Why VOTE?

Why vote?

It is not unusual to find this sentiment being expressed. When we use the expression 'not unusual', there is no exaggeration because even for a high voting percentage of 75, one out of every four, subscribes to the above line of thinking. Of the three who do vote, discounting the ones who vote on caste lines, religious overtures and patriarchal dictates there isn't much left to be counted as ethical voting. Every five years, this opportunity ordained by our constitution  comes to us; and we let it go, perhaps unaware of the import of the opportunity. Swear we do whenever we would. Vote we mostly don't; at least not in the manner we should!

Many reasons have been attributed to the low voter turnout in elections. Despite the good work done in maintaining a healthy electoral roll, it is often found that many voters are far away from their names in the voter list when it comes to the day of voting. Many have their names in the place of their permanent domicile; and have not cared to find out if they are eligible to vote where they are normally resident. Ironically the legal provision is that your eligibility (and duty) to vote is where you are normally resident (and not at your permanent 'non'-residence). Your voting rights (and duty) exists where you 'normally rest in the night'. With the Election Commission being swift in the process of adding, deleting and shifting names in the electoral roll, it is relatively safe to assume that you can shift your name to where you can and must vote.

Apathy regarding political issues and an acquired indifference to the systemic instruments of democracy of the urban population is often cited as one of the main reasons why people don't vote. Another factor is that politics is generally treated as an arena of the old by the youth and they stay disconnected from the political stream.  There is also a visible absence of women in the voting process in some areas. They do not find the intricacies of politics appealing; and cannot, perhaps  care less. Many of the women who do come out to vote are remote controlled and their participation is at best an attestation of the assertions sought to be made by the males in the family. Vulnerability arising from financial constraints or social position is another deciding factor in voting. If threatened or cajoled, a common man might desist from voting or vote under pressure. Objectivity of the process is lost and enfranchisement instead of becoming an empowering right gets reduced to an unwanted burden.

 Then there is the most widespread reason, probably the one cutting across geographical, caste and other conceivable boundaries- the disillusionment resulting from a non-responsive system. A desperate conviction that nothing will ever change for better. When our votes do not hold any tangible value, people do not just bother to take the trouble to go to the polling station. Again, a vote given to a losing candidate is perceived as a vote wasted in our first-pass-the-post system. When none of the candidates fall within the consideration zone of the voter, the decision might be to just abstain.

A perusal of the voting percentage in various states in previous elections shows an interesting result where the more developed states have shown an above average voting turnout when compared to those states that are not known for development. Though there is no concrete evidence on vulnerability factors in the less developed regions, anecdotal instances do indicate a lack of social independence equivalent to political independence there. In the chicken and egg puzzle of if development leads to more voting or vice versa, one is free to take sides.

The issue of political independence brings us to the question as to why we should vote. The first reason of course being our duty towards the democratic ethos. While exercising this duty , we are in fact exercising the right to be heard. This very right to speak out is one of the fundamental tenets of democracy. A right not just to be heard; but to decide as to who will rule us goes down the drain when we do not vote. So does the right to life (with dignity)!

What if my vote goes to the losing candidate?  Even if our vote falls into the share of the losing candidate, we are defining our character as a voting population. Any leader representing a 'voting- population’ is probable to be more responsive than the one representing a mute population. An electorate will be identified by its habit of voting, no matter to whom they cast their votes. That is to suggest that, apart from the duty and right to vote, there is a clear profit angle for the need to vote. We stand to benefit from registering our participation in the electoral process. This conveys to the representative the need to take us all seriously.

Once this habit is established, those hedge sitters who do not vote out of sheer apathy at present, may start casting their votes. And when they do vote, since they tend to be more neutral to the pseudo-divisive-factors, they tend to favour the better candidate. When the politician recognises that the electorate is in the habit of high electoral participation, he would be more responsive to the needs of the population as a whole. He cannot overlook any one, as all of them are voters - and not just mute spectators. Whenever there is a higher voting percentage, the better candidates would sense a better opportunity to win - as there would surely be more neutral voters who would have cast their votes. A habit demonstrated by the electorate that "it votes" would help keep the elected representative in check during his five year tenure as there is always a possibility that when "it votes" again, it votes against the incumbent. That is, a higher voting percentage can give a better chance to a better candidate; and it also has a chance to make a candidate turned representative better!

What if I want to boycott the election? A boycott might be a result of insurgency or even disillusionment. It might even be publicity mongering. It might be a pressure tactic. The interesting point is that a boycott is a perfectly legal way of participating in the election process, but it is often mixed up with apathy when the boycott is not registered as a boycott. It is in this context that the section 49-O of Conduct of election rules,1961 comes into picture.  The provision of 49-O is recognised as a matter of procedural detail by some. Most people fail to appreciate the philosophical backdrop of the provision which includes the right to register a refusal to vote in the electoral process. It is an opportunity to record your dissent by refusing to vote. That is also voting, albeit voting against all the available candidates.

For the time being we do not have a system where elections need to be repeated if those registering dissent under 49-O is more than the votes polled by the majority candidate. But democracy is an evolutionary process and this can weighed upon and considered in the next round of electoral reforms.

One may again argue that if it is about registering your dissent, why take all the trouble to go to the polling booth - a normal 'don't go to the polling station' would also convey the same message! The main reason behind registering your dissent is that this leads to a feeling in the representatives that people are in the habit of voting (independently) or at least going into the polling booth to register electoral intention; and there-by has a high probability of voting for a good candidate when the opportunity comes. Voters boycott the election process in the hope of influencing  the thought process of the powers that be whereas the reality is that in the case of a boycott it is an equal negative to all the participating candidates; and thereby it is of no consequence whatsoever to the candidates. It is also possible that the so called boycott is understated - as people feel that some of it might be result of apathy to the election process rather than any sincere subscription to the boycott agenda.

In a scenario where the option of 49-O is given proper advertisement, the insurgent elements who call for a boycott would have to really exert themselves in getting the boycott registered in the election process. The key point is that election process involves a right to refuse to vote apart from the right to vote. Education of voters on this point can increase the participation in the election process especially by those abstaining from the process due to youth disconnect, urban apathy and a general frustration towards the system.

Only a vigilant master can cultivate the habit of vigilance in their servants. To be a vigilant master, not only should one develop the habit of voting, but also learn to vote objectively. There is in fact a need to demonstrate the objectivity in voting habit. When voting is done on the basis of liquor supply on the eve of elections or on the basis of the farman of the village head, we have the next five years giving concreted roads leading to even the fields of the head man and the others waiting in slush for their elusive rations to arrive. The corruption that netas 'have to do' to stay in power is mostly a result of the proclivity of voters to base themselves on unethical and illogical considerations. This creates a need for candidates to leverage those who can mobilise political support for no ethical rhyme or reason - god-men and hit-men. A good way to fight corruption is to ask people to vote and vote ethically - without being swayed by such cronies, who would have to be subsequently fed by the netas - to stay in power! Again, when one votes at the instance of another, the second individual is voting twice; and the first one is not voting at all!

 By casting votes in a neutral manner the voter would prompt the public representative to view a citizen approaching him as an individual - with a secular liberal first-name-based identity than try and manipulate responses according to the convenience associated with the colour shade of the second names. It  will also incentivise the actions of representatives, which are in favour of all and one. The behaviour of the neta in power and the character and efficiency of the administration under him, is more a function of the percentage of ethical and logical voting than that of any inherent quality in the individuals concerned.

Voting for electing our representatives is almost similar to what you would do if you had to elect a pilot just before a flight. Would you base your decision on nepotism, caste-ism, money, muscle or muskan power? Would you allow others to do so without a murmur? Or would you go for the most competent hand in an objective informed manner. Would you have your vote- Volition Objectively and Totally Expressed! Why not VOTE?

Mangala Raghuraj.

The author can be contacted on gowri.raghu@gmail.com

On Datia

It all started naturally! To be precise, from naturopathy! My friend Rajesh and Prakash had come home with a naturopathy aficionado Mr. Hilal. Among many other things, he suggested remaining only on fruits and vegetables for fifteen days to cure me of my chronic sinusitis. Though I was tired of the many solutions that I had been attempting, since sinusitis was still an issue, I decided to give it a try.

Since I did not believe it possible that a human being can survive on fruits and vegetables alone (despite what historians have to say about settled agriculture making cereals available), I decided to follow Hilal for lunch and dinner, and stick with my convictions for breakfast. The result was almost instantaneous! Whether the theory of giving space and time to the body to repair itself, rather than bothering it with digestion is correct or not, I do not know. What I do know, is that I have had to use the nasal spray only twice in the last two months and that too in the first week of the same.

That I was able to breathe was perhaps inspiration to live and work better. I found that the instruction that I had given to my district officers to regularly visit the rural areas, prior to my going on leave had not really materialized as I would have hoped for - from my (non existent) motivational skills. The instruction had been given right after the Lok Sabha model code of conduct was repealed - after which more enthusiasm could be displayed on development work! It would always have been tough for my officers to follow the schedule of 3 village visits in a week. With the captain away cooling his heels in Cochin, the team perhaps tried to emulate the same in Datia.

Bhaskar told me it won't be worth trying if I were to be transferred out soon. I had been myself wanting to be able to see something other than Bundelkhand. My friends have started joking that I am trying to be a Bundelkhand expert. With eight of my nine years of service here, I, perhaps, was not able to see what was right in front of my eyes. Reason why, I had enjoyed the rains in Dindori just as much as the cows relished the fresh green grass there. I travelled to Bhopal with a strange request of being transferred right away to see something outside "seen" areas before it is too close to September when my family is expecting a new entrant. I remember calling Bhaskar from Bhopal in the early days of June and telling him that we can forget about the transfer thing and go full steam ahead with work. In retrospect, forgetting the three Ps of posting, place and promotion as advised by the metro man, is always the best way to be! I was reiterating my trust and adulation for Mr. Sreedharan. Little did I know that the two months up ahead would be of such quality that now I brag about being ready to trade it off for the rest of my service.

When we decided to follow the schedule that we had given ourselves, we found we had not been too meticulous in the design of the schedule. Perhaps no body was “hopeful” that it would ever be attempted. The village panchayats were divided into unwieldy sectors. Multiple versions of village visit plan got circulated confusing all as to when exactly visits were to happen and where. Finally on the 'palendromic' date of 14 July we finalised the time table for our visits which appears OK till date.

The idea was to make village visits in a systematic manner. When the district administration is visiting a particular village, no one is really sure when the next visit would be. With many villages claiming that no Collector has ever come to their village since independence and with some being able to pin point on the exact person who was the Collector who had made his/her visit to a particular village, the general feeling was that tour is mostly tourism! So, the time table was so set that we would be visiting the same sectors on the same day of the month, every month. Mondays were for Datia, Budwar for Bhander and Shukrawar for Seondha - I would reiterate to my fellow officers emphasising on the ba ba - sa sa rhyming in an attempt to coordinate their tour programme in the general direction that I had set my tour on. Then we also realised that the block of Datia is actually half the district (almost). So all sectors being accommodated into mondays, wednesdays and fridays was at best clumsily achieved. Tuesdays of jansunvai and Thursdays of Parakh was left out for office work and court work.

When we started visiting villages, we realised that the effectiveness of the tour could be increased if we were visiting with notice - helping people to gather and participate in the visit. Yes, there is a value in surprise inspections. But that is when you are being deceived into a feeling of things being OK on an arranged day. When the records and statements of the people on the ground on the pre appointed day is innocent of any such pretensions of perfection, no effort has to be made in trying to find fault by attacking with stealth. Instead, regular open meetings with active participation of people would help improve the system as all stake holders are present and decision making and implementation could be better and transparent.

When we reached Hatlau village, an island in the sea of Shivpuri (as far as Datia is concerned), MDM was not happening as it should have been, despite our visit being 'pre- intimidated'. My first reaction was to suspend the SHG and to suspend the CAC and to suspend the BRC and to suspend the DPC. The solution has perhaps always been finding where exactly the fault lies outside ourselves! The villagers thought different and perhaps they are right!

In the mandated gram sabha, the mystery of the missing MDM was discussed. My contemplated solution of ending the work of the SHG had the support of only 30 percent of the people. 70 percent of them came with the "weird" logic that though MDM was not being made as mandated, since the 'husband' of the SHG (actually he was husband of the SHG chairperson, but he was also doing SHG husbandry ) was disabled with a hand cut off by a careless thresher, they should be given a chance to improve. This was subsequent to his appeal to the public on allowing him to continue after he had apologised for the mistake. Bhaskar and I decided to go with the decision of the majority.

Even though one is not very sure on what happened to MDM thereafter, this process could have some positive results. One, the SHG and its husband owe it to those 70 percent that they are still continuing to have work. The SHG would not thankfully be under the patronage of the babu who would dissolve complaints against it and the field officer who would resolve the issue of how to divide the booty of the instituted inquiry. That the SHG's life depends on support in the next Gram Sabha on the same day next month increases the probability that he would try to bribe the decision makers; Bribe to decision makers could also be in the form of MDM to their kids!

We were finding the long agenda of the gram sabha that we had suggested disgusting if not exhausting. Governments perhaps should start issuing a list on what not to concentrate on - we would joke! The number of things on which 'sarvoch prathamikta' is to be imposed is too many to count. We would have gone ahead with our conviction on the need to concentrate, but for the blind girl who changed the way we thought about it.

She had come to the gram sabha to complain on her pension not coming to her. To be precise, she was brought there by her father. Typical of Bundelkhand, they believed in the value of disrupting proceedings to make themselves heard. After some cajoling they resigned to the fate of having to listen to the whole list of initiatives that we were inventing in our brains waiting for the right beneficiary to benefit from the same -  HITAM, UTTARA, SAMAGR, PRAGATI, Maryada, PC PNDT, Suposhan, Sarva Shiksha, YUVA and what not! When things were about to wind up, this blind girl with her stare fixed on eternity used the little sound space that had been afforded for any general comment by any one. Facing the onlooker, she asked in the most pleading of voices - "kya mere liye ek shauchalay ban sakta hai babu ji". We realised that blind eyes could cry. Not hers. Ours!

She had come for her pittance as pension. And she told me something I have not heard (I don't say it was not said) in many workshops on Total sanitation. The Superintendent of Police who was with us made the immediate connection to the burgeoning crime on women and lack of sanitation facilities. Yes, I had read the same. But the way she makes my soul stir as I remember that day is perhaps what she alone could do!


Then we decided that every issue was as important. Let us just leave it there in the agenda for the right eyes to behold them. It might be over looked. But to activate thoughts, we could use some bullet points.

With dinner restricted to 'papita', one started getting really early in the morning. The sleep was more complete and I was not complaining. Getting up at four, file work was a welcome precursor to reading Ragdarbari or watching 'Before Sunrise'. With the whole world sleeping around you, suddenly you have a lot of time of your own. Facebook started receiving my literary tortures. Since I did not want to spoil my name, I (mis)used the DM Datia handle to inflict upon unsuspecting people my nonexistent prowess in a language in which I am almost listless.

I had posted on facebook on some plan of tree plantation drive when I received a comment that said that no one cares for trees after they are planted. I responded and asked if any of my friend citizens in Datia are willing to contribute to the effort of conserving trees. No direct replies. But one was kind enough to suggest the name of an environmentalist - Pradeep Rajput and with his contact obtained over facebook, I started on a drive to clean the “lala ka taal” in  early mornings at 6'o clock as a start for the environmental drive as rains were still being delayed. Public representatives and some officers assembled to 'watch' nagarpalika staff doing their share of "janbhagidhari" work and discussed on the need to do more of discussions. The laughing 'hass club' was full of ideas for others to do. People would fall over each other to point out to me as to what they thought was the most crying issue in Datia town.

My To Do list went berserk. I realised I am carrying so many little monkeys on my back and every next person was meeting me with the cruel intention of loading the one more monkey on my back. The problems were immense. Yes, I could solve any of them. But I could not solve all of them!

This was perhaps when I drove away to Tikamgarh to give my examination of IGNOU on Masters in Rural Development. Having read almost nothing till then, this one week sabbatical was immensely enjoyable. Among other nuggets of wisdom, it also mentioned to me about the need to move from a control oriented law and order state to welfare orientation - from welfare to access, to involvement, to participation, to ownership and control BY common man!

 I decided to try this handing over of ownership and control to people. I went back to the Hass club and asked them if they could take the responsibility of monitoring the cleanliness of laala ka taal. They said yes. I requested them to organise as a society which could be given responsibility to monitor use of resources from nagar palika. They agreed. They also agreed to take up responsibilities for malnourished children in their neighbourhood. Interacting with them, I realised that a lot of well meaning people are available in the early hours of the day and as the day goes by the general level of positive spirit and warm heartedness is replaced by lesser emotions.

Responsive they were to the call of participation, but not as much as ward number 23, where we reached in search of the solution to the sanitation problem that was damaging laala ka taal. The ward was not having a community toilet they direly wanted (not just needed). They had issues of encroachment and there it was I found resonance in the need I had felt in Manisha's house for efforts for Good Housing as a Right. So many has no GHAR.

Suneel was educated, radical and was quick to grasp the idea about the need to organise as a mohalla samiti under the rules of 2011 so that we could contract work to people's committees rather than leaving them to complain for lack of quality in construction and absence of municipal sweepers. When I reiterated openly the commitment to decentralise work, I could feel the strains on the face of the adhyaksh pati of nagar palika which made me suspect less about the veracity of the allegations there were. Slowly I could see that systematic and active meetings in wards/villages to aid development were more of people and less of “dealers”. There was now a new mechanism for access with equal privileges for all. The market mechanism for privileged access alias corruption can sure take a beating if this continued - I was beginning to feel. On my last samwad sabha in Datia I had to ask for the cordless mike from my vehicle which was till now only needed in village sabhas.

I could see in the eyes of some unwilling leaders, like Suneel, the spark of setting up a system which everyone could aspire to control. At first they said that they were uneducated to do such organising. When counter posed with the impossibility of controlling the district or municipal administration with their will, they could see the point in the need to associate at lowest level. Third Thursday Town Hall meetings were held to set up a regular system whereby people could organise into mohalla samitis. More people came forward. These meetings were one in which everyone was invited and no one was invited in special. The townhall had not seen any activity for long and had to be cleaned up by an unwilling nagarpalika which could not understand why meeting could not held in the AC meeting hall of the Collectorate.

In the first townhall meeting a man with no legs and a long beard and not the best of clothes came into the hall. When he was requested to sit on the chair, he was visibly moved. He sat there for the whole meeting without speaking a word. And, he then went back - perhaps not understanding a word of what was being discussed! But when I came for the next townhall meeting, he was already there in the first row. It was perhaps destiny that a prominent political personality who is a descendant of the erstwhile royal family also came in and sat beside him giving me a snap shot that I will treasure all my life.

Back in the village sabha, the most daring decisions were being made by the gram sabha with the ease of saying aye. The Indira Awas Yojana waiting list had the 132nd position reserved for a couple where the lady was paralysed and the gentleman was blind. When the request came up in the gram sabha every one was in agreement that the waiting list needs correction to afford the next Indira Awas to this couple. All, perhaps even without the exception of those who were being overlooked, were happy with the decision - political decision made in the most transparent manner with perhaps not too much scope for complaint as the rising ovation of the gram sabha was caught on camera.

It is a constant challenge to keep the grasslands free of encroachment in village areas. After a shadow fight, the authorities invariably end up on the losing side with the 'dabang' doing agriculture to the exclusion of the customary grazing rights of the landless. When the matter was discussed in the gram sabha a solution of forcefully sowing the charnoi with su babul impressed everyone. The gram sabha turned itself into a gang which picked up the seeds brought in by the veterinary department on loan from the forest department. With a hand full of seeds sown in full public view by the multitude, the charnois were now safe for the cattle. Same acceptance was there for the decision of shifting the television provided by the Rural Development Department (and adorning the drawing room of the GP sachiv) to the anganwadi where women groups could watch it attracting more women and children to anganwadis.

Two months is perhaps too little a time to write a success story about. I should be more categorical and state that there is no success story here. Whether it was a success or not to have this system of systematic social audit and action, I am not well placed to judge. But the way it was turning out to be was indeed a matter of satisfaction. I was not grudging an effort which was physically taxing for me. And perhaps for the first time in my career I had my agenda set for the next six months. It was satisfying. Period.

In the context of corruption, I would always quip that even if I have not been able to change my environment, it  has not been able to change me either. In this new experience of public participation and ownership and control, I don't know how much I have been able to impress or change Datia. I do not know if the keys of the monthly meetings that were purposefully left in the hands of time would be made use of. Perhaps we needed more time to consolidate our gains. Perhaps (and hopefully) it will be a greater success now that I am leaving.  I don't know if changing Datia by trying to spark in them the wish to organise at grass root level succeeded or not, but I admit Datia has successfully changed me! Hopefully forever!! Sharing with All their Rightful Access to Justice now seems possible, but with a lot of effort up ahead. Is there a light there at the end of the tunnel?

MDM – Mid Day Meals

SAMVAD – Systematic and Active Meetings in Villages to Aid Development

UTTARA  - Universal Transparent Tracking of Applications and Responses to Applications – www.uttara.nic.in

YUVA – Yuva United for Value Addition

GHAR – Good Housing as a Right

HITAM – Hitgrahi Tracking and Management

PRAGATI – Project Review Guidance and Tracking Initiative – www.dwatch.nic.in

PC PNDT –  Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Test

CAC – Cluster Academic Coordinator

BRC – Block Resource Coordinator

DPC – District Programme Coordinator

DM – District Magistrate