technology in india

India has some 714 million eligible voters, including 170 million under 35, but unlike in developed countries, it is the marginalised rural poor who vote in the biggest numbers, often along caste, regional or religious lines.

In contrast, many of the English-speaking middle and upper classes readily admit to having never voted, yet still complain loudly about standards of leadership and governance.

Most Indians - 83 percent - feel lawmakers are corrupt and 59 percent think their main motivation is money, according to a recent Times of India survey.

Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) believe politicians are inefficient and 60 percent blame them for all the country's ills.

"Bad politicians are chosen by good people, who fail to vote," says Vote India. Its message is echoed by others like the Tata Tea-backed jaagore - all Indians need to take responsibility for their elected representatives.

For Jagannathan, campaigners can help improve standards by targeting the 60 percent of Internet users who live in India's eight largest cities using cheap, easily-available technology.

Their site has a blog, an application on social networking site Orkut and a Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/voteindia), while users can get details on candidates and constituencies using search facilities, text and email.

Facebook groups, MySpace and YouTube applications and regional language versions to sit alongside the existing Hindi and English sites are in the pipeline.

The site's creators say they were shocked at the lack of awareness among educated urban dwellers about the democratic process, despite India's diverse, vocal media and growing 24-hour news culture.

At the last nationwide vote in 2004, about a quarter of the 543 members elected to India's lower house of parliament faced criminal charges, including murder, kidnap and rape.

"We're not criticising politicians, neither are we going to question them," Jagannathan said.

They are also hoping for a "bounce" from last year's deadly Mumbai attacks, which saw many middle class Indians take to the streets to denounce politicians for not doing enough to protect them.

"We have actually seen statistics that people have won by margins of two to three percent, so every vote does count," said software technician Nimish Inamdar, 24, another site volunteer.