Anyone seriously reviewing the Lokpal Bill and wanting to contact the Parliamentary standing committee should check out the related documents at Rajya Sabha portal :
http://164.100.47.5/newsite/press_release/bill_committee.aspx
Search for "Lokpal" section. The first link takes you to the bill itself while, the second link, called "press release", has the email-ids of the standing committee members where your comments/suggestions can be send to, before 3rd September 2011.
In addition to reviewing the current Lokpal bill on its own, you might want to compare this with the JanLokpal and propose the most practical / sensible options among them.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Why Anna Hazare fails to convince me.
1.) The concept of indefinite fast is good to get attention and for the concerned people to act. But, does it mean that the fast/peaceful-protest etc would continue until all the items requested are accepted by the concerned?
There appears to be some disconnect here. Assume I am convinced that capital-punishment should be enforced by the law and then start an indefinite-fast such that people take notice. Yes, it would definitely attract a set of people who think capital-punishment is right, say a crore. Does this mean the law makers should accept my terms and enforce a new bill/law ? Isn't this like twisting the arm?
India as a democratic country expects the legislative assembly, who are its people representatives to discuss, debate and finally pass any bill. The system expects that the parliament is the place where the bill would be discussed/debated out. Yes, you can definitely put your points forward through an indefinite-fast, but don't expect everything to be accepted as-is.
2.) Supporters for the bill might come from all walks of life, but it has to be noted that these people are NOT the majority of India. Population of India is around120 crore - even if 1 crore people become part of any agitation; it IS NOT THE representation of India! The representation of India as a democratic country is its elected members. From the last count, the support for Anna is in the range of thousands (6 crore mobile support supposedly)
3.) JanLokpal as a committee : After all this, if JanLokpal as an independent committee gets affected, what's the guarantee that it itself does not get corrupted ? Would we have Lokpal-Supreme committee then formed to oversee Lokpal ? Where would this end ?
3.1) Isn't this like leading to a Lokpal Dictatorship? Why do we want a parallel government to be created with so many rights?
Shouldn't we be fixing what's wrong in the current system rather than have a new committee that is above and over the parliament/judiciary ? The possible rights of JanLokpal as listed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Lokpal_Bill sounds pretty dangerous.
4.) The supporters are mostly youngsters (school goers too!) who might not be capable of absorbing the intricacies of the bill and the path followed.
4.1) On a related note, wonder how many of his supporters really understand what the difference between Lokpal and JanLokpal are and what they are really supporting for ?
I think Anna has to have more constructive discussion with the government to come out with a more effective law/committee rather just sit around in a indefinite-fast and trying to break an existing powerful democratic constitution.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Culture lost
Came across this site when reading on Hindu philosophy, Mimamsa, Chattambi Swamikal et al:
http://malayalamebooks.wordpress.com/
A great ebook collection of spiritual,philosophical thoughts, quite a few that reflect the Kerala culture & life and that has books on Aitihyamala, Advaitha studies etc.
On a related note, its quite sad that a generation has been lost who has no clues to the idealogies, thoughts, philosophies, legends of their ancestors. I think that this 'lost' feeling applies to all other branches including science, mathematics, literature and everything else where the past seems too rich, as we dig deeper into it. Where did we loose all of it?
How do we reset, perhaps starting with the education system such that it builds upon the lost past ?
http://malayalamebooks.wordpress.com/
A great ebook collection of spiritual,philosophical thoughts, quite a few that reflect the Kerala culture & life and that has books on Aitihyamala, Advaitha studies etc.
On a related note, its quite sad that a generation has been lost who has no clues to the idealogies, thoughts, philosophies, legends of their ancestors. I think that this 'lost' feeling applies to all other branches including science, mathematics, literature and everything else where the past seems too rich, as we dig deeper into it. Where did we loose all of it?
How do we reset, perhaps starting with the education system such that it builds upon the lost past ?
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