[Reader-list] India's 15th general election: tools for citizen empowerment

[yasir ~يا سر]

(fwd)

India's 15th general election: tools for citizen
empowerment<http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/blogspot/MKuf/%7E3/HgZ-jJkUb8M/indias-15th-general-election-tools-for.html>
via
The Official Google Blog <http://googleblog.blogspot.com/> by A Googler on
4/6/09

(Cross-posted from the Google India
Blog<http://googleindia.blogspot.com/2009/04/indias-15th-general-election-tools-for.html>
)

At Google, we believe information is fundamentally empowering. While all of
our technologies demonstrate a commitment to this guiding principle,
information is especially important when a society comes together to
participate in democratic elections. Beginning ten days from today, more
than 700 million eligible voters in India will over the course of four weeks
have the opportunity to participate in the largest democratic
event<http://eci.nic.in/press/current/pn020309.pdf>in human history —
India's 15th general election.

Today, along with a wide range of
partners<http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/landing/loksabha2009/partners.html>,
we are happy to announce the launch of the Google India Elections
Centre<http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/landing/loksabha2009/>—
available in
English <http://www.google.co.in/loksabha2009> and in
Hindi<http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/landing/loksabha2009/index-hindi.html>
.

People from across India can use the centre to do the following:

   - Confirm their voter registration status
   - Discover their polling location
   - View their constituency on a map
   - Consume relevant election-related news, blogs, videos, and quotations
   - Evaluate the status of development in their constituency across a range
   of indicators
   - Learn about the background of their Member of Parliament and this
   year's candidates

With still more features to be added during the election, we hope the site
will be an ongoing resource for analysis, governance, and democracy in India
after the election.

This project would not have been possible without the shared vision of a
broad coalition of partners: the Association for Democratic
Reforms<http://www.adrindia.org/home/index.asp>,
HT Media Limited <http://www.htmedia.in/>, Indicus
Analytics<http://www.indicus.net/>,
the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and
Democracy<http://www.janaagraha.org/>,
the Liberty Institute <http://www.empoweringindia.org/new/home.aspx>, and PRS
Legislative Services <http://www.prsindia.org/>. These groups are the true
champions of promoting a more transparent democracy, and we're privileged to
be able to shine a light on their work on the occasion of India's 15th Lok
Sabha polls.

We're hopeful not only that the elections centre will further a culture that
seeks access to information, but that it will also yield positive changes in
voting patterns during the upcoming polls.

Please visit the site<http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/landing/loksabha2009/>,
select your constituency, and get started! Spread the word about what you
learn and, of course, don't forget to visit the polls.

Posted by Rishi Jaitly, Senior Policy Analyst, and Sanjay Jain, Product
Manager