Making the right choice.
By Abhijit V. Banerjee, Selvan Kumar, Rohini Pande, and Felix Su
April 21, 2009
Indians are used to seeing their filmstars sell products on TV but, probably for the first time, one of them is trying to sell informed judgement. The Association for Democratic Reform’s ‘Sacche Chuno, Acche Chuno’ (‘pick the true, pick the good’) campaign, fronted by Aamir Khan, seeks to motivate citizens to be more reflective about how they should vote. To facilitate easy access to information, the ad offers viewers a free SMS service that provides information about the criminal history, education, and assets of their would-be netas.The concern that animates this campaign is well-known: For a country abundant in talent, its representatives often seem sub-standard, or downright bad. Twenty-three per cent of the outgoing MPs have criminal cases against them. The 543 sitting MPs have a total of 333 serious criminal cases against them, with 229 of these charges being for violent crimes, such as murder, rape or armed robbery.
The concern that animates this campaign is well-known: For a country abundant in talent, its representatives often seem sub-standard, or downright bad.
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