This is not the first time, Dharmana Prasada Rao, minister for roads and buildings in Andhra Pradesh, has intimidated people from Srikakulam district, and yet there is no action
In a shocking incident, Dharmana Prasada Rao, minister for roads and buildings in Andhra Pradesh has allegedly shifted an exam centre in Srikakulam from a school to accommodate his son Ravi Manohar Naidu's wedding reception. The sudden change of venue for exam put several students in the dock and in the rush for reaching the new centre, one of the students met with a serious accident that also killed her father.
EAS Sarma, former secretary of the Government of India, in a letter written to Kiran Kumar Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, has said that the minister should be brought to the books. "In any civilized society, such persons would have been brought to the book straightaway. A public representative would have been sacked without any hesitation from the sacred office he is in occupation of. It is only in a banana state that encourages feudal tyranny that such persons are allowed to continue and flaunt their authority to threaten the common people," he said in the letter.
Surprisingly, the incident found mention only in one place, that too when the Student's Federation of India (SFI) took out a massive rally in Srikakulam in protest of shifting of the exam centre. According to the news published by HansIndia.info, students who took part in the rally vented their ire on the officials for shifting the government degree college centre to facilitate wedding reception of Ravi Manohar Naidu, the minister's son.
On Sunday, the state government held an examination at 384 centres for recruiting 1,172 village revenue officers (VROs) and 6,063 village revenue assistants (VRAs), in the revenues department. The results would be announced on 12 March 2012 and the appointment letters would be handed over on 24th March.
But this is not the first time, Mr Rao, has been named. Last week, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu, in an open letter to the chief minister, has said that remand report from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), mentioned that Rs40 lakh was paid in bribes to the personal assistant of roads and buildings minister DP Rao as well as his close relatives in Srikakulam district.
The ACB raids on liquor syndicates in different parts of Andhra Pradesh have exposed the nexus between traders, excise officials, police, ministers, legislators and leaders of the ruling Congress. "It has been established that 12 members of parliament (MPs) and 70 members of legislative assembly (MLAs) and members of legislative council (MLCs) have links with the liquor mafia. The sixth page in the ACB remand report has been mysteriously removed as it would fully expose everyone," Mr Naidu alleged.
Mr Rao, the roads and buildings minister has also been accused of felling a compound wall of a school, threatening everyone who is against him. "Some days ago, the same minister, for a similar event, did not hesitate to break down the compound wall of a school and damage the precincts, without either the district authorities or the state education department resisting it. In the recent past, this very same person had thrown a veiled threat against all those that disagree with him on matters of public policy, committing an act of indiscretion that is condemnable," wrote Mr Sarma in his letter.
He added, "Of late, we have witnessed the same minister's involvement in the allotment of a valuable granite mine to his son in the same district. In another district, his son has got a valuable apartment for a song in return for the favours shown to the building developer who has misappropriated the land on the basis of fabricated documents."
The former secretary asked Andhra Pradesh chief minister to ascertain the facts and if the facts as reported are true, then ask Mr Rao to quit.
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The classical models of governance are:
Democracy: Government by the people, of the people, for the people.
Monarchy: Government by a single ruler (king/queen, emperor)
Aristocracy: Government by noblemen (hereditary)
Oligarchy: Government by few persons
Theocracy: Government by God (in reality this means government by religious leaders)
Dictatorship: Government by people, that have seized power by force (often: military dictatorship)
We have a government which does not fit any of the above classifications, even though our politicians and commentators keep calling it a democracy.
Once in five years the people go to vote and elect their leaders. After that they have no say in how these representatives treat the people or the country. It is like getting married and finding out that your spouse is free to be as adulterous as he or she wishes, and you cannot even divorce him or her.There is no right to recall.
People do not have any referendum where they can say whether any planned legislation is to their liking or not.
The choice of who to elect, in practice, is limited by the money and influence of the political parties. 156 Parliamentarians have serious criminal cases going on against them. Some are in jail. Many others deserve to be. Often governments are saved by bribing MPs.
Given the above, ours is definitely not government by the people.
After the elections, the elected representatives are not of the people any more. They vote themselves massive pay raises, making them immune to inflation, travel in luxury cars with red lights on them, have a very high level of security, eat highly subsidised food in the Parliament canteen, enjoy VIP medical care, almost unlimited free travel and so on. No, our elected representatives are definitely not of the people.
Is our governance for the people? After over six decades of such governance, there is virtually no public transport system in the villages. Medical care, if it exists, is rudimentary. Roads are a disgrace. Inflation rages uncontrolled. Terrorists strike at will. Open and overflowing sewers, even in urban areas are an invitation to dengue, malaria and worse. No, our government is not for the people.
When our government is not by the people, of the people or for the people, how can we call it a democracy in the classical sense? No we are not a democracy. Equally, we are not a dictatorship, monarchy, theocracy, oligarchy or aristocracy. What are we then?
I recently came across a word which precisely defines our government system. We are a kleptocracy. The word is defined below:
PRONUNCIATION:
(klep-TOK-ruh-see)
MEANING:
noun: A government by the corrupt in which rulers use their official positions for personal gain.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek klepto-, from kleptes (thief) + -cracy (rule).
We are indeed a Kleptocracy. If the people want to make us into a democracy, we have to act now. Anna Hazare has shown the way. Even if we do not agree with everything he says, we need to sit back and introspect and then find a better way to bring about this transformation. If we have nothing better to offer, let us stop criticizing Anna Hazare and his team and do our part in improving India. If we have something better to offer, let us offer it and prove that it is indeed better. Let us just not be armchair critics.
The classical models of governance are:
Democracy: Government by the people, of the people, for the people.
Monarchy: Government by a single ruler (king/queen, emperor)
Aristocracy: Government by noblemen (hereditary)
Oligarchy: Government by few persons
Theocracy: Government by God (in reality this means government by religious leaders)
Dictatorship: Government by people, that have seized power by force (often: military dictatorship)
We have a government which does not fit any of the above classifications, even though our politicians and commentators keep calling it a democracy.
Once in five years the people go to vote and elect their leaders. After that they have no say in how these representatives treat the people or the country. It is like getting married and finding out that your spouse is free to be as adulterous as he or she wishes, and you cannot even divorce him or her.There is no right to recall.
People do not have any referendum where they can say whether any planned legislation is to their liking or not.
The choice of who to elect, in practice, is limited by the money and influence of the political parties. 156 Parliamentarians have serious criminal cases going on against them. Some are in jail. Many others deserve to be. Often governments are saved by bribing MPs.
Given the above, ours is definitely not government by the people.
After the elections, the elected representatives are not of the people any more. They vote themselves massive pay raises, making them immune to inflation, travel in luxury cars with red lights on them, have a very high level of security, eat highly subsidised food in the Parliament canteen, enjoy VIP medical care, almost unlimited free travel and so on. No, our elected representatives are definitely not of the people.
Is our governance for the people? After over six decades of such governance, there is virtually no public transport system in the villages. Medical care, if it exists, is rudimentary. Roads are a disgrace. Inflation rages uncontrolled. Terrorists strike at will. Open and overflowing sewers, even in urban areas are an invitation to dengue, malaria and worse. No, our government is not for the people.
When our government is not by the people, of the people or for the people, how can we call it a democracy in the classical sense? No we are not a democracy. Equally, we are not a dictatorship, monarchy, theocracy, oligarchy or aristocracy. What are we then?
I recently came across a word which precisely defines our government system. We are a kleptocracy. The word is defined below:
PRONUNCIATION:
(klep-TOK-ruh-see)
MEANING:
noun: A government by the corrupt in which rulers use their official positions for personal gain.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek klepto-, from kleptes (thief) + -cracy (rule).
We are indeed a Kleptocracy. If the people want to make us into a democracy, we have to act now. Anna Hazare has shown the way. Even if we do not agree with everything he says, we need to sit back and introspect and then find a better way to bring about this transformation. If we have nothing better to offer, let us stop criticizing Anna Hazare and his team and do our part in improving India. If we have something better to offer, let us offer it and prove that it is indeed better. Let us just not be armchair critics.
The classical models of governance are:
Democracy: Government by the people, of the people, for the people.
Monarchy: Government by a single ruler (king/queen, emperor)
Aristocracy: Government by noblemen (hereditary)
Oligarchy: Government by few persons
Theocracy: Government by God (in reality this means government by religious leaders)
Dictatorship: Government by people, that have seized power by force (often: military dictatorship)
We have a government which does not fit any of the above classifications, even though our politicians and commentators keep calling it a democracy.
Once in five years the people go to vote and elect their leaders. After that they have no say in how these representatives treat the people or the country. It is like getting married and finding out that your spouse is free to be as adulterous as he or she wishes, and you cannot even divorce him or her.There is no right to recall.
People do not have any referendum where they can say whether any planned legislation is to their liking or not.
The choice of who to elect, in practice, is limited by the money and influence of the political parties. 156 Parliamentarians have serious criminal cases going on against them. Some are in jail. Many others deserve to be. Often governments are saved by bribing MPs.
Given the above, ours is definitely not government by the people.
After the elections, the elected representatives are not of the people any more. They vote themselves massive pay raises, making them immune to inflation, travel in luxury cars with red lights on them, have a very high level of security, eat highly subsidised food in the Parliament canteen, enjoy VIP medical care, almost unlimited free travel and so on. No, our elected representatives are definitely not of the people.
Is our governance for the people? After over six decades of such governance, there is virtually no public transport system in the villages. Medical care, if it exists, is rudimentary. Roads are a disgrace. Inflation rages uncontrolled. Terrorists strike at will. Open and overflowing sewers, even in urban areas are an invitation to dengue, malaria and worse. No, our government is not for the people.
When our government is not by the people, of the people or for the people, how can we call it a democracy in the classical sense? No we are not a democracy. Equally, we are not a dictatorship, monarchy, theocracy, oligarchy or aristocracy. What are we then?
I recently came across a word which precisely defines our government system. We are a kleptocracy. The word is defined below:
PRONUNCIATION:
(klep-TOK-ruh-see)
MEANING:
noun: A government by the corrupt in which rulers use their official positions for personal gain.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek klepto-, from kleptes (thief) + -cracy (rule).
We are indeed a Kleptocracy. If the people want to make us into a democracy, we have to act now. Anna Hazare has shown the way. Even if we do not agree with everything he says, we need to sit back and introspect and then find a better way to bring about this transformation. If we have nothing better to offer, let us stop criticizing Anna Hazare and his team and do our part in improving India. If we have something better to offer, let us offer it and prove that it is indeed better. Let us just not be armchair critics.