Railway Minister promises tickets Without trains: Lok Satta

Making reservation of rail tickets hassle free without provision of adequate number of train services in tune with the burgeoning demand is of little consolation to passengers, commented the Lok Satta Party on the Railway Budget today.

Talking to the media, party spokespersons Katari Srinivasa Rao, V. Laxman Balaji and Mrs. K. Gita Murthy pointed out that Andhra Pradesh had suffered injustice once again in that there was no mention of the laying of new lines or funds allocation for the second phase of the MMTS in Hyderabad. The Railway Minister ignored the fact that the South Central Railway contributed a huge chunk of railway revenue. The Chief Minister washed off his hands off by writing a letter to the Railway Minister on what needs to be done to Andhra Pradesh while the 33 MPs belonging to the ruling party played no constructive role. If funds allocation to Andhra Pradesh continued at the present pace, construction of new lines and extension of the existing ones would take decades.

The Lok Satta leaders said that the so-called express trains in India run at a speed of 60 km an hour against 150 km in the developed world for want of track and signaling modernization.

They ridiculed the Railway Ministers claim of the plan to lay 3500 km of new railway track as courageous by recalling that the British rulers laid 40000 km of railway track in three years 160 years ago.

They, however, welcomed the proposals to develop 50 stations including Secunderabad, to improve hygiene and sanitation, concessions to women, the physically challenged and unorganized workers and reduction in the tatkal reservation charge.

Do rains respond to prayers? Asks the Lok Satta

Propitiating Gods for precipitation of rains in 2009 by an elected Government and a devasthanam board nominated by it borders on the ridiculous, commented the Lok Satta Party here today.

Instead of going to the rescue of farmers hit by the drought-like situation with an alternative plan, the Chief Minister is hoodwinking the people by initiating the ritual. The Endowments Minister who is supposed to protect temple properties from encroachers supervises the ‘Varuna yagam.’ The TTD, which is expected to productively utilize people’s offerings to the God for their welfare, is squandering away precious resources on such unwarranted rituals.

Talking to the media, party spokesmen Katari Srinivsasa Rao, V. Laxman Balaji and G. Raja Reddy said there was nothing wrong in a Government resorting to cloud seeding in a bid to precipitate rains. But scheduling the program for the middle of July when the rainy season would be at its peak naturally sparked doubts about the Government’s motive.

The Lok Satta leaders pointed out that the Government is going ahead with its pet scheme of cooperative farming, undeterred by advice to the contrary from saner elements. They told the Government if the productivity and production were low it was not because the holdings were small but because the farmers had no access to resources and markets. The Government supplied certified seeds enough only for eight percent of the total acreage and tested only four percent of soils. Apart from addressing such lapses, the Government should provide credit and marketing facilities to farmers.

The party spokesmen accused the Government of not displaying either leadership or competence in resolving people’s problems. It had so indiscriminately issued ration cards that the beneficiary families exceeded the number of families in the State. And yet, tens of thousands of poor families do not have white cards. It had not come up with any concerted action plan to prevent recurrence of Bholakpurs (where 14 people died of ‘drinking water’).

They also referred to the Government appointing an Advisory Committee on Public Safety and Security in which the Home Minister did not find a place, and said it once again mirrored the Government’s irrational and hare-brained policies.

“Instead of focusing on ensuring independent crime investigation and equal treatment to all before law, ad hoc, arbitrary decisions are being taken. The Government did not or could not explain why such a body is necessary or how it would solve the problems. These arbitrary ‘firmans’ remind us of the shenanigans of autocratic rulers like Mod. Bin Tughlaq. It is time the Government got its act together and acted with some degree of responsibility and good sense”.

Lok Satta rebuts malicious campaign

Parties that blame the Lok Satta for their poor performance in the 2009 elections had better advocate single-party democracy as in China and the erstwhile Soviet Union, the Lok Satta said today in a sharp rejoinder.

A number of leaders in both the TDP and the BJP had been griping and wailing over the Lok Satta “hijacking their’ votes and contributing to their dismal show, according to media reports.

Talking to the media, Lok Satta Party spokesmen V. Vijayender Reddy and E. Chennayya said that far from being chastened by the electoral debacle and mending their ways, some of the traditional parties seemed to regard the electoral arena as their sole preserve. “They conveniently forget that in a democracy, every one has a right to form a party and seek voters’ blessings. The beauty of democracy lies in the fact that no party has a monopoly over any section of voters. A mature political party in a democracy should humbly accept the people’s verdict instead of trying to find scapegoats in other parties or blame the voters themselves. Perhaps they believe in single-party democracy.”

Referring to the allegation that the Lok Satta seemed to have a secret understanding with the Congress since it did not field candidates against the Chief Minister and his son in the Pulivendula Assembly and Kadapa Lok Sabha seats respectively, the Lok Satta leaders dubbed it as not only baseless but also malicious. The party did field Mr. Gudipati Prasanna Kumar to contest against the Chief Minister’s son in the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat. Despite its best efforts, the party could not find candidates in 45 Assembly and 10 Lok Sabha seats. Pulivendula and Kuppam happened to be among Assembly seats where the party could not locate suitable candidates. The party allocated the Kuppam seat to the Backward Classes United Front which had come forward to field a candidate.

“People’s welfare is the sole touchstone for our stand on any issue, and not partisan considerations,” underlined the spokesmen in the context of the Government moves to supply mineral water to every habitation and promote cooperative or collective farming.

The Lok Satta Party was the only party, which included supply of safe drinking water in all problematic areas as one of its 50 “irrevocable guarantees.” “We are glad the ruling party has taken a leaf out of our manifesto. But unfortunately, its copying is not smart.” The Lok Satta had promised water supply through installation of reverse osmosis plants in areas where the water is not potable either because of excessive fluoride or salinity or pollution by industrial effluents. The Lok Satta scheme to devolve a per capita grant of Rs.1000 to every panchayat/ward/division will enable the local body to go in for such plants and provide even livelihood to plant operators.

The Lok Satta is unequivocal in its operation to cooperative or collective farming as conceived by the State Government because productivity and production are not scale-dependent. Many countries including Russia and China were forced to beat a retreat from collective farming as their experience was disastrous. In contrast, the productivity in a small land holding is higher because of the care bestowed by the small farmer. Productivity in the Indian context has to do more with accessibility to and affordability of technology and not fragmented holdings. Cooperative farming can perhaps be experimented in saline areas and rain shadow areas.

Lok Satta screens candidates For GHMC elections

The Lok Satta Party, which is determined to make a good showing in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, has completed screening of candidates for 70 of the 150 divisions.

Mr. Katari Sriniasa Rao and Dr. P. Bhaskara Rao, party spokesmen and Mr. Dasari Ratnam, State Convener, Yuva Satta, told the media that the Lok Satta call to the young and educated to contest the elections on the Lok Satta platform had elicited tremendous response. What is heartening is that a number of candidates with leadership qualities and competence and commitment are among the applicants. The candidates would be finalized once the Government finalized the reservation of wards for different communities.

The Lok Satta leaders pointed out that the Lok Satta, despite the enormous good will it enjoyed, could not poll votes in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the same proportion because of the malicious propaganda that a vote to the Lok Satta would be a wasted vote. In addition, considerations of caste, money and liquor played a significant role.

In contrast, the local elections would be fought on local issues. The Lok Satta is in the process of finalizing division-wise and time-bound agenda to resolve the burning problems of people ranging from drinking water supply and sanitation to traffic and public transport.

The Lok Satta leaders said that the GHMC elections provided a golden opportunity to develop Hyderabad on par with the best cities in the world provided the citizens utilized their vote with discretion. As of now, land grabbers and goondas ruled the roost as the young and educated shunned politics and civic matters. They said that in the recent past attempts had been made to grab land in ENT Hospital, Kothi and in Chikoti Gardens, Begumet.

Thanks to the Lok Satta, the young and the educated have now realized that they should lead politics from the front, like Subhash Chandra Bose, Chittaranjan Das, Jawaharlal Nehru and Prakasam Pnatulu in the past.

The Lok Satta is launching its Mission 2014 (of coming to power) beginning with GHMC, asserted the leaders.

Cooperative farming will end up In disaster, warns Dr. JP

The cooperative or collective farming envisaged by the Andhra Pradesh Government to step up both productivity and production will end up in a disaster, Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan warned today. “The remedy proposed is worse than the disease.”

Dr. JP, who took part in an all-party meeting convened by the Chief Minister on cooperative farming earlier in the day, said farming in Andhra Pradesh suffered from a host of ailments all of which had little to do with the size of farms. “Productivity and production in the farm sector have been low not because the land holdings are small but because farmers do not have access to technology.”

He pointed out that “technology is scale neutral.” Farmers irrespective of the size of their holdings embrace new technologies if they are available as is evident from the fact that 80 percent of cotton farmers have taken to the pest resistant BT cotton variety all over the country. The farmers are helpless either when modern technology is not available or they have no access. Although there are cane harvesters all over the world, they are not available in Andhra Pradesh.

Dr. JP highlighted that only eight percent of seeds used by farmers are certified and four percent of their soils tested. On both counts, the farmer is a loser. The problem, therefore, lay with the Government and not the farmer in making new technologies accessible to him.

Dr. JP told a media meeting that the Government’s advocacy of large, consolidated holdings in the name of cooperative or collective farming for precision farming is untenable. Precision farming involves control of temperature, moisture etc in green houses as in the raising of tulips in the Netherlands. The holdings involved are all small and not at all large.

Dr. JP pointed out that all over the country productivity in small farms is higher than in large farms because the small farmer invests his labor of love, besides other inputs, to reap higher harvests. He does not include his labor in costing. If cooperative farming is introduced, the small farmer becomes a wage earner and loses his dignity. As he charges for his labor, the cost of production in cooperative farming is bound to be higher.

Dr. JP said the real problem lay in the absence of breakthroughs in technologies after the Green Revolution of the 1960s. The Government could address some of the problems like absence of dryers and threshing platforms.

“Nowhere in the world large-scale farming has been a success. In India itself, we have 14 Central State Farms spread over tens of thousands of acres. But all the farms run by the Government of India are bankrupt. The erstwhile Soviet Union paid a very high price for promoting collective farming. In India, cooperatives have succeeded where they are engaged in processing and marketing and not in primary production. Milk cooperatives are a good example. Even in dairy cooperatives whenever the Government controlled them as in Kadapa and Chittoor, the dairies went bankrupt whereas farmer-controlled processing cooperatives are doing well.”

Dr. JP did not rest with rubbishing the Government proposal. He suggested alternatives for stepping up productivity and production. He wanted the Government to enact a law as in Punjab to promote consolidation of fragmented holdings. The present monstrous tenancy law has to be liberalized. Although two-thirds of land holdings in the State are in the hands of tenants, owners do not register them for fear of losing ownership.

Once tenancy is brought on record, the tenant can access bank credit and other inputs. A liberalized tenancy law will also facilitate contract farming which is in the interest of the farmer as also the country. For instance, sugarcane and oil palm are raised as a contract between processing mills and farmers. In a similar fashion, paper producers enter into an understanding with farmers for supply of softwood in Andhra Pradesh, and vegetable producers for supply of raw material to processing industry in Punjab.

Dr. JP wanted the Government to focus on value addition, warehousing and marketing. The marketing societies should be under the control of farmers, and all restrictions on marketing should be removed.

Lok Satta demands ACB inquiry Into Jindal land scam

The Lok Satta Party today demanded an ACB inquiry into the Rs.10-crore scam in the acquisition of land for the Jindal Aluminum factory in Vizianagaram district.

Addressing a media meet, party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan regretted that although the party submitted a report on the irregularities in land acquisition to the Chief Minister on September 8, 2008, no action had been taken.

The party today released a detailed report on its field-level findings.

Dr. JP and Mr. Bhisetty Babjee, Vizianagaram district party President of the party, said that politicians and officials colluded and siphoned off at least Rs.10 crore of the Rs.22.44 crore payments by creating bogus farmers. Some genuine farmers had been paid nominal compensation while some others had not been paid at all.

The Lok Satta inquiry had revealed that the officials tampered with revenue records and indulged in forgery. The Lok Satta leaders demanded that justice be rendered to displaced farmers and the guilty punished.

Punish the guilty in white card scam: Lok Satta

The Lok Satta Party today welcomed the Government’s determination and drive to weed out bogus white ration cards but wanted it to issue white cards to all the eligible.

Talking to the media, party spokesmen Dr. P. Bhaskara Rao and G. Raja Reddy said it was good the Government had woken up to the need to correct its mistakes. It should also own the responsibility for the injustice caused to the deserving poor and the loss to the exchequer.

The spokesmen pointed out that the Government which took up many schemes on a saturation basis like issue of white ration cards, grant of INDIRAMMA houses, sanction of pensions and treatment under ‘Arogyasree’ allowed them to be abused by ruling party leaders and workers with an eye on elections. Even according to the Chief Minister himself, there are 30 lakh bogus ration cards while unofficial estimates put them at 80 lakh. All these have involved an avoidable loss of a few thousands of crores to the exchequer.

Dr. Bhaskara Rao and Mr. Raja Reddy said such a huge scam cannot be swept under the carpet by terming it as an administrative lapse. They demanded that an inquiry be conducted into the scam and action taken against the guilty. After all a scam of such a magnitude would not have taken place without the support and encouragement of top politicians and officials.

The Lok Satta leaders also demanded that the Government recover the money siphoned by ineligible beneficiaries and local leaders in the implementation of the INDIRAMMA housing scheme, instead of merely punishing employees.

Centralization of power at Root of our ills: Dr. JP

The bane of governance in India is the centralization of power and emasculation of local governments, Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said yesterday.

"The local governments are structurally strong going by the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution which are lengthier than the American Constitution. But they are functionally feeble."

He was addressing the Emerging Markets Forum, which met in Mumbai, focusing on the theme of "Creating an affluent society in India by 2039 on par with the U. S. and Europe."

Emerging Markets Forum is a network of thought leaders, opinion makers, policy formulators and business people who come together to discuss issues of global and national significance. It is mainly a network of leading minds, who create a platform for an open and informed debate focused on emerging markets. The conference was organized by IDFC and supported by the Express group along with the Bombay Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking on governance reforms, Dr. JP pointed out that many districts in India are bigger than 50 percent of the countries in the world and the metropolitan cities are larger than 80 percent of the countries. Yet the local governments have been made irrelevant. No wonder, most people in the country do not know the names of Mayors of even large metropolitan cities in India, unlike those of London, New York or Mexico City.

Dr. JP said that power had been concentrated so much that there are only three decisions makers in India - the PM, the CM and the DM (district magistrate).

He called for genuine decentralization with devolution of powers, responsibilities, resources and personnel on the local governments. The people would not realize the importance of their vote unless they appreciated how it was going to transform their lives. Otherwise they would succumb to short-term sops or money and liquor offered by political parties.

Dr. JP underlined the need for civil service reforms. India is perhaps the only modern democracy in the world, which clings to institutions created by colonial rulers a century and half ago.

The Lok Satta President said that decentralization should provide for local policing and local courts. There has been a market demand for criminals and thugs because the people could not depend on the police and the courts to render them timely justice.


Dr. JP asserted that India could not be transformed unless competent people with leadership qualities entered politics as they did during the freedom movement. People like Jawaharlal Nehru, Dadabhai Naoroji, Chittaranjan Das, Prakasam Pantulu, Subhash Chandra Bose and Vallabhbhai Patel started their political by taking interest in local civic affairs and emerged as national leaders during the freedom struggle. "Since there is now an absence of such leaders, sons and daughters of politicians and criminals have filled the vacuum. People are thirsting for change and waiting for a miracle. But the miracle won't happen unless the educated young and middle class people plunge into politics."

Among those who took part in the EMF proceedings were EMF Chairman and Philippines former President Fidel V. Ramos, Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan, former Mexican President Vincent Fox and former Union Minister Arun Shourie, economist Sankar Acharya, political scientists Prof. Asutosh Varshney and Prof. Inder Sud and Maharashtra Lok Satta President Surendra Srivatsava.

Lok Satta allotted 'whistle'

The State Election Commission has decided to include ‘whistle’ among free symbols and allot it to the Lok Satta Party as requested by it.

In a letter to Mr. V. Laxman Balaji, General Secretary of the Lok Satta Party, Mr. G. M. Ramesh Kumar, Secretary of the Election Commission, said, “this is an interim arrangement restricted to GHMC elections only and will not confer any right on the Lok Satta Party to claim the same symbol in future local body elections.”

This was disclosed at a media briefing by party spokesmen V. Laxman Balaji and Mohd Ishaq Khan here today.

The Lok Satta Party had contested the May 2008 by-elections to the Assembly and the 2009 general elections to the Assembly and the Lok Sabha on the ‘whistle’ symbol.

Lok Satta revamping district units

The Lok Satta Party has constituted an 18-member committee to go round districts and evaluate the district units’ performance as a prelude to the reshuffling of office-bearers. Based on the feedback from the committee, the revamp will be undertaken by the State leadership. The party had already declared that the earlier elected committees would function as ad hoc committees pending reorganization.

Giving this information here today, Mr. V. Vijayender Reddy and E. Chennayya told the media that the 18 members of the committee would split themselves into six groups for the district visits.

The spokesmen made it clear that performance of the party units during the just concluded Assembly and Lok Sabha elections would be the criterion for their evaluation. Under no circumstances would office bearers who harmed party interests would be tolerated.

The committee members would also enlighten district units on the new categories of membership -- primary, executive and honorary – and motivate them to enroll 20 lakh primary members.

The party would appoint four persons to be in charge of divisions in the four parliamentary constituencies in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. It is in the process of drawing up division-wise agendas as part of its campaign for the GHMC elections.

The party regretted that the Chief Minister injected religion into administration by ordering rituals to propitiate the rain God.

Dr. JP key speaker at world conference

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan will be a key speaker at the Emerging Markets Forum’s fourth world conference being organized in Mumbai on June 24 and 25 and in New Delhi on June 26.

The Washington DC-based forum, comprising political, corporate and social activists, aims at finding practical solutions to common political, economic and social problems the developing markets face.

Among those taking part in the forum’s conference are the EMF Chairman and Philippines former President Fidel V. Ramos, Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, World Trade Organization Deputy Director General Alejandro Jara, former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan, former Mexican President Vincent Fox and former Union Ministers Arun Shourie and Suresh Prabhu.

Dr. JP will be addressing the forum on administrative and political reforms. The Bombay Chamber of Commerce is hosting the three-day conference.

Lok Satta to name young candidate For Mayor’s position

The Lok Satta Party would choose a young candidate for the Mayor’s post and announce the name soon, party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan has announced.

Addressing young professionals from Secunderabad who joined the party under the leadership of Mrs. Akula Maharani, Dr. JP said the Mayor candidate would be picked up from among the young who have leadership qualities, clear understanding of problems and commitment.

The GHMC elections, he told the youth, provided a golden opportunity to transform Hyderabad into a world-class and most livable city of which every one could be proud. Every young man and woman should realize it was possible if they utilized the most powerful weapon in their hands – the vote.

Dr. JP said that after detailed studies and great deliberation, the Lok Satta is giving five irrevocable guarantees all of which can be fulfilled with the resources already available. And the Lok Satta has the sincerity, commitment and competence to fulfill its promises.

The five guarantees are:

• Supply of safe drinking water in all colonies and bastis which do not have the facility now with the installation of reverse osmosis plants
  
• Implementing a citizen’s charter under which failure to attend to a public grievance in a specified period invites penalty on the GHMC
  
• Identification and resolution of problems basti-colony wise and implementation of a division agenda in three phases – 100 days, one year and five years respectively.
  
• Devolution of GHMC funds at the rate of Rs.2 crore for each division every year, so that an elected divisional committee could spend it on attending to pressing local problems
  
• Integration of the functioning of the GHMC, Metrowater and Urban Development Authority
  

Dr. JP called upon the youth who are eager to rid the city permanently of problems concerning drinking water, sanitation, traffic and encroachments to utilize the Lok Satta platform and contest the elections. He told the youth that leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose and Prakasam Pantulu were first civic leaders before they became national leaders. They could get in touch with the party on Tel. Nos. 040-23231818 or 040-40405050 or email their applications to GHMCCandidates@loksatta.org

Lok Satta campaign to amend anti corruption law

The Lok Satta party has called upon the people and party activists to write to the Chief Minister on the need to plug loopholes in the Prevention of Corruption Act and punish the guilty.

It may be recalled that Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan had presented a draft Bill for amendment of the Act to the Chief Minister and the Speaker of the Assembly in the first session of the Assembly.

The Bill proposes to bring all those elected to public offices including legislators under the purview of the Act. It seeks to tighten several provisions which allow the corrupt to go unscathed now.

The party proposes to mobilize public opinion on the need to eradicate corruption by associating all political parties and civic society organizations.

Talking to the media, party spokespersons Katari Srinivasa Rao and Mrs. S. Manorama requested the Chief Minister to demonstrate that he stood by his promise to eradicate corruption by getting the amendments to the law passed in the Assembly’s budget session.

The party spokespersons strongly condemned Mr. Sarvey Satyanarayana, the Congress MP elected from Malkajgiri, that the people of Kukatpally had committed a blunder by electing Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, Lok Satta Party President, as their representative in the Assembly. It was nothing but an affront to the enlightened Kukatpally voters. To claim that development works would be taken up only if the Congress candidates were elected to the GHMC since the party is in power both in the State and at the Center was a travesty of the Constitution and democracy.

Schools in awful shape: Lok Satta

A Lok Satta sample survey of schools in the public sector in the State has revealed that they continue to be bereft of basic amenities even as the new academic year has begun.

Disclosing this at a media meet, party spokespersons V. Laxman Balaji and Mrs. Gita Murthy said that party volunteers had surveyed some schools in Greater Hyderabad and in Warangal, Nizamabad and Vizianagaram districts.

The survey shows that most schools do not have pucca buildings and in most schools classes are conducted in one or two rooms. Most teachers happen to be volunteers and most of the schools do not have drinking water or toilet facilities. Women teachers in primary schools on Hydernagar Road and in Martanda Nagar, the Zilla Parishad School on Nizampet road and the Urdu school in Hafizpet are forced to knock at neighbor’s doors for want of toilet facilities. The funds earmarked for provision of basic amenities in the Nizampet school were diverted for purchase of 40 computers but all of them remain unutilized. Although there are 800 girl students in three municipal schools in Vizianagaram town, none of them has a toilet.

In addition, students have to reckon with shortage of textbooks and teachers awaiting transfers.

The spokespersons pointed out that the Government has launched a drive for student enrolment in schools with great fanfare. But without providing basic amenities, the Government could not expect the students to excel in their studies. No wonder, even the poorer sections are forced to send their wards to private schools for better education.

The Lok Satta Party has decided to adopt the school on Hydernagar Road in Serilingampalli Assembly constituency and develop it as a model school, said the spokespersons.

Lok Satta to rope in opinion makers

The Lok Satta Party plans to identify at least 100 influential opinion makers in every Assembly constituency and enlist them as honorary members by invitation.

The party, which conducted a three-day intensive review of its performance in the 2009 elections by interacting with the contestants, came to the conclusion that there was an enormous gulf between the public esteem it enjoyed and the votes it polled.

Disclosing this at a media conference, Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said the challenge before the Lok Satta is formidable in that it has to operate amidst a hostile and corrupt political and electoral system to translate its support base into votes.

Dr. JP said that for the first time in a generation the middle classes have realized that politics is a necessity and noble endeavor and owned up the Lok Satta Party and its agenda as their own.

Transformation in any society, Dr. JP, said was possible only when the middle classes, the media and influential opinion makers joined hands. With the middle classes already on its side, the Lok Satta has to associate the media and influential opinion makers in its mission to transform India. Dr. JP hoped that the media, as a moral instrument, would in the long run identify itself with the interests and aspirations of the middle classes. The real challenge lay in providing space to public opinion makers with ability and influence. The Lok Satta would identify such people and enlist them as honorary members.

The party identified deficiencies in leadership, organization and resources as responsible for its poor electoral performance. The party needed leaders of quality and integrity, clean money to run honest politics and a robust organization. To address all the issues together, the party decided to create an institutional mechanism.

The party plans to have three types of members. The most important category is the executive membership. It is open to all citizens with a good personal track record. They pay an annual membership fee of Rs.1000 or Rs.100 a month. They will have the right to contest at every level in organizational elections. They will also be entrusted with the task of identifying candidates to contest to elected offices.

The other two types of members are primary members and associate members. Primary members pay a fee of Rs.100 for three years and enjoy the right to vote in village and mandal organizational elections in rural areas and ward/divisional elections in urban areas. Associate members pay a fee of Rs.10 and enjoy the right to vote in party elections at the local level.

Dr. JP said that honorary members enlisted by the party would enjoy all the privileges of executive members.

The revamping of the organization has been so conceived that it facilitates mobilization of resources from members and emergence of leaders, said Dr. JP.

Dr. JP invites the brightest to Contest GHMC elections

The Lok Satta Party today appealed to the brightest citizens in Hyderabad to take active interest in civic affairs by contesting the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

“View the ensuing elections as a golden opportunity to transform our city for good and not as a political exercise”, Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said here.

“It is a disgrace to all of us that people should go through the indignity of living amidst overflowing sewers or die of drinking water.”

Dr. JP recalled that many stalwarts of the freedom struggle cut their teeth in politics by taking part in civic affairs and subsequently emerged as national leaders.

The Lok Satta, he said, has finalized a sharply defined agenda for transforming the city in the next five years.

The five promises the party is making are:

• Supply of safe drinking water in all colonies and bastis which do not have the facility now with the installation of reverse osmosis plants
  
• Implementing a citizen’s charter through a call centre, under which failure to attend to a public grievance in a specified period invites a Rs.100 per day penalty on the GHMC
  
• Identification and resolution of problems basti-colony wise and implementation of a division agenda in three phases – 100 days, one year and five years respectively.
  
• Devolution of GHMC funds at the rate of Rs.2 crore for each division every year, so that an elected divisional committee could spend it on attending to pressing local problems
  
• Integration of the functioning of the GHMC, Metrowater and Urban Development Authority
  

Dr. JP said the Lok Satta is keen on fielding candidates of integrity and leadership qualities and appealed to the younger generation eager to contest the elections to contact the Lok Satta Party headquarters (Tel: 23231818) or its call center (40405050) with their bio data. They are also welcome to email it to the GHMCCandidates@loksatta.org. The aspiring candidates will be screened and interviewed by a committee once the Government finalizes the reservation of wards.

Dr. JP appealed to the State Election Commission to honor its commitment to the High Court by ensuring there is a gap of at least a month between the finalization of wards’ reservation and the election notification. The parties need the time to choose candidates in a transparent and democratic manner. He also requested the Election Commission to include ‘whistle’ among free symbols. The Lok Satta would like to contest on the ‘whistle’ symbol with which the party has been identified.

2014 belongs to the Lok Satta, Asserts Dr. JP

If the Lok Satta Party sticks to its values without any compromise, the year 2014 definitely belongs to it, asserted party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan here today. “And the political calendar too favors the fledgling party”.

Addressing party people who contested the 2009 elections, Dr. JP said the Lok Satta is here to stay and determined to fight for transformation in people’s lives, however arduous struggle is going to be. “People are ready for real change and it will happen in 2014 (when the Assembly elections are due again) going by the winds of change blowing across the State.

Party spokesmen V. Laxman Balaji and Mohd. Ishaq Khan gave this information to the media today.

Although vast numbers of people admired the party in the 2009 elections, they stopped short of endorsing it. “The months and years to come are a testing time for us. People will keenly watch whether the Lok Satta sticks to its values or compromises on them to garner a few seats in elections, like other parties.”

He recalled that a survey conducted by a TV channel immediately after the 2009 elections were out showed that 96 percent of the respondents viewed the Lok Satta Party as an alternative to both the Congress and the TDP, mirroring the high hopes the people had of the Lok Satta.

Dr. JP pointed out that the political calendar too favored the Lok Satta in that elections scheduled for various local bodies would provide a golden opportunity to mobilize public support. After elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, elections to municipal councils will take place in 135 towns accounting for almost 150 Assembly constituencies. Thereafter, elections to panchayati raj bodies would take place. If the party made good use of the local body elections, facing the 2014 elections would be an easy task, said Dr. JP.

Dr. JP reiterated that none need to make great sacrifices to build up the party. It was enough if they devoted a little part of their time, increased party membership and invited and encouraged competent people to take up leadership. He wished politicians in Andhra Pradesh had emulated Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and leader of the Opposition L. K. Advani who apologized to each other for election-eve bitter exchanges and agreed to let bygones be bygones.

The fault lies with us, concede Lok Satta contestants

Umpteen are the causes for the poor electoral performance of the Lok Satta Party in the 2009 elections, revealed party candidates who contested the elections in an introspection session at the party headquarters here today. Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan and Vice President D. V. V. S. Varma chaired the session on the second day of the review of the party’s performance.

Party spokespersons V. Vijayender Reddy and Mrs. Ravala Jhansi Lakshmi and Vice President Bhisetty Babji briefed the media on the deliberations.

The participants pointed out that they could not tap the enormous good will the party enjoyed in the form of votes largely because of organizational weakness. The party had a large number of members everywhere but they were not given to taking active part in party programs. The Lok Satta did not emerge as a real contender in the eye of the voter as it did not splurge money and whip up frenzy in its favor like the traditional parties. It could not even constitute an adequate number of booth committees.

The participants revealed that a section of rural voters was not aware of the importance of the vote in transforming their lives and they voted for their largest benefactor in terms of money and liquor. That most candidates were new to politics and elections, that the party would not make any credible promises on redressing local problems and that the candidates had little time to campaign also worked against the party.

The participants suggested plugging of organizational weaknesses by encouraging local leadership and increasing membership, initiation of training programs for active members, mobilization of resources, formation of party wings to represent different sections in society and education of voters.

The contestants opined that although people were fed up with the traditional parties they still voted for them as the Lok Satta had not yet emerged as a viable alternative to them. The Lok Satta could measure up to people’s expectations if it emerged stronger organizationally.

Dr. JP said his confidence in the Lok Satta’s ability to usher in new politics had doubled going by the feedback from contestants. Their determination to make a better showing in all elections in future was heart warming.

Develop killer instinct, Dr. JP tells party workers

Lok Satta Party President Dr.Jayaprakash Narayan told party activists today that they had to develop the killer instinct and not depend solely on the party’s image to win in elections.

Addressing a meeting of party people who contested the 2009 elections, Dr. JP recalled that although most of them were new to politics and elections they had put up a creditable performance in the face of the traditional parties’ bid to induce voters with money and liquor and the vicious propaganda that a vote to the Lok Satta would be a wasted vote. “But you don’t win an election simply by being good and sincere. You have to live amidst people, fight for their causes and provide competent leadership to convert their good will into votes.”

The party leadership today began a three-day detailed review of its performance in the 2009 elections. The contestants, divided into three batches, are giving their feedback. Party spokesmen Katari Srinivasa Rao and P. Ravi Maruth briefed the media on the first day’s deliberations,

In his address, Dr. JP said that the party had reached most people in the State going by the fact that it had polled some votes in every polling booth. Unlike other parties, it had a clear-cut agenda. But it had to strengthen itself organizationally, identify competent people and provide them space in the party to make an impact in elections.

Dr. JP rubbished certain parties’ propaganda that they had lost the elections because of Lok Satta’s inroads into their vote banks. Claiming certain sections of people as the vote banks of any party was nothing an affront to them. He cited two instances to drive home the point that parties did not have any permanent vote banks. The BJP claimed that it had lost in the May 2008 Musheerabad by election because of the Lok Satta. Although the same candidates were in the race in the 2009 Assembly elections, the BJP polled less votes than in the by election while the Lok Satta doubled its votes. Similarly in the Secunderabad Assembly constituency, the TDP, which contested in alliance with the TRS in the 2009 elections, was defeated while the Lok Satta polle 50 percent more votes than in the 2008 by election.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao and Mr. Ravi said the party contestants displayed enormous confidence in the future of the party, and displayed no signs of disappointment or despair over their inability to convert people’s good will into votes. They believed that every vote they polled was equivalent to 100 votes of their opponents because it was a fight between dharma and adharma. The party was determined to make a better showing in the local body elections, the spokesmen said.

Lok Satta asks for contingency plan

The Lok Satta Party today wanted the Government to be ready with a contingency plan to safeguard the interests of farmers as also consumers as the monsoon is playing truant.

Talking to the media, party spokespersons V. Laxman Balaji and Mrs. S. Manorama said the common people are already bearing the brunt of skyrocketing prices of food grains and vegetables and if the monsoon is further delayed it will hurt both consumers and producers.

The party suggested that the Government stockpile short-gestation seed varieties, and ensure there is no shortage of drinking water and fodder. Since warehouses are overflowing with food grain stocks, the Government should have no difficulty in keeping prices under check.