Screen our representatives

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In one of our regular discussions last weekend ... Shubhadeep Da put forth a very interesting topic ...
about Mayawati being not-so-bad a political persona ... the discussion stretched out long... and invariably drifted to the educational qualifications of our representatives ...



There were many views ...
1. Our politicians should at least be graduates
    So that they can better comprehend and debate and handle the problems at hand.
2. It should be made mandatory for our politicians to be at least graduates
    So that it can be expected that they also would be graced with consciousness that education endows.
3. Education should not be made a cornerstone to judge the eligibility of a political candidate
    This would nullify the chances of people from remote and disturbed areas (where the Govt is not able to  provide for education) to be deprived of their voice. But, once they are elected ... they should be made to undergo compulsory basic education to continue in office.
4. All politicians should at least have attended primary school
    So that they could value the importance of education.

My stand on this is a little different ...
      Being a part of a democracy that India is, I am entitled to my views ... and my take on this topic is ... keeping in mind all the constraints that are important to be kept in mind in the complex scenario that the Indian politics and our country has developed into ... before a candidate is given a ticket to represent his/her area/constituency/state/country the candidate should describe in brief (without wasting a lot of words and making a hullabaloo !!) why precisely he/she wants to be a representative of that place, what are the 5 most important problems of that area and a practical plan of solving them within his/her term of 5 years, without asking to be re-elected if they do not solve the problem. Doing this would serve a lot of purposes. I support this proposal because I feel that consciousness about the people you represent and the problems that they want you to solve is far more important than degrees on paper. If you are conscious about your duties and practical about your goals, it is not quite a herculean task to provide living conditions to the people you asked to be represented.

Now to select/elect the people who would interview or screen the first swarm of wanna-be leaders may require quite some effort ... as real well-meaning and scrupulous characters are difficult to come by in this age.

Well, to start from the neighborhood ... the pro-active elders, the RWAs and most-importantly the ever-protesting social workers should be given a chance to do something in this matter (especially, the last group who always have a swarm of disorganized complaints !! Here's your chance to prove your worth or to shut your mouths once and for all !!!!). It could also include people from the judicial system, preferably the top-notchers who could oversee and guide the logical and peaceful accomplishment of the entire process.

This way would serve a lot of things on the wish-list :
1. A clear idea about where the leaders-to-be perceive the problems of their electorate would be found
2. Unfruitful and worthless leaders would have to re-think/re-draw their career plans as they shall not be re-elected if they do not deliver 4 out of their 5 promises.
3. No area would be given less or more importance ... equal opportunity to perform their jobs would be provided.
4. As long as they perform and perform according to the will of the people they represent ... politicians would not have to get the shoe !!!
5. A lot of people who simply kill time and scream at the top of their lungs without being heard would be given an equal opportunity to prove their role in our democracy. They could now be the ones weeding out the bad elements from entering the political turf... and if a few still do enter ... they could identify and get rid of them ASAP.
6. And finally and most importantly, the country would make some marked and planned progress in the close future !!!

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