Fairness and Ethics in Elections

Bhardwaj is a social activist working on issues of transparency and accountability. She is a co-convenor of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) and a founding member of Satark Nagrik Sangathan. She works towards strengthening and improving the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011, The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, and the Grievance Redress Bill. She has been honoured with the International Anticorruption Champions Award by the US Department of State; awarded the Ashoka Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurs in 2009 for using the RTI Act to ensure cognizance and awareness in the functioning of elected representatives and was presented the honour roll of Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, in 2011.

A concerned citizen, Chhokar has been Professor, Dean and Director-in-Charge at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad between 1985 and 2006, he is a citizen-activist for improving democracy and governance in the country. He is a founding member of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), working on electoral and political reforms for two decades He is also with Ajeevika Bureau that works on internal migration.

Guha Thakurta’s work experience, spanning more than four decades, cuts across different media. He is a writer, speaker, anchor, interviewer, teacher, analyst/commentator, publisher, producer, director and consultant. His main areas of interest are the working of the political economy and the media in India and the world, on which he has authored or co-authored seven books, published 25 books since April 2014, and directed/produced documentary films and music videos. In particular, he examines the allocation and pricing of natural resources, the working of crony capitalism and oligarchies, and mass communications in India. He has teaching as a member of the visiting faculty at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad for the last 18 years and has taught in several other educational institutions. He is a consultant with the NewsClick portal.

A former officer of the Indian Army and the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Devasahayam has considerable experience in conducting and supervising elections as a district election officer, a returning officer in an assembly constituency, an assistant returning officer, a returning officer and an Observer in various Parliamentary constituencies. He is closely associated with issues relating to strengthening of democracy in India. He is at present Coordinator, Citizens’ Commission on Elections; Convener, Forum for Electoral Integrity; Member, Constitutional Conduct Group and Chairman, People-First. He is a writer, columnist and author of several books, including India’s Second Freedom––An Untold Saga; JP in Jail––An Uncensored Account; JP Movement, Emergency and India’s Second Freedom and A Drop of Love––Memoir of Saint Teresa.