Indian electorate present their own manifesto

New Delhi: With the next general elections drawing closer to elect a new federal government in India, the first 100 people’s manifestos were released yesterday in the national capital to be presented before political parties and candidates vying for those seats.

Colin Gonsalves, Mohini Giri, Gauhar Raza and Amitabh Behar (from left to right) releasing the People's Manifesto/ Photo credit: WNTA

An initiative of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA), a national campaign for governance accountability, the All India People’s Manifesto is the first of its kind in the electoral history of independent India.

Several groups and civil society organisations have come together to bring out the People’s Manifesto with an objective to engage people in setting up the agenda for the country for next five years.

The exercise is being presently carried out in 365 out of 547 parliamentary constituencies spread over 27 States and two Union Territories.

By far, a total of 230,943 people have participated in the process of drawing up a set of demands to be included in the manifestos through public consultations and hearings organised in 100 constituencies from eight states – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, etc.

High profile constituencies

Some of the constituencies where the exercise was taken up included Rae Bareilly, Chapra, Lucknow, Vaishali, Hajipur and Dausa. These constituencies are represented by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Dalit leader and former Minister Ramvilas Paswan and young Congress MP Sachin Pilot respectively.

Amitabh Behar/ Photo credit: Mahipal Singh Rawat/ OWSA

National Centre for Advocacy Studies and WNTA convener Amitabh Behar termed the exercise quite invigorating and symbolic of maturing of Indian democracy.

He said: “This effort aims to inspire people to engage with the national elections as an opportunity not only to cast their vote, but also shape the future that they want for themselves and for the country.”

Lysa John from WNTA pointed out that despite the fact that these constituencies were represented by such high profile political personalities, the demands were reflective of the baseline of poverty and as basic as hand pumps, edible oil, sugar, electrification, housing for dalit and other vulnerable social groups, etc.

Gains and misses

The nature of these demands also presents “a vivid picture of the gains and misses of the current term of government,” she added.

If people have appreciated steps like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Domestic Violence Act, they have also criticised the government for failing to act effectively on other fronts such as the regulation of land transfers, local management and natural resources, pricing of agricultural produce and support to farmers.

People also have expressed their desire to bring about police reforms, ensuring greater political participation of women, uplifting vulnerable sections, curbing communalism and persecution of minorities in the name of terrorism and so on.

Charter of the People 2009

At another event in the capital city yesterday, some select Members of Parliament (MPs) released a 20-point development plan for India. The Centre for Legislative Research and Advocacy (CLRA), in consultation with civil society organisations from across India, has prepared the Charter of the People 2009.

Executive Director of CLRA Vinod Bhanu explained the rationale for the need for such a charter: “No political party involves members of civil society or common people in the process of manifesto writing and that is a dangerous democratic deficit.”

It is an attempt to help bridge the gap between people and the political parties and highlight the issues of human development that need to be urgently addressed, he asserted.

The Charter recommends that urgent steps be taken to eradicate poverty and hunger. The other demands include smooth passage for the Right to Education Bill; comprehensive laws to deal with sexual harassment of children; combating HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases; police, prison and judicial reforms; increased budgetary allocation for health and education; and proper mitigation measures for climate change.

Next steps

Lysa informed that these 100 local manifestos have already been given to the heads of all major political parties.

She said that from March 2 onwards, the All India People’s Manifesto will also go online “through an integrated framework of web tools aimed at mobilising youth and netizens to voice their demands via video, SMS and a host of other social networking sites.”

A month long e-campaign is also expected to start soon.

The WNTA is also planning to release thematic charters including a women’s charter, which will be released on International Women’s Day on March 8.

Rekindling the dream

Mohini Giri, founding member of National Commission for Women,

Mohini Giri/ Photo credit: Mahipal Singh Rawat/ OWSA

lauded the incredible effort that has gone into preparing the manifesto and said that this was something that she had been dreaming about for the last 40 years of her social activism.

She added that the manifesto must explicitly spell out the “punishment” to infuse a sense of accountability for those who would fail in delivering on their promises after the end of their tenure.

Noted poet and scientist Gauhar Raza endorsing and extending his support to the cause of People’s Manifesto said: “There is a need to rekindle the dream of a plural India and this effort finally makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of voices across the country heard.”