YOUTH FOR EQUALITY HEALTH CAMP‏

Youth For Equality is organizing a free health camp at a village named Hirlipali in Bargarh district,Orissa on 28th december 2008. Doctors from various specialities like MEDICINE,PAEDS,GYANAECOLOGY,GENERAL PHYSICIAN
will be available. Drugs will also be distrubuted free of cost.

Sign the petition against criminalization of politics

One out of every five MLAs in five states where elections were held recently has a criminal background. In NCT this figure is close to 40%.

Of a total of 549 MLAs elected to assemblies in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Mizoram, 124 have criminal records with the Congress topping the list with 59 while the BJP has 49, according to a report prepared by ‘National Election Watch’.

Madhya Pradesh has a maximum of 54 such legislators while Rajasthan is second with 30 MLAs with criminal backgrounds. Delhi has 27 tainted MLAs followed by Chhattisgarh with 11 and Mizoram has 3.

Of the 3,179 candidates in Madhya Pradesh, 91 had criminal background, the study said, adding 27 legislators from the BJP, 23 from Congress and four others with criminal background won the elections. This constituted 23 per cent of the total 230 MLAs who were elected to the BJP-ruled state, the report claimed.

In Rajasthan, 2,194 candidates contested the polls, and 189 had criminal records. Thirteen from the Congress, seven from the BJP, and 10 others, including three from the BSP, won the polls, it said, adding 15 per cent of the 200 Rajasthan MLAs had a criminal background.

National capital Delhi, where 91 candidates had a criminal background, 16 from the Congress and nine from the BJP won in the electoral battle besides one each from the BSP and INLD. The figure comes to a whopping 39 per cent of a total of 70 seats.

In Chhattisgarh, which went to polls for 90 seats, a total of 1,066 candidates contested of whom nearly 76 had criminal records. The BJP and Congress MLAS with criminal records stood at six and five respectively, constituting nearly 12 per cent of the total seats.

The situation is no better in the Parliament. Nearly a quarter (23.2%) of the MPs has reported criminal cases against them. One out of two among them (over 50%) have cases that could attract penalties of imprisonment of five or more years. The states of Bihar, U.P., Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh that account for over 50% of the MPs with the high penalty criminal cases.

To sign the petition against criminalization of politics: http://www.petitiononline.com/indiaadr/

Suggestions invited on THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE (SECOND AMENDMENT) BILL, 2008

STANDING COMMITTEE ON PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES, LAW AND JUSTICE INVITES SUGGESTIONS ON THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE (SECOND AMENDMENT) BILL, 2008

The Representation of the People (Second Amendment) Bill, 2008 introduced in Rajya Sabha on the 24th October, 2008 and pending therein, has been referred to the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, headed by Dr. E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, Member, Rajya Sabha for examination and report.
2. The Bill, introduced in pursuance of the examination of the proposals of the Election Commission of India on electoral reforms by the Government, proposes to amend the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
3. Accordingly, the amendments proposed in the Bill are in:-
(a) The Representation of the People Act, 1950 : amendment of section 24 for the appointment of the appellate authority within the district against the orders of the electoral registration officers;
(b) The Representation of the People Act, 1951 :-
(i) simplification of procedure for disqualification of a person found guilty of corrupt practices by specifying a time limit in section 8A;
(ii) amendment of section 34 for increase in the security deposit of the candidates nominated for elections;
(iii) amendment of section 123(7) for inclusion of all officials appointed in connection with the conduct of elections so as to bring them within the ambit of corrupt practices, if they indulge in furtherance of the prospects of the candidates at elections; and
(iv) insertion of new sections 126A and 126B for restricting the publication of results of all exit polls by whatever means till the last poll in an election is held.
4. The Committee has decided to invite memoranda containing views of the individuals/organizations interested in the subject-matter of the Bill and also to hear oral evidence on the subject.
5. Those desirous of submitting memoranda on the Bill to the Committee may send two typewritten copies thereof in double-space (either in English or Hindi) to Shri K.P. Singh, Joint Director, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Room No. 212A, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi‑110001 (Tel: 23034292 and Fax 23016784, E-mail: kpsingh@sansad.nic.in and rs-cpers@sansad.nic.in) up to 17th December 2008, indicating whether they would also be interested in giving oral evidence before the Committee.
6. The memoranda, which might be submitted to the Committee, would form part of the records of the Committee and would be treated as confidential and would not be circulated to anyone and any act contrary thereto would constitute a breach of privilege of the Committee.
7. The Bill was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 2, dated the 24th October, 2008. Its copies can be downloaded from:
http://www.youthforequality.com/downloads/The_Representation_of_the_People_Second_Amendment_Bill_2008.pdf

To read Representation of People Act, click the link:
http://www.youthforequality.com/electoral-reform/MANUAL_OF_LAW_VOL_I.pdf

To read Electoral Reforms as suggested by the Election Commission of India, click the link:
http://www.youthforequality.com/electoral-reform/ELECTORAL_REFORMS%20ECI.pdf

To read more about electoral process, and electoral reforms in detail, click the link:
http://www.youthforequality.com/electoral-reform/default.aspx

YFE congratulates Mr Shailesh Gandhi

Its a great day for all the people who have cared and worked for the sharpness of Right to information act. Amid fears from the Supreme Court and the Parliament to throttle the act. today we all have a reason to celebrate.

One our friends, former IITian and renowed RTI activist from Mumbai, Mr Shailesh Gandhi has been appointed as Central Information Commisoner and Central Information Commision. Sixty-one-year-old Shailesh Gandhi, who was awarded the Nani Palkhiwala Award for civil liberties this year, is widely known for using the RTI Act effectively for better governance and accountability in public life.

It is heartening that has been appointed as theChief Information Commissioner. Gandhi’s appointment will also create a piquant situation for the three other commsioners as he claims he will function as an information commissioner for a token salary of Re 1, and not take the bungalow and other perks.

In our experience, whenever a new person takes charge of a senior post in Government, by the time that person understands the systems and how things work, their term is almost over.

Hence, unless there is clarity of purpose at the start, there is a chance either of that person soon thinking from the government's point of view, and accepting the limitations of government, or of that person getting frustrated and opting to leave and work from outside the government.

We request you to suggest to Mr. Gandhi as targets and objectives for a year, and clear principles and non-negotiables that will help achieve these targets.

Email your suggestions to him at shaileshgan@gmail.com

Now we can expect a flury of people oriented decissions from CIC. as we have first ever RTI activist and Non-IAS commsioner in CIC. Youth for equality wishes him a inspiring tenure.

Update on Bihar Flood Relief

Till date, our members have established two camps.

One base camp is at Simraha.They have already attended more than 2000 patients. This camp is working round the clock and is open 24 hours a day.

The other one is mobile team which is moving around the flood areas that to be near the Bhutia dam where around 2 feet water is still there thus they are moving on cycles and rickshaws.No Government medical camp , only food distribution is being done over there.

Army is also present there and is doing the rescue operation.

Our team has seen more than 500 patients in this area.

Tomorrow another team is leaving from New Delhi to Patna.

Screening of Divided Colors of a Nation

Screening of Umesh Agrawal’s my latest film DIVIDED COLORS OF A NATION, produced by PSBT & PRASAR BHARATI, will be carried out on 13th September 2008, at 6.15 P.M. Indian Habitat centre.

Its a 60 minute film in English. It focuses on caste based reservation in India, an issue that concerns all of us in one way or the other.

The film will be screened as part of Open Frame International Film festival, organized by PSBT & Prasar Bharati.

The screening will be followed by an open forum. All the involved parties in this issue will participate in the forum.

All of us have been invited for the screening ceremony.


A quota of attention
Umesh Agarwal on his documentary on reservation.

You seldom find documentaries that walk the tight rope of veracity. And if the issue is caste reservation, it becomes all the more difficult not to fall on one side of the divide. Umesh Agarwal has managed to do the balancing act in his latest film Divided Colors Of A Nation.

The film not only scans the concept of caste-based reservation since it made an entry into the Constitution courtesy the very first amendment and its usage as a political tool over the years, but also looks into the status of education in the country. “The film is not pro or against reservation, but it does say when there is disparity at the level of grassroots education, what is the use of reservation,” says Umesh.

He has travelled from Delhi to Rajasthan to Andhra Pradesh to prove his point. At some places he didn’t find a teacher in government schools in villages, at others he found 200 students of five grades being taught together. He discovered that most of the teachers appointed to these schools are from cities and they don’t want to travel to villages every day. “Instead they have made arrangements where a local man marks attendance on the teacher’s behalf. Students don’t even know the name of their school and teacher.” But what takes the bakery is the government primary school in Gosainganj in Lucknow. Here the teacher at the dilapidated school fails to name the President of India.

Gross negligence
“Originally I had no plans to look into the educational aspect, but the Gujjar agitation made me think about the state of education. In Rajasthan the pass percentage of the State Board’s High School examination is not more than 50 percent in the last 10 years. Around the same time, the ‘Aaja Nachle’ controversy happened in Lucknow. I was in the city at that time. I was curious to know the state of education in the state where there is such high caste consciousness that the government led by a Dalit Chief Minister bans a film where a line in a song has casteist overtones. Most of the students in the Gosainganj school come from scheduled caste and Muslim families.” The film also points out how public schools made on subsidised land are not imparting free education to the deprived, which is their fundamental right. Umesh says this gross negligence of primary education has resulted in a situation where there are vacant seats in the reserved quota in prestigious institutes but there are no students despite all the relaxations.
Then Umesh takes us to the other spectrum of the issue — whether the ‘creamy’ layer of the scheduled castes, tribes and other backward castes should get the benefit of reservation. “The Supreme Court has said that the creamy layer from other backward classes should not get the benefits of reservation but hardly any state government has taken note of it. They keep on amending the law to suit their political agenda. I feel the economically well off SCs and STs should also be included in the creamy layer so that their seat goes to the really deserving one.” Umesh has taken into the account diverse point of views without being judgemental. The film also points out how the number of castes has increased in the last six decades with the demand for reservation. “We are increasingly becoming casteist. In Rajasthan, there are separate crematoriums for Jaats, Meenas and Gujjars. I agree with what Naryan Moorthy said: India is the only country where people are thronging the streets to be called backward.”The film will be screened on September 13 at PSBT’s Open Frame festival at the India Habitat Centre and followed by a discussion.

* * *
VOICES FROM THE FILM
A retired Cabinet Secretary who belongs to a scheduled caste feels his grandsons also deserve the benefits of reservation.

Sharat Babu, an SC student who went to IIM, Ahmedabad, and now runs his own food business, feels his kids don’t need reservation.

When asked how one should explain the reservation policy to an 18-year-old, UGC Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat feels he should be told this is how the wrongs of the past could be corrected.

YFE won SMS college elections

There is a good news for all of us from Madhya Pradesh. YFE, MP candidate "Richa Toshniwal" has been elected president of S.M.S. Government Model Science College, Gwalior. This is second largest science college in Madhya Pradesh. Many congratulations to all YFE members and thanks to our YFE members in MP who have worked hard to achieve this win in this student election.
There are some more students election in line for us and and we should work hard to replicate this success there also.