Manthan Yuva Sansthan in association with Jharkhand Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) organised a Strategic Planning Workshop on Political & Electoral Reforms on Monday.
Professor Trilochan Sastry, Keynote speaker and ADR founder member and trustee, said, “Divisive politics in line with caste and religion does not reflect the needs of the people. People’s priorities tend to be unifying. For example, irrespective of caste or religion, food security and employment, are at the top.”
He further urged the civil society organisations to understand public mindset and work towards increasing voter awareness on issues such as the quantum of black money in elections and how it affects the ordinary voter.
The session opened with a brief overview of the activities of the Jharkhand chapter of ADR’s National Election Watch by Sudhir Pal. Panelists discussed various issues relating to political reforms, various initiatives undertaken in this regard, and the role of media as a catalyst of social change. The scope of media as an instrument of change is immense given their reach through print, electronic and social media. The role of media as a channel of information flow between Government and public, and as a platform for debate and discussion and as the voice of the voiceless render them indispensable to public discourse.
The event was hosted by State Coordinator for Jharkhand Chapter of National Election Watch Sudhir Pal and was attended by many NGOs and activists, media personalities, representatives of political parties and other stakeholders from across the State. Political party representatives included BJP’s Shivshankar Oraon (MlA), Dr Rajaram Mahato, INC’s ex-MlA Dr JP Gupta, CPI(Ml)’s Nadeem Khan and SP’s Manohar Yadav.