BPL = Bogus Poverty Line?

That could be possible. Especially in India...err...in Andhra Pradesh to be precise. If I show you the face of this lady and tell you that she is actually belongs to a BPL family, would you believe it?

I know. Even I wouldnt. But if our beloved Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Y. Rajasekhara Reddy and his honourable elected State Government of Andhra Pradesh is to be believed, she is below poverty line. Read this:

A special ration card for poor people carrying Mirza's name and photograph has been recovered during investigations, officials say.

The id card was issued in Vizianagaram the report says. Remember the bogus multi-state voter identity card issued to some people in Adilabad during General Elections 2009? Ok lets put some imagination to work here. If bogus ration cards and voter id cards are possible, there is certainly huge possibility for bogus PAN cards, bogus Passports, bogus Driver's Licences. No wonder why so many terrorist attacks happened in last 5 years of UPA rule. Ohh and we already had one after the government formed, if you remember! Imagine a person living with you infrontof your eyes with a death certificate issued by a Government Hospital. Ohh sorry for redundant information if you know that all these have become part and parcel of Indian lifestyle!

But seriously speaking, there is difference between building machines and building systems. Systems have cross-checkers and whistle blowers. Machines dont! So when somebody cries out foul about EVMs, it doesnt evoke surprise!

Nathanael Paul and Andrew.S.Tanenbaum published their article "Trustworth Voting: From Machine to System" in IEEE Computer Magazine for the month of May 2009.

The authors describe an electronic voting approach that takes a system view, incorporating a trustworthy process based on open source software, simplified procedures, and built-in redundant safeguards that prevent tampering.

They also put up a website for taking the task further. They are looking for a student who could take up the task and implement the ideas. The role of academia in building systems using technology is enormous. Unfortunately, in India, academia are just academia! Nothing more, nothing less! The administration tries to bring down the value of academia to a mere political playground while the alumni try to keep it high through their invaluable contributions, thus keeping the academia as academia only! Ohh and I forgot, the ever thinking Sibal Saab has got ideas and India, it seems, is applauding - atleast TOI is! Only time will tell if these ideas have any merit or if there are some other intentions in talking of such ideas! But if statistics are to be believed, their ideas for the last 60 years, have not had any affect whatsoever!

Update: Not to anybody's surprise, Reality Check India does a piece on Sibal Saab's grand ideas for Education in India. Surely, one has to ask if TOI feeds its employees with! It isnt rocket science! Its just plain simple. You have got to take the rot out! Just by calling it in a different name, the problems wont be solved! GoI instead of being a spectator should pump funds in, should encaurage research. Ahh I dont want to get into it now. The whole thing is terribly complicated!