A Winter of Discontent ?

Just concluded winter session of Lok Sabha was a total wash-out , with 99 % of time wasted by Members ( from both the sides ) shouting / rushing into the well of the house / not allowing anyone to speak / hurling abuses at one another / ignoring the repeated pleas of the Speaker / walking out when shouting did not help ....etc

There is nothing we can do about that. Past cannot be re-lived, any differently !

For the sad behavior of our parliamentarians , we have no one to blame but ourselves

After all , WE voted for them and WE elected them , to go and represent us in Lok Sabha !

And , most unfortunately , we cannot " Re - Call " them , till 2019 !

Nor can we expect this ( or , for that matter , any future Lok Sabha ) , to pass a reform called :

3 R  : RIGHT TO RECALL REPRESENTATIVES ACT ( year ? )

But may be , just may be , there is a way to ensure that the forthcoming BUDGET SESSION , does not end up the way of the Winter session

That could happen if one of the leading News Paper or a TV Channel , were to quickly conduct an online SURVEY of the type suggested in my following earlier blog ( sent as email to NDA Ministers / MPs / MLAs and the Election Commission ) :

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, 6 August 2015

ROMP - A Panacea ?

In past few years , our Lok Sabha has been repeatedly paralyzed by slogan shouting MPs

Perhaps , the past two weeks were the worst in the history of Lok Sabha , with no business conducted

Someone suggested that MPs be made to lose their salaries for this period , following the universally / legally accepted rule : No Work , No Pay

This won't work . Our crore-pati MPs could not care a hoot for loss of pay !

Only thing that might work :

A mobile app called , " ROMP / Recall Our MP " ( Idea for a Start-Up ? )

Only voters who qualify as follows , will be permitted to use this App , in order to recall an MP :

*  He must be on Electoral Roll

*  He must have actually voted ( even if NOTA ) , in the last general election

   { This criteria is bound to boost voting percentage to 95 %  ! No need to

      make voting compulsory  ! }

*  He can " Vote to Recall " , only MP who got elected from the constituency

   from where he cast his vote in last election

*  He can vote only if there is no Criminal charges filed against him

*  The App itself will accept his " Rating / Vote " only on two days of the year

   announced by the Election Commission for each constituency

*  Any other criteria that readers may wish to suggest ( crowd-sourcing )

ROMP will show following criteria , with " YES "  or "  NO " buttons against each :

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOG-IN :

#    Suspend MP for next Session................................ YES.......NO

#    Recall MP.............................................................YES ..... NO

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Justify your recommendation by " Rating " your MP , below

( Unless rated on each criteria , your vote will be invalid )

Is this MP ( who is being rated by you ) :

#     Honest.............................................. YES........NO

#     Of high Integrity................................. YES........ NO

#     Sincere.............................................. YES........ NO

#     Hard-working ....................................  YES........ NO

#     Punctual.............................................. YES.......  NO

#     Dignified............................................  YES........  NO

#     Follows Speaker's Orders.....................   YES........  NO

#     Good Listener.......................................  YES......... NO

#     Awaits his turn to speak.......................... YES........ NO

#     Asks only relevant questions..................  YES........ NO

#     Approachable to Voters..........................  YES....... NO

#    Answers Voters' Emails promptly...............  YES......  NO

#    Provides regular feedback to Voters ............. YES.......NO

#    Addresses other MPs with respect...............  YES..........NO

                                        SUBMIT

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conditions governing use of  ROMP  :

*   It can be downloaded from the web site of Election Commission , upon

     filling up a form, requiring all kinds of proof that you are a genuine voter

*   Upon being satisfied ( that you are a genuine voter ) , the Server will

     issue a User ID and Password, to log in before you can use the App.

     It would be better still , if biometric identification is integrated with the

     App , since AADHAR cards are already having such identification

*   ROMP can be downloaded only once

  

*   At least 66 % of the Voters who had actually voted in that Constituency

     during the last General Election , should take part in ROMP event for it

     to be considered valid

    

*  Only in case more than 2/3rd ( > 66 % ) of " Ratings " cast ,  recommend

    Suspension or Recall , will the Election Commission / Speaker act

    according to People's Mandate

*  However , in case where those 66 % are divided between " Recall " and

    " Suspend " , then " Suspend " will prevail

*  Rating results will be made public on Election Commission web site on the

    next day and also published in leading Newspapers

I do believe that the present NDA government is keen to introduce / pass ,

"  RIGHT  TO  RECALL  BILL  " in Lok Sabha as part of Electoral Reforms

Except that the combined opposition may defeat it in Rajya Sabha  !

Which MP would want to sign his own death-warrant  ?

But even without a legal backing , I feel ROMP would have a salutary effect

on the behavior of our MPs , who would know that they are being watched,

and their conduct is being evaluated ! - and will be made public  !

ROMP , along with my earlier suggested mobile Apps ,

*     VotesApp

      {  http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2012/12/votesapp.html  }

*     I SIN  /  USIN ,

      {  http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2012/12/i-sin-u-sin.html  }

will take us many steps closer to a Digital India

If you endorse my views , please forward to all Policy Makers

If not , please do come up with a better idea !

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19  Dec  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs