Lokrajandolan A Movement for Citizens’ Rule

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• The school teacher does not turn up to teach at the government school?

• A doctor in a government hospital does not attend to patients?

• A ration shop keeper is siphoning off ration supplies? • The policeman does not take action on our complaint? • The Engineer colludes with the contractor and makes a

road which wears off within a few days? • Sweepers do not turn up for work and your area

remains dirty and unhygienic?

What can you do if…

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Lack of Accountability

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The Problem of Governance

• Citizens have no control over resource

• Citizens have no control over officials

• MLAs and MPs unable to help citizens

• Completely helpless citizen

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Why Swaraj?

• Approach to governance over 62+ years unsuitable for modern day India

• Centralized command and control approach to governance

• Funding and Resource planning made in isolation with no inputs from the recipients

• Complete lack of accountability for elected and government officials

• Citizens helpless while government incapable of meeting the needs of the citizens

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The Solution: Local Self-Governance

• Local governing institutions at the grassroots level

• Power should lie with peoples’ assemblies as in ancient India and other Countries

– Village assemblies in ancient India

– People’s participation in other countries

• People power in contemporary India

– Gram Sabha

– Need equivalent in cities

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Swaraj Conceptual Overview

Lokrajandolan.org 7

Swaraj Case Study (Delhi)

Lokrajandolan.org 8

Conditions for Local-Self Governance

• Power should lie with citizens’ assemblies and not with Sarpanch or other elected members of Panchayat.

• All functions related to a village or mohalla should lie within the jurisdiction of Gram Sabha or Mohalla Sabha.

• Gram Sabha or Mohalla Sabha decisions shall be final unless they are technically flawed or they violate any law.

• If people are dissatisfied with the performance of their elected Panchayat or municipal representatives, they should have the power to recall them.

• States too should provide adequate untied funds to their Panchayats.

• Local officials should get their salaries through Panchayats at the levels of village, or block or district. In urban areas, they should get their salaries from mohalla or ward or municipality.

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Success Stories: Odanthurai Panchayat

• 40 km north of Coimbatore, has set an

example in producing its own

environmentally friendly power

• The windfarm generates 7.5 lakh units of

electricity annually.

• The panchayat’s need is only 4.5 lakh

units, the remainder is sold to Tamil Nadu

Electricity Board (TNEB).

• This gives the Panchayat an annual

income of

Rs. 19 lakh.

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Success Stories: Michaelpattinam

• Drought-prone Ramanthapuram district of

Tamil Nadu

• Rainwater harvesting helps water scarcity

• Learnt that rain water harvesting could

not only replenish the ground water

sources but also improve the quality of

water.

• Each of Michaelpattinam’s 250

households has rainwater housing

structures - systems that guide rainwater

into underground pits that can be used for

water supply.

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Success Stories: Hivre Bazaar

• Small village, with less than 250

families, near Pune in Ahmednagar

district

• In 1989, 90% of its families lived

below poverty line. Today, there are

just three of them.

• In 1989, per capita income was Rs

842. Today it is Rs 28,000.

• Terrific story of team work at the

local level in transforming an entire

village

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About Lokrajandolan

• ‘Lokraj Andolan’ means ‘movement for citizens’ rule’.

• Campaign for raising awareness about the urgent need for citizens to directly take part in governmental decision-making and for broad-basing the demand for participatory governance.

• Bring people together to demand, persuade and force both state and central governments to provide the necessary legislative and constitutional framework to give Swaraj to the people.

• The people behind the Lokraj Andolan are citizens and social activists who are concerned over failure of governance on many fronts.

• Lokraj Andolan does not affiliate itself with any political organization, but seeks support from all political groupings and the society at large.

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