The
civil society is generally cynical about politicians, and do not differentiate
between the performers and non-performers among them. The society’s perception is that the entire
political community is irresponsible, not realising that they were elected from
the civil society they belong to. Be it
a bureaucrat, a politician, a professional, an employee or a teacher, they are
all from the civil society, which is a conglomerate of people of various
characters and value systems. In such an environment, it is unfair to give a
sweeping label of ‘bad’ to the politicians in general.
The
media too focusses on the behaviour and sound-bites of only the ‘trouble
makers’ among the politicians, giving them the limelight they do not deserve,
for the sake sensationalism and TRP ratings.
The real heroes, who are the initiators of discussions and debates in
the Parliament are ignored and go unnoticed.
This gives an impression among errant parliamentarians and the people at
large, that visibility before the media and the camera is the main objective to
be achieved.
Elected
politicians govern the state. If
governance is in the hands of good politicians, the people naturally stand to
benefit. Way back in 2009, at the end of the 14th Lok Sabha session,
the entire country was cynical about politicians and Parliamentarians. A casual
remark by Dr Abdul Kalam, “Are we not having good Parliamentarians? Why term
all bad?” triggered an idea to the Editorial Team of PreSense to identify and
honour the achievers.
At
the end of the 8th edition of the Sansad Ratna Awards in 2017, the
Editorial Team is pleased and proud that this Award is considered the most
prestigious award presented by the civil society to Parliamentarians in
recognition of their achievement. The award-winning Parliamentarians
acknowledge that this Award has motivated them to strive to perform
better. This is a silent revolution,
generating positivity in action.
During
the Sansad Ratna Awards 2017 function held at IIT Madras on 27th
May, the focus was on two issues, viz. (1) how MPs should think of innovative
projects that help their constituencies and (2) the role of the civil society
in appreciating the performing Parliamentarians and Legislators, and actively
supporting them in the development of the constituency.
The
news about these top performing Parliamentarians should reach the people across
the nation. Instead of being cynical and arm-chair critics of the politicians
in general, the civil society can definitely play a proactive and participatory
role by working alongside their elected representatives for betterment of their
own society.
(Data Source: PRS
India – data relates to the period from 1-6-2014 to 12-4-2017)
by K. Srinivasan,
Editor in Chief, PreSense
(This article was published in the May 2017 issue of ezine PreSense as Editorial)
