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The Modi government on Saturday appointed Rajiv Jain, a 1980 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Jharkhand cadre, as the new Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He succeeds Dineshwar Sharma who is scheduled to retire on December 31. 

The government also appointed Anil Dhasmana as the new Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief. He is an IPS officer of 1981 batch from Madhya Pradesh cadre. Mr. Dhasmana is an old hand in India’s external intelligence agency and is an expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan matters. He will take over from Rajinder Khanna whose term ends this month-end. 

In clearing Mr. Jain and Mr. Dhasmana’s names as head of the two apex intelligence agencies the government has adhered to the criteria of seniority and has not jumped the queue. Both the officers will have two year fixed tenure. 

Rajiv Jain had joined the IB in 1989 as Assistant Director and has been posted as Joint Director of the Delhi unit of the IB, considered to be a key assignment in the agency. As Deputy Director, he was instrumental in shaping the then NDA government’s policy on Kashmir as he was handling Kashmir matters with the then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission K. C. Pant who had been appointed as the government’s pointsperson on exploring the possibility of starting dialogue with different sections in Jammu and Kashmir and help usher in peace in the troubled border State.

Mr. Jain also served in Gujarat as Joint Director, based in Ahmedabad between 2005 and 2008 and later shifted to Delhi to head the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) till 2012. At present, he is the senior most Special Director in the IB. 

On the front of the armed forces, the government announced appointment of Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat—currently the Vice Chief of Army Staff—as the 27th Chief of Indian Army. It also named Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa who had commanded a fighter squadron during the 1999 Kargil conflict, as the new chief of the Indian Air Force. Both the Army Chief General Dalbir Singh and Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha are retiring on December 31.”

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Former Supreme Court judge Markandeya Katju faced another embarrassing situation in the apex court which earlier this week refused to quash the March 2015 resolution  by both houses of Parliament against him for describing Gandhi as a British agent and Netaji as a Japanese agent in a blog. 

“We reject the preliminary objection regarding the maintainability of the petition. Petition is maintainable.But we dismiss the petition on merits”, a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur ruled. The operative portion was read out by Justice U U Lalit who wrote the judgment. Katju, also the former chairman of the Press Council of India had contended that the resolutions curtailed his freedom of speech and expression and also dent his reputation. 

His counsel Gopal Subramaniam had told the court that his client could not have been condemned by Parliament without being given an opportunity to be heard. During the hearing itself the court had said that prima facie the unanimous condemnation by both the houses of the parliament did not violate his right to free speech and expression or in any way dent his reputation. Senior counsel Fali Nariman who was appointed as the amicus curiae by the court had said: “the resolution is only an expression of strong disagreement and was not even in the nature of censure. But the statement , remember is coming from a retired judge of the supreme court and not an ordinary citizen. People take it seriously… they get interested. If somebody like me says such things people will only say it is his own opinion. That is not the case with a former judge of the highest court of the land” CJI Thakur had also repeatedly told Katju that “he should be mentally prepared for his own criticism if he criticises others”. 

“If this article is defamatory, everyone has a right to condemn him. Justice Katju is entitled to his view but the Parliament and others may disagree. If there is one action, it must be against Justice Katju for writing this article. What he said about Mahatma and Bose may amount to defamation. Once you (Justice Katju) have chosen to expose yourself to public life, you will have to accept criticism,”, CJI Thakur had said during one of the hearing. 

This order comes close on the heels of the apex court initiating contempt proceedings against Katju for his blogs denigrating acting some of the SC judges. Katju has however filed an application carrying a detailed ‘unconditional apology’ which the court will consider later this week. 

About the author: PCI Babai is a Delhi based practicing hack, a cynic to core.”

“Recent bombings at the Egyptian capital Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral and outside an Istanbul football stadium in Turkey have underscored the need for stronger international cooperation and efforts to combat terrorism, an issue India has been pressing for since long.The atrocious attack that targeted Sunday mass at St. Mark Church complex is yet to be claimed, but the sick-minded Daesh (ISIS Jehadists) supporters celebrated it on social media, raising the suspicion of their involvement in the dastardly act.There is no race, religion or rationale that could ever justify, let alone cheer, snuffing the lives of 25 innocent people — of which the majority were women and children — in their sacred place of worship.The deliberately provocative act of barbarism was designed to inflame inter-religious hatred. At least 25 people were killed and 49 were wounded when a 12 kilogram bomb went off in the chapel beside the main entrance to Egypt’s main Coptic cathedral in central Cairo, with the majority of the dead being women and children. This was the deadliest attack on the Christian minority in the country this year.Coptic Christians in Egypt are a minority group, representing 10 per cent of the total population, and for years have been bearing the brunt of growing sectarianism.The attack on the Cairo Cathederal comes as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi fights battles on several fronts. The economic reforms undertaken by him has angered the poor while insurgency, led by the Egyptian branch of Islamic State rages in Northern Sinai and a bloody crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.The Egyptian interior ministry subsequently released a picture of the bomber it identified as Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa, 22, whose nom de guerre was Abu Dajjana Al Kanani. It also released an image of what it said was the battered head of the dead bomber, who hailed from the town of Fayyoum south of Cairo.State news agency MENA reported that three of those arrested are also from Fayyoum while a fourth is from the Cairo suburb of Matariya. Both are areas typically associated with strong support for the Muslim BrotherhoodThe attack outside a football stadium in Istanbul, the sixth on its soil this year, left 38 people dead and over 150 injured. The twin bombs were intended to create maximum casualties, just like it did in June, when three suicide bombers attacked Ataturk airport in the capital. Forty-five people had lost their lives and hundreds were wounded then.The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an offshoot of the militant Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK), has claimed the responsibility for the twin bombings outside the stadium on the night of December 10. PKK has carried out a violent three-decade insurgency mainly in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast.In a statement on its website, TAK said Turkish people were not its direct target, and added that two of its members died during the attack outside the stadium.Defeating terrorism requires a united front and it is a decision that the international community will have to take together. It is also necessary to find out what radicalizes people and inspires them to heed the call of violence and cause bloodshed.India, which is a victim of terrorism has been calling for concerted regional and international cooperation to eliminate terrorism in all its form and manifestations. It has urged for the dismantling of terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens as also disrupting all financial, tactical and logistical support for terror networks. (M. Shakeel Ahmed is a former Editor of PTI news agency. He had a long stint as PTI’s West Asia correspondent based in Bahrain. Views are personal.)”

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Bharulata Kamble, the first Indian woman who drove solo through from the United Kingdom to India through the Arctic Circle, will be in India from December 19. She will meet several political leaders including the Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. Indian-born British national, Bharulata Kamble (43) had covered 35,000 kms in 57 days covering 32 countries, 9 mountain ranges and 3 major deserts and 9 time zones spreading the message of “”save girls, educate girls”” and promoted woman empowerment.

Born in Navsari district of Gujarat, Bharulata is the first Indian woman who hoisted the Indian flag in the Arctic Circle. In India she travelled across 12 States entering from the Imphal border and completing her journey in Maharashtra via Gujarat. The journey included 5,500 kms of mountain desert areas, driving reaching the altitude of 3,700-4000 metres above sea level, and driving 2,500 kms through desert areas. This journey will be recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records authorities.  She drove on an average of 700 km every day, and 400 km per day in mountainous areas. On certain days she had driven around 1400 kms in one day and 20-22 hours if driving. She drove from Patna to Delhi 1100 kms in one day in her way to Delhi.

“”I have done my schooling in a village school in Navsari and rose to do a degree in Law. But, it was an incident in childhood that deeply impacted me,’’ Bharulata told Theindiasaga.com over phone. A fatherless child, Bharulata had once overheard an argument between her mother and her maternal family during which the family described girls “”as stones on the path who can be kicked by anyone.”” Therefore, she dedicated my journey to girls and raise funds to build healthcare facilities in India for poor women.

“”I could never forget this and decided at that moment to prove my worth. I got a degree in law. My husband is a doctor in UK. Driving was a passion with me and I always wanted to drive to India but my dream suffered a setback when I met a bad accident in 2007. More than the physical injury, the accident resulted in trauma which lasted for more than four-and-a-half-years,”” she said.

It was in 2013 when her therapist asked her about her dream. Bharulata had then shared her dream of driving down to India but added that keeping in mind her condition she would never be able to fulfill it. The therapist encouraged her to pursue her dream which took several years to fulfill. “”Initially, my family was not too keen on my taking up the trip because of the accident but I had made up my mind and eventually got their full support. I began my journey on September 13, 2016.””

Upon reaching New Delhi, Bharulata Kamble was personally welcomed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and on reaching her final destination Maharashtra she was personally welcomed by the Chief Minister Mr Devender Fadnavis.

Bharulata began her solo car journey on 13th September 2016 from the United Kingdon to India via the Arctic Circle. She completed her first record on 28th September 2016 to become the first woman in the world to undertake and completely solo car driving expedition in the Arctic Circle. This expedition was without any back up team, crew or back up vehicle. She drove 2,792 km in Arctic Circle and became the first woman in the world to drive longest distance in the Arctic Circle.

She also became the first woman driver in the world to complete a transcontinental and the Arctic Circle car journey alone and the first woman in the world to visit most countries in only 57 days. She had managed to secure support of the then Prime Minister David Cameroon, many peers from the House of Lords, Members of the Commons, many British-Asian organizations, faith leaders and members of general public in UK.

“”I could overcome the difficulties such as hostile weather conditions, lonely roads, rules and regulations in different countries due to my will power. My husband, too, encouraged and backed me in this endeavour,”” she said. The journey would be compiled in the form of a book “”My Transcontinental Odyssey””, documenting the epic journey.”

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The announcement of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on withdrawal of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 note demonetization has thrown life of every one out of gear. It is no different with the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

In a Circular on December 14 on the subject of familiarization programme on the functioning and handling of E-Wallets for the Officers and Staff of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat by Vinoy Kumar Pathar, Welfare Officer said that it has been decided to organize a familiarization programme on the functioning and handling of E-Wallets and other forms of cashless transactions for the Officers and Staff of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat on the December 19, 2016.

The Chief Manager, State Bank of India made a presentation and resolve the queries of employees, if any, during the programme. 

All the Officers and Staff were asked to attend the programme and avail of the opportunity to familiarize themselves about the functioning of the various cashless devices.

About the author: PCI Babai is a Delhi based practicing hack, a cynic to core.”

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From a young community mobilization coordinator in 2008 who was sometimes chased away by the people from her own community in Saharanpur when she went to counsel them on the importance of polio drops, to a team leader in Ghaziabad who now talks about routine immunization (RI), Najma Nikhat has come a long way.

Najma Nikhat had joined as CMC under the Social Mobilisation Network (SMNet), a programme communication network that was established in Uttar Pradesh in 2001 for improving polio vaccination coverage. “”I faced such a tough time when I started working as the neighbours and community members started spreading tales about me saying that I had spent three days in a hotel (for training) which was not considered an honourable thing,’’ she said.

However, her father stood by her all the time encouraging her to go ahead with her work without bothering about the gossip. “”I would go from house to house telling people to administer polio drops to their children but they would not even listen to me and sometimes would chase me out from the house,’’ she said at a function to mark 70 years of UNICEF in India.

Posted in Block Puakra then, Najma recalls how all this would upset her mother and she was worried that no one would marry her. In one year, she could only manage 40% families. Then she started going to congregations and talk about vaccinations from Madrasas. However, the breakthrough came when during one such congregation, where quoted from the holy Koran and then spoke about health, one old woman was so convinced that she handed over her grand child to Najma and told her she was free to administer polio drops!

This was the turning point. After this episode women came out in large numbers with their children and the old woman, Jameela became a champion accompanying Najma during her visit. The result was by 2011 the coverage was cent percent.  Jameela is  no more now.

Since then, the SMNet has evolved into a team of more than 4,800 community level mobilisers, and has about 500 coordinators at the sub-district, district and regional level, A UNICEF initiative, the main task of SMNet is to ensure that all children in the areas of the deployed community mobilisers are vaccinated against polio in every round.

In 2011, she was promoted and sent to Ghaziabad under the Routine Immunisation Programme. Shaheed Nagar block is again a difficult block with lot of resistance from the community. It took her one year to find CMCs.

“”I then approached Jannat Nisha Madrasa and held meetings there where I told them about RI. It is here that I managed to get two girls Rashid and Anjum as CMCs. We had a meeting with fathers and frontline workers on the issue. This was followed by a survey of the households,’’ she said. This was followed by Mothers Meet and a health camp where a large number of people did turn up. She organized meetings and spoke about RI at religious meetings which resulted in zero refusal families for polio.

But she still has a challenge. There still are six families in her jurisdiction who do not bring their children for immunization. “”I am hopeful that three families will come in the next round but I will have to work on the remaining three,’’ Najma said. Once she completes her task on RI, Najma—who holds a Masters in Social Work – wants to work on breastfeeding and sanitation as well.”

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Liquor ban in Bihar may be a welcome move, but it has adversely impacted the Musahar community in Bihar– particularly the women.  This community earned its livelihood by manufacturing liquor at home and selling it in the market.

“Ever since the liquor ban, the women who used to make liquor at home have now started working as domestic helps which has become a little dangerous for them. These young girls are sexually exploited at times,’’ social activist Sudha Varghese told a gathering at a function organized to mark the 70 years of UNICEF in India.  

Musahars have very low literacy rate with only 0.01% women literate and only 2% men educated. The community is so backward and exploited that the girls did not even know rape was a crime, Sudha said.   

Sudha Varghese, also known as Sister Sudha, is a social worker from Bihar who has devoted herself to the upliftment of Musahars, the Dalit community of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Musahars are the last community of the caste ladder in India and are considered as `untouchables.’

While some improvement has been made in education and skilling of adolescents, child marriages are still prevalent as the community believes that girls should be married at a very young age. Several girls who wanted to study further but could not convince their parents have even ended their lives.

Sudha, addressed fondly as `didi’, lives and works in Jamsaut, a village in Patna district. Born in a prosperous family in Kottayam district of Kerala, Sudha moved to Bihar in 1965 to work for the poor with the Sisters of Notre Dame Academy after resigning from her job as a teacher in a convent. She moved to 1986 to live with the Musahar community to educate girls of this community.

In 2006, she established a residential school `Prerna’ (inspiration) on the outskirts of Danapur with financial help from the State government. It is an all-girls school designed to remove girls from farm labour to ensure they receive education. Varghese also teaches about the fundamental rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution. The Prerna Residential School for Mahadalit Girls was replicated in Gaya and at present there are 250 girl students in both the schools.

Sudha Varghese is working for the empowerment of women, providing leadership and livelihood training and also the training to fight against domestic violence to Dalit women at Panchayat level. She has organized 300 groups of youth, both Dalit boys and girls who have been provided training in sports in three blocks of Patna so as to instill in them a sense of self confidence and help them find a place in the community. She has been closely working with UNICEF for several years now.

In 2006, she was awarded the Padma Shree for her extraordinary contribution to social work.”

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Four days ago on December 19, in a historical judgment, the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Hyderabad awarded death sentence to Pakistan trained Indian Mujahideen (IM) leader Yasin Bhatkal and four others for taking part in twin blasts in Hyderabad in February 2013 in which 19 innocent persons were killed and more than 130 were injured. 

In this “rarest of the rare” case besides Yasin Bhatkal alias Mohammad Ahmed Siddibappa , Zia-ur-Rahman of Pakistan, Aizaz Shaik, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi and Mohammad Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu, all from different states of India were also given capital punishment.

Nonetheless Riyaz Bhatkal alias Shah Riyaz Ahmad Mohammed Ismail Shahbandari the chief conspirator of the multiple terrorist activities in India including Hyderabad blasts is presently residing safely in Karachi under the patronage of nefarious Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Sharad Kumar, Director General of NIA, rightly mentioned that “it was a wonderful investigation carried out by” NIA and it was “the first ever conviction of Indian Mujahideen cadres”. The IM operatives use improvised explosive devices (IED) in carrying out bomb blasts at sensitive places, as they were extensively trained by ISI in use of IED.

The police nabbed Bhatkal and Asadullah from India- Nepal borders while other culprits were arrested in India and were charged for several offences including criminal conspiracy, murder and waging war against India. It was a great success as sometimes back Abdul Karim Tunda an important Lashkar-e-Taiba operator, who is expert in using IED, was also caught from India Nepal borders.

Bhatkal went to Pakistan via Dubai in 2006 and was trained in handling of small arms and in preparation of bombs from locally available material.

IM carried out several terrorist activities in India including 2007 serial bomb blasts in Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad courts in which more than 18 persons were killed. In May 2008 IM carried out serial bomb blasts in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi in which more than 166 persons lost their lives and several hundred were injured. Again in 2010 IM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives carried out bomb blasts in German Bakery, Pune in which 17 persons were killed while in Jama Masjid in Delhi, two IM terrorists shot dead two Taiwanese nationals and again in bomb blast at Sheetla Ghat in Varanasi 2 persons were killed and 37 people were injured. The ISI trained IM cadres used IED in Mumbai on 13 July 2011 and killed 26 persons and more than 130 were injured.  Again in 2013 IM operatives planted bombs in Bodhgaya, to avenge the killings of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, in which several persons were injured. ISI instructs IM operatives to put the bombs in sensitive and crowded places so that more people are killed and communal harmony of the country is disturbed. 

Mohammed Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal and his brother Riaz Bhatkal constituted IM on behest of ISI, with the sinister plan to recruit young Indian Muslims to carry out terrorist activities in India. First of all as Indians it is easy for them to move in the country and secondly in case they are caught or killed it will be difficult for Indian security agencies to link them with ISI.  On the other hand Pakistanis and human right organisations of India and abroad will also project that Indian Muslims are involved in terrorist activities as they are discriminated by Hindus.

The ISI agents target Muslims of lower stratum and motivate them by telling fictitious stories of the atrocities committed on Muslims in the world including India hence they must revenge it by participating in Jihad. Young and less educated Muslims are shown fabricated videos in which Muslims are tormented by Hindus. The ISI agents also render financial assistance to new recruits as well as to their family members.

After brainwashing these young Muslims few of them are sent to Pakistan through Middle Eastern countries and Nepal. After receiving training these young persons return to India and train others for carrying out terrorist activities. The training camps are under the control of terrorist organisations like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM); Lashkar-e-Taiba (L-e T) but the real trainers are Pakistan army personnel. The terrorists are trained in handling of small arms, use of IED, selection and reconnaissance of the targets.

The ideology of IM is to establish Islamic Caliphate in whole of South Asia including India. They do not believe in democracy and have no faith in Indian constitution and judiciary and want to bring down the lawfully elected government.

IM was banned in June 2010 in India and beside India it was also banned in several countries. IM has close relations with diverse terrorist organisations including L-e-T, Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harakatul-Jihad-e-Islami (HUJI), Hizbut Tahrir (HT), al Qaeda etc.

Military controlled ISI has launched a low intensity war against India and Pakistan considers it as an important component of its foreign policy hence the changes in Chief of Pakistani army or chief of ISI would not make any substantial change in Pakistani policy towards India. Hence India must chalk out a long term strategy to deal its western neighbour.

First of all government must strengthen its security forces particularly the intelligence organisations. There are numerous intelligence agencies but there is acute shortage of actionable intelligence. Besides HUMINT (human intelligence) due emphasis should also be given in collection of electronic intelligence.

(Jai Kumar Verma is a Delhi-based security analyst. In his long career, he has served in Indian missions abroad in Dubai, Washington and Islamabad in various capacities. Views are personal.)”

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Major General B C Khanduri-led Standing Committee on Defence, in its 23rd report on `Proxy and Postal Voting by Defence Services Personnel in General Elections” presented during the Winter Session of Parliament has made a strong pitch for e-postal ballot to cut down on delays and enable an estimated three million service personnel and their family members to exercise their democratic right to cast their votes. 

The Committee expressed concern that defence services personnel were unable to cast their votes mainly due  to cumbersome procedure involved in Proxy & Postal voting on account of  postal  delays.  To address their problems in their native place  as well as problems related to services  and career, the Service  Voters are being shuttled  by the political representations  to and  from  their native place and at the place of posting. As a result they face lots of hardship.  

The Committee was of the opinion that amendments should be made  in the electoral laws to enable Service Voters to cast their vote in elections through e-postal ballot.

In order to deliberate comprehensively  for  arriving at a consensus and speed up the discussion, the Committee invited representatives of Ministry of Home Affairs and Law and Justice as well as   the Election Commission of India along with the representatives of Ministry of Defence at  their sittings. 

The Committee  held seven sittings and vigorously took up various issues related to e-postal ballot. The Committee, inter alia, were of the view that Election Commission needs to  take into consideration the difficulties faced by Service Voters in the matter of exercising their franchise. The Committee were briefed that the technical team of the Election Commission has developed a system whereby blank postal ballot could be electronically transmitted to the Service Voter, namely, e-postal ballot system. Voters entitled to postal ballot such as Service Voters, can download and take a print out of  the postal  ballot at the Unit. This would cut short the delay experienced in the present system in two-way transmission of ballot paper by the postal services. Two-way electronic transmission has not been recommended by the Election Commission  on account of reasons of security and secrecy.         

It made various important suggestions towards hastening the process and making necessary amendments in this regard so that the electoral reform does not remain a noble thought on paper but becomes a tangible reality at the earliest. In this connection, the Committee expressed satisfaction that the Government has issued  Gazette Notification on 21st October, 2016 amending Rule 23 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961  thereby fulfilling a long standing demand for allowing the Service Voters  to have their ballot papers transmitted through electronic means instead of regular  post.  The E-Postal balloting was implemented in the  bye-election held in Nellithope  Assembly  (Puducherry) in November, marking a major breakthrough.

The Armed Forces and Para Military Forces personnel enrolled as electors in their native place have the option of appointing a Proxy of their   choice for voting on their behalf.  In such cases, the Proxy will vote at the local polling station. Others, who do not want to vote through Proxy, will be sent a  Postal Ballot by the Returning Officer of the constituency.

The Committee  have noted that the facility of appointing a Proxy for exercising the franchise on behalf of the Defence Personnel (Service Voters belonging to Armed Forces and Para Military Forces) was  introduced by way of amending of Section    60 of the Representation of People Act 1951, through the Election Laws and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2003. To be appointed as Proxy, a person has to be ordinarily resident in the constituency concerned and of not less than 18 years of age. While it is not necessary that the Proxy is also registered as an elector in the roll, at the same time, he must not be disqualified to be registered.

The Committee have further noted that the process of appointing a Proxy involves, inter-alia, filling an application in the statutorily prescribed format (Form 13F), which is appended to the 1961 Rules. Both the Service Voter appointing  the Proxy and the Proxy  so appointed have to put their signatures on the  Form and have it attested by the Commanding Officer/Notary public or First Class Magistrate. As per the procedure laid down, the Service Voter has to get his signature attested by the Commanding Officer of the Unit and send it to the Proxy being nominated by him.  The Proxy, on receipt of the form, can sign   and get the attestation from a Notary/First Class Magistrate. It is only after completing the process, as prescribed under the rules, that Form 13F can be delivered to the Returning Officer concerned.

The Committee have found  that the procedure involved in voting through Proxy could  be daunting, both for the Service Voter appointing the Proxy as well as the Proxy. The process could  also be taxing for the Returning Officer (RO) as he is required to maintain a record of the Service Voters who have appointed Proxies.  The Proxies would  vote on behalf of the Service Voter as any other general voter in the polling station covering the place of residence of the Service Voter concerned. The RO is required to send a polling station wise list of Proxies appointed by Service Voters, based on which, the Presiding Officer will permit the Proxy to cast the vote.

As evident from the depositions made, the representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the Services too find the process of voting through Proxy cumbersome. The process involves adhering to a variety of formalities which include, verifying signatures of the individual and the Proxy through First Class Magistrate, Notary and the Commanding Officer of the Unit concerned. The elaborate procedures, coupled with inherent issues relating to ‘confidentiality of the choice of the Service Voter’ discourage the individual voters from casting their vote through Proxy. Therefore, the process is not popular among the Service voters.

The Committee have  noted that the intention behind introducing the facility of Proxy Voting was to help the Service Personnel in casting their vote.

Nevertheless, considering the stringent procedure the Serving Armed Forces Personnel have to follow in appointing the Proxy; the processes the Proxy has to, in turn, follow for voting; as well as the intrinsic nature of Proxy Voting – which can compromise aspects of confidentiality – the Committee are of the view that serious efforts need to be made towards developing an alternative to the system of Proxy Voting. A better method for enabling the Service Personnel to exercise their franchise is a necessity.

The Committee understood that conducting the General Elections is an onerous task for the Election Commission of India. To fulfil the task,  manpower is acquired from different Central and State Government departments.  The manpower so acquired is also to be trained for ensuring smooth conduct of elections.   The uniformed Service Personnel being a disciplined lot, the Committee feel that the Services of these personnel can be utilised to conduct the elections, in a fair and transparent manner for Service Voters, particularly in the difficult and forward areas.

India has made significant strides in terms of technological advancement. The Committee have felt that developing and implementing a foolproof and reliable system to help Service Voters in exercising their franchise should be an easy, and definitely not a difficult task.

The Committee have  found it surprising  that the Ministry of Defence and  Election Commission of  India   have not undertaken any exercise to learn about the practices prevalent in developed nations in particular, for enabling the soldiers, who are not at their usual place of residence, to exercise their franchise.

The Committee have desired that the Election Commission of India and the Ministry of Defence together should undertake a study of the electoral  practices prevalent in countries where ‘internet voting’ or chip based ‘identity card voting system’ exists viz.,Australia, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, France, Netherlands, UK, USA, Switzerland, Venezuela, etc., The best practices followed in this regard need to be identified and developed to suit the requirements of Indian election process.
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Using public toilets, maintained by Sulabh International, will now become cashless. This has been done in wake of demonetisation that has resulted in shortage of small change. A statement issued by low cost sanitation NGO Sulabh International said it has embarked on digital transaction for use of its public toilets, doing away with use of coins and low denomination currency notes.

The facility was launched formally by BJP President Amit Shah when he visited Sulabh Complex at Sulabh headquarters in West Delhi. Sulabh maintains around 8,500 public toilets across the country and the digital payment facility would be introduced at some of the places soon.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Shah said it was a matter of shame that even 70 years after Independence, there was still a need to launch a country-wide campaign to make people aware of the benefits of sanitation.

Sulabh Founder Dr Bindeshwar Pathak explained on the occasion that the digital payment could be done through ‘SBI Buddy’ – an e-wallet facility recently launched by state-owned State Bank of India (SBI) to promote digital payment system in the country.

To begin with, the facility has been introduced in the national capital and would be extended to other places in due course of time, Dr Pathak said. Sulabh charges a nominal fee of Rs 5 for using is lavatory and Rs 10 for taking bath. It is even free at some places.  

Taking a major step forward towards rural sanitation, Dr Pathak, who was made Brand Ambassador of “”Rail Swachch Mission””, recently launched an intensive campaign to ensure toilet for every household in the country by 2019. He said that nearly 12 crore toilets are required to be built by 2019 to realize the dream of Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi.

“This is a big task, but together we can do it and all Indians can play a pivotal role. This is a unique opportunity for Corporate houses and business groups to show their love for the country,” he said.”