maintenance, traffic control, trees & gardens in our city, anything) and find out about the status of government action (local, state, central) in that area through the RTI act and keep the follow-up on.
Please Vote
Register yourself for voting if you haven’t already. Please visit http://www.jaagore.com/. It is a good site and makes the registration process a matter of minutes. Though, the law requires you or your blood relative to personally go and submit the form to the relevant officer in your city / area.
As far I am concerned, I think I am gonna use the ‘Right not to vote’ under Rule 49(O), if I feel I have no good option to choose from. The chain mail has been forwarded so many times after all. I hope it serves its purpose this time around. (One can simply walk up to the presiding officer – Sign the register – Ask for Form 49A and Say she / he would like to vote for – NOBODY..!!) This is the closest Indian voters can get to negative voting.
Right to Information (RTI) Act
Everybody agrees that we need to DO something and that the political apathy is here to stay. Everybody agrees that some of us need to be present ‘On the ground’ and join mainstream politics to clean up the system. However, this isn’t obviously possible for all the professionals. Though, we have to be aware of our rights to make these thick-skinned men (read politicians and babus) listen to us and be accountable. And one of the most powerful rights is Right to Information. Lets choose one area / topic that we are interested in (e.g. Police training, highway maintenance, traffic control, trees & gardens in our city, anything) and find out about the status of government action (local, state, central) in that area through the RTI act and keep the follow-up on.
