When Vivek Gilani first cast his vote almost a decade ago, he did not know who the right candidate was. He was impressed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee's oratory and poetry and decided to stick to a local BJP corporator. After all these years, he knows the importance of making a conscious deliberate attempt at getting to know the right representative.
Gilani (an environmental engineer), with the support of a few like-minded people, is in the process of collating background information on electoral candidates, making it easier for people to choose their leaders. People can check out the representatives on websites such as mumbaivotes.com and praja.org before making a choice.
In an atmosphere where sceptics__disillusioned with the current governance scene__are looking for an excuse not to vote, these websites are a welcome tool. According to activists working for the cause, people usually shirk their right to franchise votes because they do not know whether to choose a "rogue, a thief or a scoundrel''. "Nobody goes through the trouble of verifying the details of the representatives. Somehow, people don't seem to have faith in those contesting the polls. So they feel it is best not to waste a vote,'' said H-West Federation's chairperson Shyama Kulkarni. "But neither is that a solution, nor an excuse. It is everyone's duty to know who is going to play a vital role in their wards.'' Perhaps, that's why the youth have come forward and have started gathering information about corporators and MLAs. From poring over archives to filing RTI queries to analysing the information received and then finally making it available to people, these youngsters are doing it all.
For example, members of the Praja group leveraged the RTI Act to find out how the 227 corporators in Mumbai had used the discretionary fund allotted to them during their official term of 2002-2006. Then they also prepared a performance audit. Then came a comprehensive report card about the city; residents across 23 wards rated public services, administrative staff and their political representatives.
"Our job was to create a software rather than a dialogue space. In fact, it is the government's job to provide transparency, increase the level of democracy and participation of people to bring out the best in democracy. But since the government does not seem to be doing that, we thought we could do it for people,'' said Saharsh David, founder of praja.org.
Organisers and volunteers of mumbaivotes.com have thought of an innovative way to achieve just that. Roping in students from various media colleges, they have started conducting research so that everything one would like to learn is available on the website before the 2009 elections. In fact, they are going to conduct one-minute impromptu interviews with corporators asking them what they have achieved in their tenure.
"We are inspired by Obama's words: We are the people we've been waiting for. It is our duty to make India an empowered democracy rather than just the largest democracy,'' said Gilani, founder of mumbaivotes.com. "By providing this sort of information on our local representatives, people can no longer excuse themselves from casting a vote saying they do not know whom to choose.'' From the number of FIRs filed, criminal convictions to pending court cases against a candidate, an extensive database will be made available.
Gilani (an environmental engineer), with the support of a few like-minded people, is in the process of collating background information on electoral candidates, making it easier for people to choose their leaders. People can check out the representatives on websites such as mumbaivotes.com and praja.org before making a choice.
In an atmosphere where sceptics__disillusioned with the current governance scene__are looking for an excuse not to vote, these websites are a welcome tool. According to activists working for the cause, people usually shirk their right to franchise votes because they do not know whether to choose a "rogue, a thief or a scoundrel''. "Nobody goes through the trouble of verifying the details of the representatives. Somehow, people don't seem to have faith in those contesting the polls. So they feel it is best not to waste a vote,'' said H-West Federation's chairperson Shyama Kulkarni. "But neither is that a solution, nor an excuse. It is everyone's duty to know who is going to play a vital role in their wards.'' Perhaps, that's why the youth have come forward and have started gathering information about corporators and MLAs. From poring over archives to filing RTI queries to analysing the information received and then finally making it available to people, these youngsters are doing it all.
For example, members of the Praja group leveraged the RTI Act to find out how the 227 corporators in Mumbai had used the discretionary fund allotted to them during their official term of 2002-2006. Then they also prepared a performance audit. Then came a comprehensive report card about the city; residents across 23 wards rated public services, administrative staff and their political representatives.
"Our job was to create a software rather than a dialogue space. In fact, it is the government's job to provide transparency, increase the level of democracy and participation of people to bring out the best in democracy. But since the government does not seem to be doing that, we thought we could do it for people,'' said Saharsh David, founder of praja.org.
Organisers and volunteers of mumbaivotes.com have thought of an innovative way to achieve just that. Roping in students from various media colleges, they have started conducting research so that everything one would like to learn is available on the website before the 2009 elections. In fact, they are going to conduct one-minute impromptu interviews with corporators asking them what they have achieved in their tenure.
"We are inspired by Obama's words: We are the people we've been waiting for. It is our duty to make India an empowered democracy rather than just the largest democracy,'' said Gilani, founder of mumbaivotes.com. "By providing this sort of information on our local representatives, people can no longer excuse themselves from casting a vote saying they do not know whom to choose.'' From the number of FIRs filed, criminal convictions to pending court cases against a candidate, an extensive database will be made available.
"After all this is done, cross-referencing with the representative's election manifesto will reveal the patterns of his or her competence, consistency and dedication to deliver quality governance to citizens,'' added Gilani.
