The ultimate objective of our democracy is not to be content with the rule by the representatives; it is the participation of the empowered citizens more actively in the governance of all spheres of life. Mr. Subhash Chandra Agarwal is one such prolific thinker who proposes many appropriate changes in policies and procedures. The readers who agree with any of his proposals may pick them up to pursue them further on their own and campaign for their adoption by the competent decision-makers. 1. Ban service-charges by restau…
Political governance in our country by way of peoples’ Representatives has now transformed itself into a rule by political parties, which are never assigned any role in our constitution. If we look into the history of the political parties, these groups formed by ambitious persons, have never managed to maintain internal democracy and have always been desperately trying to capture and retain power at any cost, at least in the developing countries. A Political Class, a new caste has emerged filling the ranks of the parties, exercising power a…
Part 1 I. Objective: Firstly, the existing Act should be amended so as to reflect further devolution of functions, functionaries and funds to the urban local self-governing bodies, as envisaged in the 74 th Constitutional Amendment, which is not yet fully implemented. Secondly, it is to provide more avenues for increased direct participation of the urban citizens in their area governance, so as to reflect their human and social capital. 1). If the Commissioner, GHMC is endowed all the devolution envisage…
O n the National Voters’ Day January 25, 2021 the Supreme Court has come out with its judgment in favour of the decisions taken by the State Election Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh regarding the conduct of Gram Panchayat elections, we would like to express our following observations. The incumbent State Election Commissioner deserves to be commended for tenaciously pursuing his mandate as a constitutional authority, without bowing before serious political pressures from the government of the day, like Mr. Seshan who has alrea…
This Vijayadasami day, on October 26, 2020, will mark a victory in ways more than one. For starters, apart from the festive reason for celebrations for the victory of good over evil, it will also be the day when Dharani, the Telangana Government’s Integrated Land Records Management System, is expected to be inaugurated. More importantly, it also marks the success of the soft persuasive approach of Civil Society bodies in the state to pursue much needed land reforms and the way the revenue system was managed so far. In a landmark (no pun …
New penalties seek to rein in violators in neighbourhoods and public places. Bursting crackers to playing loud music in residential areas and construction activity beyond limits and in prohibited times will attract action. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has cleared the proposal for hefty penalties that may go as high as Rs 1 lakh for violations of noise pollution norms made by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). With this the stage is set for stricter monitoring and punishment of violations of the norms by the general public a…
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