Opinion Machines and machinations
In an Organiser article Is electronic rigging subverting electoral mandate G.V.L Narasimha Rao writes....
In an Organiser article Is electronic rigging subverting electoral mandate G.V.L Narasimha Rao writes: The Election Commission is less than truthful in claiming that the EVMs deployed in general elections are tamperproof,when its own technical committee led by Prof. P.V. Indiresan held otherwise. The Expert Committee in its September 2006 report (points 3.6 and 3.7) recommended that the old EVMs should be upgraded with suggested modifications,testing and operating precautions to make them tamper proof. Shockingly,of the 13.78 lakh EVMs deployed in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls,only 4.48 lakh are either new or upgraded machines,while as many as 9.3 lakh EVMs (or over 2/3rd of all EVMs) deployed are old machines. The Commission has furnished this information in reply to a RTI query dated July 21 to V Venkateswara Rao,the main petitioner who filed a PIL in the Supreme Court on the issue. New,improved EVMs were deployed in the states of Bihar,Chhattisgarh,Gujarat,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal,and some UTs and all northeastern states except Assam. In all others states,old EVMs,which do not meet the technical specifications,were used.
A BJP national executive member,who is associated with the anti-EVM crusade,Rao adds: Why is it that these new,improved machines were not deployed in any of the key Congress-United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-ruled states? Who were the persons responsible in making these decisions and what was the rationale in making the choice of states with the new,improved EVMs? Curiously,while many states seem to have been selected following some alphabetical sequence,the UPA-ruled states like Andhra Pradesh,Assam,Haryana,Maharastra and Tamil Nadu (which fall in the same sequence) have been left out systematically. Naturally,the following questions arise and the EC is duty bound to answer them satisfactorily. What considerations guided the deployment of the old EVMs,more susceptible to tampering in all the states ruled by the ruling combine at the Centre? Why all the EVMs were not upgraded or replaced as recommended by the Expert Committee? Isnt the Commission guilty of misleading the political parties and the public opinion that its EVMs are tamper proof when it is fully aware of their limitations and shortcomings? All these serious questions warrant convincing answers from the Commission.
Fieldwork first
An article titled Rejuvenate agriculture to rejuvenate villages by Muralidhar Rao in the special issue of the Organiser says: Production of foodgrain per capita has being going down in the country in the last few years,necessitating large scale import of food grain. For instance,in five years from 2002-2003 to 2007-08,Indias population increased by eight per cent,whereas food grains production could increase by merely five per cent. But more disturbing is the fact that the country had to import food grain,especially wheat at an extraordinarily exorbitant price. Whereas farmers were being paid only 850 per quintal by the government procurement agencies,later in the same year wheat was imported at effective price of rupees 1300 to 1600 per quintal. Of late,the government realised the importance of paying reasonable price to the farmers,that it could procure 230 lakh tones of wheat. As the result of sound wheat procurement,a reasonable buffer stock would be maintained,resulting in stabilisation of food prices in the country. To make available food to the masses at the reasonable prices,we need to maintain reasonable level of buffer stock,which in turn could be ensured by making sufficient procurement.
He adds: In view of danger of declining foodgrain availability at global level looming large,solution lies in protecting our agriculture in general and encouraging food grain production in the country in particular. We also need to take notice of mass scale migration to big cities,whole young population deserting the villages in search of livelihood. Remunerative agriculture can only arrest this trend. For achieving this objective we need to take bold and imaginative policy initiatives like provision of agriculture credit at three per cent. We also need to protect our farmers from private moneylenders. Availability of fertilisers at cheap prices and subsidy scheme for organic fertilisers would also be helpful. Provision of cheap electricity,sufficient availability of irrigation,subsidised seeds etc. should not be taken as a matter of grace. In fact,this all should be treated as emergency measures to keep agriculture alive in this country. Even the schemes like NREGP would not be able to provide long-term solution towards sustainable employment. Rejuvenation of agriculture and agro-based rural industrialisation is the solution to address the challenges of food security and vibrant village life.
Compiled by Suman K Jha
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