[ಕನ್ನಡ ಅನುವಾದ ಶೀಘ್ರದಲ್ಲೇ ಬರಲಿದೆ — Kannada translation coming soon]
1. Taking active part in elections. a. know about your candidates (during parliamentary, legislative and Corporation elections) and actively canvass for those who are honest and are prepared to take principled stand. If possible even support them with funds. Those who are known to be corrupt, canvass against them. If there is no good candidate, give negative votes to show that none of the candidate deserves to be elected. b. If you are really concerned, stand for election yourself or motivate who has the leadership qualities and who are known to be honest to contest elections. 2. Learn to appreciate and obey the rule of law. a. We are having a reasonably peaceful and stable environment in Mysore. But it does not take much to disturb it if we allow goonda raj. Goonda raj will be the result if we replace rule of law by the rule by force as is happening frequently in recent days during some of the bandhs and violent protests. We need to show our opposition not only by not protesting but by registering our dislike towards such an uncivilized practice. b. Do not misuse residential LPG by diverting it to commercial or auto sectors or manage to secure more number of LPG cylinders than allocated. Do not misuse of subsidized kerosene. c. If you find any one encroaching public land like the parks, report it to the authority or contact an NGO. 3. Contribute to solving Garbage problem. a. Segregate garbage. If possible do not throw bio degradable garbage with other waste and use it in your yard to make manure. b. Never throw garbage on the road side. Use bins provided by the corporations to throw garbage. If they are full, do not throw it outside. Call the corporation office to complain (phone no) . Find the next nearest garbage bin to dispose the garbage. c. Try to organize drives in your locality to keep the neighborhood clean of the garbage and building wastes. d. Always carry bags while shopping and avoid using plastic bags. 4. Protect Environment a. Plant trees in front of your house and take care of them. b. If possible participate in tree plantation drives and motivate people to plant trees in their neighborhoods. c. Whenever there is illegal tree felling (often by government officials) complain to forest officials (phone no). Lodge a formal complaint with the police. d. Do not waste water.
e. When you see water leakage call Vani Vilas Water Works (Phone NO) 5. Show courtesy to others. a. While getting into buses, stand in queue. If some one jumps the queue, do not hesitate to request them to join the queue. b. While in banks or such public places stand in queues. c. In buses give preference to mothers with children, physically handicapped and senior citizens, etc. 6. Do not give bribes and fight corruption a. Often one can get services on time in the government offices (that too with Sakaal program) without paying bribes. It is we the consumers with the mistaken notion of the need to give bribe to get the work done are ready to pay bribe. We need to start a new era of not bribing. b. When it is absolutely necessary to give bribes (emergency situations in hospitals ), pay bribe and then start the process of exposing them. Take the help of a consumer NGO like MGP (251 5150) to learn the process of filing complaints against the guilty. If officers come to know that at least few citizens may file complaints they will hesitate to demand bribe. c. While in registrar’s office we pay bribe because we want to pay taxes less than owed by under declaring the amount. Be prepared to pay according to the rules even if you know most do not. If you think that tax rates are high, we need to put pressure on the government to reduce tax rates. That is the way democracy works. It is a slow process, but sound one. d. In government offices in order to get the work done on a priority basis or against the rules (deviation while building) we take recourse to bribing and then blame the system. If we obey rules and regulations there will be no need to pay bribe most of the time. When lower level officers demand bribes, complain to higher levels. If that also does not work seek the help of NGOs who fight against corruption. 7. Obey traffic rules a. Always wear helmets while travelling by two wheelers. b. Do not drive beyond speed limit. c. Give preference to pedestrians. d. Do not park vehicles on footpaths. e. Always give ways to ambulances. f. Always carry original driving license and copies of other vehicle related documents g. Follow lane discipline while driving h. Walk on the footpaths where they exist and in good conditions. 8. Exercise your rights.
a. When you get cheated (shoddy goods, not honoring warranty, not giving receipts, selling adulterated food items, etc) while buying things never hesitate to complain. If the shopkeepers do not offer redressal, please lodge a complaint with consumer courts. b. In government offices where you have to pay for the services and you are not properly treated, again lodge a complaint with the higher officers. If they are unable to help you, file a case in the consumer courts. If service providers realize that consumers are aware of their rights and file complaints, they will be courteous and consumer friendly. c. Learn about Right to Information Act (RTI) and use it to expose bureaucratic and political shenanigans. 9. Take active part in peaceful, non-violent and legal protests (not bandh types causing havoc ) when well known and credible NGOs organize them a. For example, when a park like People’s park is being encroached by our own government in violation of their own laws, there is a need for the people in democracy to protest though peacefully, non violently and without obstructing the rights of others. b. There are instances when the government itself violates the laws. In such circumstances it is the responsibility of the citizens to protest against them. c. Support people who raise their voice in protest against the breaking of the rule of law in any public places. 10. Join honest and credible NGOs. There are several NGOs who are involved in supporting worthy causes and we need to support them not just through donations but by direct involvement. For example we can visit government schools and spend time with the children. We can visit government hospitals to find out how citizens can help them. Never ending woes of LPG consumers Oct 28, 2012) Bhamy V. Shenoy Even under the best of times, it has never been an easy task for LPG consumers to secure supplies from public sector oil company dealers. When consumers can get petrol any where any time why should it be difficult to get equally if not more important commodity like cooking fuel without much hassle? The oil companies have been subsidizing residential LPG ever since it was introduced as a cooking fuel. Since people were not familiar with LPG, it was found necessary to subsidize it. In the beginning the subsidy burden was