Punjab CM Urged to Release Details of MLAs
Punjab CM Urged to Release Details of MLAs
By Rakesh Raman
It is an open secret that it is difficult to survive in the Indian politics if you are not a crook or a criminal. World’s top magazine The Economist says “a penchant for criminality is an electoral asset in India.” The magazine has published data about the political success of India’s “accused murderers, blackmailers, thieves, and kidnappers,” saying that 34% of India’s members of parliament (MPs) in the Lok Sabha have criminal charges filed against them.
As the Indian politics is full of criminals, the Supreme Court of India has also directed the political parties to decriminalize politics by taking some specific steps. The court said in its order that the political parties will have to declare on their websites and social media channels the details of candidates who are facing criminal cases and the reasons for selecting them for elections. But the political outfits are not willing to reveal the criminality of their candidates.
Thus, it becomes an imperative to hold the lawmakers accountable for each day of their government. With the objective to get transparency in governance, I have created a new governance model for various state governments in India to help them introduce “Open Government” in their states.
The model urges the states to publicly disclose and update the details – personal, performance, financial, and crime – of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).
While I have sent the “Open Government” proposal to the chief minister (CM) of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and CM of Punjab Amarinder Singh, I am in the process of sending it to other states. You can download the proposal for Delhi and the proposal for Punjab, which is also given below in the digital format.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
