The document proposes several solutions to issues with elections and governance in India: 1) Expanding the mandate of the Press Council of India to regulate both print and electronic media, impose penalties for paid news, and revoke licenses of non-compliant media houses. 2) Ban politicians violating election commission codes from contesting immediate elections, and future elections for repeated offenses. 3) Establish training programs to educate newly elected women representatives on governance and empowerment. 4) Increase election spending limits to match current costs and establish an election commission wing to handle illegal spending cases.

2.  SOLUTIONS :
 The mandate of the Press Council of India should be
enhanced to bring both the print & the electronic
media under its ambit.
 Strict regulatory measures should be brought in to
prevent politicians from owning & promoting media
houses.
 Strict monetary punishments must be imposed on Media
houses for breaching the rules with regards to Paid
News.
 The Licenses of Media houses must be seized if they
defy to fall in line with regards to Paid News.

3.  SOLUTIONS :
 Politicians who violate the code of
conduct of the election commission
should be banned from contesting the
immediate elections.
 If the offence is repeated, the person
must be banned from contesting
elections for the next 10 years.

4.  SOLUTIONS :
 A special institution has to be set up which would
provide the newly elected women
representatives , particularly from the lower
sections of the society, with proper training in
public administration , governance & other
aspects of women empowerment.
 This program should be aimed at progressively
enlightening the women representatives' minds
about the long ranging benefits of women
empowerment to both the nation and to
themselves.

5.  SOLUTIONS :
 Electoral expenses should be
substantially increased to be in
synchronous with the ground reality.
 A separate autonomous wing of the
election commission needs to be
institutionalized to exclusively deal with
the cases of excessive use of money at
various stages of election process.

6.  SOLUTIONS :
 Special Fast Track courts need to be set-up
to exclusively resolve cases of violation of
election norms such as Inflammatory &
Hate speeches based on religion, region,
caste, etc undermining the basic principles
of Indian Democracy.
 A special unit of the police department
needs to be institutionalized for speedy
investigation of all such allegations on
contestants.

7.  SOLUTION :
 The provision enabling a candidate to
contest from multiple constituencies must
be repealed.

8.  SOLUTIONS :
 The political parties, arguably, should
come under the ambit of RTI Act. The
pressure groups must ensure the
government stops resisting the much
needed change.
 All the accounts, transactions & funds of
a political party need to be audited
regularly.

9. 2004 2009 Increase % Increase
MPs with
pending
criminal
records
128 162 34 26.56
Total
Pending
criminal
429 522 93 21.68

10.  The members of Legislative Assemblies &
the members of Parliament should be
disqualified upon being charge sheeted
for criminal offences attracting a term of
five years or more.
 As a precaution against foisting false
cases on the eve of election, only those
cases in which charges are framed six
months prior to an election should be
taken into account for that election.

11. value of
assets
no of
candidates
no of winners % of winners
very high (5
cr and
above)
343 112 32.65%
medium (50
lakhs to 10
lakhs)
1911 120 6.23%
low (less
than 10
3964 17 0.43%

12.  Inclusive policies should be pursued by
the election commission & provisions
should be drafted to encourage the
marginalized & the downtrodden to
contest the elections.
 The election commission should bar the
candidates from contesting the elections
if found guilty of luring the voters.

13.  SOLUTIONS :
 There should be a ban on transfer of
election officers on the eve of an
election.
 In the case of general election, there
should be a ban against transferring any
election related officer without the
concurrence of the Commission for a
period of six months prior to the expiry of
the term of the House.

14.  While political resistance to electoral reform is
anticipated, the civil society, the media, the
judiciary & most importantly, the “Aam-Aadmi”
must make sustained efforts & pressurize the
government to bring in the much needed electoral
reforms.
 All the reforms must be widely debated & solutions
should be arrived at after taking into consideration
all the stakeholders’ views.
 A special department under the election
commission needs to be set-up with the mandate
of constantly creating awareness about the
electoral reforms & for, eventually, turning the
proposals into realities.

15.  The electoral reforms would, eventually, make
unimaginable impact on drafting of good laws
& thereby ensure good governance.
 Decriminalization, along with many other
proposals, are pre-requisites for good
governance. Assigning the much needed
accountability & transparency on the part of
politicians would result in a responsible
executive, thereby a prosperous India.
 The effective implementation of the electoral
reforms would definitely rejuvenate the life of
the “Aam-Aadmi” both directly & indirectly.