ट्रांसपेरेंसी इंटरनेशनल की ताजा रिपोर्ट “ग्लोबल करप्शन बैरोमीटर फॉर एशिया’ के अनुसार भ्रष्टाचार के मामले में भारत अब एशिया में शीर्ष पर है। इस रिपोर्ट के अनुसार करीब 50 फीसदी लोगों को अपना काम निकलवाने के लिए रिश्वत देनी पड़ी। इनमें से 63 फीसदी ने इस डर से काई शिकायत भी नहीं की कि इससे […]
The issue has been discussed for a few decades; some commissions have recommended it; a few states have already done it. The Indian electoral rolls are once again in the news. The government wants to prepare a single roll for national, state and local elections to municipalities and panchayats. Currently, many states have separate […]
पिछले 15 वर्षों से राजनीतिक दलों की भरसक कोशिश रही है कि मतदाताओं को चुनावी फंडिंग के बारे में पता न चले लोकतंत्र में राजनीति और चुनावों में पैसे की भूमिका बढ़ती जा रही है। कई रिपोर्टों में सामने आया कि 2019 के चुनावों में अमरीकी राष्ट्रपति चुनाव से ज्यादा पैसा खर्च हुआ। इससे लोकतंत्र, […]
The February 2020 order pushes the envelope further on restricting criminal candidates from contesting elections A February 2020 Supreme Court judgment on criminalisation in politics may have far-reaching consequences for Indian democracy. It will first be implemented in the coming Bihar elections in October 2020. The Court has asked the political parties to state “the reasons for […]
Political parties in India pursue power without adequate transparency and accountability Recent events yet again highlight the need for electoral reforms. The campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections was filled with hate speeches. In Madhya Pradesh, the ruling Congress is battling defections.Last year, in November, in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Chief Minister early […]
My mother told me she was at Queen Mary’s college in then Madras as a student on August 15, 1947. Her face was lighted up. I could only get a glimpse of the joy she felt. Three days of holidays, no tickets on buses. People pouring out on the streets, celebrating. Not only in Madras but […]
The ensuing December 5 bypolls to 15 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka are the result of defections from the then ruling coalition. The government fell, the Supreme Court was approached, and now we have 165 candidates contesting these elections. The court upheld their disqualification (of the rebels), but said they were eligible to contest again. Engineering […]
The recent disclosures that the Election Commission (EC) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had expressed reservations about the Electoral Bonds scheme highlight the importance of this issue. In 2017, the then RBI Governor wrote to the then Finance Minister that “allowing any entity other than the central bank to issue bearer bonds, which […]
पांच विधानसभाओं के चुनाव अंतिम दौर में हैं। आखिर, चुनाव आयोग ने अब जाकर धर्म-जाति के आधार पर भड़काऊ बयान देकर वोट मांगने वालों को चेतावनी है। क्या चुनाव आयोग का कर्तव्य चेतावनी के बाद समाप्त हो जाता है? या फिर, इसके अलावा वह और भी कुछ कर सकता है? पांच राज्यों में विधानसभा चुनावों […]
There is no organised conspiracy against NGOs. It is in the nature of power to exercise greater control, and exempt itself from accountability. The recent changes in the rules governing foreign funding of NGOs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) have been widely discussed. The last word on it will perhaps never be written. […]