-The Times of India CHENNAI: The Election Commission has estimated that the 2014 Lok Sabha elections will cost the exchequer Rs 3,500 crore. That's about 150% more than the amount spent for the 2009 polls (Rs 1,400 crore). This does not include the expenses incurred for security and the amount political parties will spend. "Every state will send the expenditure statements to the Centre for reimbursement. The Union law ministry will peruse...
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9.7 crore new voters added to electoral rolls in last five years -Bharti Jain
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The country has added 9.7 crore voters since the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, which translates into a 13.5% rise, but the state-wise rolls for 2014 finalized on January 31 show that Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal registered the highest growth of voters in percentage terms. Beating the national average by a huge margin, the electorate in Tamil Nadu has swelled by 29.3%, in...
More »A Critique of The Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 -Amba Salelkar
-Kafila.org The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill was meant to be an enactment to codify India's obligations under the UNCRPD, which it ratified without reservations. There was a Committee set up in 2009 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, headed by Smt. Sudha Kaul, to draft a Bill to this effect. Like the UNCRPD says, the Committee included different people with disabilities - across disabilities - to draft...
More »Unkept promise -TK Rajalakshmi
-Frontline The tussle within some Central government Ministries over proposed cuts in the budget for rural development schemes has affected a promise made to senior citizens. THEIR wizened faces said it all. Though there was disappointment, there was also a glimmer of hope that their trek to the national capital would not go in vain. For almost a month, senior citizens, most of them poor, had been pouring into New Delhi from...
More »Can benefits be tied to the vote? -Mark Schneider
-The Hindu Business Line Clientelism - tying benefits to political choices - cannot work because voting preferences cannot be ascertained. Do parties and their local agents link access to government services and benefits from government welfare schemes to how voters vote, or are expected to vote? This political strategy, which social scientists refer to as clientelism, depends on a massive investment in local leaders who collect information on voters' party preferences, vote choices...
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