Achievements
of LOK SATTA
Summary of
Achievements
Lok
Satta (People Power), launched in 1997, is India's largest non-party
movement for political and governance reforms. Over the last decade,
Lok Satta has significantly influenced India's democratic evolution.
Lok Satta's main advocacy is political reforms: cleaning up the
electoral process, decriminalizing politics and changing the nature
of incentives in public office. Its innovative Election Watch programme
has spread to many States in India, building pressure for reform.
The following initiatives launched by Lok Satta resulted in nation-wide,
tangible institutional mechanisms: Candidates for public office
are now compelled to disclose their criminal and financial antecedents;
the notoriously flawed voter lists across India are improving; an
accessible, citizen-friendly voter-registration mechanism through
local post offices is being institutionalised; in 2003, a far-reaching
political funding reform, providing for disclosure, tax incentives,
and free air time in Private and Public channels, was enacted.
Empowerment of local governments and stakeholders is a central goal.
The movement made dry concepts into evocative and appealing ideas.
In 2003, 10.6 million people signed in support of the cause, forcing
a recalcitrant government and political parties to adopt empowerment
as an important governance agenda item. Lok Satta and like-minded
organizations from South India have catalyzed the non-partisan federation
of elected women local representatives, as a first, key step towards
greater assertion and improved performance of women politicians.
As a result of Lok Satta's advocacy for major judicial reforms,
a system of accessible local courts with simple procedures and time-bound
verdicts will come into place in 2006.
Working
with several other movements, Lok Satta played a vital role in enactment
of the comprehensive and universal Right to Information Act,
2005. The first Citizen's Charters with penalties for non-performance
were introduced in Andhra Pradesh, thanks to Lok Satta's initiatives.
Lok Satta has collaborated with the Central Vigilance Commission
and the Indian Finance Ministry to transform procedures in indirect
tax administration. Until now, this area was a fertile source of
extortion and a great obstacle to small and medium entrepreneurs.
Quality
school education and accessible healthcare are also at the core
of Lok Satta's reform agenda. Its advocacy resulted in the National
Health Mission, whose objective is creating universal access to
health care over the next decade. Its advocacy and grassroots work
has made decentralized distribution management a part of the national
debate for reforming the vexed power sector in India. Lok Satta's
simple-but-creative 'people's inspection' effort also led to the
elimination of short delivery of petrol pumps across Andhra Pradesh.
The
specific and tangible achievements and impact of Lok Satta's work
are manifold and varied. But perhaps it's most vital contribution
lies within the creation of awareness amongst the population about
the need for fundamental governance transformation, and the urgency
of eliminating the demand for illegitimate funds. It has been broadly
accepted that three kinds of reforms have to go hand in hand; political,
governance and economic reforms. Lok Satta's work is a key element
in creating a climate for political reform in a vibrant, but flawed
democracy.
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