Times of India’s “LEAD INDIA” Campaign..

By:-ANKIT GUPTAAB-9005

BRIEF HISTORY of TOI’s “Lead India” Campaign:Lead India is a television initiative launched on India's 60th Independence Day by The Times Of India Group in search of a new bold leader for India. Hosted by Anupam Kher. The program aired on Star One every Saturday at 8:00 PM IST.

Citizens of India aged between 25 and 45 can participate in the three-stage contest whose result will be a winner who will be a worthy contender for participating in India's next assembly elections, besides bagging a seat on the leadership and politics course at Harvard University, and a corpus of Rs 50 lakh for pursuing a public-welfare project of choice.

Lead India is the sequel to the newspaper's earlier India Poised initiative launched in January 2007.

Phase Second:The second phase of the ‘Lead India’ campaign started in August 2007, with the series of print ads in newspapers titled ‘Do’ featuring the popular Hindi film actor Shah Rukh Khan. The ads asked the people what they would do if they were the leaders of the country.

Those who thought that they really want to do something for their country were asked to fill the application forms, which proved to be great success with 34,000 applications from all over the country. Out of these, around 64 suitable candidates were selected and were sent for further stages of GD-PI and debates to test their leadership traits.

Finally, out of them eight finalists were chosen. In episode telecasted on December 22, 2007, Kumaramangalam Birla and Akshay Kumar joined the jury as celebrity judges. And the results were announced on February 9,2008. RK Mishra from Bangalore was crowned the Lead India winner by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

The Judgmental View:

While India Poised celebrated India's recent successes and its growing importance on the global radar, it also conducted a critical assessment of sectors where India failed to deliver. Public governance was on top of this list. Lead India, therefore, addresses that concern by offering the most deserving a shot at active politics while cutting short the regular long-winded, and often extremely frustrating, path up the political ladder. It is a hunt to identify new leaders for a new India, men and women with the vision and ability to empower India with the kind of political leadership that is so conspicuous by its absence.

A program with a similar name was also launched, much before The Times of India's Lead India campaign, by Dr. Abdul Kalam, the then President of India, in the early 2000s.

Some Important Members during the Campaign:

There were three members in the jury:1. Javed Akhtar2. Kiran Bedi3. Vikas Singh

Since December 8, 2007 there were eight Lead India finalists,

among them:RK Mishra from Bangalore was the winner, and Devang Nanavati from Ahmedabad was the runner up.

Apart from it "Lead India Video Contest" was also held. And the

winners were declared as Jyotsna Khatry, Ashwani Thakur,Achin jain as 1st, 2nd, 3rd respectively.

Main Motto of the Campaign:

The “Lead India” campaign of TOI is inspiring. It Says – India! its not enough, Lets start by dominating today and not just be “sleeping tigers” of Asia.

It says,”If only we ran it. Well, now we have our chance.”

The TOI announces a nationwide hunt for a few good men and women – honest, brave, efficient, driven- who can take us from being an India Poised to an India Realized. If you think you have it in you, step forward and together we’ll take a shot at writing India’s FUTURE.

The aim of campaign was not just to spot a winner but also to provide an opportunity to every Indian to lead the country.

Oaths:There are certain oaths taken by the applicants, those who wanted to bring the real change in the system of the country. All these oaths are printed in the TOI with the footer “LEAD INDIA ’09, Lets make this vote count”, to make the developing Indians aware of what can be done and how to contribute their best to the nation by leading their own country.

Drawback in the Campaign:

Though the campaign was a success, not everyone was impressed. Some analysts felt that its just like a publicity stunt to increase the sales and advertisement revenues, others pointed out that the campaign was promoted only in metros and cities and not in the problem-ridden rural areas. They said due to the language barriers, people from rural areas cannot participate in the contest.

They described the program as more of a reality TV show and suggested that the campaign should try to rise the bar by being more innovative and not depending on the voting system, which could be assembled or adjusted.

So how can you help the “Lead India” Campaign???

Are they looking for social reformers or inspiring leaders or just politicians? India needs people with enthusiasm, honesty and all the more goodness in mind and heart! We are the second largest populated country in the world. But as we usually say, when three people meet, there are 18 opinions. It remains to be seen, whether a campaign, although inspiring will generate good leaders.

Its in our minds. If we are ready to challenge ourselves, ignoring extra praising and gossip, if we stand together against nepotism and bribery- but, we still boast about our differences!

If India should be lead, it should be by the people with “serene and sincere” minds and hearts.

So take this as a “WAKE UP” call and start participating..

Suggestion to watch certain videos.. DO WATCH!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz6YylorUGM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiItWDN2Cs8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0M0EZ8T5J8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7IlP143F00&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gcrc8eNdx8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ2EKswyTao&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVjRU-p_mtc