[IAC#RG] Awaken and Arise 750 Million EWS to Start Questioning Bad Governnance

Dear Friends,

All of us want India to become No 1 in the world and claim its rightful place. Our 400 million middle class though very good but is very rightly too busy in its own progress and comes together only when  catastrophic incidents take place or any well meaning movement starts. After some time, their protests peter out and opportunistic government heaves a sigh of relief.

750 million EWS are never truly part of the protest against unjust policies. They are not informed and hence are not awakened because the people who should be keeping them informed i.e., panchayats, corporators, MLAs, MPs etc inform them only those things which ensure their votes for them. Media also largely is seldom neutral. Under these situations, how to awaken and arise 750 million EWS to add the real people power to 400 million middle class so that the protests against governance which is at the lowest ebb today  is effective and having a bombshell impact on the government to just accede to the collective will of the people. Of course leaders will still play the most crucial role.

We all know that India's telecom story of having 900 million mobiles is a lie. We have 900 million SIM cards in service. The ratio of SIMs per person in India is 2.1 as against the world average of 1.29 or so. It means India has around 450 million people who actually use mobile phone for voice, SMS, e-mail and Internet put together. 750 million people in India do not have phones. Even if we take out 185 million young children who may not need phone today because they are small, we still have 565 million people without any phone. These 565 million people, nearly half of India do not have ready access to vernacular voice, SMS, e-mail and Internet. These people are never awakened with truth.

We need to equip these 750 million people with phone for voice @ 50/- per month and Internet @ 30/- per month, both are highly possible if the government really wants it. It requires true policy, regulatory and technology decisions from that government who is real well wisher and social developer of the people and not the governments who want 100,000 Cr Food Security Bill to make these 750 million even more crippled from awakening and arising. 

Imagine with the combined power of 1.2 billion people, no government can afford to relax for five years and enjoy the fruits without acceding to the genuine people power for quickly protesting the bad governance. Vernacular voice, SMS and e-mails are most powerful today and go beyond the power of the state or the king.

If we all agree, IAC should also include this as the first item in its manifesto. A glimpse of it, we saw when IAC rapped the TRAI for its slip shod OHD on media holding.

Jai Hind.

 

With warm regards,

Col Mahesh Khera