Democracy and a billion votes to reach for…

It was democracy’s day out on October 18, with the Jaago Re! One Billion Votes ( JROBV) campaign launching their outreach programme, combined with the discussion on Mr T.S. Krishnamurthy’s latest book – The Miracle of Democracy: India’s Amazing Journey. The event was held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan with the M.P. Birla Institute of Management playing host. The discussion was chaired by Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP. Ramesh and Swati Ramanathan founders of Janaagraha, and Dr NS Malavalli, the Principal of MP Birla Institute of Management were present at the event.

Published by Harper Collins, Mr Krishnamurthy’s book outlines the journey of Indian Democracy from 1952, when the first general elections took place, to the current political scenario. It documents the evolution that the electoral process has undergone in this time period. The book is a first-hand account of Mr Krishnamurthy’s experiences as a civil servant and then later as the Chief Election Commissioner of India in the year 2004.
The book was released on 23rd August, 2008 at New Delhi by Justice M N Venkatachaliah who has also written its foreword. While discussing his book, Mr Krishnamurthy emphasized that the book was not about himself but about his experiences and the exposure he gained during his tenure as the Chief Election Commissioner.

As opposed to the cynic’s view of the Indian system as a functioning anarchy or a noisy democracy, Mr Krishnamurthy stated that there are certain indicators to prove that India is a maturing democracy. He says this is based on the fact that we conduct reasonably fair and free elections, have an apparent respect amongst the citizenry for the Supreme Court and the Election Commission, combined with an impressive record of economic growth and progress in science and technology. In spite of these advancements, a problem with the quality of our democracy still prevails. This is a result of the multi-party system with its innate contradictions ranging from shifting political alliances to changing socio-economic policies, adding to the complexity of governance. Diverse administrative styles, modern and sophisticated in some areas, while archaic and feudal in others, only compounds this further.

He emphasises that his book is not a eulogy to Indian democracy nor is it a condemnation of the Indian democratic system. Mr Krishnamurthy considers it a realistic and non-partisan appraisal of our political system and in spite of different perceptions; both optimism and cynicism about the Indian Democracy continue to survive, thereby constituting the miracle of democracy.

Ramesh Ramanathan speaking at the event said that citizens of India are ‘prestige citizens’ for they are like “Prestige” pressure cookers, waiting to burst, due to the lack of a formal platform to vent their frustrations. It is about time that we do something instead of complaining. He then spoke about the three key points that we, as citizens should take back from the discussion - Casting our vote is our duty and something that we need to make time for. It is our responsibility to ensure that the government is functioning according to our needs, and if we don’t do it then no one else will. Passionate patriotism existed during the pre-independence era and those were the demands made on the citizens then, but now is the time for practical patriotism which all of us need to devote time to. Underlining the fact that the time to take action, to vote and participate is now.

When asked whether the two-party system would be beneficial to the Indian democratic system, he said that the Constitution of India gives us the freedom of association and though we cannot put a ceiling on the number of political parties being formed, we can always regulate the formation of these parties. He also said that the presidential system would not be suitable in the future and that the presence of leaders of character can help in improving the current political scenario. To ensure an efficient system of law and order, we need reforms in the police force, the judiciary and civil services sector.
Another question that was raised was regarding the existence of first past the post system in spite of its many drawbacks. Mr Krishnamurthy responded by saying that the government is aware of the shortcomings of this system and is working towards a solution.
After the question and answer session, Vijay Pamarathi, Regional Outreach Coordinator, Jaago Re! One Billion Votes gave the audience an overview of the campaign. He said that the campaign believes in empowering the youth of India to lead the change.

Introduding the campaign, Vijay explained that Janaagraha and Tata Tea, launched Jaago Re! One Billion Votes (JROBV), a non-partisan nationwide movement, to awaken and enable the citizens of India to register and exercise the right to vote. The mission is to register one billion voters in the next five years, in order to improve Indian democracy. In the launch year (2008 -09), the campaign aims to target the urban voters in India’s top 35 cities and plans to register four million voters before the April 2009 elections. They also aspire to extend the outreach programme to cover approximately 210 institutes over 11 cities by the end of this year. This programme aims to engage with people from academic and corporate backgrounds on a one-on-one basis, hence bringing the campaign closer to them. Next year the campaign plans to take the programme to Tier 2 cities and eventually rural India.

For the first time in India, the JROBV website, www.jaagore.com, brings to citizens a host of user-friendly support services. The first is an online registration engine linked to an interactive Geographical Information System(GIS) application, which helps people fill their voter registration forms within five minutes. After submitting details online, citizens can take a printout of their voter registration forms, and get driving directions with the help of a map to submit the registration form to the designated official in their constituency. After submitting their forms, rather than chasing the system for confirmation, the website sends periodic SMS’s and email updates to citizens confirming their voter status, thereby interacting constantly with the voters until they are eventually registered. The objective is to build a customer-service model around the needs of a voter by integrating internet and mobile technologies.

The team then conducted an on-the-spot registration drive for voters. The event received an enthusiastic response from the students present for the event.

The campaign has an eminent Advisory Board, which includes Mr NR Narayana Murthy, Mr T S Krishnamurthy (ex Chief Election Commissioner of India), Mr Rakeysh Mehra (Film maker and Director) and Mr Tariq Ansari (MD, Mid-Day group).