Lok Satta Movement Explained

Lok Satta is a non-partisan movement for democratic reforms in the country of India,^[1] led by Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, a former I. A. S. officer and renowned activist from Andhra Pradesh, India. The movement was started in 1996 with the founding of Lok Satta, a non-governmental organization. In 2006, the movement transformed into Lok Satta Party.

Introduction

The group declared to form a political party and contest in the upcoming elections. Though the movement initially started in Andhra Pradesh, it later spread across the country. Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan says that democracy is for the people, of the people and by the people. Lok Satta is a registered society whose membership is open and available to all Indians. It has district branches and neighbourhood units spread all over Andhra Pradesh. It has over 250,000 members in the state and over 30,000 in the Greater Hyderabad region. While Lok Satta's goals are governance reforms in India, its organizational spread is largely in Andhra Pradesh.

Activities

Apart from creating India’s largest base for a people’s movement in Andhra Pradesh, Lok Satta is now deeply engaged in building a viable national platform for democratic reforms through building alliances in major states and promoting local initiatives, and building an effective and highly credible coalition at the national level specifically for electoral reforms. It has also launched its political party arm in October 2007,^[2] ^[3] which has met with reasonable success.^[4]

Andhra Pradesh Election Watch - Checking the criminal background of politicians in 2001,^[5] 2004^[6]
Ensure backward communities are able to vote - 2001^[7]

Goals

Democratization of political parties to make them open, member-controlled, transparent, and accountable in all aspects.
Electoral reforms to make elections truly democratic, fair and transparent; to facilitate and promote participation of the best men and women in India's political process; and to curb electoral mal-practices.
Balanced distribution of functions between the union and the states and local governments, together with allocation of adequate resources and devolution of powers commensurate with their functions.
Effective decentralization of governance through empowerment of local governments as participative tiers of constitutional, democratic governance, and direct empowerment of people as stakeholders wherever feasible.
Effective functioning of legislature, executive and judiciary at all levels, with appropriate checks and balances.
Measures for speedy, efficient, affordable, and accessible justice to people.^[8]
Measures to make bureaucracy truly accountable, responsive, and efficient at all levels.
Institutional checks to prevent abuse of office, including freedom of information for transparent governance; insulation of crime investigation and prosecution from partisan pulls and political vagaries; creation of an effective, independent anti-corruption mechanism; and creation of an independent mechanism for appointment of constitutional functionaries.

Principles

According to Lok Satta, the specific reforms derived from the above generic principles must be in conformity with the following basic principles of democracy:

Freedom
Self-governance
Empowerment of citizens
Rule of law
Self-correcting institutional mechanisms

References

http://www.loksatta.org Lok Satta Party website
News: Lok Satta's warning against corruption . https://web.archive.org/web/20090419164458/http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/16/stories/2006101604790600.htm . dead . 2009-04-19 . Chennai, India . . 2006-10-16.
News: Membership drive by Lok Satta . https://web.archive.org/web/20071213193746/http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/07/stories/2006110704040400.htm . dead . 2007-12-13 . Chennai, India . . 2006-11-07.
News: Lok Satta party gaining momentum . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930230256/http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/07/stories/2007040711850500.htm . dead . 2007-09-30 . Chennai, India . . 2007-04-07.
News: Lok Satta to strive for 'meaningful elections'. https://archive.today/20130103102901/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2001-09-09/hyderabad/27227827_1_lok-satta-jayaprakash-narayan-action-plan. dead. 3 January 2013. 30 September 2011. 9 September 2001. The Times of India. India.
News: Lok Satta puts 51 on A.P. watch list. https://web.archive.org/web/20040624170741/http://www.hindu.com/2004/03/21/stories/2004032104500800.htm. dead. 24 June 2004. 29 September 2011. 21 March 2004. The Hindu. India.
News: Lok Satta team to probe prevention of STs from voting. https://archive.today/20130125065656/http://www.hindu.com/2001/07/30/stories/0430403d.htm. dead. 25 January 2013. 30 September 2011. 30 July 2001. The Hindu. India.
News: Lok Satta's public health agenda . https://web.archive.org/web/20071001064146/http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/09/stories/2007040914360300.htm . dead . 2007-10-01 . Chennai, India . . 2007-04-09.