Poverty
Alleviation – the Chinese Way
During and after recent Union Budget ,
there has been a lot of public debate re desirability of introducing UBI (
Universal Basic Income )
A monthly guaranteed income of Rs 5000
to the poor families was being talked about
Idea is to enable our poorest to “ eke
out a minimal existence “
Whereas there can be no quarrel re need
to provide succour to our poor , I believe , this might lead to the development
of a “ Dependency Culture “ ! – for everything , people looking up to the “
Sarkar Maa Baap “ !
In this background , following news report ( Times of
India / 26 Feb 2017 ) , makes interesting reading :
“ CHINA TO SHIFT
7 LAKH POOR FOR BETTER LIFE “
“ Over 7 lakh people in China’s
southwest Guizhou province will be relocated this year at a cost of $ 6.6
billion as a POVERTY ALLEVIATION measure
A total of 1.81 lakh families will be
moved from remote inhospitable areas in the hope of providing them a better
life in the province which is one of the most impoverished provinces in the
country
Over 3,600 villages will be moved ,
accounting for about 30 % of those to be relocated
China plans to lift 10 million people
above poverty line this year “
The report does not say whether the
Chinese Government will provide “ jobs “ to these people
But ,
They will need to be housed ( even if in
250 sq ft flats )
And they will need schools / hospitals /
roads / electricity / gas / public transport / garbage clearance / water /
telecommunication / markets and a hundred other amenities
And constructing / providing all of this
“ Infrastructure “ facilities would create “ jobs “ !
Enough jobs for each adult family member
getting displaced !
So , by spending $ 6.6 billion ( approx. Rs 46,000
crore ) , China is ,
·
Creating lakhs of jobs
·
Alleviating Poverty without handing out a “ dole “
Shri Vankaiah Naidu , might want to
visit Guizhou province of China to assess if this Chinese Model would work for
us
03 March 2017
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs
Thank You , Varun
Gandhi !
Financial Express ( 28 Feb 2017 ) carries
following news :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ Are your MPs, MLAs not performing ?
Varun Gandhi introduces private bill in Lok Sabha to recall them “
MPs and MLAs should be recalled within
two years from being elected if 75 per cent of those who voted for them are not
satisfied with their performance, according to a bill moved by BJP MP Varun Gandhi.
“Logic and justice necessitate that if
the people have the power to elect their representatives, they should also have
the power to remove these representatives when they engage in misdeeds or fail
to fulfil the duties,” Varun said.
As per the legislation, recalling
process can be initiated by any voter of the constituency by filing a petition
before the Speaker, signed by at least one-fourth of the total number of
electors in that constituency.
After confirming its authenticity, the
Speaker will move the application to the Election Commission for its
verification and authentication of the voters’ signatures on it. The Commission
will verify the signatures on it and will organise the voting on 10 places in
the respective constituency of MP or MLA, it says.
If three-fourth of the votes that member
was polled in his election, go in favour of the recall process, the member will
be recalled, the bill proposes.
Within 24 hours of the receipt of the
result, the Speaker will notify the result to the general public. Once the seat
gets duly vacated the Commission can organise a bypoll in that constituency.
“A free and fair election is the right
of the citizens of the country and in the event of their elected
representatives no longer enjoying their confidence, the people must have a
right to remove them,” Varun said. It is
on the edifice of accountability of politicians that the true idea of democracy
can be achieved, he added. At present there is no recourse to the electorate if
they are unhappy with their elected representative.
For ensuring that a recall process is
not frivolous and does not became a source of harassment to elected members,
the entire process has several safeguards incorporated in the bill.
Recall petition will kickstart the
process and electronic based voting to finally decide its outcome, the bill
says.
The bill provides for verification of
signatures and first review by the Speaker of the House concerned. At the same
time to ensure that a representative cannot be recalled by a small margin of
voters, the threshold for success of a recall petition is accordingly high.
Dear Varun Gandhi :
Even though there is very slim chance of
this bill getting passed ( even in a diluted form ) , you deserve
congratulations for this initiative !
Should you face the inevitable stiff
resistance ( including from the BJP MPs ) , I request you to get them to , at
least support introduction of the following / non-binding ,
Mobile App suggested by me in Aug 2015 :
And as to the matter of setting some “ PERFORMANCE TARGETS “ for the MPs / MLAs , you may request Shri Amit Shah
to refer to the examples listed at :
I do hope that millions of Indian Voters
come forward to support your bill , which , if passed , would go a long way to
increase our parliament’s productivity
02 March 2017
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs
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