2006/01/19

Citizen's Report on Governance and Development 2006

Social Watch

The Citizen’s Report on Governance and Development 2006 was launched on January 19th, 2006 at the India International Centre, New Delhi.

Controversies waste House time
By Namrata Biji Ahuja
New Delhi, January 20

Parliament is wasting time on political controversies, reveals the Citizen's Report on Governance and Development — 2006, prepared by the National Social Watch Coalition, that was released on Thursday by former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral.

Indian Parliament has shown a marked decline in number of its sittings per year while it is progressively devoting lesser time to issues of real concern. The dismal picture is further accentuated by MPs who exhibit a disinterest towards critical issues like drought, insufficient food and water and plight of farmers.

According to the report, 16.28 per cent of candidates in Parliament have criminal antecedents. It also comments on the constraints faced by the Indian legal system because of lesser number of judges and unfilled vacancies. "As many as 222 vacancies occurred in all the high courts of the country against an approved strength of 719." In the Supreme Court, 29,315 cases were pending as on July 1, 2004, and 1,943 cases were pending for more than 5 years.

Reflecting on what it termed as Parliament's "derelictions" and "progressive decline in parliamentary behaviour and functioning," the report said, "The 14th Lok Sabha lost 26 per cent of its time in interruptions arising out of various political controversies. During the same period, the Rajya Sabha lost a total of 29 per cent of its time on corresponding issues."

Commenting on representation in the highest policy-making body, the report said that by not legislating on the 33 per cent representation for women in the Central and state legislatures, there was an attempt to perpetuate a "gender bias in political representation."

Also, "the success rate of women candidates in elections to the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha is still barely 20-25 per cent which can be considered very low," it added. The report feared that the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme has created another network for corruption and misappropriation of public money.

http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=5&cat2=154&newsid=204094&RF=DefaultMain

Frayed tempers cost Parliament dear: Report
New Delhi, PTI

While the cost of running Parliament has gone up phenomenally down the years, so has the time lost in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha due to the `frayed tempers' of the legislators.

According to a new report titled 'Citizens Report on Governance and Development - 2006', while 5.28 per cent of the time was lost in pandemonium in the 11th Lok Sabha (1996-98), the figure increased to 10.66 per cent in the 12th Lok Sabha and more than doubled to 22.4 per cent during 1999-2004.

The 14th Lok Sabha has recorded 38 per cent of loss of time in the first two sessions, owing to the row over induction of 'tainted' MPs into the UPA government and the absence of 'absconding' minister Shibu Soren.

Rajya Sabha, reacting similarly to these issues, lost a 'whopping' 46 cer cent in the corresponding 201st and 202nd sessions.

"The floor of Parliament has lately been used not only to settle past and present political scores, but also to prepare for the future political and electoral battles," the report prepared by National Social Watch Coalition, an NGO, said.

The report also stated that between 1951 and 2003-04 the cost of running the two Houses registered an increase from Rs 100 per minute to Rs 18,430 per minute. This was estimated to reach Rs 20,000 in 2004-05.

This could be attributed to the increase in the loss of time due to pandemonium in the Parliament, said the report.

"Thus, the loss of time through pandemonium leading to the loss of designated parliamentary business eventually also translates into substantial loss of public money," it said.

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan202006/update1027442006120.asp

Many lawmakers are lawbreakers, says report
Rakesh Bhatnagar
New Delhi, January 20, 2006

Young lawmakers are more prone to breaking laws. Mind you, 30.4 per cent of MPs between 36 and 45 years, who have been elected to the 14 th Lok Sabha are facing criminal cases in different parts of the country. And 18.3 per cent of them are facing grave charges, a report by Social Watch India says.

Former prime minister I K Gujaral released the report at a function on Thursday. He defined the report as "a dedicated task". The report prepared by the National Social Watch Coalition, comprising among others Nilotpal Basu, Maja Daruwala of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and JNU's Amitabh Kundu, said many young MPs are busy defending themselves in various criminal cases.

Their elders, aged between 55 and 65 years, have lesser criminal cases against them-19.3 per cent. Before the polls, the coalition had looked into the antecedents of 3182 candidates cutting across the party line' and found that 16.28 per cent had criminal records.

http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1008519&CatID=2

India Shining: No way says group
New Delhi, January 20, 2006

After assessing governance and development in India, an independent group reports that there is hardly any good news. It says, India is whining and not shining, a newspaper said.

Yes, politicians with criminal records do take up significant space in the 2006 Citizens Report on Governance and Development. Nearly 25 percent of Lok Sabha (Lower House of the parliament) MPs have criminal cases against their names. Count the 36-45 age group MPs alone and the figure jumps to 30 percent, the Hindustan Times said.

But, says Jagadananda of the National Social Watch Coalition, the problem runs deeper: right from parliament that is becoming less vigilant in defending people's rights to an executive that is callous about the people it serves and the courts unable to dispense speedy justice.

Parliament, the report says, is wasting more time on disruptions than ever before. In the first three current Lok Sabha sessions, the House lost 26 percent time to pandemonium, up from 22.4 percent in the 13th Lok Sabha, 10.66 percent in the 12th Lok Sabha and just about 5 percent in the 11th Lok Sabha.

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownewsdata.asp?newsno=30651&newscat=Top



POLITICS-CRIMINALIZATION
New Delhi, January 19 (PTI)

There is a proliferation of people with criminal record fighting elections, blurring the line between crime and politics further, a report by an NGO alleged.

The report, released by former Prime Minister I K Gujral and titled 'Citizens Report on Governance and Development 2006, found 518 out of 3182 candidates across parties having criminal backgrounds while nearly 100, which is about one- fourth of the total, elected to the 14th Lok Sabha, have been chargesheeted in criminal cases.

The report has been prepared by the NGO, National Social Watch Coalition, which is an alliance of social groups, parliamentarians, academecia, policy makers and media practitioners with the objective of promotion of accountability and democratization of representative institutions.

The report claims that over 50 per cent of serious criminal cases registered against MPs were mostly from UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and MP.

In a state-wise analysis, the report shows that some MPs from Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Assam and J & K do not have criminal charges against them while criminal cases in the rest of the states vary from 11.9 per cent in West Bengal to 50 per cent in Jharkhand.

Analysing this trend in Indian politics, the report alleged that while politicians become tainted with criminality, high profile criminals succeed in entering representative institutions like Parliament and State Legislatures.

Lengthy legal procedures make conviction even more difficult, it added.

http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=349746



India whining: Dirt in Parliament
Aloke Tikku
New Delhi, January 19, 2006

After assessing governance and development in India, an independent group reports that there is hardly any good news. It says, India is whining and not shining.

Yes, politicians with criminal records do take up significant space in the 2006 Citizens Report on Governance and Development. Nearly 25 per cent of Lok Sabha MPs have criminal cases against their names. Count the 36-45 age group MPs alone and the figure jumps to 30 per cent.

But, says Jagadananda of the National Social Watch Coalition, the problem runs deeper: right from Parliament that is becoming less vigilant in defending people's rights to an executive that is callous about the people it serves and the courts unable to dispense speedy justice.

Parliament, the report says, is wasting more time on disruptions than ever before. In the first three current Lok Sabha sessions, the House lost 26 per cent time to pandemonium, up from 22.4 per cent in the 13th Lok Sabha, 10.66 per cent in the 12th Lok Sabha and just about 5 per cent in the 11th Lok Sabha.

The disruptions didn't serve any purpose. "None of the parties creating the pandemonium attempted either a debate, or declaration, let alone a legislation on the vital issue of criminalisation in public life," the report released by former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral remarked.

The report also highlights India's paradoxes, says Amitabh Behar, who edited the Social Watch India report. These include the one of "Shining and Whining India". "This report is about Whining India," Behar says.

Defence and capital expenditure are up, while spending on the social sectors has declined. As many as 48.6 per cent farmers are debt-ridden and many are committing suicide.

The judiciary, often asked to intervene in the disadvantaged groups' interest, still has not overcome the problem of court delays. More than 34 lakh cases were pending in mid-2004.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1603208,0008.htm



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