Scrap voter list, cards – Aadhaar Hai Na!

Bihar Panchayat Raj Minister Samrat Chaudhary has come up with a unique idea of having dedicated websites for each and every gram Panchayat in the State. It is not a fancy idea to make the panchayat's presence felt on the Internet. It is aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability of 8,300-plus panchayats which will get Rs 8,500 crore budget for health and development works.

Each rupee that is spent will be accounted for. It is a great idea that every State must adopt and ensure that power flows down to the village level from the top. This will ensure decentralisation in its true sense.

This use of technology can be extended for conducting the elections and the forthcoming local self-government polls in States such as Maharashtra can be a good start for the much-needed reforms on this front. I am not talking any rocket science. The Aadhaar card has now come to be recognised as the single most important instrument of personal identity. I have seen the effective, flawless use of Aadhaar as an identity even in the serpentine queues at Tirupati.

Aadhaar is now accepted across financial accounts and transactions as part of the KYC. So, why don't we accept voter identification and scrap the outdated, outmoded, much-criticised system of voter registration and issuing of voter identity?

Imagine this. Huge rush at polling stations, people holding their ration cards or voter cards literally fall head-over-heels to find their name in the voter list. After managing to save their shirts in the melee, they collect their numbers. The check does not stop even after they reach the booths.

The number, name and identity are doubly checked. Then the voter is allowed to enter the voting machine area to press the button. Can all this not be done away with by using just one biometric identification just as they do in Tirupati Balaji queues? I have written to the Election Commission. Let us see.

The existing voter list system is full of flaws. Let me give you my personal example. Of all the four names that we registered, only my name figured in the list but with a wrong address. I got it corrected online, while my other family members still await their voter cards. On the contrary, all of us have our own Aadhaar cards. One of the flaws that I have observed is the scant respect with which the voter registration staff deals with the application forms, particularly during special camps.

They just throw them down into plastic trays on the ground. They do not bother to check if the forms land in the trays or fly away. This demonstrates their frustration. Don't we keep hearing the cases of disappearance of voters' names from the register en bloc, followed by accusations and counter accusations by politicians.

All this can be relegated to history by adopting the Aaadhar system. This is one sure shot way of ensuring inclusive democracy that everyone talks about these days. This is bound to prompt a few more voters to walk up to their neighbourhood polling booth without bothering about the elusive voter card and 'sacrifice' half an hour from their election day holiday.

The Aaadhar card can also be used for a host of other purposes such as land records, driving licence and even education record by incorporating a chip. Driving license anyway comes with a chip. It is a matter of extension of this technology to Aadhaar.

While we discuss the village panchayats, let us remember the man who dreamt of ensuring true self-governance – former PM Rajiv Gandhi whose death anniversary was observed last Saturday. Rajiv, through his Panchayat Raj plan and the 73rd Constitutional amendment, wanted the Gram Sabha as the foundation of the system.

Even the Congress party's greatest critic Prime Minister Narendra Modi said recently that "Panchayati Raj system is very important to fulfil the dream of Gram Swaraj." Modi went on to say "Today, as we are marking 'Amrit Mahotsav', we must fulfil Bapu's dream of Grameen Vikas." Good to hear these words which are almost music to one's ears as they remind us of what Mahatma Gandhi used to say – India lives in its villages.

Let's keep reminding the ruling dispensation at the Centre of Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas and take it forward beyond slogans and election campaign banners. The inclusive growth should be transparent and must encompass all villages in all the States and Union territories, and not just the double engine-enabled ones. To begin with. the PM can empower all MPs to spend the funds allocated to them in rural areas as well, apart from asking them to ensure that the various government schemes are effectively implemented far and wide with far reaching effects. My heart bleeds when I read about funds allocated to various schemes just get lapsed for lack of implementation. If the MPs, MLAs and down to gram panchayat level members take up the task of implementing these schemes, most of the problems will be solved.

Take the case of Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) under which each MP has the choice to suggest to the District Collector for works to the tune of Rs.5 Crores per annum to be taken up in his/her constituency.

For the uninitiated, the Rajya Sabha Members of Parliament can recommend works in one or more districts in the State from where he/she has been elected. The Nominated Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may select any one or more districts from any one State in the country for implementation of their choice of work under the scheme.

The rules of the game are clear. Under this scheme, the government directly transfers funds to the local authorities of respective constituencies. MPs do not receive any money but can recommend works following the guidelines in their constituency.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India recorded poor utilisation of funds, poor monitoring by the ministry, poor quality and, at times, inadmissible work, and suspected fraud and corruption. All these can be resolved with the Bihar model of transparency at the Panchayat level by uploading all accounts. Checks and counter checks become easy if the records are in the public domain.

Like many of those who travel on the roads, Mohan Guruswamy, former adviser to the finance ministry in the Vajpayee government, observed that the signs of development disappear the moment one travels 5 km on the highways. He had once made a presentation to a CMs' meet on decentralising powers. Responding, then Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel asked him 'who will come to us if we do all these'. Guruswamy himself described this recently at Hyderabad.

As we look at a New India during the ongoing 75th year of Independence, it is time to shed this kind of feudal attitude and think like and for GenX, Y and Z.

(The author is a Mumbai-based media veteran known for his thought-provoking messaging)