Stories from the grassroots | Thoughts on development | Lessons on leadership
The anti-corruption movement is now in the news for all the wrong reasons. We have seen what could have been an extraordinary social mobilization process turn into a war of words, petty ego battles and some very poor leadership on the part of the key players in this movement.… Continue reading
It is now exactly a month since concerned and socially conscious citizens of Mysore came together to collectively fight the scourge of corruption. Building on the emotional response that Anna’s fast created, we decided to take the movement forward and take it to the next level.… Continue reading
Last month saw a couple of events that reminded us of the spirit of Nationalism of the early 40s. While one was the celebration of our Independence Day, the other was the celebration of the spirit of peaceful protest across the Nation that Anna Hazare led from the Ramlila grounds.… Continue reading
The last 11 days have been one of intense debate across the country. Questions like ‘Will the Government buckle under the pressure of Anna’s fast?’, ‘Is the fast by Anna a blackmailing technique?’, ‘What is the Lok Pal bill?’, etc are being raised every day.… Continue reading
The day being Sunday, as expected, more Mysoreans participated in the campaign than before. We had doctors from the Indian Medical Association, the Mysore Clinical Society, the Family Physicians Association, Association of Physicians of India and the Mysore Medical College Alumni Association joining us.… Continue reading
The day began with a lot of excitement with our student and youth volunteers organizing the awareness bike rally. They were expecting around 200 young people to ride around the suburbs of Mysore city and tell people the differences in the bills.… Continue reading
The campaign is growing stronger with each passing day. This reflects the mood of the people and their bottled up agitation and anger against corrupt practices. It feels as though they are finally finding a reason to express themselves and their sentiments against mis-governance.… Continue reading
The third day of the protest was kicked off with around 300 members of the Jain Yuvak Mandal joining us and expressing their solidarity. Apart from pledging their support for the movement, they also assured us that they would try to keep their businesses as clean as possible.… Continue reading
Our campaign at Mysore entered the second day with a few of us continuing the fast. The campaign got a boost with Abids, a local shamiana merchant, putting up a waterproof structure at the venue at his expense. He wanted to make sure that rain would not deter the protesters.… Continue reading
The Nation woke up the news that Anna Hazare, the man leading the crusade against corruption nationally, was arrested by the police without mentioning any reason. This curbing of the constitutional right to protest peacefully reminded one of the emergency days that we as children had got exposed to.… Continue reading
Anna Hazare has announced that he will go on an indefinite fast from the 16th of August at Delhi in order to demand a strong Lokpal bill at the center. What was presented in the Parliament recently was termed by Team Anna as the ‘Joke-pal Bill’.… Continue reading
Other Salient features of the Jan Lok Pal Bill
There are a few other salient features that are unique to the draft prepared by the civil society representatives that do not find a place in the draft prepared by the Government.… Continue reading
Fighting corruption needs a law with clear, visible and timely punishments prescribed depending on the extent and scale of corruption. With the amounts involved touching unbelievable and astronomical levels, the punishment also needs to be relatively proportional.
The Lok Pal bill 2010 of the Government does not talk of increasing punishment that is mentioned under the Prevention of Corruption Act.… Continue reading
What kind of complaints should the Lok Pal entertain?
The whole country is now abuzz with the recent events that unfolded after Anna Hazare’s fast. Many have come to see the Lok Pal as a panacea to fight this cancerous malady of corruption.… Continue reading