Bharat Parivartan Abhiyaan 1.Reform agendas for all political parties of India

Ø Under the second organ of democracy, i.e. ‘executive’  (all Ministries, Depts., PSUs, Boards, Authorities, Semi Govt. Organizations) there must be a strong complaint-redressal mechanism at every unit office, regular janta darbar, full transparency, performance, and financial audit of all staffs on daily basis, productivity review, cost and output analysis, maximum application of technology in governance.

Ø (f) For checking corruption effectively, we need all police and investigative agencies to have the provision of severe punishment if they themselves are found to be involved in corruption.

Ø (g) For demoralizing corruption and promoting honest officials, we need to induct a system of incentive and productivity-centric wage policy, scraping the policy of transfer, allowing posting according to the conveniences of employees, lessening the days of leave and giving one-day weekly leave in place of two days, which is currently going on.

Ø  issues pertaining to computerization, simplification of laws, time-bound judgment, using more and more technology in making judgments like polygraph tests, viscera, DNA tests, and fixing the fee-structure of lawyers. There must be a campaign to clear all

Øbacklog of court cases pending in all three tiers of the judiciary.

Ø (i) As we know, any roof can’t be laid upon unless it does have four side pillars under it. Our democracy has four pillars, these are Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, and Media, but, Media is unfortunately not an official/constitutional pillar of our democracy. Nowhere in our constitution, it is mentioned that there would be an institution named Media, which will play a big role in our democracy in order to strengthen its ‘checks and balance’ system and more as a watchdog institution for the democracy

Ø Who says, regulation is antipathy to freedom? The fact is that freedom does not arise without regulation. Our judiciary is independent and powerful only because it has constitutional status and its power and duties have constitutional backing, that is why Judges are appointed and also paid by the Executive and also they sit in the chamber availed by the Executive, but despite that, they give their judgment against the various bad activities of the Executive. But, the same thing does not apply to the Media.

Ø Corporate-controlled media has no surety of sustainability and accountability for society, country, and democracy.

ØMedia, as a watchdog, serves the  cause of corruption in great manner, as the history of America  says that this country eliminated corruption, that is more  attributed to their Press. So Press has much bigger role in eradicating corruption, but this role will be acted  when it has constitutional status and fully defined role, responsibility, resources and ratification for them.

2. Reform Within the Political Parties

In order to effectively check political corruption we need a thorough reform process for all political parties in the country,

The following agendas may be suggested for this reform:

(a) A completely new blueprint is needed for all political parties

with regards to their organization, functioning, funding,

electioneering, screening of candidates, activism and

drafting of their election manifesto.

(b) Availing and ensuring proper livelihood for all political

workers.

(c) Policy research cell over good governance and enhancing

the quality of public leadership.

(d) The activities of all political workers have to be fully

redefined i.e., regarding their entry, their nurturing, their

functioning, their promotion, their eligibility for becoming

office bearers, their candidature, and also the compulsory

training required for public leadership.

(e) Screening of election contesting candidates in a proper

manner.

(f) Guideline regarding raising and solving of public

problems.

(g) Transparent funding pattern of the political parties.

The above-mentioned reform measures will be proved a deterrent for all sorts of political corruption. Proper arrangement of livelihood for the political worker will not give any excuse to commit corruption for their bread and butter purpose. Further, they will not indulge themselves in political brokerage kind of work like transfer, posting, contract, admission etc.

Second, this reform will raise the quality of representation and will thus bring check over any corrupt activities.

Third, these reforms will ensure the authenticity and quality functioning of political parties; which will ultimately purify the polity of the country.

Fourth, reform will stop the selling of tickets by the parties at the time of the election.

Fifth, reform will check the influx of black money in the election; it will minimize the expenses and check the bribing of voters. Promoting quality leadership  will check the nepotism and flattering culture and will induct  honest, efficient, able, and sensitive public representatives

—All political parties have to work for eliminating the two M politics; the influence of money and muscle has been a great deterrent for the democracy, which has to crush with tooth and nail.

—All political parties have to work for eliminating populism and freebies politics, which has created unfair competition in democracy, thus maligning the good governance politics and exposing the economy to be misused.

—All political parties have to work to eliminate hate speeches, false promises, and misleading pieces of information

—All political parties have to work for creating a nursery for the quality public leadership

1. 3. Election Reform Since T.N. Seshan’s time, our election reform has crossed many strides, now this reform has gone to another level. After controlling the influence of money and muscle elements, now our electioneering system has to control the strong prevalence of identity politics viz. caste, community, creed, region, religion, language, culture, dynasty, instigating campaigns, hate speeches, bad candidature etc. There are some agendas, which have to

   be implemented for checking political corruption like keeping political parties under RTI Act. Political parties are an even bigger public forum, so they should be brought under this.

   Banning caste rallies is the second issue. Though the screening of candidates is not the subject of the election commission, political parties should take this call very seriously and must go for quality political leadership. The way some states like Rajasthan and Haryana are confiscating eligibility criteria for their third-tier local body election is a welcome move and so the time has come to implement it in all forms of three-tier election throughout the country.

   Now these all things will make electioneering more competitive, governance more qualitative, and election candidature more integrity. In all, it will have fantastic effects with regard to the attack on corruption.

   ØThe menace of money in the election is not yet over. The fact is that, during the elections, only the face value of money expense is being maintained, otherwise in actual terms money is being spent through many disguised means.

   ØSecond, even the legal expense ceiling that has been decided by Election Commission is not that small; in fact, it is beyond the capacity of any candidate from the general public.

   Ø

   Ø Second, the quantum of money spent on elections is huge.  This money is poured into the election in implicit form. As it was reported once in one newspaper that in the Tamil  Nadu election, around Rs. 9,000 crore money is going to be spent there, accounted to be per capita Rs 3,000.  Voters are also bribed by the government through freebies like free food grains, electricity, water, public transport, cow, radio, jewelry etc. So, whenever we discuss the money menace in elections, we should think about the provision of penalizing corrupt voters also; either they should be barred from voting or they should be brought under anti-corruption trial where bribe giver and briber taker, both are regarded as the culprit.

   4. Local Democracy

   The third-tier local body representatives must have the provision of an appropriate amount of salary and allowances on the line of first and second-tier representatives and in the same manner, first and second tier representative must be given executive power like third-tier representatives—it will make the third tier of democracy free from corruption and enable them to more accountable and loaded with responsibility

   5. Administrative Measures

   In order to check corruption, we need a number of  administrative measures, given below:

   (a) We must restructure our bureaucracy on a corporate  model basis, in which IAS (Indian Administrative Service)  must be renamed as IAMS (Indian Administrative

   Management Service), which will bring a sea change in the quality of deliverance as well as it will bring a big jolt over various aristocratic attitudes found in various ranks and files of our public administration. Public servants, actually teasers,  must be made the real servants of the public. On the basis of Corporate governance, the relationship between officers and the public must be developed and it should be framed as manager-customer alike.

   (b) Every office must be facilitated with complaint-redressal

   mechanism in order to provide better deliverance of

   administrative justice on behalf of the executive.

   (c) Right to public service must have more public orientation

   and all grey areas of governance must be brought under

   them.

   (d) Reward and punishment approach must be applied in

   a big way all over the public administration.

   (e) Each and every scheme must have its 2 percent fund

   for the various incentives to its executors.

   (f) All employees must have orientation courses for being

   subservient, honest and always keeping a good intentional approach to

   the public.

   (g) Speedify the Police reform, as a true subservient

   organization.

   (h) Applying the hiring and firing approach.

   (i) Target-oriented trapping of corrupt elements.

   (j) All departments must have a white paper that can tell,

   on which count they have in-built corruption in their

   organization and how will they check it.

   (k) All anti-corruption agencies must have a performance audit

   regarding how far they recover bribery assets and what

   is the cost of a recovery operation.

   (l) CAG, which is the most important constitutional anti-misappropriation agency should be given penalizing rights and all audit reports must have serious follow-ups in order to check all previous wrongdoings in the concerned area or scheme.

   (m) The corruption cases taken by CBI or mandated by any

   govt. is generally being done in a selective manner. CBI

   must be made a universal anti-corruption investigating

   agency with a high degree of neutrality.

   (n) CVC has been made just like an eye-washing agency, it

   has to be made more empowered.

   (o) All anti-economic offense organizations like ED, CEIB,

   Anti Bank fraud wings are being used in a selective manner,

   that should be checked and must be standardized on

   broader norms.

   (p) These all agencies must be given a target to apprehend

   corrupt persons in lakhs, not in a few hundred or

   thousands, so that no corruption committer left

   uncaught. These agencies catch the cases merely in

   few thousand; it is just minuscule against such a

   the gigantic size of corruption in the country. It also reflects

   this attitude of the government that by using these agencies,

   they are more interested in harassing their political rivals

   and they are least concerned with all committer of

   corruption.

   (q) If any anti-graft agency is found to be involved in

   blackmailing or corrupt practices or even harassing

   anyone, for them, the penalty/imprisonment must be many times more.

   All judicial trials going over corruption must have a clearance time of a minimum of one day and a maximum of 30 days, not more than this.

   The performances of anti-graft agencies in the State are pathetic. The anti-corruption bureau, CID and State Lokayuktas are just taking up a few cases of corruption.

   These kinds of things give us the impression, that one who is going through their bad days and his zodiac is not in good condition, they are only being caught otherwise everything is being managed over corruption. In state government administrative machinery, the lowest sitting official that is the trio of Amin, Patwari, and Circle officer in the circle office and VLW, Village head/Gram Pradhan, BDO, in block development offices, these both supposed to be the most institutionalized center of corruption at the lower level of state administration.

   Same way in the police department, corruption starts from the thana level.

   There is a need for making provision for gallows for bribery, if it is over ten crores, there must life term imprisonment

   On corruption cases of over 100 lakh or there must have a monetary penalty of

   just 10 times more than this.

   All govt. servants must have to take an oath mandatorily, of honesty, integrity, and displaying sensitivity towards citizens at the time of joining their job.

   Prevention of Economic Corruption

   (a) We need to effectively implement the concept of regulatory authority on the line of      TRAI in many other fields like Health, Education, and Public Transport viz. Railway, Civil  Airlines, Road Transport, In Infrastructure like Power (production, transmission, distribution), Petroleum, Ports etc.

   (b)   It will promote competition, efficiency, and suitable market interventions in these sectors, which will ultimately enable better quality goods and services at cheaper rates to the consumer. This move will bring course correction in these sectors and will ultimately, eliminate corruption in various public sector operations.

   There must be harsher punishment for hoarding, black marketing, adulteration, duplicity, underweight, overpricing, smuggling, hawala transfer,    disproportionate asset, and non-disclosure of income.

   (c)There must be a ban on all ponzi and NBFC companies, and also pre-launch housing schemes particularly for those, who do not have full accreditation to run a financial business.

   d)No lending must be allowed without the same valued security.

   (e)Abolish all kinds of subsidies and allow granting of any

   concession through fiscal incentives and capital subsidy

   only.

   (Allowing all transfer of resources and payment through Mobile, Aadhaar, and Bank account.

   To convert the MGNREGA program into a fully comprehensive program over rural infrastructure development program.  Stop instituting pay commissions and allow productivity and

   performance-linked wage increments only. In order to do this, if some officials do partiality, there should be severe punishment for them.

   Stop corruption ridden food security program and in place of this try to raise the purchasing power of all poor through availing their pension, wage hike and

   assistance through various social-human support.

   All  essential goods and services markets must be operated

2. (Allowing all transfer of resources and payment through Mobile, Aadhaar, and Bank account.

   To convert the MGNREGA program into a fully comprehensive program over rural infrastructure development program.  Stop instituting pay commissions and allow productivity and

   performance-linked wage increments only. In order to do this, if some officials do partiality, there should be severe punishment for them.

   Stop corruption ridden food security program and in place of this try to raise the purchasing power of all poor through availing their pension, wage hike and

   assistance through various social-human support.

   All  essential goods and services markets must be operated

3. Ideal Parameter for Judging the Performance of Any Government with Regard to Corruption

       There should be permanent parameter for judging the

   performance of any government on this basis:

   1. How many leakages government is able to detect.
   2. How much better a delivery mechanism a government has.
   3. How much austerity drive a government is applying in

          governance?

   1. How much performance and work audit of government

          employees are being done?

   1. How much resource transfer is being made through

          technology.

   1. How much cost conscious a government is.
   2. At what cost is quality public construction work 

          rendered by any government?

   1. How much revenue a government is able to generate

          without burdening the public much?

   1. How much efficient use of public assets is being done?
   2. How much wastage and misuse are being checked by

          the government.

   1. How much benefit is being accrued to the targeted people?
      1. How many culprits of corruption are being caught?
      2. How much efficient, honest, and sensitive public

      representatives are elected?

      1. How much checks and balance system operate on the

      democracy.

      How much ‘separation of power’ principle of democracy

      is being operated.

      1. How much actual social justice is being injected?

      Jai Hind