Takshashila Shala - vote for my talk on Participatory Democracy!

I just got the talk-schedule for Sunday's Takshashila Shala from Nitin. There are 3 half hour talks up for grabs from participants. I wish to talk on Participatory Democracy.

If voted up, I'll briefly share my experiences in,

1. trying to organize ward sabhas in Bengaluru. this is the holy grail of Panchayati Raj (rather nagarpalika act). i was part of Koramangala Smartvote campaign which tried to bridge the gap between the voters and the candidates in Ward 151. I'm now a member of Koramangala United Citizen's Welfare Association.

2. social audits in PDS. i have personally observed such social audits in Warangal and have testified about the same before the one-member investigating committee of Dr. Balasubramanium which is probing the irregularities in Karnataka PDS. This investigation is on-behalf of the Karnataka Lokayutka's office. i have interacted with the members of MKSS in Rajasthan who pioneered "Jansunwais" in MG-NREGA.

and if time permits, briefly bring up,

3. referendums - having been initially (and no longer) associated with Saaku (India Against Corruption's public rally and campaign in Bengaluru), i wish to talk about the lack of constitutional provisions like Initiative and Referendum which makes us less of a Republic. Like, why not have Referendums to decide Kashmir, Telangana and Nagalim?

4. Why not elect Governors from the state's Presidential electoral college? - being a victim of the charade in Karnataka, i wonder why we are persisting with a colonial era office?

Well, if my talk is not voted up, its alrite. I'll blog about the above issues here!

In the meanwhile, here's the list of talks, I plan to attend. Hope the other speakers are not offended!!

10:00 - 10:30 - Raj Cherubal - Caging the beast
10:35 - 11:05 - Chandrasekharan Balakrishnan - Ambedkar, the champion of Free Market
11:10 - 11:40 - Vinay Kumar Singh - Creating well-designed schemes to deliver public services
11:45 - 12:15 - Naveen Mandava - Public policy - what sells?
12:20 - 12:50 - Venkat Ananth - Post-conflict Srilanka
14:00 - 14:30 - Navdeep Suri - Why public diplomacy matters
14:35 - 15:05 - Gul Panag - We are all civil society
15:10 - 15:40 - Amit Paranjape - Ranade, Tilak, Phule & Agarkar - Pune's golden age of reform
15:45 - 16:15 - Balaji at S2?!! - Participatory Democracy, ward sabhas, social audits ...
16:20 - 16:50 - Nilim Dutta - Bangladeshis in Assam: How this has shaped the state's politics
17:00 - 17:30 - Nitin Pai - Why India should swing