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.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, June 7, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
A step in the right direction
The much awaited 33% reservation for women in the parliament is a welcome step in India’s effort to empower and emancipate women in the country.
It is heartening to see the ruling congress and the main opposition BJP coming together to support the bill in both the upper and lower houses of the parliament. There are discordant notes with the OBC leaders and minority parties making noise about reservation for women in their communities. This noise will not be a show stopper in passing the bill. Leaders like Lalu Yadav and Deve Gowda are the worst type of politicians and should be condemned to obscurity for their petty and narrow politics.
We need to wait and see for 2014 when the 33% reservation comes into effect, about 160+ women parliamentarians would be entering the hallowed halls of the parliament, hopefully bringing in the dignity that is lacking today.
As with any law there will be challenges in implementing the law in spirit since our scheming politicians will prop up their wives, relatives and children to fight the elections. In that sense the law will not be completely democratic since money is still required to fight elections, and it is the current gang of politicos who has all that. There will be a lot of remote control in action in the parliament.
It is up to the women parliamentarians to come into their own and bring out issues that are important for their ilk. Data shows Indian women lagging on all fronts with respect to education, health, employment etc. I guess Africa is the only other continent that fares worse.
It is a step in the right direction though much delayed.
It is heartening to see the ruling congress and the main opposition BJP coming together to support the bill in both the upper and lower houses of the parliament. There are discordant notes with the OBC leaders and minority parties making noise about reservation for women in their communities. This noise will not be a show stopper in passing the bill. Leaders like Lalu Yadav and Deve Gowda are the worst type of politicians and should be condemned to obscurity for their petty and narrow politics.
We need to wait and see for 2014 when the 33% reservation comes into effect, about 160+ women parliamentarians would be entering the hallowed halls of the parliament, hopefully bringing in the dignity that is lacking today.
As with any law there will be challenges in implementing the law in spirit since our scheming politicians will prop up their wives, relatives and children to fight the elections. In that sense the law will not be completely democratic since money is still required to fight elections, and it is the current gang of politicos who has all that. There will be a lot of remote control in action in the parliament.
It is up to the women parliamentarians to come into their own and bring out issues that are important for their ilk. Data shows Indian women lagging on all fronts with respect to education, health, employment etc. I guess Africa is the only other continent that fares worse.
It is a step in the right direction though much delayed.
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