As promised in our last issue, we are sharing with our readers here some interesting posts from Mr. Vikram Lal’s blog. These are in the form of a diaIogue on the nature of our democracy. -Editor I Don’t Like Our Democracy Posted by Vikram Lal on 12/08/2011 As Churchill’s famous saying goes: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” It may not be the worst when compared to other forms, b... Read More

The India Against Corruption movement has succeeded in taking out the issue of a strong and effective integrity institution from the backburner and mobilizing popular support for enactment of a central legislation without further prevarication. It has also compelled the government to give civil society an important role in the process of formulation of the legislative proposal in this regard. The movement has also been able to expose the hollowness of the government claim that in our representat... Read More

The India Against Corruption movement has succeeded in taking out the issue of a strong and effective integrity institution from the backburner and mobilizing popular support for enactment of a central legislation without further prevarication. It has also compelled the government to give civil society an important role in the process of formulation of the legislative proposal in this regard. The movement has also been able to expose the hollowness of the government claim that in our representat... Read More

*Parshuram Ray The startling ground realities of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act have been exposed in a series of studies undertaken by the Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS). In the light of these findings, CEFS has approached the Supreme Court to ensure that the systemic deficiencies in the implementation of the Act are rectified and those found guilty of corruption are brought to book. The PIL has already had a significant imp... Read More

*Paranjoy Guha Thakurta A Brief Background The author has made a revealing documentary film on iron ore mining in Bellary Karnataka) and Ananthapur (Andhra Pradesh). The film, titled “Blood & Iron: A Story of the Convergence of Crime, Business and Politics in Southern India”, documents how iron ore mining in these districts has influenced politics in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and devastated the ecology of the region. Common Cause is happy to have extended financial suppo... Read More

*Swapna Jha Much before the enactment of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) the Supreme Court had emphasized the significance of the right to information for bringing about transparency in the government. Many of the orders of the apex court directed the State to disclose the information withheld by it without sufficient cause. In State of U.P. vs. Raj Narain, (1975, SC 428), the plea of privilege in respect of the information regarding the tour arrangements of Prime Minister Indira... Read More

*Surjit Das There is perhaps no other symbol that captures the imagination of a nation more than a national anthem. The two most famous songs which celebrate the Indian nation and which have vied with each other for that status are Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana. Vande Mataram is, of course, the older of the two and takes the form of a worshipful hymn to Mother India. It was published in Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya’s novel Ananda Math in 1882 but was perhaps written between 1872 ... Read More

Sharad C. Misra* The MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme was initially launched in December 1993 with an amount of Rs. 5 lakh per MP per year. The amount was increased to Rs.1 crore in 1994-95 and to Rs. 2 crore in 1098-99. It has now been increased more than twofold to Rs. 5 crore with increased allocation of Rs.2,370 crore for the Financial Year 2011-12, as announced by the Finance Minister during his reply to the debate on the General Budget in the Lok Sabha. This offer was welcomed b... Read More

We have nearly 3000 life members on our rolls, most of whom were enrolled during the 1980’s and the 1990’s. Apart from their addresses, we hardly have any personal information about them in our records. This does not make for an active engagement with our membership. We have been making concerted efforts to create a life members’ database and since July 2007, all the issues of the journal have been carrying an appeal to our life members to furnish their personal data in li... Read More

Under the Rules & Regulations of COMMON CAUSE as amended by the Governing Council on March 8, 2007, The membership of the Society is open to individuals irrespective of caste, creed or community. Organisations, which were members of the Society as on March 8, 2007, shall henceforth be Honorary members without voting rights. The membership fee for new Individual members (with voting rights) is Rs.500/- for one year and Rs.2,500/- for life. New Ass... Read More