Sunday, December 07, 2008
चयन नहीं चुनाव चाहिए :
राजनितिक दलों के हित में है की प्रत्याशियों का चयन नहीं चुनाव करें
हाल ही में हुए ६ राज्यों के चुनावों को सेमीफाइनल भी कहा जा राह है क्योंकि वो कुछ ही महीने बाद होने वाले लोकसभा चुनाव का रुझान दर्शाएंगे । इन चुनाव से दो बातें साफ़ तौर से उभर कर आई हैं। पहली ये की निर्वाचन आयोग के कड़े रवैये से चुनाव में पैसे और बाहुबल का उपयोग कम हुआ है, जिसके कारण चुनाव शान्ति पूर्ण और साफ़ सुथरे ढंग से हुए। दूसरी बात ये की सभी मुख्य दलों के अन्दर के झगडे जनता के सामने आ गए।
चुनाव आयोग के कड़े रुख का नतीजा है की शहर की दीवारें साफ़ हैं, ट्रेफ्फिक जाम हैं लगे, गुंडागर्दी नहीं हुई और ना ही शराब, साड़ी इत्यादी देकर मतदाता को करीदा गया। आम आदमी का जीवन सामान्य रूप से चलता रहा।
मुख्या दलों की अंदरूनी लडाई के कारण आखरी समय पे नेताओं का दल बदलना या निर्दलिये का मैदान में उतरना सभी राज्यों में देखा गया। इसका मुख्या कारण है की दल उम्मेदवार उसी को बनते हैं जीके पास पैसा या पहुँच है। यह बात राहुल गाँधी ने भी स्वीकारी है। इसका असर मार्गरेट अल्वा जी वरिष्ट नेता पर भी देखा गया, जिनके परिजनों को कर्णाटक में उम्मेदवारी नहीं मिली। ये बीमारी बी.जे.पी में भी है। सुषमा स्वराज के बनाये गए उम्मीदवार मध्य प्रदेश में अपने ही दल के बागी नेता से हार गए। स्थानीय टी.व्ही. चैनल अंदरूनी लडाई को छुपने नहीं देते। इससे नेताओ के कुकर्म भी उजागर हो जाते हैं। एक तरफ़ ये जनता के लिए अच्छा है तो दूसरी तरफ़ पार्टी मुख्यालय में बैठे वरिष्ठ नेताओं के लिए सर दर्द है। इसका एक ही इलाज है, की उम्मीदवारों का चयन दिल्ली में बैठे नेता न करें वरन, निर्वाचन क्षेत्र के कार्यकर्ता चुनाव के दुआर करें।
सुविधा के लिए हम इसे 'पार्टी चुनाव ' कह सकते हैं, जो की आम चुनाव के २ महीने पहले होने चाहिए। इन चुनाव में केवल दल के कार्यकार्ताअथवा सदस्यों को ही मत का आधीकार होगा और सिर्फ़ उस क्षेत्र के ही मतदाता होंगे। जो भी नेता अपनेआप को आम चुनाव में जीतने के काबिल समझते हैं, वे उम्मेदवार बन सकते हैं। फिर वो पार्टी सदस्यों के बीच अपना प्रचार प्रसार कर के उनके मत लेने की कोशिश करें। ये अमेरिका में होने वाली प्राईमरी प्रक्रिया के तरफ़ ही है। साफ़ बात है की जो उमीदवार अपने ही दल के सदस्यों के मत नहीं प्राप्त कर सकता वो जनता के मत क्या प्राप्त करेगा। जिसने अपने दल में अधिकतम मत प्राप्त किए हैं वो ही पार्टी को जीता सकता है। पार्टी को उसे ही उम्मेदवार बना होगा।
आप कहेंगे की आज के दौर में जहाँ निहित स्वार्थ की रखा के लिए तंत्र और चुनाव प्रणाली को तोड़ मरोड़ दिया जाता है वहां 'पार्टी चुनाव ' कौन करना चाहेगा। निम्नलिखित कारणों से 'पार्टी चुनाव ' अपनाना मुख्या की हित में है:
मुख्या दलों को अच्छे से पता है की अंदरूनी इसे के चलते चुनाव जीतना बहुत मुश्किल हो जाता है। पार्टी के नेता एवं सदस्य ये कहकर दल बदल लेते हैं की उनकी सुनवाई नहीं होती। इससे छोटे दलों को फायदा मिलता है जो की बड़े दलों का वोट काटते हैं। 'पार्टी चुनाव ' से सभी को अपनी बात कहने का अवसर मिलेगा और उन्हें सुनवाई नहीं होने की शिकायत नहीं होगी।
मुख्या दलों में कार्यकर्ताओं में ये भावना आ रही है की उम्मेदवार का चयन अनुचित ढंग से किया जाता है। जिसमे धन, बाहुबल, और बड़े नेताओं से करीबी होना आवश्यक होता है। इसीसे दलों की सदस्यता भी कम होती जा रही है। 'पार्टी चुनाव ' से कार्यकर्ताओं में ये भावना नहीं रहेगी।
चुनाव के पूर्व असंतोष के कारण नेता एवं कार्यकार्ता दल बदल लेते हैं। इसके कारण मत तो जाते ही हैं, और पार्टी को भी शर्मसार होना पड़ता है और वरिष्ठ नेता की छवि ख़राब होती है। इन बागी नेताओं को लगता है की कोई चोटी पार्टी इन्हे बड़ा पद देगी और इनका भविष्य उज्जवल होगा। जैसा की महाराष्ट्र में नारायण राणे, छगन भुजबल के साथ हुआ। अगर 'पार्ट चुनाव ' होता है तो बागी नेता का सही मूल्य सबके सामने आ जाएगा। फिर उन्हें बदलने का कोई कारण नहीं होगा और जीस दल में वो जन चाहते हैं उसे भी उनका सही मूल्य पता होगा।
'पार्टी चुनाव' कारण का एक कारण ये भी है की जो नई पढ़ीके मतदाता हैं वे शिक्षित और विचार विमर्श चाहते हैं। उनको रुझान का तरीका है की उन्हें अपनी बात कहने का अवसर दिया जाए। वे लडाई झगडा करके, या पुतले जलाकर अपना मत नहीं बताना चाहते। अगर कोई पार्टी इन्हे रुझान चाहती है तो उसे ये दिखाना होगा की वो नए दौर के तौर तरीके अपना रही है।
'पार्टी चुनाव ' करवाने का आव्हान पार्टी के कार्यकार्ता को भी करना होगा, इससे ही उसका भविष्य उज्जवल होगा और मुखाल्या में बैठे वरिष्ठ नेताओं का सर दर्द कम होगा। एक अतिरिक्त फायदा ये भी होगा की बहुत से लोग तो राज्यों की राजधानी एवं दिल्ली तक का ट्रेन का सफर करते हैं वो अपने निर्वाचन क्षेत्र का दौरा करेंगे और ट्रेन में भीड़ नहीं बढायेंगे।
Lessons from Mumbai part I
Here is a set of guidelines for people, institutions, media, police and politicians to be followed in emergency situations. Get these guidelines implemented.
REASON for making these guidelines.
Our awareness and readiness is our first defense.
The more prepared we are, the more difficult it will be for them.
The more we tolerate our own follies the less prepared we become.
The more time we spend in discussion, the more time we give the terrorists for planning.
Chaos is a friend of our enemies.
EMERGENCY can be: Fire/Stampede/ Earth quake/Terrorism action like Bomb blast or firing
1.Guidelines for Public places.( like Hotels, Cinema halls, Railway station, Shopping malls, colleges, religious places, Hospitals)
a.Have at least 10 stretchers, kept in an accessible place to carry the injured.
b.Mark a clear path for emergency services to come in and go out in minimum time. These should be marked on all gates.
c.Have 1 drill each quarter for the emergency situations like fire, stampede, blasts.
d.Have loud alarms to make everyone in any corner aware of emergency and that means escape through the emergency exit.
e.Have ‘cordon tape’ or ‘barrier tapes’ to cordon of the area where entry is not allowed.
f.Staff should know what to do in case of emergency.
i.Whom to report to in office in case of emergency.
ii.How to escape
iii.How to report emergency to nearest police/hospitals.
2.Guidelines for People
a.Don’t crowd around the scene of action. Go home and sit tight. Even a few minutes delay in arrival of the police vehicles due to crowd can give terrorist enough time to recuperate.
b.The moment you hear loud noises of gunfire/explosion, lie down on the ground.
c.Don’t panic. Panic can cause stampede. Chaos helps to serve the purpose of terrorists.
d.You gain nothing if you waive your hands in front of TV cameras. This is emergency, not a Cricket match.
e.During emergency situations, only bonafied passengers should go to Railway stations or Airports, this will reduce traffic and ease police checking in these areas.
f.Keep your eyes and ears open while traveling. A rashly driven vehicle on the road can be that of the terrorist. Don’t ignore that, inform police about it.
3.Relatives of hostages
a.Should be given a separate waiting area inside a nearby building and not kept waiting on streets.
b.Fix the number of family members allowed on scene. 2 or 3 members only.
c.Make sure only the healthy ones are allowed.
d.No heart patients, children or old relatives should be allowed, as the scene can be traumatizing and affect them psychologically for a long time to come.
4.Guidelines for police
a.Cordon off the scene and put barricade. (Two bystanders were hit when bullets went astray during the encounter at Taj hotel)
b.Have ‘cordon tape’ or ‘barrier tapes’ to cordon of the area where entry is not allowed.
c.Mark a clear path for the coming and going of the vehicles like police cars, ambulances, fire brigades. (at the Nariman house, people were crowding the narrow lanes and the vehicles had a very slow speed.)
d.Clamp a total curfew in the area.
e.Allow movement of emergency vehicles only. (Young boys were walking from one terror scene to another as if they are going form one tamasha to another.)
f.Hospitals must be given a number to report the number of beds with them in case of emergency. This number will then guide the ambulances to the hospital which is ready.
g.A emergency frequency must be there for telecom communication. Around the action scene, all frequency except the emergency frequency should be jammed using frequency jammers.)
h.During emergency situations, only bonafied passengers should be allowed on Railway platforms or Airports, this will reduce traffic and ease police checking in these areas.
5.Guidelines to the media in emergency situations.
a.Limit the number of journalist per channel. 2 at most.
b.Don’t poke your mike into a just released hostage.
c.Don’t poke your mike into a commando/policeman who has just come out of a grueling battle.
d.Don’t air comments by bystanders as they only add to the rumor and don’t give authoritative and concrete information.
e.Respect the limits set by police. (one India TV reporter was shown standing right behind a NSG commando, he should be taken to court for obstructing military operations)
f.Don’t take positions in nearby buildings for a better shot as even one bullet hitting a journalist is success for the terrorists.
g.Don’t air the relatives of policeman or victims unless they give you explicit permission to make their grief public. Respect their privacy in these extremely painful situations.
h.If you have made a wrong reporting, say SORRY.
6.Guidelines for Politicians:
a.Politician should refrain from giving comments to the media, unless they have credible information.
b.Don’t visit a martyr’s house unless you have been given permission by his/her relatives.
c.Don’t announce compensation, till the incident is over and you know you can deliver.
d.Local MLA/MP should come on air and ask the people to remain indoors and cooperate with police.
e.Be quick to seek help from other state police/NSG/Army and private agencies.
f.Politicians should use their party machinery to prevent spread of rumors.
g.When paying tribute to martyrs, don’t highlight your own name or that of your party workers.
h.Say SORRY. That’s what people want to hear. Not saying sorry shows your arrogant incompetence. Say SORRY to people.
These guidelines should be widely circulated in public using all media, (Radio/Print/TV/ internet/ mobile) to be circulated among public at the earliest and repeatedly at the time of emergency. F possible take them to Police, Media, and your company/college etc. for implementation.
Translate into Indian languages.
REASON for making these guidelines.
Our awareness and readiness is our first defense.
The more prepared we are, the more difficult it will be for them.
The more we tolerate our own follies the less prepared we become.
The more time we spend in discussion, the more time we give the terrorists for planning.
Chaos is a friend of our enemies.
EMERGENCY can be: Fire/Stampede/ Earth quake/Terrorism action like Bomb blast or firing
1.Guidelines for Public places.( like Hotels, Cinema halls, Railway station, Shopping malls, colleges, religious places, Hospitals)
a.Have at least 10 stretchers, kept in an accessible place to carry the injured.
b.Mark a clear path for emergency services to come in and go out in minimum time. These should be marked on all gates.
c.Have 1 drill each quarter for the emergency situations like fire, stampede, blasts.
d.Have loud alarms to make everyone in any corner aware of emergency and that means escape through the emergency exit.
e.Have ‘cordon tape’ or ‘barrier tapes’ to cordon of the area where entry is not allowed.
f.Staff should know what to do in case of emergency.
i.Whom to report to in office in case of emergency.
ii.How to escape
iii.How to report emergency to nearest police/hospitals.
2.Guidelines for People
a.Don’t crowd around the scene of action. Go home and sit tight. Even a few minutes delay in arrival of the police vehicles due to crowd can give terrorist enough time to recuperate.
b.The moment you hear loud noises of gunfire/explosion, lie down on the ground.
c.Don’t panic. Panic can cause stampede. Chaos helps to serve the purpose of terrorists.
d.You gain nothing if you waive your hands in front of TV cameras. This is emergency, not a Cricket match.
e.During emergency situations, only bonafied passengers should go to Railway stations or Airports, this will reduce traffic and ease police checking in these areas.
f.Keep your eyes and ears open while traveling. A rashly driven vehicle on the road can be that of the terrorist. Don’t ignore that, inform police about it.
3.Relatives of hostages
a.Should be given a separate waiting area inside a nearby building and not kept waiting on streets.
b.Fix the number of family members allowed on scene. 2 or 3 members only.
c.Make sure only the healthy ones are allowed.
d.No heart patients, children or old relatives should be allowed, as the scene can be traumatizing and affect them psychologically for a long time to come.
4.Guidelines for police
a.Cordon off the scene and put barricade. (Two bystanders were hit when bullets went astray during the encounter at Taj hotel)
b.Have ‘cordon tape’ or ‘barrier tapes’ to cordon of the area where entry is not allowed.
c.Mark a clear path for the coming and going of the vehicles like police cars, ambulances, fire brigades. (at the Nariman house, people were crowding the narrow lanes and the vehicles had a very slow speed.)
d.Clamp a total curfew in the area.
e.Allow movement of emergency vehicles only. (Young boys were walking from one terror scene to another as if they are going form one tamasha to another.)
f.Hospitals must be given a number to report the number of beds with them in case of emergency. This number will then guide the ambulances to the hospital which is ready.
g.A emergency frequency must be there for telecom communication. Around the action scene, all frequency except the emergency frequency should be jammed using frequency jammers.)
h.During emergency situations, only bonafied passengers should be allowed on Railway platforms or Airports, this will reduce traffic and ease police checking in these areas.
5.Guidelines to the media in emergency situations.
a.Limit the number of journalist per channel. 2 at most.
b.Don’t poke your mike into a just released hostage.
c.Don’t poke your mike into a commando/policeman who has just come out of a grueling battle.
d.Don’t air comments by bystanders as they only add to the rumor and don’t give authoritative and concrete information.
e.Respect the limits set by police. (one India TV reporter was shown standing right behind a NSG commando, he should be taken to court for obstructing military operations)
f.Don’t take positions in nearby buildings for a better shot as even one bullet hitting a journalist is success for the terrorists.
g.Don’t air the relatives of policeman or victims unless they give you explicit permission to make their grief public. Respect their privacy in these extremely painful situations.
h.If you have made a wrong reporting, say SORRY.
6.Guidelines for Politicians:
a.Politician should refrain from giving comments to the media, unless they have credible information.
b.Don’t visit a martyr’s house unless you have been given permission by his/her relatives.
c.Don’t announce compensation, till the incident is over and you know you can deliver.
d.Local MLA/MP should come on air and ask the people to remain indoors and cooperate with police.
e.Be quick to seek help from other state police/NSG/Army and private agencies.
f.Politicians should use their party machinery to prevent spread of rumors.
g.When paying tribute to martyrs, don’t highlight your own name or that of your party workers.
h.Say SORRY. That’s what people want to hear. Not saying sorry shows your arrogant incompetence. Say SORRY to people.
These guidelines should be widely circulated in public using all media, (Radio/Print/TV/ internet/ mobile) to be circulated among public at the earliest and repeatedly at the time of emergency. F possible take them to Police, Media, and your company/college etc. for implementation.
Translate into Indian languages.
Wanted election not selection: Practice democracy in the party then preach it to people.
The recent polls in 6 states of India, also called semifinals, as they are only a few months before the general elections have been marked by two noticeable things. One is tighter control by EC on expenses and other activities of the candidates. The second is more than expected in party fighting within the major political parties.
The result of the tighter control by EC is that the candidates will have to make more sensible efforts to woo the voters. They cannot just distribute goodies to poor people or send hordes of workers creating noise and traffic jams. The common mans life is running normally.
The result of the second is that fringe parties have high hopes of bagging a seat. Also, as more and more members from within the party want to expose the weakness of their rival, more revelations are being made of the wrong doing by party members. This is a headache for the bosses sitting in Delhi and state capitals. In a certain way is good for the people but is still far from what democracy can achieve in India. The only way to resolve this is by election of candidates, rather than selection. The political parties should hold an internal election for those who desire to be candidates from a constituency.
For sake of convenience, lets call them ‘Party elections’. In these elections, only the registered party workers from that area should be allowed to vote. Each vote shall have the same weightage and party office bearers should be the same as the party worker. During the campaign for ‘party elections’, candidates shall give reasons to the party workers as to why they are best fit to contest the elections and why their possibility of winning it for the party is high.
Although this suggestion can be scoffed at, saying that it is impractical given the existing vested interest and system created to serve that interest, there are ample reasons why this is the only solution. Here are few compelling reason.
Parties realize that they cannot win an election with infighting and without the support of party workers. The regular membership of the parties is decreasing by the day as most get disenchanted when they feel that they are not being heard. The ‘party election’, will allow everyone to be heard. Whosoever wins the party election, the party will support him/her.
Then there is feeling of unfairness in the party workers when it comes to selection of candidates. So much so that senior leaders like Margret Alva and Rahul Gandhi have acknowledged that money, power and closeness to ruling families are the criteria to get the party nominations. This feeling is in all political parties. If there is election, there will be no such allegations.
When there is dissatisfaction, some leaders leave the parties just before the election to join rival parties, in the hope that they will get a bigger role in those parties. This costs the big parties a loss of face and votes. If there is a ‘party election’, and some leaders loose it, then they will have little reason to leave the party and go to rival. As they will know their true worth and so will everybody.
As the new educated voters emerge and want to participate in the political process, they will demand themselves to be heard. No party can attract them without giving them a decent method to express their opinion. They cannot hustle and justle with the crowd and will leave the affairs to less educated. They want politics to be a arena of ideas and views not of physical strength and money strength. If any party wants to attract these young and educated people, they would do well to initiate internal elections. Only then can it hope to attract the new generation.
Hence these are compelling reason why it is important for the mainstream parties to implement ‘party elections’. It is not just upto the bosses in Delhi or state capitals but its time the party workers start demanding ‘party elections’ to brighten their prospects and that of the country.
The result of the tighter control by EC is that the candidates will have to make more sensible efforts to woo the voters. They cannot just distribute goodies to poor people or send hordes of workers creating noise and traffic jams. The common mans life is running normally.
The result of the second is that fringe parties have high hopes of bagging a seat. Also, as more and more members from within the party want to expose the weakness of their rival, more revelations are being made of the wrong doing by party members. This is a headache for the bosses sitting in Delhi and state capitals. In a certain way is good for the people but is still far from what democracy can achieve in India. The only way to resolve this is by election of candidates, rather than selection. The political parties should hold an internal election for those who desire to be candidates from a constituency.
For sake of convenience, lets call them ‘Party elections’. In these elections, only the registered party workers from that area should be allowed to vote. Each vote shall have the same weightage and party office bearers should be the same as the party worker. During the campaign for ‘party elections’, candidates shall give reasons to the party workers as to why they are best fit to contest the elections and why their possibility of winning it for the party is high.
Although this suggestion can be scoffed at, saying that it is impractical given the existing vested interest and system created to serve that interest, there are ample reasons why this is the only solution. Here are few compelling reason.
Parties realize that they cannot win an election with infighting and without the support of party workers. The regular membership of the parties is decreasing by the day as most get disenchanted when they feel that they are not being heard. The ‘party election’, will allow everyone to be heard. Whosoever wins the party election, the party will support him/her.
Then there is feeling of unfairness in the party workers when it comes to selection of candidates. So much so that senior leaders like Margret Alva and Rahul Gandhi have acknowledged that money, power and closeness to ruling families are the criteria to get the party nominations. This feeling is in all political parties. If there is election, there will be no such allegations.
When there is dissatisfaction, some leaders leave the parties just before the election to join rival parties, in the hope that they will get a bigger role in those parties. This costs the big parties a loss of face and votes. If there is a ‘party election’, and some leaders loose it, then they will have little reason to leave the party and go to rival. As they will know their true worth and so will everybody.
As the new educated voters emerge and want to participate in the political process, they will demand themselves to be heard. No party can attract them without giving them a decent method to express their opinion. They cannot hustle and justle with the crowd and will leave the affairs to less educated. They want politics to be a arena of ideas and views not of physical strength and money strength. If any party wants to attract these young and educated people, they would do well to initiate internal elections. Only then can it hope to attract the new generation.
Hence these are compelling reason why it is important for the mainstream parties to implement ‘party elections’. It is not just upto the bosses in Delhi or state capitals but its time the party workers start demanding ‘party elections’ to brighten their prospects and that of the country.
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