After successfully launching their pilot project of recording offences by candidates who campaigned on the basis of caste, religion, language and culture, the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad ¿a national association of lawyers, law professors and law students- have now moved a step further and decided to track the developmental initiatives taken by elected representatives of their area.

“While many of us criticise politicians for who they are, very few of us know about their responsibilities.

Hence, we have decided to keep a written record of all the developmental activities that will be initiated and completed by corporators and MLAs in Pune during their tenure,” said advocate M P Bendre, vice-president of the Parishad.

Earlier, the Parishad had formed a team of five to seven advocates in each of the eight constituencies in Pune to record instances where candidates campaigned on the basis of religion. “These teams kept a track of candidates, their volunteers, political parties and also the media that campaigned on the basis of community, religion, language, origin etc. We are currently in the process of compiling this data,” Bendre said.

Around five to seven advocates will team up with other citizens, chosen by Adhivakta Parishad, to record the developmental initiatives taken by elected representatives. “These citizens would be socially active persons like retired judges, those involved in social work, senior journalists and so on,” Bendre said.

This team will have to track a corporator or an MLA, be in touch with him/her and track his political activities. The team will focus not just on the promises made by the candidate in his/her manifesto, but also on the basic common responsibilities of the candidates. The records will be reviewed every six months.

... contd.