Handpicked & funded by the people

April 22, 2009: The Times of India
New Delhi: It’s a dream come true if you are tired of the degeneration of the electoral process which only throws up cynical and corrupt politicians without any accountability. Youth For Equality has fielded a ‘People’s Candidate’ or ‘Lok Ummeedwar’, Major Sangeeta Tomar, for New Delhi constituency. The selection process was rigorous and transparent — 223 resumes were received — which involved interviews, group discussions, rating each other and debates before a screening panel of distinguished people. Five hundred people also got to grill them. A major concern was the candidate should have no political and criminal background and met the minimum education qualification criteria of being a graduate. The agegroup was 25-40. Significantly, the funding for the campaign is being done through donations by students and civil society. Cars, cycles, office space, computers, phones, printers etc needed for the campaigning have been given by people supporting the movement for a couple of months. Said Dr Kaushal Kant Mishra, president of YFE: ‘‘We chose New Delhi constituency as it is a prominent seat where a large percentage of the people are educated. Our major target is 60% of the citizens who do not vote because they never liked any of the candidates fielded by parties. We are urging people who still do not want to vote to opt for Rule 49 (O) of the election code which ensures that your vote is registered even if you do not vote for anybody.’’ YFE has not come up with a manifesto and instead asked people to think honestly, keeping the nation’s interest above everything else. Meanwhile, Tomar has been campaigning very hard, braving the searing afternoon heat. She says she has to put in that extra effort to compete with seasoned politicians like Vijay Goel and Ajay Maken. Tomar, who has an army background, says: ‘‘My army training is helping me cope with the long hours of campaigning. I decided to be the people’s candidate as I felt that a change was needed and I was being provided with the right opportunity by having like-minded people support me. I am basically relying on door-to-door campaigning right now.’’ Tomar’s husband, Aseem Nath, is also from the army and they have two daughters. Students, residents and activists supporting this movement have been campaigning in their localities about the ‘Lok Ummeedwar’ concept besides going to parks, malls and colleges. To ensure accountability, the right to recall could be exercised and the candidate will sign an oath to this effect in advance. A group of eminent citizens will be formed and if at any point they feel that the ‘People’s Candidate’ is not performing well, they can ask the YFE’s core body to recall the candidate using the oath.

Major Sangeeta Tomar will be the first Lokummeedwar of the Country

MAJOR SANGEETA Tomar, a former army officer will be the people’s Candidate from the New Delhi constituency. Major Tomar was elected as the candidate in an open forum organized by Youth for Equality (YFE) in the National Capital on Tuesday (April 7) evening.

Hundreds of concerned citizens and students of the New Delhi constituency were present at the open forum to participate in the debate and voted to elect the People’s Representative.

The YFE had received 223 resumes from interested candidates and short listed 53 out of these. A core committee, after several rounds of screening, had than chosen the three candidates to participate in the open forum to be nominated as the People’s Representative.

For the First time in the electoral history of India, a People’s Candidate was elected through an open house Debate, which saw Major Sangeeta Tomar becoming the First ever people’s candidate elected by the People themselves.

The Public voting also showed an inspiring moment when Judges said that 22 People also used 49’o during voting. The second surprise came when His Excellency Gerardo Biritos, Former Ambassador of Argentina, who attended the debate said “ I have come here to understand this revolutionary concept and I am going to write government of Argentina to apply the same in Argentina ”.

Major Sangeeta Tomar was confidence personified as she answered questions fired by a panel of eminent person comprising Major General Satbir Singh, Prof. PV Inderesan, former director, IIT Madras, and Prof J S Chokkar, former IIM Dean and founder member of ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’

Belonging to the first batch of commissioned lady officers, a confident Tomar said that healthcare and education will be her main priorities as people’s representative. She also resolved to oppose the caste-base reservation, adding that people with poor economic background should be helped by affirmative action.

After winning the people’s mandate from the New Delhi constituency, the former army officer asserted, “I live with the people and fully understand their problems. I am happy that people have nominated me and assure them that their voice is not lost in the crowd.”

When asked how she will remain honest in a corrupt system, she strongly replied that despite being at important positions in her career in armed forces, greed had not overpowered her and this will never change.

“I was inspired by my father to join this movement and contest the polls as I believe in equality,” she said, while speaking to the people.
People’s candidate Major Sangita Tomar will contest from New Delhi Constituency .

For Details Contact: 98680 39398, 9868 340420, 9868 386454

Three in Final Race To Become People's Candidate

Today when 14 crore voters stand to vote for the first time in the country we must decide whom to vote and why. Youth For Equality realizes the importance of politics. Without being part of the system we can not amend the system. Considering the responsibility reposed on Youth For Equality by the common citizen of India, we have started many campaigns. Youth For Equality is the first organization to start 'No criminals' campaign by putting up hoardings with the message “Welcome to state of criminals. 40% MLAs in Delhi are criminals”. What began then a lone voice against criminals in politics then has today turned into a movement.
Youth for Equality decided to make direct political intervention in the coming Lok sabha polls to continue fight against reservations, against outdated and dysfunctional system and against criminals in parliament. Youth For Equality launched a political wing. We decided to select a People’s candidate. We invited the resumes for Lok Sabha candidates for New Delhi constituency till 30th March. We recieved-223 resume of which

1) 117 resumes from the students less than 25 years

2) more than 40 years - 37 resumes

3) without voter’s card-7 resumes

4) from out side Delhi-9 resumes

So finally, we selected 53 candidates for first phase of screening and we divided them into 5 groups and selected one from each group. In second phase screening we selected 3 candidates. They will be offered to open forum on Tuesday in which local residents and panel of experts will be invited to screen them openly, in front of media. All the media persons are invited to witness this open debate. We will also perform online opinion for the above mentioned candidates and finally we will select the Lok Umeedwar that will be people’s candidate and he/she will be the Y4E's candidate.

The three selected candidates,Major Sangeeta Tomar, Dr. Girish Singh, and Ms Ashima Khanna will face open PUBLIC DEBATE on 7th APRIL to become People's Candidate and contest from New Delhi Loksabha seat
Time and venue for open debate-

Time- 6.00 pm,

Day- 7 April 2009 (Tuesday)

Venue- Model Park, Sector- D, Type- 2, Opposite Birla Mandir, Mandir Marg Police Station New Delhi

(For the detail, please call- 9718574617)

Unique features of Our political movement

1. First time in the history of India a student’s organization is launching its political wing. Till day Political parties have been launching their student wings.

2. Membership of Youth for Equality is not open for all but only on reference of an existing member

3. Person has to work for social cause and give a time commitment of at least one hour every week.

4. Policies and our directions will be decided by non political people who will never come into executive working of the organization. Office bearers will only be powerless executives discharging their responsibilities.

5. We are first in India to make our accounts completely transparent and will be disclosed to all every month. How ever small or big transactions may be.

6. There will be a panel of 3 independent People’s Commissioners who will be eminent public personalities to supervise all affairs in the organization. They will not be members of Youth For Equality.

7. Will not field our own candidate but will give our platform to People’s Candidate. (Selection of LOK Umeedwar ,as explained above.)

8. We are also launching a nationwide Election Helpline for using 49’0 (None of the above) option. This helpline will also give details of candidate’s background in Delhi. Numbers are 9968880956 and 9968880958

Issues:

1. Anti reservation Ideology : Equal Opportunity to All. Assistance to the needy

2. First political organization to favor 49’0

3. 'No criminals in politics' campaign

4. Swiss Bank 3 Trillion black money belonging to Indians be bought back.

5. Change -

a. Outdated Constitution,

b. Various criminal laws and peoples’ representation act,

c. Age limit, qualification, right to recall,

d. Punishment system for criminal, law breakers

6. Stricter judiciary, stringent laws and no escape route for corruption and other crime including terrorism.

7. Fixing target and fixing accountability for each small or big government sponsored scheme. 8. After going through this selecting procedure we found that majority of the applicants are in between 18 to 25 years. But unfortunately due to government policy they can’t fight election, even though they have the right to vote and constitute a large vote bank.. Every political party is wooing the youth but none of them is actually ready to give them the chance to lead the nation. We demand that age should be reduce 18 from 25, to fight the election, then only it will be possible to handover the power to young leaders.

For any detail please call- 9868340420, 9868039398, 9868386454

Visit our website of political wing - http://www.y4e.in/

Youth for Equality Launches its Political Movement

In the year 2006, India saw the birth of its biggest youth movement ever in the form of Youth For Equality to oppose the 27% caste based reservation in higher education. Mass Rallies, protest marches, hunger strikes and unrest in the streets were the common scene for long. Then scores of PIL’s were filed by Youth For Equality in Supreme court to correct the malice and to oppose Caste Based Reservations.

In the Last three years, it is the understanding of Youth For Equality that most of the politicians sitting in the parliament are Criminals, insensitive to the aspirations of the nation and they can do anything for vote bank politics. It is their handiwork to orchestrate conspiracies like dividing society on caste based reservations and creates vote banks on the caste and religion’s line.

Today when 14 crore voters stand to vote for the first time in the country we must decide whom to vote and why. Youth For Equality realizes the importance of politics. Without being part of the system we can not amend the system. Considering the responsibility reposed on Youth For Equality by the common citizen of India, we have started many campaigns. Youth for equality is the first organization to start No criminal’s campaign by putting up hoardings with the message “welcome to state of criminals. 40% MLA’s in Delhi are criminals”. What began then a Lone voice against criminals in politics then has today turned into a movement.


Youth for Equality has decided to make direct political intervention in the coming Loksabha polls to continue fight against reservations, against outdated and dysfunctional system and against criminals in parliament.

Youth For Equality is launching a political wing, which initially has 20,000 students, doctors, engineers, lawyers and common people from civil society. Huge numbers of faculties from various institutions have also joined this movement and today this movement goes public.

This political movement by non-political people is historic as for the first time more than 20,000 students, doctors, engineers, lawyers and faculty-members of various educational institutions across India have come together to launch this movement.

Youth for Equality will not follow the usual route of other political parties in selecting candidates but will support a person who will support our ideology, who will be selected as a People’ Candidate through an open selection process by various organizations, NGO’s, Resident welfare associations and civil society.


Unique features of Our political movement


1) First time in the history of India a students organization is launching its political wing. Till day Political parties have been launching their student wings.

2) Membership of Youth for Equality is not open for all but only on reference of an existing member

3) Person has to work for social cause and give a time commitment of at least one hour every week.

4) Policies and our directions will be decided by non political people who will never come into executive working of the organization. Office bearers will only be powerless executives discharging their responsibilities.




5) We are first in India to make our accounts completely transparent and will be disclosed to all every month. How ever small or big transactions may be.

6) There will be a panel of 3 independent people’s commissioners who will be eminent public personalities to supervise all affairs in the organization. They will not be members of youth for equality.

7) Will not field our own candidate but will give our platform to People’s Candidate. (Selection of LOK Umeedwar defined in annexure.)

8) We are also launching a nationwide Election Helpline for using 49’0 (None of the above) option. This helpline will also give details of candidate’s background in Delhi.
Numbers are 9968880956 and 9968880958





Issues:
1) Anti reservation Ideology
2) First political organization to favor 49’0
3) No criminals in politics campaign
4) Swiss Bank 3 Trillion black money belonging to Indians be bought back.
5) Change -
a) Outdated Constitution,
b) Various criminal laws and peoples’ representation act,
c) Age limit, qualification, right to recall,
d) Punishment system for criminal, law breakers
6) Stricter judiciary, stringent laws and no escape route for corruption and other crime including terrorism.
7) Fixing target and fixing accountability for each small or big government sponsored scheme.





Lok Umeedwar

Qualifications of a People’s Candidate

1) Educational qualification : Minimum Graduate
2) Age: 25-40
3) Very clean image and a respectable figure
4) Commitment to our ideology
5) Resignation before nomination


Selection procedure:
1) Resumes are being invited from residents across Delhi
2) All of them will be screened by an expert Panel of eminent people.
3) Top 10 will be sent to RWA’s, Trader associations, NGO’s and other organizations in that area to give grades to all the 10.
4) The person with with the best rating will be elected as people’s candidate
5) And will be fielded from New Delhi constituency and our volunteers will campaign for him.

T H E M A R C H Against Corruption and Terrorism

March 1, 2009: Parliament Street, New Delhi.

Aiming to mobilise over 1 lakh citizens to march together and raise a unified voice against corruption and terrorism.

Pledging to build a corruption free nation.



His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation, has conceptualized this march to awaken and empower citizens in order to create an on-ground structure that will actually effect a change in societal circumstances and situations. In keeping with His vision and mission of a stress-free, violence-free planet where individuals contribute towards the goal of a One-World Family, this initiative has a three pronged purpose:-


1) Creating public awareness and mobilizing people, organizations and communities towards the cause of rooting out corruption and terrorism from the country.
2) Organizing a forum and an activity structure in partnership with various NGO’s, bodies to involve citizen participation (esp. Youth) in the democratic process and address social issues.
3) Taking sustainable action at the grass root level, system level and policy level towards nation building


WHY DO THIS NOW?
India has the dubious distinction of being one of the most corrupt nations in the world, ranking a poor 45 of the 49 countries evaluated on the World Economic Forum Survey 2003 ‘Honesty’ index.

A dangerous manifestation of corruption is terrorism. According to the database information released by START (The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terror) 4,108 terrorist incidents occurred in India between 1970 to 2004 which put India into sixth place in Terrorism hit nations list. More than 400 people died in terror attacks in 2008. The actual figure is unknown.

As a country, we need to actively start moving in a concerted way against these twin evils that are now threatening our very existence.

The support and ownership of civil society is an important element in eradicating the problem
of corruption and terrorism.


HOW DO WE ACHIEVE OUR GOAL?
Youth For Equality and the Youth wing of the Art of Living, World Alliance for Youth Empowerment (WAYE) will spearhead this year-long nation wide movement, starting with this march, that will have the active support and participation of all sections of civil society including educational institutions, NGO’s, Residents’ welfare organisations, Youth groups, Social service organisations, Cultural organisations, Corporate houses, and Individuals from all walks of life.

The objective is to awaken and empower people, especially the youth, to participate in the democratic process.

Under the sensitization theme of “Make your Country your Valentine”, we endeavor to catalyze
this movement, across the nation, with a 3 fold solution: AWARENESS, ACCOUNTABILITY & ACTION.

The aim is to make the youth aware of their role and propel them to bring about social transformation by active participation in the democratic process.


So let us send out a call to our country to create a safe society. A society which has no fear in walking into an airplane, train, bus. Or when we enter a mall, cinema, hotel, with our children. Or our very own homes.


Let us take responsibility and bring the change- for our future and our future generations
Ask not what your country can do for you,
Ask what you can do for your country.


Contact: 01164598338/9968880956/9968880958

'YFE School of Excellence - prayatna' started on 5th Jan2009

The number of migrant population is increasingly growing in the metros. Along with this, problems associated with migration are also escalating. The most notable problem is the education of the children of these people.

Cyber city Gurgaon is also facing this problem and an estimated 1.5 lakh migrant children are still not enrolled in any school of the city. Most of them are occupied in different industries of the city and are increasing ‘child labour’ problem. To cater their needs, YFE Education Cell has taken initiative of opening a ‘primary school’ with the support of people of ‘Mullahera’ village. YFE volunteers started school on 5th January 2009. ‘Sarpanch’ of ‘Mullahera’ has given panchayat land to YFE for this noble cause and assured his full support.

Survey has already been conducted to identify children in nearby slums and now they are coming for their regular classes. Besides our own volunteering efforts, retired school teachers are also providing their services to the school.

Overall, we are concentrating on the following issues in our ‘School of Excellence’ named ‘Prayatna’
1) Most of the children are drop outs from government schools, so our main emphasis will be re-admission of these children in the neighborhood schools.
2) To retain children in school is our prime concern. Attendance should not drop significantly at any point of time. To attain this goal YFE volunteers will be visiting to their home place or slums fortnightly.
3) Check the progress of each child weekly and emphasize on all possible ways to provide good, quality education. We will update progress report of each child online at school blog for review.

Our goal is put the children back into the formal schools as early as possible.

Blog http://yfe-school-of-excellence.blogspot.com/ is created to cover all happenings and objectives of school.

‘Service to mankind is service to god’ inspired by these words ‘Prayatna’ is been functioning at 'Nai Harijan chaupaal', near Gurudwara, Mullahera village, Gurgaon distt.
For more details please contact YFE Education cell at any time.
Contact Person: Praneet - +91 99900 94245, Sonali - +91 98916 98862, Mohit - +91 99113 77782
Or you may send a mail to info@youthforequality.com

YFE Organizes Massive Rally against terrorism in Gwalior on 25 January

Terrorists are continuously attacking on our self dignity and we are watching them helplessly without doing anything against it. This helplessness is giving birth to new kind of slavery under the oppressors that are striking anywhere anytime. If we continue to be silent, then we have to face serious consequences for this inaction on our part.

This is the time when we should show that we are united and we will fight for our country against all evils that are threatening the integrity and spirit of our country.

What is required is public voice against terrorism, against government apathy towards terrorism, against our weak political leadership and against ourselves who have elected such people in the government.

Agenda
Raise our voice against terrorism and force government to act (no promises will work) against terrorism.
Making police and public communication to make people know about their responsibility as a citizen to avoid terrorism attacks.
Taking pledge to vote and vote efficiently.
Public discussion on changes that needs to be done in security policy.
Forcing government to close all international borders that have become easy route for terrorists.

Date: 25 JANUARY 2009
Time: 2 pm
Venue: Laxmi Bai Samadhi to Maharaja Bada, Gwalior

For any queries, please contact:
Arvind Singh Sikarwar – 9425783165, 9200268054
Surendra Tyagi - 9250415623
Mohit Gupta – 9911377782

You can also pour in your suggestions at:
vande_matram_arvind@yahoo.co.in
surendratyagi2000@gmail.com
mfdmohit@gmail.com