Couple of days back I was with a Municipal officer to discuss a project, while we were busy discussing he got to know that old age pensions for that particular month were yet to be distributed, he looked upset and inquired the concerned clerk on the reason for delay, the response was modem was not working hence instructions could not be passed to the bank. It was 22nd of the month and the pension is a paltry 300 Rs /month and it is delayed by 3 weeks. The pensioners would have gone to the bank multiple times to collect Rs 300. They would have spent have the money on travel.
This is a typical example of government services reaching the citizens; a hardened and emotionless bureaucracy does not have accountability. There are exceptions like this officer who was genuinely concerned however the general apathy in the bureaucracy is a reason for disaffection among citizens on govt services.
As citizens we need to interface with multiple govt depts/services on a regular basis water, electricity, property tax, Income tax, Public Distribution Shops, Passport etc being a few of them. Citizens experience friction whenever they come in contact with govt services. Rule books are thrown at the hapless individuals by the babus to make a quick buck to help resolve some or other teething issues. The babus have an advantage of better knowledge of the policies and procedures hence they twist and turn the citizens till they oblige with some bakshsish.
The RTI act is a great tool to shake the govt but there are attempts being made to dilute it and more importantly RTI activists are being threatened by mafias with dire consequences. A colleague of mine is an RTI activist and focuses his energies on saving lakes in and around Hyderabad; he says real estate mafias keep bothering them hence they need to tread carefully.
The issue is the formidable collusion between the politician and the bureaucracy, combined they are robbing the hapless citizen day in and day out. How can the govt energize its cadre to serve the citizens efficiently, is there an incentive for the bureaucracy to be efficient?
This is a country where we allow food grains to rot and let millions suffer from malnutrition, no one is accountable, some story is told to the Supreme Court. We should learn from China, they too are corrupt but are learning fast and are improving services to the citizens at an amazing speed. They rank better than India in the Transparency International corruption index.
Take the example of Income tax, they harass the common man but we do not see them going behind the high and mighty. Are we saying all politicians and industrialists have clean income tax records? The raids on this class of people are only for headlines, post the raid it is cold storage and back door settlement. I know one of my colleague had to shell out 30,000 Rs recently for a minor infraction after being harassed on some technical aspects which is difficult for the common man to understand. Govt wants to increase the ambit of income tax coverage but the process is not yet friendly and the dept is not citizen friendly. Their aim is to harass the honest and hard working citizen and let go the powerful.
There is lot of despondency about all this but there is a ray of hope, penetration of IT is helping improvement of services but our babus are finding ways to circumvent the process that needs to be fixed. I find ESeva of AP to be good example. It should be made more popular (this service started of well but seems to be on the decline) and penetrate into the towns. Govt should open more such kiosks across the country and provide most services to the citizens, take away the discretionary powers of the bureaucrats and perhaps the bureaucrat himself.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Reflections on the year gone by
After a decade a mixed achievements it is time to look forward for a period of faster growth and more even spread of prosperity in the country. India has done well to hold on to its own during the two significant downturns in the decade (the dotcom burst in the early 2000’s and the more recent 2008/09 recession). It has received all round praise for its Macroeconomic policies and the growth rate it is clocking year on year. We have won a war in Kargil but did not do as well in handling internal strife’s Maoists, Kashmir and Northeast. Poverty is in general declining but we are nowhere in the human development index (119th rank out of 169). India ranks 84/180in the corruption perception index, we have to go back to the drawing board on how to tackle this cancer in the system (In the government as well as the society).
With all the above we can take comfort in the fact we are still the largest democracy in the world and the most stable one in the south East Asian region. Democratic institutions see to work with all the limitations.
However the recent events CWG, 2G, Justice Balakrishnan, and Adarsh etc should be a serious cause of concern and puts a big question mark on our faith in the overall governance and the institutions.
Serial scams are draining the citizens’ belief that the country is in the right hands. The Prime Minister is an honorable man and no doubt the cleanest public figure in the country today, but what is the use if his men are stealing the wealth of the nation.
30,000 crores spent on the CWG games and no one is sure how much was spent usefully. As per UN estimates we could have built 2 crore or more toilets in a country where >70% of the population do not have access to toilets.
The 2G scam is even more scandalous, the related Radia tapes show the depth of collusion between Politicians, Journalists and the Industry. Popular Journalists passing off as defenders of truth in public life where shown to have feet of clay.
I am not confident that anything substantial will happen in either of the above cases since the independence and integrity of the agency probing is itself under serious question. CBI creates big news conducting raids and then goes dead silent for years. As I write this the IT appellate tribunal has spelt that Win Chadha and Ottavio Quattorcchi have indeed been paid bribes by AB Bofors while the same CBI is trying to close the case against Quattrocchi. So we know where the CWG and 2G investigations will go.
It is a bitter end to the year 2010 with a whole lot of scams and a lot of questions in our minds. Let us hope that this decade will see more constructive politics and continued prosperity in the country.
With all the above we can take comfort in the fact we are still the largest democracy in the world and the most stable one in the south East Asian region. Democratic institutions see to work with all the limitations.
However the recent events CWG, 2G, Justice Balakrishnan, and Adarsh etc should be a serious cause of concern and puts a big question mark on our faith in the overall governance and the institutions.
Serial scams are draining the citizens’ belief that the country is in the right hands. The Prime Minister is an honorable man and no doubt the cleanest public figure in the country today, but what is the use if his men are stealing the wealth of the nation.
30,000 crores spent on the CWG games and no one is sure how much was spent usefully. As per UN estimates we could have built 2 crore or more toilets in a country where >70% of the population do not have access to toilets.
The 2G scam is even more scandalous, the related Radia tapes show the depth of collusion between Politicians, Journalists and the Industry. Popular Journalists passing off as defenders of truth in public life where shown to have feet of clay.
I am not confident that anything substantial will happen in either of the above cases since the independence and integrity of the agency probing is itself under serious question. CBI creates big news conducting raids and then goes dead silent for years. As I write this the IT appellate tribunal has spelt that Win Chadha and Ottavio Quattorcchi have indeed been paid bribes by AB Bofors while the same CBI is trying to close the case against Quattrocchi. So we know where the CWG and 2G investigations will go.
It is a bitter end to the year 2010 with a whole lot of scams and a lot of questions in our minds. Let us hope that this decade will see more constructive politics and continued prosperity in the country.
Reflections on the year gone
After a decade a mixed achievements it is time to look forward for a period of faster growth and more even spread of prosperity in the country. India has done well to hold on to its own during the two significant downturns in the decade (the dotcom burst in the early 2000’s and the more recent 2008/09 recession). It has received all round praise for its Macroeconomic policies and the growth rate it is clocking year on year. We have won a war in Kargil but did not do as well in handling internal strife’s Maoists, Kashmir and Northeast. Poverty is in general declining but we are nowhere in the human development index (119th rank out of 169). India ranks 84/180in the corruption perception index, we have to go back to the drawing board on how to tackle this cancer in the system (In the government as well as the society).
With all the above we can take comfort in the fact we are still the largest democracy in the world and the most stable one in the south East Asian region. Democratic institutions see to work with all the limitations.
However the recent events CWG, 2G, Justice Balakrishnan, and Adarsh etc should be a serious cause of concern and puts a big question mark on our faith in the overall governance and the institutions.
Serial scams are draining the citizens’ belief that the country is in the right hands. The Prime Minister is an honorable man and no doubt the cleanest public figure in the country today, but what is the use if his men are stealing the wealth of the nation.
30,000 crores spent on the CWG games and no one is sure how much was spent usefully. As per UN estimates we could have built 2 crore or more toilets in a country where >70% of the population do not have access to toilets.
The 2G scam is even more scandalous, the related Radia tapes show the depth of collusion between Politicians, Journalists and the Industry. Popular Journalists passing off as defenders of truth in public life where shown to have feet of clay.
I am not confident that anything substantial will happen in either of the above cases since the independence and integrity of the agency probing is itself under serious question. CBI creates big news conducting raids and then goes dead silent for years. As I write this the IT appellate tribunal has spelt that Win Chadha and Ottavio Quattorcchi have indeed been paid bribes by AB Bofors while the same CBI is trying to close the case against Quattrocchi. So we know where the CWG and 2G investigations will go.
It is a bitter end to the year 2010 with a whole lot of scams and a lot of questions in our minds. Let us hope that this decade will see more constructive politics and continued prosperity in the country.
With all the above we can take comfort in the fact we are still the largest democracy in the world and the most stable one in the south East Asian region. Democratic institutions see to work with all the limitations.
However the recent events CWG, 2G, Justice Balakrishnan, and Adarsh etc should be a serious cause of concern and puts a big question mark on our faith in the overall governance and the institutions.
Serial scams are draining the citizens’ belief that the country is in the right hands. The Prime Minister is an honorable man and no doubt the cleanest public figure in the country today, but what is the use if his men are stealing the wealth of the nation.
30,000 crores spent on the CWG games and no one is sure how much was spent usefully. As per UN estimates we could have built 2 crore or more toilets in a country where >70% of the population do not have access to toilets.
The 2G scam is even more scandalous, the related Radia tapes show the depth of collusion between Politicians, Journalists and the Industry. Popular Journalists passing off as defenders of truth in public life where shown to have feet of clay.
I am not confident that anything substantial will happen in either of the above cases since the independence and integrity of the agency probing is itself under serious question. CBI creates big news conducting raids and then goes dead silent for years. As I write this the IT appellate tribunal has spelt that Win Chadha and Ottavio Quattorcchi have indeed been paid bribes by AB Bofors while the same CBI is trying to close the case against Quattrocchi. So we know where the CWG and 2G investigations will go.
It is a bitter end to the year 2010 with a whole lot of scams and a lot of questions in our minds. Let us hope that this decade will see more constructive politics and continued prosperity in the country.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Farmers loan trap
Farmers committing suicide is causing a political upheaval in many states of the country. Political parties across the spectrum are trying to cash in on the misery of the poor farmer. Do the politicians really care for this hard working community who put food on our plates? Their gullibility is encashed by the politicians for garnering votes.
Tenant farmers are those who cultivate crops by taking land on lease, most of them are economically and socially backward and crop loss will be devastating for their families. Over the years I have seen the struggle the tenant farmers go through to make money on the land they rent. There are too many factors that need to come together to help the tenant farmer make money. Weather, Water, Cost of seeds, Cost of fertilizers, Availability of seeds and fertilizers on time, Cost of labor and machinery, interest rate charged by MFIs or worse the local money lender etc are some of the variables that need to be favorable for the farmer to make a decent return/acre. Last year as a good year with everything falling in place, this year it is excessive rain that is causing the problems. Next year it could be fewer rains that will pain the poor farmer.
In a good year these farmers at best make even. Considering the typical cycle for good farming years is say once in 3/4 years these folks are always behind the curve in terms of getting rid of loans etc. Hence they resort to the extreme.
Government schemes are of no help either, for example data shows that Rs 11,353 crores were waived off by the centre under the farm loan waiver scheme out of which only 130 crore loans of tenant farmers benefitted. This is truly unbelievable and disturbing. The wells of farmers are getting full benefits of such schemes.
Most of the tenant farmers get into the vicious cycle of loans and more borrowings not only for farming purposes but for other purposes like child education, family responsibilities, health care etc. There are many reasons for this financial mess, the local money lenders squeeze their blood out charging interest rates up to 40%, MFIs are no better charging upwards of 25%, government banks do not give loans due to lack of identity and other proofs. Hence most of the time they are catching up with no hope of getting debt free.
The other aspect is there are too many of these farmers trying to cultivate a small land holding which is not viable. The productivity from each acre has to double from the current numbers if they have to make a decent profit (for e.g.: Paddy for a bumper crop one can expect 34-38 bags/acre in a fertile area, even at this rate the tenant farmer may just be breaking even, it has to go to 50 bags/acre for the tenant farmer to make a decent profit). Unscientific cultivation practices are some of the reasons for poor productivity; this is a whole different story.
There are many steps that the government need to take to help the tenant farmers (1) Regulate the tenancy acts to make it win win for both the land owner and farmer (in a bad year both parties should share the pain) (2) Loan trap – introduce regulation on interest rates charged by local money lenders, enable penetration of MFIs (don’t kill this industry, regulate it) they are better than the local money lenders (3) Retrain the young farmers in allied skills and help them get jobs in urban areas, we don’t need so many young people performing farming duties with such low productivity, we need to introduce automation in farming (4) Increase financial inclusivity, get all the farmers open bank accounts ( use the help of UID authority) and transfer cash to their accounts as part of govt grants. (5) Let the PSUs give cheaper loans to help the tenant farmers purchase lands.
I am sure someone in the government has better ideas than the above but I guess is stuck in the maze of policies, red tape and lethargy.Meanwhile the suicides continue to create havoc in the farming community.
Tenant farmers are those who cultivate crops by taking land on lease, most of them are economically and socially backward and crop loss will be devastating for their families. Over the years I have seen the struggle the tenant farmers go through to make money on the land they rent. There are too many factors that need to come together to help the tenant farmer make money. Weather, Water, Cost of seeds, Cost of fertilizers, Availability of seeds and fertilizers on time, Cost of labor and machinery, interest rate charged by MFIs or worse the local money lender etc are some of the variables that need to be favorable for the farmer to make a decent return/acre. Last year as a good year with everything falling in place, this year it is excessive rain that is causing the problems. Next year it could be fewer rains that will pain the poor farmer.
In a good year these farmers at best make even. Considering the typical cycle for good farming years is say once in 3/4 years these folks are always behind the curve in terms of getting rid of loans etc. Hence they resort to the extreme.
Government schemes are of no help either, for example data shows that Rs 11,353 crores were waived off by the centre under the farm loan waiver scheme out of which only 130 crore loans of tenant farmers benefitted. This is truly unbelievable and disturbing. The wells of farmers are getting full benefits of such schemes.
Most of the tenant farmers get into the vicious cycle of loans and more borrowings not only for farming purposes but for other purposes like child education, family responsibilities, health care etc. There are many reasons for this financial mess, the local money lenders squeeze their blood out charging interest rates up to 40%, MFIs are no better charging upwards of 25%, government banks do not give loans due to lack of identity and other proofs. Hence most of the time they are catching up with no hope of getting debt free.
The other aspect is there are too many of these farmers trying to cultivate a small land holding which is not viable. The productivity from each acre has to double from the current numbers if they have to make a decent profit (for e.g.: Paddy for a bumper crop one can expect 34-38 bags/acre in a fertile area, even at this rate the tenant farmer may just be breaking even, it has to go to 50 bags/acre for the tenant farmer to make a decent profit). Unscientific cultivation practices are some of the reasons for poor productivity; this is a whole different story.
There are many steps that the government need to take to help the tenant farmers (1) Regulate the tenancy acts to make it win win for both the land owner and farmer (in a bad year both parties should share the pain) (2) Loan trap – introduce regulation on interest rates charged by local money lenders, enable penetration of MFIs (don’t kill this industry, regulate it) they are better than the local money lenders (3) Retrain the young farmers in allied skills and help them get jobs in urban areas, we don’t need so many young people performing farming duties with such low productivity, we need to introduce automation in farming (4) Increase financial inclusivity, get all the farmers open bank accounts ( use the help of UID authority) and transfer cash to their accounts as part of govt grants. (5) Let the PSUs give cheaper loans to help the tenant farmers purchase lands.
I am sure someone in the government has better ideas than the above but I guess is stuck in the maze of policies, red tape and lethargy.Meanwhile the suicides continue to create havoc in the farming community.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Pesky frisking
Every time an Indian Diplomat or a politician is frisked or asked to go through the security check at an US airport or else where it is an issue and we call for apologies etc. The standard American response is we regret but will adhere to the security process next time too. Diplomatic niceties can wait but security is important for the Americans. I agree that TSA agents at times get carried away and can be insensitive but in general they go by the book.
If we are so offended do what Brazil does to American citizens, get the Americans finger printed and subject them to your procedures. There is a problem in doing this, we ourselves do not take our rule books seriously, our neta’s and babu’s are used to exclusive privileges in airports and other public institutions and feel insulted to stand in queue for their turn like others do. Feudal mentality reigns amongst our ruling class.
We should take the spirit behind the security procedures at the US airport’s and have much more robust procedures at our airports since our airports are more vulnerable. Do not keep sulking on small matters and keep protesting, let us elevate our discipline in public life and show the world we mean business.
First step towards achieving this – introduce a legislation to stop our MLA’s and MP’s going around our cities and towns with their cronies like robin hood’s, ordinary citizens suffer while they have a free right of away. Let us not preach rules to others while we never follow one.
If we are so offended do what Brazil does to American citizens, get the Americans finger printed and subject them to your procedures. There is a problem in doing this, we ourselves do not take our rule books seriously, our neta’s and babu’s are used to exclusive privileges in airports and other public institutions and feel insulted to stand in queue for their turn like others do. Feudal mentality reigns amongst our ruling class.
We should take the spirit behind the security procedures at the US airport’s and have much more robust procedures at our airports since our airports are more vulnerable. Do not keep sulking on small matters and keep protesting, let us elevate our discipline in public life and show the world we mean business.
First step towards achieving this – introduce a legislation to stop our MLA’s and MP’s going around our cities and towns with their cronies like robin hood’s, ordinary citizens suffer while they have a free right of away. Let us not preach rules to others while we never follow one.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Corruption Mania
Enough has been said about the Nira Radia tapes. What is baffling is the “pro-active” media, both print and Television going slow on exposing the involvement of Journalists in the 2G scam. It is very interesting to hear Vir Sanghvi talking to Nira Radia and helping her to fix the message for Mukesh. Barkha dutt’s self righteous messaging on TV shows also falls apart. I challenge the TV channels to play the recordings to show that they really stand for the “ Truth” not only the truth they are comfortable with.
Coming to the 2G scam itself I think successive governments have played around with the policy leading to huge losses to the exchequer. But what A.Raja has done is the mother of all scams. What he has done in broad is galling. It is possible only in India. Impossible to believe that no one in the Govt knew.
The scam / corruption count is around 150k crores (75 2G + 75 CWG). So much work for the CVC to investigate, who himself is under investigation. Totally confusing on how we run the country.
Even more shameful in the Adarsh housing scam, it shows our utter lack of respect for folks who defend the country.
Coming to the 2G scam itself I think successive governments have played around with the policy leading to huge losses to the exchequer. But what A.Raja has done is the mother of all scams. What he has done in broad is galling. It is possible only in India. Impossible to believe that no one in the Govt knew.
The scam / corruption count is around 150k crores (75 2G + 75 CWG). So much work for the CVC to investigate, who himself is under investigation. Totally confusing on how we run the country.
Even more shameful in the Adarsh housing scam, it shows our utter lack of respect for folks who defend the country.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
A helping hand
Every morning Bikshapati reaches to this reasonably affluent community on his rickety cycle, parks it in a remote corner and starts his daily chores. An old man with a hunch, pushing 60 years, his eyes giving away the pain that life is giving to him and his family.
For 100 dollars a month he works for an average 12 hours a day for 25 days. He walks the roads of the community and collects garbage lying around does other miscellaneous chores, meanwhile is pulled and pushed by households to get their work done. This community is no different from other communities in the country “It is ok to throw garbage around in public areas but my house should be clean” and this man’s duty is clean up the mess around.
It is just not Bikshapati, there are an army of maids who stream in every day and help the community live in sanity. A daily grind to eke out an income to shore up their husbands earnings.
No labor law is applicable for lakhs of Bikshapatis and maids who work tirelessly and are selfless. They have no idea what it means to have a health insurance; they do not know what it means to get a pension.
This unorganized sector of labor that is moving in large numbers to the metros for a living pose challenge to the government. As usual governments and cities are not ready to host them, they live in jhuggis in bus stations and on platforms. There are half hearted attempts being made by the government to set up shelters for the migrant labor, will it work. Government is not serious.
Identity is an issue for all these faceless citizens, they do not know their entitlements, ration cards, free health cards, old age pension schemes etc etc. They live by the day. They are large in numbers.
Local communities need to come together to help these people. Can we get them group insurance, sponsor kid’s education etc and create a secure environment for their living.Local communities need to step in where the government fails.
( BTW- I was a in a government office with a senior officer, he got a call inquiring about monthly old age pension not being disbursed for the latest month, when the officer checked with his staff on why it has not happened the response was that the modem was down and this in the 3rd week of the month. All this for INR 300/month. Such are the ways bureaucracy works.
For 100 dollars a month he works for an average 12 hours a day for 25 days. He walks the roads of the community and collects garbage lying around does other miscellaneous chores, meanwhile is pulled and pushed by households to get their work done. This community is no different from other communities in the country “It is ok to throw garbage around in public areas but my house should be clean” and this man’s duty is clean up the mess around.
It is just not Bikshapati, there are an army of maids who stream in every day and help the community live in sanity. A daily grind to eke out an income to shore up their husbands earnings.
No labor law is applicable for lakhs of Bikshapatis and maids who work tirelessly and are selfless. They have no idea what it means to have a health insurance; they do not know what it means to get a pension.
This unorganized sector of labor that is moving in large numbers to the metros for a living pose challenge to the government. As usual governments and cities are not ready to host them, they live in jhuggis in bus stations and on platforms. There are half hearted attempts being made by the government to set up shelters for the migrant labor, will it work. Government is not serious.
Identity is an issue for all these faceless citizens, they do not know their entitlements, ration cards, free health cards, old age pension schemes etc etc. They live by the day. They are large in numbers.
Local communities need to come together to help these people. Can we get them group insurance, sponsor kid’s education etc and create a secure environment for their living.Local communities need to step in where the government fails.
( BTW- I was a in a government office with a senior officer, he got a call inquiring about monthly old age pension not being disbursed for the latest month, when the officer checked with his staff on why it has not happened the response was that the modem was down and this in the 3rd week of the month. All this for INR 300/month. Such are the ways bureaucracy works.
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