The Hindu : Come clean, NGOs tell political parties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 15, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

Come clean, NGOs tell political parties

NEW DELHI, MARCH 14. Over 22 non-governmental organisations led by the former Naval Chief, Admiral (retd.) R.H. Tahiliani, and an 85-year-old freedom fighter have come together to ask political parties to make their stand on corruption clear in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections and deny ticket to "tainted individuals."

Enough of lip service, says Admiral Tahiliani, chairman of the India chapter of the anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International. "We have written to all political parties to spell out in their manifestoes concrete measures to fight corruption."

Together with the Lok Sevak Sangh, TI has brought together a coalition of concerned citizens and civil society groups, called the Delhi Election Watch (DEW), which has written to all political parties, asking them to "declare categorically" what action they propose to fight corruption. The DEW has asked parties to deny ticket to "tainted individuals with doubtful credentials in their moral turpitude or having a communal background."

The chairman emeritus of TI and freedom fighter, S.D. Sharma, said that he had seen in his lifetime a steep decline in the moral values of politicians. The voter today had very little to choose from on the EVM, he said. "The idea is to give voters something to choose from. It is only because people are disillusioned with corrupt politicians that there was a proposal to provide them with the `none of the above' option in the elections."

The DEW also wants the parties to keep in mind while drafting their manifestoes "the aspirations of the people of India who want to live in a developed and corruption-free India." "It is for the first time that NGOs and activists have come together in such a large number to appeal to political parties to address in their manifestoes the issues that really matter to the people," said Omkar Razdan of the Lok Sevak Sangh.

Among the specific items that the DEW wants the parties to include in their manifestoes are the Lok Pal Bill, the Right to Information Bill, the Whistle Blowers Bill, the Lok Ayuktas in the States, code of ethics for Ministers and parliamentarians, autonomy of the Central Bureau of Investigation and action on the CAG report on misuse of the MPLAD fund.

PTI

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