Page 166 - Failure to Triumph - Journey of A Student

for the first time goes to the former chief election commissioner Mr. T N Seshan. He boldly took up
the cause of a clean India by emphasizing the need to reform the election system for he felt it was the
corrupt politicians who messed up the entire system. As a part of electoral reforms the election
commission has been able to build consensus among the political parties on the implementation of

model code of conduct. The commission now exercises full disciplinary power during the vital poll
period over the poll staff including police and civil offices. The election commission has
accomplished phased induction of photo identity card for every voter in the country. The identity card
eliminates the evil of impersonation. The commission has made it mandatory for voters to identify
themselves by voter identity card or any other authorized document. It has also introduced election
voting machines (EVMs) as a checkmate against tampering of electoral rolls. An affidavit is now
mandatory and should contain information on criminal antecedent, movable and immovable properties

of the candidates and his/her spouse and dependents and their liabilities and educational
qualifications of the candidates. Instructions have been issued to make available copies of the
affidavit to the media, public and other candidates on the same day of filing of the nominations. In
case any affidavit contains wrong information, the commission can file an election petition before the
high court since the Supreme Court did not vest power in the returning officers to take action against
erring candidates.

As part of electoral reforms the union government announced on October 21, 2003 a steep hike in

election expenditure. As per the union cabinet decision, the ceiling on election expenditure for Lok
Sabha is 25 lakh per constituency. In case of assembly constituency, the limit of 10 lakh per
constituency with adjustments in the case of smaller states. With all these reforms it remains to be
seen how successful will be our system to weed out corrupt elements. We also need to consider
measures to eliminate criminals from elections, limiting number of national parties, minimum
qualifications and an upper age limit for politicians.

To conclude, I would say that recent years have seen many changes initiated by successive election
commissioners which have yielded good results. However, much more remains to be done, and I am

optimistic that necessary changes will come about and Indian democracy will remain a respectable
institution in times to come.

Thank you.

Global Warming (Average Level Topic)

Respected GTO Sir, and my dear friends,

I have chosen to speak on Global Warming as this is a very important subject for all of us. I will
first tell you what Global Warming is and how it is caused. Then I will explain how it can be

prevented and what steps are being taken, and finally conclude.

Global warming is a phenomenon wherein the temperature of earth is increasing day by day
causing the glaciers to melt fast and increasing the sea levels. It is also causing climate change and
phenomena like acid rain, tsunami, thunderstorms and unpredictable weather conditions etc. Why is
this happening? This is primarily happening because the ozone layer in the atmosphere, which