Election fever is going to grip some of us before Diwali does. colorful flags, posters of candidates in their best smiling faces are going to greet us at every nook and corner. mob crowds with the party paraphenilia is going to cause traffic jams. celebrities will come out and wave at us in big parks and bigger chariots. the cable and telephone wires overhead are going to be cast into a shadow with paper flags lined up entire streets.
Elections is a seasonal situation where colorful creatures venture out into the public. they are the candidates vying for a berth in the government, they appear only before elections and offer freebies to the lower income class, the middle class are ashamed to seek favours as they still are clinging to their self-esteem and values, they refrain themselves from committing to anyone or casting a vote, while the rich are always in touch with the candidates after they win the elections and are in power. this is the reason that less than 50% of voting happens every election and it majorly comprises the low income group voters. This gives the reigns of power to the ineligible candidates who then repay the loans taken from the rich in the format of contracts and permissions. This is the usual formula.
How do the candidates make money, they get money from the rich for more illegal contracts and licenses. every year they get a huge corpus from the middle class in terms of Income Tax. the Lower income class enjoys a Diwali during elections and then are totally neglected untill the next season.
who gains from this charade, the politicians and the rich. who loses the most the lower income class and who pays for this entire charade, the middle class.
what should the middle class do. come out and vote. but the question is how to choose the bad from the worst. Tax paying middle class has to unite and ask the government to reform certain things.
1) Candidates eligibility - Health minister should be a doctor who has managed a government hospital, Law minister should be a veteran lawyer, Home minister should have retired from the defence forces, Agriculture minister should be a farmer.
2) Manifesto - rating on previous term manifesto fulfilled if in power or number of questions asked, RTI raised to get answers, petitions applied/won and in all worked on them.
3) Civic living facility provided - footpaths, parks, clean water reservoirs, no overhead wire clutter, licence vendors in market places, parking arrangements, uninterrupted water and power supply, proper garbage disposal.
4) No Reservation - There should be no reservation but only merit. we introduced reservation in 1990. Twenty years and we have added many more sub castes and provided even more reservation to them. The only prefernce should be for the EBC. rest should be merit. how do we know EBC. well the government has digitised everything, we have linked our PAN and Aadhaar alongwith our blood group and DNA. it is not rocket science to identify the EBC from the affordable class.
5) Education option - many countries apply early gates to university entry during the school exams itself. if someone is not performing in STEM, they are not eligible for the university course dealing in STEM. children get a chance to choose economics or humanities in school. Math and Science are the other options. this provides two paths - University or Polytechnic. Introduce Enterpruenership early in school. let students prove their metal in non-academic avenues as well.
6) Educators - Revive the Government run education institutes, let children provide feedback on their teachers and administration, let teachers be upgraded and re-certified. Let there be practical labs in schools, if not then provide a centralised lab or a mobile lab that all schools can visit on a particular weekday.
7) Health - Make equipment work in Government hospitals. make healthcare chargeable not upfront but by making everyone save in PPF which will have a portion for insurance towards affordable healthcare. those who are in chronic or emergency ailments , let the government sponsor their treatment partially from the Income Tax it collects. Free healthcare is not going to be affordable nor will it have any quality service. Once stopped, quality will be demanded and expected from the health workers.
8) Legal - re-test all the advocates not on paper but making them close all the pending cases. give them rating based on the number of cases resolved in a year. let the public also rate the lawyers. Let the practise of delaying justice by getting dates be abolished, instead set three dates can be achieved and then the case is closed in favor of whoever was ready to plead the case.
I hope you are getting the gist. we are living in a circus, not watching it but infact being made to do tricks to amuse the Politicians and the rich.
think twice before who you are going to cast a vote for.
Let your judgement not be clouded by cast, creed or face value.
ask for your rights to live a better life.
vote for a change, vote for growth, vote for how happy you want your family to be.
Jai Hind.
