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Dear Reader,
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is constitutionally mandated to decide election schedules, conduct the polls, regulate campaign expenditures, and monitor electoral conduct. Therefore, the ECI is the conscience keeper of the fundamental function of India's democracy—namely, the right to vote in free and fair elections.
Hence, the conduct of the ECI – both in action and perception – has to be above reproach. Unfortunately, Article 14 finds, through a Right to Information (RTI) filing, that in the recent past, the conduct of the ECI has been less than kosher. Official documents reveal how controversial changes to the selection process of election commissioners enabled hasty overnight appointments with little scrutiny and undue haste.
This gives rise to questions and doubts about the integrity of the process of appointing election commissioners, and the potential pressures and motivations on commissioners once appointed.
India's proposed delimitation exercise — carving out electoral constituencies and drawing or redrawing their boundaries — has become contentious and vexed. The Constitution prescribes that the ratio of seats to the population will be the same for each state; and that the number of people per constituency will be constant for each state. However, this is easier mandated than done, as the demographics in India show a significant divide across regions. If the Constitutional template is to be applied, the political representation for each state will change dramatically from the present.
For instance, the five southern states will lose 24 seats, and the four Hindi heartland states states—UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and MP—will gain not an insignificant 34 seats. This will penalise the southern states for managing their population and making a more than significant contribution to the country's kitty, a situation that the states have decried and made their anxieties known.Noting that the reapportionment of seats cannot be delayed further, The India Forum looks at the probable solutions – including expanding the size of the Lok Sabha, and even equalising the representation in the Rajya Sabha — the House of the States, to ensure that the federal interests are protected.
In 2021, in Kerala, the Peringad River, located on the border of Mullassery, Pavarati, and Venkitangu panchayats in Thrissur district, was declared a protected forest by the Kerala State Forest Department. This was intended to preserve 1.5 acres of mangrove forest and 234 acres of an adjacent river system. However, for the residents, largely fishers and marginalised communities who depend on the river, this has come in the way of earning a living and have launched protests. Keraleeyam Masika reports on this tussle between the imperative for conserving critical river systems and the need for the residents to earn a livelihood.
In Jharkhand, Nagarik Sahayata Kendras (NSKs), or citizen help desks, a collaboration between the government, civil society organisations, workers, and farmers, are transforming the way marginalised citizens and vulnerable populations access and navigate government schemes and services. Especially in facilitating last-mile connectivity in welfare programmes.
Launched in 73 blocks, The Migration Story reports that, in the past decade, the local communities have been able to leverage state and central schemes previously inaccessible to them. From finding work through MGNREGA job cards to receiving rations and pensions and accessing horticultural schemes like Birsa Harik Gram Yojona (BHGY), they have come a long way in diversifying their sources of income and ensuring food security. This has also reversed migration from the regions to states like Gujarat and Kerala in search of jobs.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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