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Rule 49(0) - Election Rules

I found this information about the election rules, this one is very important to us voters and there is a provision to make a difference in Indian politics.

Disclaimer : I have not written this information, I am merely copying the contents which, I got on my mail (I have not verified for the authenticity of the article).

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Among the reasons for poor voter turnout in the cities, particularly of the middle and upper classes, is the complaint that they have no real
choice considering the poor quality of candidates and the poor public
image of the parties these candidates represent. Secondly, many citizens
believe that their votes are not really going to make a difference.


Since in the ensuing elections there is no provision for indicating
rejection of candidates on the ballot, except by invalidating the vote
by ambiguous voting - that is, putting the stamp on the line separating
one candidate's name from another -- the Indian Liberal Group recommends
a solution that already exists in the Conduct of Election Rules 1961.
This not only gives reluctant voters a reasonable choice, but also
ensures that their vote does make a difference.


Rule No. 49(O) in the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 says:


"Elector deciding not to vote - If an elector, after his electoral roll
number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form 17 A and
has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under
sub-rule
(1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect
shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding
officer, and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be
obtained against such remark. "


Explanation: In other words, a voter can go to the polling station and
tell the presiding officer that he/she does not wish to cast her/his
vote. The presiding officer will make a remark that the voter does not
wish to vote and take the voter's signature against his/her name in the
register of voters (Form 17A). At the end of the day, the presiding
officer will, in totalling the number of votes cast, also include the
number of electors who refused to cast their vote. By doing so, voters
make it clear to all political parties that they are not satisfied with
the kind of candidates put up by them. Though they have done their duty
as citizens by going to the polling station, they have not found anyone
on the ballot paper who deserves their vote. This is the Protest Vote.


If large numbers of citizens exercise their franchise in this manner,
political parties will be forced to be far more careful in ensuring they
do not nominate crooks and criminals or incompetents as their candidates
next time round. This in turn will see the emergence of honest and
committed candidates getting into Parliament and state legislatures in
the long run, thus leading the way to good governance. After the present
elections have concluded, the Indian Liberal Group will press for the
Protest Vote facility on electronic voting machines the next time round,
so that voters have the option to say "None of the Above" after
scrutinizing the candidates on the ballot.


The other factor thats involved with this 49(0) section is a scary
section for the political parties.


Here's an example. Say there's a candidate standing in City A.


And say out of 100 people only 40 people turn to vote and out of that
the Candidate recieves 30 votes. Then by rule, he's been declared as
elected.
But say, if out of the 100 people 70 turn to vote. and 30 people vote
for the candidate and the other 40 people use section 49(0), to say i am
not interested in anyof the candidate. Then if, the candidates
vote(which the vote he got ie., 30) is less than the vote against him
(under section 49(0) - which is 40), then by rule he would not be elected as winner and in turn he would not be able to participate in anymore further elections.
And the election for CITY A will be re-held with fresh candidates. Now
that sounds great handle for people!!


And i hope that's why many people dont know about section 49(0) and the
politicians and the goverment still tries to keep it a hidden secret.
But how long? That depends on you'r hands now. .

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(P)Reservation

Reservation seems to be the word on everyone's lips, be it students, politicians, parents or bureaucrats, anyone and everyone seems to have an opinion about reservation.

To me there should be some amount of reservation, I accept and totally agree if there is reservation made in education because by no means we can compare the quality of education in city to the ones in the sub-urban areas, students from there are far behind in terms of quality education, the key point for anyone not from the quality school infested place and the ones where there is 'a' school for all the places surrounding 50-60 km is to be educated and complete their primary education and not about the quality of it, so it also maps to the kind of teachers over there and the way they impart the education (I am not blaming the students nor the teachers here, they have accepted what is being offered to them and are reasonably satisfied, because there is no way a city kid would opt for a school/college in a village, the vice-versa is always the case).
With this background, when these kids want to do their higher education it always helps it they get some push, either by reserving some seats for them or by bringing down the cut-off marks for getting qualified, this way we are ensuring a level playing field so that all can play and then make their mark.
But I do not see a point why the reservation are mapped to caste's (yes there could be cases where a particular caste is always economically backward), I think the whole reservation system should be designed so that all those people who fall below a particular financial line, should be benefited rather than saying that all those belonging to a particular caste get the reservation, this is totally absurd (this is done purely to keep the vote bank alive).

The reservation should stop at the education level and since they have provided a level playing field it is left to the individual from here whether he succeeds or not, the government should not make or ask for reservation in the jobs, this is absurd, you have provided the best of the education and then instead of allowing them to work hard to get a job, you are again going a step further and providing all on a platter then what is the point in studying, they are indirectly being encouraged not to study well and work hard because anyway there is a section of jobs being reserved for them.
Instead of making reservation, it would be better if the government sets aside a % of its GDP and makes some provision in the budget so that all those people who belong to the particular castes are entitled for 'X' amount of money, this way everyone is happy.

I am a SC (Scheduled Caste) person, all through my life I always felt and knew that my father was sufficiently well placed that he could take of my education, hence at no point in my life have I taken the benefit of being a SC - never availed a scholarship, fee cut, nor got into a college based on my caste, I did my B.E (comp sc), if I had used my caste certificate I could have easily got a MBBS seat, but did not because all through my life I was put in best of the school, college and was reading the same books as others and in spite of this if I didn’t get through then it does not make any sense to fall back on your caste and take the help of it, I have lived by that, today I am working as a Senior Manager in a IT firm and happy with what I have achieved.
I do not know if I had got my first job through reservation, then how my colleagues would have perceived me, even if I would proved my credibility there would always be a comment "he got this job because of reservation" - this tag is not good in professional career and will always become an hindrance in one's life.

For me the whole episode is a sham and this Reservation is nothing but for Preservation of vote bank.

"Government should never become god"