It is typical of Indian Politicians to get into as many positions of influence as possible while in power. Sharad Pawar is no exception. Since he got out of his position as BCCI president he was waiting for the ICC chairmanship and has managed to get it.

He has little interest in managing the all important portfolios of Agriculture, Food and Consumer affairs and is now seeking reduction in work. He is presumably tired of work but at the same time has no problems in taking over the more glamorous ICC Chairman role.

Mr.Pawar has done nothing significant to control the inflationary environment nor has done anything to improve the ineffective and inefficient PDS system. The ongoing food inflation of 13.91% is having severe impact on the common man with increasing prices of essential food items and no signs respite, also there are indications that inflation is spreading to other sectors as well. What is worrying is lack of a clear strategy to tame inflation and a distracted leadership under Pawar.

The prime minister would do a great favor to the nation by dis-engaging Pawar from all his portfolios and keep him as a cabinet minister without portfolio if for political compulsions.

Sharad Pawar at a point in time was a serious contender for occupying 7 Race course road, over the years he has lost credibility on lot of issues and also has failed to make an impact on policy front. I am not a great admirer of Bal Thackery but his comment that Cricket would cost Sharad Pawar politically is right and I am sure Pawar will no more be a force he was once in the Indian Political scenario.

Indian Railpain

India moves on the railways, approximately 4 billion passengers use the facility every year. Indian Railroads provide the back bone in moving the nation (people and freight). The bourgeoisie and the proletariat use its services. With over 65,000 KM length of track it is the largest Railroad company under a single management in the world.

The unfortunate part is one cannot have a good experience travelling the Indian Railways. The pain starts from the point of entry into the station and carries on till one reaches destination, no proper parking places, chaotic platforms, even more chaos at the inquiry booths etc … no end to the misery of the passenger especially to the old and physically challenged. Try taking your old parents on a journey by the Indian Railways.

Practically everything the Railways own today in terms of buildings, real estate, Infrastructure is the british legacy with some tinkering done around in improving track infra and investments into modern electronic signaling.

The Railway ministry and the attached cabinet role are highly politicized with the Bihar strongmen vying for the coveted cabinet role primarily to dole out favors to their constituencies. The current minister Mamata Banerjee is one more challenger to this whose purpose also was evident in the last budget - add more trains to WB.
The only strategy adopted by the rail ministers over the decades is not to increase freight and general passenger rates, increase the A/C and 1st class rates a bit and claim it is a commons mans rail budget. They talk about improving infrastructure in the budget every year and do nothing about it.

Considering the vast usage of the rail roads by the citizens for inter city and state movement one would expect the government to invest heavily in improving the infrastructure all round. The pathetic facilities at the stations and the archaic compartments used for travel are disgusting.

If these figures are right what is the stopping the government in investing -
Indian Railways Revenues and Surplus

Year Revenue
(Rs Crore) Surplus before Dividend (Rs Crore)
2004-05 47,370 4,612
2005-06 54,491 9,118
2006-07 63,220 13,000
2007-08 71,218 (est) 21,578

Source – diehardindian.com )

Folks who enjoy travelling in railways are its own officers and their political bosses (with special compartments and services at their beck and call).

Time to have a serious look at the entire rail infrastructure and make it friendly for the folks who pay for it – Indian citizens.

Mockery of a tragedy

After waiting for 26 long years the survivors and relatives of Bhopal gas tragedy are crying foul on the rap on the knuckles punishment given to the perpetrators. Failure of the government to put up a strong case against the company and dilution of the severity of the crime are reasons for the light sentencing.

Successive Indian Governments did not have the courage to seek extradition of Warren Anderson, he apparently escaped with the connivance of the authorities immediately after the accident. Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh constituting some vague cabinet committee to look into the judgment is an eye wash without much seriousness to address the issue.

After claiming damages for USD 3.3 billion, Government of the day agreed for a paltry USD 470 mil final settlement. INR 75k for the deceased and 25k for the injured is all the victims could get as compensation. An accident of such magnitude in the developed world would have made the company payout large sums in compensation to the victims and various other penalties to the Government. BP oil spill is a case in point where the US president himself is monitoring the situation and am sure BP will have to pay a heavy price for the accident and agree for strict operational controls under USEPA.

Weak laws related to Industrial safety and Environment protection allow companies to get away with murder in India. One need not look afar to see the Environmental damage many of these companies are committing on a daily basis in various cities across the country. For e.g. Patancheru and Jeedimetla areas in Hyderabad are the most polluted. Industrial waste is let out into open areas leading to ground water pollution. I am not sure what the AP pollution control board does to monitor and control pollution in these areas but one can definitely see ecological and environmental damage being inflicted in these areas on a daily basis.

I think the subject of Industrial safety and Environment protection fall under two different ministries and both of these ministries are asleep, wake up ministers.

illicit Revenues

The move by AP Government to give out more liquor licenses to shore up state revenues reflects the government’s lack of responsibility towards citizens and total bankruptcy of ideas.

If you were to drive on the National or State highways in AP, Karnataka and many other states in India all you find are liquor shops dotted all along the route. No wonder the increasing number of road accidents in the country are related to drunken driving. It is common to find intoxicated men walking unsteadily on roads during late evenings.

The spurt of liquor shops in small towns and villages is an ugly site along the entire landscape of the state and country. That all these bids are backed by political leadership speaks volumes about social responsibility of our leaders (it is being said that powerful political leaders beat up bidders who are not aligned to their interests).

The human cost of allowing liquor shops to prosper is something government is caring a hoot. With little or no health care or insurance coverage to its citizens Government is basically pushing the alcoholics and their families over the cliff.
Instead of strengthening the revenue collection and prevent leakage from its genuine sources Government is adopting an easy way out to shore up revenues with total irresponsibility towards its citizen and community welfare.

With such a fine set of economists in the planning commission and in the bureaucracy at the center and state I am surprised that this is the best idea they could come up with to raise revenues.

Corruption and more of it

On a recent visit to my village I was keen to know about the effectiveness of implementation of NREGA (National rural employment guarantee program). As with any other social upliftment program in India it turns to be a disappointment. First I was told the program is not run for 200 days as promised and much more serious about INR 5 Lakh was drawn by one individual faking signatures. There are many such stories about corruption in NREGA initiative across the country.
We suffer from lack of strong administrative control in the country on most fronts and this is no exception. Thousands of crores get siphoned off without reaching the intended beneficiaries.

Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said for every 1 rupee spent by the government only 10 paise is utilized for the intended purpose, it is still true.

Let us hope UID project will achieve its primary objective of providing identification and economic inclusivity for the poor and needy of the country. Till then our political class will keep looting the country.

Right to Education

Right to Education
The RTE act has finally seen its day, it is an important step in achieving the objective of Universal education in the country. However like all other acts it will suffer from implementation issues on the ground.
1) How do we ensure that every child between 6-14 yrs goes to the nearby Govt or Private school. What is the mechanism by which we prod parents to send their children to school. In a lot of cases children above 8 yrs are also bread earners in the family. How will the family be fed are some of the issues.
2) Will the private institutions co-operate in reserving 25% seats for this category of students. I guess they hate to see these students in their premises. Private schools in India have become elitist over the years and I do not see them co-opting in this social development initiative. They will raise a whole lot of issues in terms of dilution of standards, rising costs of education, demand free hand in fixing fees in lieu of co-opting for this program etc.
Despite all the hurdles it is one social development program that needs complete attention of the district level administration in the country, schools should be audited on enrolment numbers from this year. They also should be audited on rejections and the reasons, this is more applicable to the private institutions. Schools should be penalized for unreasonable rejections and de-recognized for serial non-compliance.
Communities, states or other categories of the society which are lagging behind in literacy should be focus groups for this initiative, Bihar and UP are two states where this act should be implemented in full zeal. There needs to be country wide campaign at district and village levels bringing awareness about this program. I am sure at this time the programs objectives and implementation modalities are not known to many. This has been a bane in this country, useful laws are enacted but not enough follow up is there on implementation.
There should be an effective collaboration between the states, NGOs and other social bodies to ensure success of this program. Let us hope that this act will be talked about as the most successful social transformation initiative that has ever been rolled out in this country since independence.

Riots and Political will

After more than a decade Hyderabad woke up to communal rites. Parts of the city are still under curfew. The usual suspects MIM and activists of BJP are under scanner.
There are accusations flying around on who and what is the trigger, MIMs unusual exuberance in celebrating Milad Nabi this year apparently upset the right wing parties and of course there is an underlying anger against AP Govt pushing for reservations in Jobs and educational institutions for the Muslim minority of the state.
While the recent occurrence can be considered a one off instance since it has happened after a long time there are some lessons the Govt has to learn and fix them to ensure this doesn’t repeat.
The MIM pretty much controls the old city and their writ runs without resistance. The Owaisi family runs their political organization with an iron hand and do not brook any political resistance or allow space for alternative parties to represent the aspirations of the minority constituency. In the last election they manhandled the opposition candidate and made his life difficult in running the campaign.
While the sky line of Hyderabad overall has changed over the years Old city remains unattended to. Development has taken a back seat due to interference by the political elements in administration. The Naidu administration was successful to some extent in carrying out some development activities and tried to break the strangle hold of MIM but the Congress (YSR and the current CM) are playing into the hands of the MIM and are scarred of taking any action against the Old city hoodlums.
MIM hardly cares for the well being of their constituents. They are representing the Old city and the nearby areas for decades but have nothing to show in terms of their record on development.
On the other side of the spectrum are the VHP and the other right wingers who look for an opportunity to escalate tensions on one reason or other.
It is a total failure of the state government in not anticipating trouble and showing weak knees in controlling the situation once the riots have broken out. There is a need for a strong political will in taking administration to the old city and bringing in development work to the area. Ensure that the boy and girl child of the old city goes to school and get them out of the vicious cycle of poverty and violence.