A different team India to rid what ails the country

by Sanjay Sharma,
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"A feather in the cap of Freedom Team of India (FTI) and full credit to Shantanu Bhagwat from London for his unrelenting efforts to promote the concept of FTI in various parts of the Motherland. Let us hope some worthwhile results would emerge by concerted efforts on ground by all FTI members, rather than thru cyber space. Buck up FTI and get on the ground!"

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These views are expressed by Col LK Anand Retd (A well wisher and presently an almost dormant member of FTI)
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CHANDIGARH: A campaign that was born in cyberspace from London to free India of its ills, is exploring possibilities of taking roots in northwest India comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir.

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The brain behind the campaign, one of the most popular on the net, Shantanu Bhagwat, who quit his lucrative job of an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, to plunge into politics, on Monday met a group of youngsters from the region here. He was accompanied by a former nuclear scientist Dr Akalpita Paranjape and a software technologist Dipinder Sekhon.

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Around 150 such leaders have come together to form a Freedom Team of India (FTI) to act as a "forum for policy, strategy and leadership development to promote the freedoms of the great peoples of India."

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Dr Paranjape who retired from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Bhagwat said the grouping hopes to offer its leadership to India along with the world's best policies to improve governance in India.

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It is driven by a citizen leadership concept where there is no leader but a collection of bright people who shape policies and prepare citizenry. Adharshila, one of the activities, is focused on preparing citizenship. Adharshila is being designed and may be launched in a few months.

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Bhagwat said, the forum's mission is, "An India where everyone is guaranteed equal opportunities and equal dignity and has freedom to pursue his or her own happiness under an accountable and participative government." He added, "We favour a change in the body of systems to bring about this situation."

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Though during the interaction, they did not offer any specific policy framework, yet they indicated why there should be an electronic accounting system in which each deal is tracked and why tax collection and distribution is left to the lowest bodies of governance. Socialistic policies, according to them, have lost their relevance and a true capitalistic system, unlike the crony one India has, appears to be their guiding philosophy.

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The concept of FTI was proposed in mid-2006 on the internet in the manuscript of a 2008 book, "Breaking Free from Nehru". Bhagwat spends a fortnight in London and India each to run the campaign.

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In an open letter released to citizenship, the team has made it clear that it is a formation away from socialistic framework and wedded to liaises faire to unleash opportunities and freedoms for individuals to grow and the nation to benefit from their growth.

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Read more: A different team India to rid what ails the country - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/A-different-team-India-to-rid-what-ails-the-country/articleshow/7552675.cms#ixzz1ElN4FDTH