Murderers, Rapists and Looters

Murderers, rapists and looters sitting in Parliament: Arvind Kejriwal


This statement from Kejriwal seems to have hit a raw spot but is there any truth in it?

Let the following speak for itself.

Source; A Report by NATIONAL ELECTION WATCH & ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) was established in 1999 by a group of professors from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. In 1999, Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by them with Delhi High Court asking for [or requesting] the disclosure of the criminal, financial and educational background of the candidates contesting elections. Based on this, the Supreme Court in 2002, and subsequently in 2003, made it mandatory for all candidates contesting elections to disclose criminal, financial and educational background prior to the polls by filing an affidavit with the Election Commission.

Now we know that even one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel....

The report confirms our worst suspicions. MPs with criminal records are more numerous in 2009 (162) than in 2004 (128), and so too those involved in heinous offences such as dacoity, rape and murder (76:58).

But all is not lost:

Of the 608 candidates with the most serious criminal cases against them, only 76 won. The remaining 532 were rejected by the voters.

As for looters, we know that it would be very difficult to find MP's who have not increased their wealth after coming to power.

Let us look at the crorepati's:

MP crorepatis have doubled in number in 2009 (315) compared to 2004 (156). And the chances of winning an election in 2009 progressively improved with the value of their assets (0.43% with assets under Rs.10 lakhs to 32.65% with assets over Rs.5 crores). Yet election expenses continue to be absurdly under- reported. An MP from Arunachal reportedly spent only Rs.10,000 while the freest spenders anywhere were reportedly well within the Rs.25 lakh limit. Obviously in fear of admitting to a corrupt practice under the law, and rendering their election liable to be declared null and void by the High Court.

So when people like Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi say that it was an insult to Parliament and people of the country who elect MPs and MLAs, it is not entirely correct. Those winning the elections are those with most cash. This cash is used to influence the voters and most media help the candidates and not the voters. While the looters gain, the voters cannot be entirely blamed for their wrong choice.

• The number of crorepati MPs has increased from 156 in Lok Sabha 2004 to 315 in Lok Sabha 2009.

• Out of 315 crorepati MPs in Lok Sabha 2009, 146 are of INC, 59 are of BJP, 14 are of SP, 13 each are of BSP and DMK, 9 of SHS, 8 of JD (U) and 7 of AITC.


• Among major parties, the average asset per MP for INC is Rs. 5.9 crores and for BJP is Rs 3.4 crores.

Now is there any problem if they become corepati's?

There seems to be a problem since only these elected ones seems to have increased their wealth but not the voters.

Compare the above with the state of affairs with the voters.

Rural MPCE

The NSS concept of MPCE, therefore, is defined first at the household level (household monthly consumer expenditure ÷ household size). This measure serves as the indicator of the household’s level of living.

 
Arvind Kejriwal's statement needs to be noticed.

Do read: http://under-the-tree-of-tranquility.blogspot.com/2012/03/chin-up-indians-we-have-reasons-to-be.html

28 Rs per day

Our planning commission still doesn’t get it I think. They insist that a citizen in India should join the group of privileged or the rich if they earn 28 Rs per day! Guess the only way to make them see the truth is to force them to show it to the nation. Let our media also have a field day in airing their woes live to the nation while they try subsisting at 28 a day for at least a month.

It was for this same reason that two youngsters, Tushar Vashisht and Mathew Cherian  tried this experiment.

Late last year, two young men decided to live a month of their lives on the income of an average poor Indian. One of them, Tushar, the son of a police officer in Haryana, studied at the University of Pennsylvania and worked for three years as an investment banker in the US and Singapore. The other, Matt, migrated as a teenager to the States with his parents, and studied in MIT. Both decided at different points to return to India, joined the UID Project in Bengaluru, came to share a flat, and became close friends.

Rs100aday is an attempt by two friends to bring to light the issues affecting the common man in India through direct experiences.

This blog has its beginnings in an effort to live on India’s average income - Rs. 100/person/day without rent – to observe and understand the constraints that come with life at a monthly income of 3000.

However, after the Planning Commission came out with the proposed poverty line of Rs. 32/person/day, we decided to spend one week living at that income level in addition to three weeks at Rs. 100/day. Besides coming to the realization that the Rs. 32 figure is nonviable, we also gained some key insights into the lives of the poor

While they were at it:

Hardly a day went by during the past month, in which we didn’t think of food. And no, it wasn’t because we couldn’t get our minds off of planning the first meal we would have at the end of our experiment. Rather, it was because, food was the largest component of our budget at both Rs. 100/day (50%) and Rs. 32/day (68%).

  States like Kerala had a well set up PDS system much earlier than the rest of the country.

It is well known that Kerala had one of the best run and most effective PDS networks in India. Prior to the introduction of targeting, Kerala was the only state in India with near-universal coverage of the PDS.

If these youngsters had a tough time in a state like Kerala, it would be even tougher in other states. Since APL (Above poverty line) and BPL(Below poverty line) is fixed as per the planning commission’s figure of poverty line, the poor of India is yet again squeezed.

Planning Commission on Monday further reduced poverty line to Rs.28.65 per capita daily consumption in cities and Rs.22.42 in rural areas, scaling down India's poverty ratio to 29.8 per cent in 2009-10, the estimates which are likely to raise the hackles of civil society.

It is not as though India does not have enough to distribute through it’s PDS scheme but this very important “Poverty Line” determines who shall get it, even when half of it rots away.

According to information revealed from a RTI petition filed in Delhi, the FCI has spent crores of rupees over the past decade in just disposing off the rotten foods lying in the go-downs.

Will those at the Planning Commission, specially Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia dare to take up this experiment?


Source:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-poverty-line-now-lowered-to-rs-28-per-day/1/178483.html

http://rs100aday.com/about/
http://planningcommission.nic.in/news/index.php?news=prbody.htm
http://ccs.in/ccsindia/downloads/intern-papers-08/PDS-in-Kerala-204.pdf
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Harsh_Mander/article2882340.ece