Barking up the wrong tree again.
Of course India needs another unenforceable and
meaningless law like it needs a another hole thru
its head.
What the writer should have attempted to draw
attention to was to make the ritual of desi
elections meaningful: Issue based and informed.
At 10:21 AM -0700 8/29/07, Dilip/Dil Deka wrote:
Published in the Sentinel.
Does India need more unenforceable laws? The article analyzes the flaws well.
==========================================================
Of Compulsory Voting
ND Sharma
Congress member V Narayanasamy introduced in the
Rajya Sabha on August 24 a private members Bill
seeking enactment of a law to make voting in
elections compulsory in India. He argues that
Australia, Belgium, Argentina, Greece, Mexico,
Singapore, Switzerland, Brazil and a host of
other countries have compulsory voting laws. In
Bolivia if a person does not vote, his three
months salary is withdrawn as a punitive
measure, according to him.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami had
also some time back favoured a law to make
voting compulsory in India. Participating in a
panel discussion after the last Uttar Pradesh
Assembly elections, he had expressed anguish at
the voters apathy and pointed out that there
were as many as 33 countries in the world where
compulsory voting was in place.
Laudable though the idea is, it is highly
unlikely that it can be effectively translated
into practice in India with its huge population
and over 85 crore of its inhabitants eligible to
vote. With all the resources of the Central and
State governments at the disposal of the
Election Commission, this august body has never
been, so far, able to enlist all the eligible
voters or ensure that some of the voters do not
figure in more than one list. In spite of its
painstaking exercise before every election, the
Election Commission has had to cope with
numerous complaints at the time of polling.
It is only wishful thinking that having an Act
for compulsory voting will miraculously change
the things. If such a law is enacted, where
shall we get the massive manpower to ensure
enrolment of all eligible voters, keep their
track at the time of voting and prepare and send
summons to those who fail to turn up at the
polling booths? It will also mean further
clogging of the courts already burdened under
the monumental backlogs?
Perhaps a more realistic approach to the problem
will be to link enrolment as a voter with
incentives and disincentives. Today being (or
non-being) a voter virtually amounts to nothing,
unless one has an inclination to contest an
election or is keen to support a particular
party or candidate. The voting right of Shiv
Sena Supremo Bal Tahckeray was suspended by the
court as punishment for his inflammatory
speeches/writings. How did it affect him or his
activities in any way?
If enlistment as a voter is made necessary for,
say, procuring a passport, getting a ration
card, buying or selling a property, opening a
bank account, applying for a job, getting ones
children admitted to a school or college and
such other things, it will diametrically change
the attitude of the people. Now the government
employees assigned by the Election Commission to
update the voters lists rarely receive a
courteous reception when they visit the
households. Sometimes they are even treated in a
cavalier manner by the people.
However, this will all change if being a voter
is linked with incentives and disincentives.
Then it will be the individuals who will take
the trouble to see that they are enlisted as
voters. Once they take the trouble to ensure
that their names are on the voters list, it will
affect them psychologically and it is likely to
shed at least part of their apathy at the time
of polling, of which N Gopalaswami has
complained.
However, this alone is not enough to enthuse the
voters to go to polling booths and cast their
votes. The faulty election laws and the
reluctance of the authorities to effectively
enforce even those laws, permitting thugs and
cheats and swindlers to enter Parliament or
Assemblies, have made the average voter in the
country highly cynical.
(Manuj Features)
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