The website http://myneta.info/ is a great resource for the Indian voter. Among other things, it gives information on criminal cases in which candidates for election have been involved. It also gives information on their personal wealth on the basis of legally required documents they have submitted. The movement that runs this website was initiated by a set of IIM Ahmedabad professors several years ago. My hats off to the professors!
What I would like to see next are biographic sketches describing
their career, so we can see where all their wealth could have come from. The
media is best fit to provide these biographic sketches. Another option is for
social activists to ensure that there are Wikipedia articles on netas who need
to have more light thrown on them. As it is, the Wikipedia has done “justice”
to a few netas I have looked up occasionally. No, I didn’t say “I have looked
up to” :=)
Now, let me come to my concern. While probity is
promoted by increased transparency, what is there to promote greater
understanding of a neta and what he or she means to the country? What is their
political philosophy? What are their priorities? What reforms will they push for?
What do they hate? Can the bulk of our netas write on these matters as well as the
average graduate? Otherwise, how are
they going to manage the country? Media can play a role in encouraging
potential policy makers to write on where they stand on policy issues. Those
who can write well can be interviewed on television. Regional leaders can be
interviewed on regional TV.
There have been few leaders who have written books in
recent years. Dr Abdul Kalam is an exception, having authored ten books! Why
can’t other netas follow in his footsteps, at least 10% of the way? For a list
of other leaders who have written, visit http://sawaal.ibibo.com/exams-education-and-references/list-famous-books-written-indian-political-leaders-1505297.html
This is not an exhaustive list; it does not list Advani’s book http://news.oneindia.in/2008/03/20/kalam-releases-advanis-magnum-opus-delhi.html,
or Jaswant Singh’s books. I would love to read a book on what Sashi Tharoor thinks
we should do in the educational field.
Let me conclude this post by recalling what I had read
in a newspaper a long time ago. (This was written from memory and I was unable
to locate the original publication). A veteran journalist had recalled his
interview with a senior neta. He had tried to coax the neta to spell out his ideology.
No luck! The neta had declared that ideologies should be avoided. The
journalist tried a related question – which books had influenced the neta the most?
But our neta was made of stern stuff! One should not allow books to influence
oneself, he had said. I hope that our current netas are a bit better because of
increasing literacy in the country!
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