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Can Gandhi’s actually work for development ?
I was in Lucknow at the BJP headquarters for a meeting with the committee that is drafting the Election Manifesto , and i quoted this data to show that Gandhi’s don’t have the credentials to take UP ahead in Development :
Source : January 11, 2012 , TOI. HUNgaMA Report ( Hunger and Malnutrition report ). Rae Barielly , the bastion of Gandhi’s for generations according to this report has :
Nearly 20 % of the children aged 0-59 months severely under weight .
40 % are moderately under weight .
One in two children in the same age group are severely stunted , while 70 % of the rest are moderately stunted (shorter than they should be at a certain age) .
Nearly 10 % children are wasted- when a child is too light for its height .
As far as mothers are concerned , 55 % never went to school while 84 % never heard of Malnutrition .
About 10 % of the households have a toilet while over 60 % people have a mobile phone
Firstly , Rahul & Sonia must look at their back yard, and then talk of development ! Their constituencies are the worst in terms of development , taking into account that the most powerful family has been elected from this constituency for decades . Shame , shame Rahul , Sonia and Priyanka !
Potato Politics and Commercial Airport in Rae Barielly !
Dear Rahul,
Last week you made a statement that , ‘ 50 grams of potato chip are sold for Rs. 10 , and that this is made from just half potato’ ! Correct ! But again , Rahul don’t forget that the foreign companies no lesser than Wal-Mart ( likes of Pepsico ) are selling these expensive potato chips made from half a potato . So, does it not make more sense to check the growth of MNC retail chains / companies in India, who are buying cheap potato but ‘profiteering’ by selling chips at Rs. 10 per packet and the poor farmer is losing his produce at a throw away price ?
Also, I wish to draw your attention towards the fact that currently the farmers are paid Rs. 1 per KG. I cannot understand why will ‘Profit & balance sheet obsessed’ Retail chains pay more to these poor farmers !
Simply stating that the middlemen would be removed and so farmers will get more, is a fallacious statement and conveys a lack of your ignorance about the realities. I think your party and Maya ji are fighting in the ‘aerial warfare’ with no touch of realities on the ground
I can clearly see the trick in getting the farmer leader Ajit Singh into Congress. Clearly , he will help you pitch farmers in favor of FDI and also convert a few of them as voters . But these tactics might not work in the long run , hopefully there are millions like myself who know the reality of these old tricks of congress for vote bank politics !
I read another news that Rae Bareilly will get a commercial airport
Let me enlighten you about the Awadh region where your dad , mom & yourself have fought & won elections for decades
The Awadh region once ruled by nawabs and taluqdars and known as granary of India because of its fertile Gangetic plain. The area has given prime ministers to the country – Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But most districts are still backward.
Population | 3.654 Cr
Per Capita Income | Rs 13,150.81
Faizabad division | Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Sultanpur, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar, Barabanki
Devipatan division | Gonda, Balrampur, Shravasti, Bahraich
Kanpur division | Kanpur, Ramabai Nagar, Auraiya, Farrukkhabad, Kannauj, Etawah
Lucknow division | Lakhimpur, Lucknow, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli
Now here is an interesting fact : Purulia is better off than Rae Bareli and Amethi and this was quoted in this article of Business Standard & Mid-Day. http://www.mid-day.com/poll2009/2009/apr/270409-Purulia-is-better-than-Amethi-Left-tells-Rahul.htm
Let me walk you through a planning commission report on the per capita domestic product , and the NDP per capita in your family’s constituency.
Net domestic product (total and per capita) 2006-7 as per planning commission, Government of India
| At Current Prices | At Constant Prices 1999-2000 | |||
| Domestic Product (Total) Rs. in CR. | Per Capita Domestic Product (Rs.) | Domestic Product (Total) (Rs. in Cr.) | Per Capita
Domestic Product (Rs.) |
|
| Rae Barielly | 3288 | 10361 | 2489 | 7844 |
| Sultanpur | 3955 | 11168 | 3077 | 8687 |
So clearly, getting an airport in Rae Barielly is a stupidity of the highest order, and that too, when it is clear that the region is back ward and people can barely survive a year without good rains leave alone travelling by air ! Please read the per capita income and check out if the poor people of that district can even afford the air port taxes leave along the airfare !
I have visited Amethi and met up with dozens of self-help groups that you have formed in Amethi, and let me tell you that, you are just ‘Using’ the emotions of these poor people for becoming a member of Lok Sabha from Amethi
While I was travelling to Amethi, none else than your own people (close associates) have informed me that the worst road in India is between Rae Bareilly and Sultanpur. Do I write more!
Learn from Mr. Vajpayee , who started the Golden Quadrilateral project for the Aam Aaadmi and your government is more interested in airports, so that you can fly directly to Amethi rather than taking the 2 hour road drive to Amethi via Lucknow . You are wasting the hard earned money of common men like myself , who earn by hard work and pay 1/3rd of our income as taxes to the government , and people like you go and throw it for things like building an airport at Rae Barielly !
By the way i could not understand that in the same week you talked about potato being sold at Rs.1 per KG and the other side an Airport in Rae Barielly ?
Gandhi Dynasty has taken India back ward by at least 30 years , and we need to stop it soon.
I also don’t understand what is your intent for the so-called ‘Food Security Bill’ and ‘Job Guarantee Bill’. You will give fixed income to people so that they do not have to work and then you guarantee them food ? So it means that people will not have to work and earn the food , and will get it free ? Where will the Rs. 5 lac crore come from for these schemes ? Will these things take India forward or your party men who will get the ration shops to distribute ( read divert ) grains and sell them to the open market, and finally , the poor Aam Aadmi will be left stranded on the road !
Wake up Rahul ! Time will never forgive your people, and the elections will decide your fate not this ‘aerial warfare’ .
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Healthcare I Retail I Rural Economy I Public Policy
New Year might have plenty of bad news for the Economy
The New year ( 2012 ) will not be a good year for India . The industrial production is falling , interest rates have gone up , corruption is on the rise , inflation is going up, rupee is going down compared to the dollar, and the investment outlook for India is negative due to wrong policies pursued by the congress government over the past several years .
It is time to change and bring a fresh look at the fundamentals of the economic policy & social disbursements
I was speaking with one of my friend from abroad , and he was of the view that USA / Europe is headed for the worst and India is no better off ! Hope it is not true !
Hoping that things will change miraculously !
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Communal Party of India – AICC – Congress
Communal Congress- History repeats
Today’s headline in The Times of India ( 6th December 2011 ), “Centre bids to push Muslim quota ahead of polls in UP”
This news reminds me of the 80’s , when Shri Rajiv Gandhi used to meet Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid before the elections, for issuing a fatwa to Muslims to vote for Congress .
It is time that people realized the real communal party of India – AICC !
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Healthcare I Retail I Rural Economy I Public Policy
2011 – Year of Democratic Innovations
Year 2011 – Year of democratic innovations
It would be appropriate to call the year 2011, the “Year of Democracy & Democratic innovations”. Year 2011 witnessed the birth of an Idea, which will either take the democracies to a new high or a new low depending how the weapon is used. This year (2011) was certainly of political innovations driven by grass-roots and Internet, and has given one lasting lesson to politicians and rulers ‘ If you have a responsibility, behave responsibly’.
Year 2011 will pass as the most happening year in the history of politics and governance. We saw how Julian Assange unmasked the United States of America using the power of net, and how the Arab Awakening started on the net and the decades old regimes fell, and How Anna Hazare used the power of media to force the government to accept its demands & commit to change. It is no ordinary feat using the ordinary and every day use mediums to bring about a lasting change. We saw many changes without large-scale wars and bloodshed. It is unbelievable, but it happened, and not just in India but across the World!
Back home, this year, we have seen how the fierce standoff between the Government and the ‘Social activists’ / ‘Civil Society Organizations’ moved the ‘Policy Paralysis’ to ‘Parliamentary paralysis’. For sure, It is clear that innovations are not just limited to science labs and companies, but even the small and big democracies are innovating and finding ways to be heard using the power of low-cost mediums and issues that affect the ‘Common Man’. The ‘autocratic democracies’ have to learn to accept and function in accordance with the wishes of the people whom they are meant to serve
I have always believed that ‘Politicians’ once they acquire the ‘Power’ forget the basic philosophy of governance that ‘ Powers flows through them, and not from them’ and that, they are supposed to be ‘serving’ the people & not ‘Governing them’, using the power to transform lives rather than using their position for ‘I, ME & MYSELF’
So what is in store for politicians and the civil society now?
It is clear that the public has a new weapon of mass destruction – Dissidence with Disobedience till things fall in place!
We have seen that the Indian Parliament did not function during the monsoon session due to various issues relating to scams and corruption, and now that FDI in retail has become a contentious issue and has brought the government to a halt within the parliament. The UPA government, which was earlier being haunted with ‘Policy Paralysis’, has now turned to ‘Parliamentary Paralysis’ for the nation. It is both good and bad for a democracy. As long as this ‘Tool’ is used for right reasons for the well-being of the masses, it will bring about positive change, and when it becomes a ‘Tool’ to pacify the ‘Ego’ of the opposition parties, this could be the worst weapon to bring down the democratic ethos of any nation. Since FDI, 2 G scam and Lok Pal bills have vast negative ramifications, and so the opposition and the ruling party will get ‘the benefit of doubt’ on this modus operandi, but if the opposition uses the same tool for each and every flimsy issue, then the public will directly answer during the elections. It is clearly being felt that, the public is getting enlightened, and watching the debate and taking a stand and backing it with ‘viral marketing’. We will see the results much before 2014 and the Grand Finale in 2014. It is time that those who have responsibility, must act responsibly to take this nation forward. It goes without saying ‘ You can fool some people all the time, all people some time but not all people all the time’.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Healthcare I Retail I Rural Economy I Public Policy
BJP’s stand on FDI in retail – A pragmatic approach with change in market dynamics !
Why did BJP change the stand on in 2009 elections for FDI?
I was a part of the three-member team that authored the Election Manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections of BJP under the Chairmanship of Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi, and I wrote the first draft of the critical policy document for BJP, after discussions with various stakeholders for the Indian Economy from across the world. I personally made over 100’s of phone calls to people who had submitted their recommendations to BJP for the Lok Sabha elections manifesto, and people would have seen that BJP was the only party that not only incorporated the ‘Aam Aadmi’s aspirations, but have also struck to its commitment without any compromise.
I am reproducing the exact wordings for the Retail Trade as mentioned in the election manifesto of 2009 on page 23,
‘BJP understands the critical importance of retail trade in the context of employment and services provided by them, and thus favors a dominant role for the unincorporated sector in retail trade. Towards this end, it will not allow foreign direct investment in retail sector. After agriculture, the retail sector is the largest employer of nearly four crore people.
We will:
- Adopt all necessary measures to safeguard the interest of small and tiny retail vendors
- Ensure availability of working capital needs for such vendors through credit at not more than four percent interest
- Study the feasibility of slab-based ‘Compound Tax’ for traders to free them from needless harassment and end corruption
- Set up an empowered committee to recommend welfare measures, including pension scheme, for small traders
Today’s Economic Times carries an interview of Shri Yashwant Sinha ji and there is a question ‘The Government leadership, particularly the commerce minister, has said that BJP has shifted its policy on FDI in retail. And that the BJP is being opportunistic..
This is totally wrong question or statement from who-so-ever made it
I wish to highlight a few facts that were there in 2002, and in 2008, the global order had changed. Please note the following
- In 2002, the scene was different, when it came to global economies and India; USA was not taking about ‘protectionism’ but selling ‘globalization’.
- Full impact of globalization was clearly seen in the recession of 2008, and USA and Europe have clearly ‘tilted’ towards ‘Protectionist’ economic policies
- Retail trade was just starting up to organize in India in 2002, and by 2008, most of the Indian retailers even had to re-organize due to heavy losses
So, clearly, as the only national party with interest of the ‘Common Man’ at heart, BJP took a cautious call to help its small Kirana stores, than bringing 1000’s of foreign super markets to India at the cost of 12 million retailers! So the 2009 policy decision was the right decision for the nation and its ‘Common Man’, and those who say that BJP changed its stand, have forgotten the rule of ‘market dynamics’ and failed to keep their eyes open to the happenings across the world in the past seven years. A lot has changed in the first 10 years of this century, and a lot more will change in the next 10 years. It is imperative that we keep our heads low and overheads lower! BJP is the only party that can take this nation forward. Congress with all its USA / UK educated politicians can continue to sing the voice of their ‘Real Masters’ and take the economy to drain.
BJP’s stand on FDI in retail is a pragmatic approach with change in market dynamics, and has no politics attached to it , whereas, the Congress is pushing FDI in retail for its failure to check corruption and control inflation, and keep away the Lok Pal bill from the parliament - That is the politics of Congress !
May the good sense prevail in the Congress and it’s so-called leadership!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Healthcare I Retail I Rural Economy I Public Policy
How can congress manipulate politics – Read this .
Congress can still implement FDI.
Going by the AICC’s shrewd game , it is clear that DMK is pacified with Kanimozi getting bail ( by the way , what a coincidence !) , now Mamta can get her West Bengal’s loans waived off , so she will also toe the congress line on FDI in retail , and as always, Mulayam and Maya are actors who are always reimbursed for their role
So , congress may still do with FDI in retail . But this time , more than 40 crore people are watching this policy move and are dead against FDI in retail , and Congress might fail to have its way .
I was the author of the first draft of the BJP’s election manifesto for Lok Sabha elections in 2009, and so i am sure ,that we promised not to allow FDI in retail and to protect small retailers . We will keep our promise !
Fingers crossed !
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Healthcare I Retail I Rural Economy I Public Policy
Big Question- Who wrote the FDI in Retail Policy ?
Quote in The Times of India today:
‘Sources also expressed surprise at the fact that the minister’s statement to both Houses of Parliament did not mention that 30% of sourcing from micro and small enterprises could be from anywhere in the world and not India specific’.
Clearly , it is not something that the Government Officials can author ? The billion dollar question is ‘ Did Wal-Mart Executives write this FDI in retail document ?
Earlier , we all learned that Niira Radia decided the telecom minister port folio, and led the biggest scan in India’s history. Now is Wal-Mart scripting this biggest sell-off of India through FDI in retail ? We all fought the war of independence to stop the economic exploitation from the British Raj, are we not going back to pre-1947 days by privatizing the 350 billion dollar retail industry ? 10′s of billions of dollars would leave Indian economy for foreign shores once retail giants step in . Finally , we will have less money chasing more goods – Simple economics definition means ‘High Inflation’.
Congress leadership needs to answer this question ?
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Healthcare I Retail I Rural Economy I Public Policy
www.commonmansblog.com
Flawed Retail Policy
The government’s decision to allow FDI in retail In only towns with a population of over 10 lac ( One million ) is totally flawed . India has over 8000 towns and cities, and if only the 53 flourishing towns get FDI , it clearly indicates a few things ;
1. All retailers would anyways like to be present in towns where there is business – Government is simply conveying & supporting the business plans for these big retailers
2. All retailers would be willing to invest in such towns ( be it front end or back end ) and not in smaller towns where real infrastructure investment is needed
3. This policy will lead to more migration from smaller towns to these big 53 towns . So property / real estate will go up and so will the prices of major services and goods and drive inflation higher
4.In fact , these retailers must first prove their success in the smaller towns and not the bigger towns, and make investment in the infrastructure in smaller towns
The MNC retailers must not be allowed in bigger towns before they invest in smaller towns or let them have two- three small towns and one big town if at all the FDI has to be allowed
Automatically , the real interest of these retailers will come in open !
FDI in retail – This is a harsh reality – Is FDI really a boon for India at this time ?
Government’s arguments for FDI in retail are a proof of the fact, that this government does not understand India, and looks at Indians from USA’s businessmen’s perspective. Congress government has become the biggest lobbyist for pursuing the business interest of nuclear & retail corporations from USA & Europe at the cost of India’s middle class
Today’s Economic Times (26th November 2011) headline ‘ Govt Sells Multi-Brand FDI with best bargains’ gives a list of reasons why the government is supporting, (rather pushing FDI ) in retail. Let me put the Common Man’s view and take on each of these arguments
1. It will create 10 million jobs in the next 3 years
A) According to the CII report in 2007, ‘India will need 10 to 12 million skilled workers every year for the next five years to meet the growing demand from the support services and there is a need for strong intervention to ensure the availability of the workforce’. So is the government trying to say that it is only the retail chains that will create 10 million jobs in the next three years?
B) Let us examine how many jobs Wal-Mart created in America & how many jobs did Wal-Mart create in India for the past 3 years of operations both as a wholesaler and as a retailer ? How many jobs our Indian retailers like Future group, Aditya Birla retail and Reliance retail created in the past 3 years? We will clearly see that they did not even create a million jobs!
C) Also, government does not talk how many Kirana stores will shut down in the next 5 years and how many homes will be denied of a source of income ?
D) Wal-Mart or for that matter any retailer works on the least number of workers per square feet (lean management structures ) ,and so it will kill the 50 Kirana stores thereby get at least 250 people out of jobs and then create 50 jobs per super market. Is this factored in the statement? I am willing to prove this in the current retail scenario leave alone the scenario when the foreign retailers come in?
2. Several billion dollars of investment in retail
A) If retail is a great business, the government banks should give loans from domestic financial institutions and let the homegrown retailers grow and build scale and size and let the profits remain in India. Why should we give 51 % of the ownership to foreign players, as these people will sell to Indians and take the profits out of our country. USA / Europe will solve their income and earnings problems and India will get into problems of high inflation and more volatile stock market. Also, Indian retailer being less than 50 % of their share in the retail will become servants to these MNC chains under the current 51 % FDI norms.
B) Why did the government not start with 26 % FDI in multi brand retail for the first five years? Why suddenly start with 51 %. Please justify?
C) Often it has been quoted that the foreign retailers will bring technical know how to Indian retail market and boost the economies of scale and productivity? Which technical know how is the government talking, it needs to explain? I have been a COO / Board member of a major fortune 20 company’s retail operations in India, and I can tell you that these foreign retailers only bring money and no other expertise! They work on high profits, highly automated environment and lean man power structures. So government’s reason of the technical know how is fallacious and is showing that we Indians do not understand retail. Let us look inward and see our home-grown retailers like Future group and Aditya Birla retail .They are certainly growing . Government must bring out a detailed white paper on the so-called ‘Technical Know how’ these foreign retailers bring to Indian retail market?
D) With these billions of dollars coming in India, India’s real estate will become expensive thereby, contributing to keep the inflations levels high for the medium class not just for real estate but for all the sectors
E) Also, these billions of dollars are not charities to India or Indians . These are investments by retailers which follow a ROI ( return on investment concept ) for every dollar spent. So for sure , they people will invest in retail one dollar and take out 10 dollars from India over the next couple of years . Retail is mostly done on inventory management which is on credit from vendors . These retailers follow a credit cycle which ranges from 15 days to over month . So with a double-digit profit margin , these retailers will only be investing one time into infrastructure and then make money without investing at all ,as all the inventory is on a credit cycle . ‘Sell and pay’ is the mantra for these FMCG retailers ! Even the space which is rented by these retailers is leased to product companies for hefty display charges. These retailers charge a heavy fee for listing products in its store before selling .Our policy makers , wake up and understand the real dangerous game of FDI in retail and don’t get carried away by the billions of dollars of investment . It is not true . One time investment by these retailers will be a life long profit for their parent company’s home country
3) Farmers will get more than 12-15 % of the consumer price they get for fruits and vegetables
A) In reality, farmers will never get a higher price but will be exploited by these MNC Chains .In fact, these MNC retailers will push in for stringent quality checks and other prohibitively expensive conditions for these farmers thereby, forcing the poor Indian farmer out of his livelihood. Most of the retailers will take to contract farming, and thus the farmers will be reduced to being laborers in the hands of these MNC chains.
B) The History of these MNC chains has shown the these chains are out to squeeze blood out of their vendors and farmers will certainly be vendors for these MNC chains and nothing else . Wal-Mart and other retailers are facing dozens of cases of exploitation and gender bias in developed country where the legal system is strong . Imagine what will happen in our country ?
4) Consumers will get producers at Cheaper Prices, as competition will bring down the prices
A) Even without competition the prices will come down by a few paisas or may be a few rupees, but, all these chains will increase the MRP (Maximum retail prices) of the products, and so the consumer will end up paying more than what s/he pays today. Take an example of the MNC pharma companies. Since there is a ceiling of price increase by 10 %, so every year the pharma companies increase the prices by 9-9.5 % and thereby, circumventing the price increase regulations.
B) It is clear that the consumer is not a winner, no one pay’s from its pocket OR profits to the consumer. If there is a price increase on the input costs, the same is passed on to the as an increased MRP or the quantity is reduced for the same price. So the consumer’s pocket is always ripped apart by these retailers
5) 30 % mandatory sourcing from small-scale sector will help small industry
A) This has not been a convincing argument, so we are trying to tell that a small company out of Varanasi will compete with HUL and win? Come on Dr.Manmohan Singh, are you trying to fool Indians? I understand that you studied at Oxford, doesn’t mean that rest of the Indians are going to get carried away with these statements
B) Also, these MNC chains will put conditions that are either too stringent to be complied to or prohibitively expensive to be implemented by these SME’s, and so finally, these chains will find a reason to evade buying from these SME’s. Also, that the SME’s are not just limited to India, but across the world, so probably, Chinese SME’s would benefit more than Indian SME’s
C) These retailers charge a heavy fee for listing products in its store before selling. How will SME’s afford that ? The fee currently for Indian retailers varies from few thousand to over a lac for products for companies . SME’s will never be able to benefit from these chains even if they are able sell to them, as they will pay for listing and then cry for the payment – which will depend on the vendor payment cycle varying for weeks to months and small vendors (SME’s ) cannot survive this big box retail game
6) 70 % of retail is in food items and these are mostly sourced locally
A) If 70 % of the retail is in food items and this is sourced locally, why allow 51 % of the profits to go out of India? So FDI should not have crossed more than 30 %!
B) Local Indian retailers (existing Kirana stores ) must be trained to deal in these food items and deliver better value for the country and its economy.
C) This argument of the government goes against its own policy. So whereas, 70 % of the products would be food items, 51 % profits from these categories would go out of our country, thereby, clearing pushing the inflation higher perpetually for the next couple of decades. As there will be less money in our country chasing more goods ( as money would have found its way to parent MNC) – Simple economics Mr. Kaushik Basu!
7) Ikea already sourcing 30 % of inputs from India
A) So if Ikea is already sourcing 30 % inputs from India, let other chains also do the same before starting their shop in India.
B) If these MNC chains buy from India and sell in India and take 51% of the profits abroad, what is India’s gain? The government must come out clean on this?
8) Approval only after investors meet all conditions, including 50 % investment in back end
A) This statement of investment in backend is a foolish statement. Already 100 % FDI is allowed in wholesale, why justify it for retail and link it up? Let these retailers first invest in back-end for the first five years and next five years invest in front end
B) Government has FCI (Food corporation of India) godowns and what is the government doing for enhancing the efficiency of this biggest warehousing corporation – Can this FCI not become the Cash and Carry for small retailers ? A drastic improvement in supply chain of FCI godowns can bring down the wastage of food grains by hundreds of tons if not thousands of tons. Please pursue the project of Mr.Atal Behari Vajpayee of Golden Quadrilateral and link up all the FCI godowns, and start a national Agriculture produce transport corporation to start weekly transport during the harvesting season from the farms to FCI and nearest towns. The farmers co-operative and IFFCO should manage this. With this, farmers will not only get good prices but the wastage will be reduced substantially. Why are you looking at FDI to solve this simple problem of inflation . This can not only solve the inflation problem but also improve productivity at all levels , create more jobs ( may be , millions of low & middle-income but high productivity jobs ) and reduce inflation .
C) Learn from ‘operation flood’ by AMUL and how it solved the shortage of milk problem of our country and created a world-class brand. See what M.S.Swaminathan did with ‘Green Revolution’ to increase the production of grains in our country. Please do not justify that foreign retailers will help you bring down inflation. Remember that ‘Inflation is reversible but FDI is not’ and do not sell our country to foreigners for a short-term gain of a few billion dollars to our economy. This is anyway not the dollars to our economy, but the investment of dollars to take back dollars. I am sure that all these MNC chains a ROI (return of investment) method of calculating the investment returns. So I wish to ask our government that what does the ‘retail FDI dollar’ bring to India, which Indian government cannot do with its own money?
9) Government will have the first right over procurement of farm produce
A) This statement has no value. Government has shown no concern for farmers except considering them as voters and leaving them at the mercy of rain gods.
Questions that the government must answer
- What has the government spent to train local Kirana stores in the past five years? When yesterday only the government asked for Rs.56000 crore of the tax payers money despite a huge budget deficit, why did it not ask for even a Rs. 1000 crore for retailers training and up gradation?
- Why did the government not start with FDI in retail at 26 %? Why suddenly at 51 %? Has the government become a lobbyist for MNC chains?
- Has the government done its own independent studies for the impact of retail chains on Kirana stores?
- The biggest plank of allowing the FDI is that inflation will come down. So despite allowing FDI, if the inflation does not come down, will the government revoke FDI in retail? Does that rider appear in the CP (Condition Precedents) for allowing FDI in retail?
- Government needs to prove that FDI in retail can create million jobs every year. How and why, and which retailer will do that. All this must be put in the business case for allowing FDI? Why is government becoming the spokesperson for these MNC retail chains? What is the deal?
- Where and how much wills the retailers invest in back-end? This has not been specified?
- Why has the government not capped the retail margins of foreign retailers in India?
- See point 5 B, why have women self-help groups / handicrafts been excluded from being the beneficiaries of the retail entry
- Why are retailers not mandated to invest in retail training ?
- More questions to follow
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Healthcare I Retail I Public Policy
India’s Economy in Recession
Indian Economy – two sides of the same coin
Why is Indian economy in recession? Indian economy was known as the most intriguing economy for the last three years. There was a lot of hype and hoopla created around the same, everyone wanted to ride the booming India. Some called it the ‘rise of the east’ or ‘a billion under-served customers’. It was the country no one wanted to miss. What happened? What went wrong and why at all?
Firstly, a few things led to a sudden hype. Rise of Infosys and Wipro’s, TATA Tetley acquisition, Arcelor Mittal takeover, Indra Nooyi taking over PepsiCo as CEO, Arun Sarin over Vodafone etc… This was backed by a lot of media coverage.
Secondly, the triumvirate of Manmohan Singh , P. Chidambaram & Montek Singh talking of a double digit growth excited a lot enthusiasm of politically connected ( and not so politically connected ) business groups to enter into ‘businesses of future’ like infrastructure , power, retail etc… This was based on ‘Big Talk’ of the triumvirate. We all know how many people pumped in money at unrealistic valuations and market was heated up beyond logic, banks were also enjoying the party, share market was expanding like a balloon, manpower was charging anything and still jumping for tempting offers, retail was spotting everywhere. Result: competition became suicidal. Money got pumped into real estate and supply increased and the prices soared. Brands started fighting for space and not profits. Finally, reality was surfacing; growth was not double digits; which the triumvirate shouted for three years. We saw profits were not as projected, corporates were missing numbers, shutting the outlets and man power layoffs. Just forcing Jet airways to take back air hostesses will not cover the reality…………how unfortunate!!!
Thirdly, the ‘Big consulting majors’ were talking in 2007 -8 about the multi-billion dollar markets suddenly growing three fold or four fold by 2012-15. How stupid of CEO’s who believed these news releases of these so called ‘big consulting majors’ and spent millions to buy their reports & finally presented their boards with these rosy projections and raised funds. Now they are shying about the current share prices and valuations (let’s not even talk about growth achievements versus plan or the crazy profits numbers!!!)
All the three factors basically did no good but just created a ‘sexy story’ about a nation like India, where more than 70 % people don’t have access to basic healthcare, only 3 % dabble in stock markets, only 10 towns can boast of a retail revolution, has 36 billionaires and more than 800 million living on about a dollar a day.
Let’s evaluate a little more ……..When people talked of India in 2007 they talked about big IT giants , call centre’s high paying jobs to teen agers, overseas acquisitions of TATA’s & Mittal’s, Mumbai becoming like Shanghai, Big malls coming , dollars flowing as FDI, Big brands coming to India , MNC’s coming to India, ballooning stock markets, BPO’s multi million outsourcing contracts & the great retail revolution. Now with US / Europe in recession and may be, with Barack taking over as the next US President. India will have to take a big hit. We just saw the first wave of negative effects of the US Financial market collapse. India’s stock market crashed almost to a third of its high. With India’s IT / BPO shying and taking to lay off’s, we know the real estate sector would be hit as the entire 2 BHK ( Two bed room , hall & Kitchen ) flat story was built on these young ‘Ripe aged’ employees buying flats at the age of 25-30. Splurging on mobiles and white goods by credit cards …………all this is over (believe me!!)
The hype was more of a story of 36 billionaires , Infosys, TATA, Arcelor, stock market manipulations , FDI and not the story of economic development & and the 800 million population. What we see happening was a foregone conclusion. It was not a ‘bubbling economy’ but an ‘economic bubble’. And it got burst
When the banks started hiring recovery agents, it was the start of the default / delinquency crises (credit card delinquency has gone up to as high as 14 %). Loan defaults would follow shortly and this will be a big blow to the banking / loan system. When the government has to get in to pump in money or the so called confidence, It’s a sure shot sign of crisis or recession or both.
I wish that congress leaders should have thought well before announcing a Rs.60000 crore write off for farmers. This has put a pressure on banks and it will manifest in banking / loan crises. Now imagine, I am a farmer with an Rs.10000 loan for my sister’s marriage or due to a crop failure (trust me, farmers crisis has come due to rise in social costs as much as crop failure). If my loan was waived off what it did to me? Firstly, it gave me nothing to raise a healthy crop and earn for the season so my problem would be standing as such on my head. Has it given me seeds or irrigation which i needed? I could have earned and paid for the loans in the next few years (a moratorium on payments & Interest was more than enough). Moreover, it has set a precedent for me not to pay my loans and hope for future waivers. When politics drives finance, chaos is the only outcome.
Take a cue from USA . They have pumped 700 billion dollars ( India cannot think of even a tenth of this amount in the case of a crises !!! ). This pumping of funds actually helped the banking system in the US and not the economy as people have been made to believe in !
We can knock off any crises if India develops an indigenous model for growth in which technology only becomes the enabler and not the key driver or determinant. What i am pointing is that, we need not depend on FDI totally. When FDI came in, we were roaming the whole world and shouting about it. Now that these economies are under crises, they will take care of their home first, and may even exit from our country as we have seen in the case of FII’s exiting the stock market and leading to a sudden crash. We must have started our economy with 75 % dependence on domestic and 25 % on foreign fund generation besides a host of infrastructure & ground level measures. We need a ‘self reliant India growth model’ and not a USA – Europe dependent-driven growth model. Hope the policy makers will learn from the crises & take steps to correct it.
Now a day’s the most talked about line from the ruling politicians is, that India is fundamentally strong economy. Which ‘Fundamentals’ are they referring to ? Our consumer sentiment is low, stock markets have crashed, industrial production is low , inflation is high, uncertainty is looming over every corporate , retrenchment is happening , rupee is weak against the dollar, farmers that constitute 65-70 % of the population are committing suicides , IT & BPO industry is hit hard due to US –Europe recession, terrorism and lawlessness is rampant. I am still trying to get which fundaments appear to be strong !!! Is it the large suffering population that is being referred to ?
Coming to the most happening sector – The great Indian retail story : I see some retailers having burnt their fingers in metros , now are planning of moving to class II & III towns for the next cycle of growth. Let me express boldly, that this will be a big loss making proposition. In towns like Mumbai and Gurgaon, retailers are having a tough time, how come they will survive in smaller towns with more ‘service class’ & ‘Small time traders’ people. At least , bigger towns have industries and other corporates to support higher spending opportunities. Some learned Advisors have informed these retailers that 70 % of India lives in rural areas so rural India is a bigger market than urban India (calculating that rural India with USD 530 income per capita is three times the population of urban India with the per capita income of USD 1200). What an ‘unintelligent logic’. The 530 USD that the rural India earns is not even enough to spend on basics, unlike urbanites who have the basics already and can afford to spend on the new class of products which supports the modern retail formats. It is analogous to three boys of seven years marrying a girl of eighteen years (3 boys x 7 years = 21 Years, marriageable age!!!). Intelligent logic isn’t!!! That’s what our great retailers are trying to do . Only smart ones are Pantaloon and Wal-mart. Rest all are smart looking idiots !!!
Retailers must realise that they are making investments for 2012-15 market projections. The figures of these projections are not even validated. But the cash burnout is happening now. Imagine this , rentals going up by 5 % every year , salaries by 20-30 % , cash burnout for new openings , increasing offering –SKU’s, reducing margins to attract customers or wash off old inventory. However can a retailer survive ? Adding to this , move to class II towns!!!
Just to make a note that if in towns like Panvel in Navi Mumbai, the two supermarkets owned by Foodland have closed within a year due to opening of ‘MORE’ supermarkets, D’mart & Reliance Fresh stores, how can small kirana stores survive? If i don’t go wrong, even ‘More’ & Reliance will have to shut down in the times to come in the area or make perpetual losses . So the retail story in its current form is not a lasting one. But the lessons are to be learnt . One thing that has happened in India which is totally wrong is that, we have tried to CCP (cut, copy and paste) foreign retailers. But we have missed to note the most important point , that foreign retailers were pretty slow in the first ten years in their country. Even Mukesh Ambani made a strategic mistake; he announced 5 billion dollar investment in retail only to face the back lash from local traders. No one expected seasoned businesses houses to make such tall claims ….This gives us a clear feeling that Indians are unaware and unprepared for the hype that has been created by the media and neither are they guided by the realities . I would call Wal-Mart the smartest retailer in India. They have just done a retail tie up in India without using its brand name . So that the Indian partner has the expense & experience and Wal-mart has the learning’s. Moreover, their growth plans are practical. Just 15 stores now compared to 600 + stores of Reliance and Birla’s. What if the Ambani’s & Birla’s want to change the strategy or make changes backwards because of their learning’s?? It is easier to correct and make changes in 15 stores of Wal-Mart then 600+ stores of Reliance or Birla’s.
We must note:
85 % of the rural India does not have the power to consume very much at the prices that currently prevail in the market.
30 % of urban India constitutes 75 % of the GDP.
70 % of the rural India constitutes 23 % of GDP
According to the Central Statistical organization, in 2001, 48 % of the rural GDP was agricultural.
In 2001, the NDP contributors were: agriculture 46 % , industry 21 % and services 33 %.
If India needs to grow sustainably, we need to make a prudent choice between education, vocational training and SSI. Needless to mention that, India’s growth will be driven by creating more jobs in lowest rungs of the society. They will build the real consumption led growth for a ‘Shining India’. The earlier, the better.
India today is in a recession and we must accept the fact. By closing our eyes the problems will still remain. We must build growth models not based on dollars , stock markets , urban India but go in for holistic models of growth that suit the local conditions and requirements , are broad based for all sections of society and industry , and just don’t reflect isolated figures .
Aditya Birla Retail – Dead end ????
Aditya Birla retail seems to be nearing a dead end. With arround 640 stores and losing close to Rs.30 crore a month. It might be the most difficult business for the Birla Group so far. What is interesting to note is , that there are 640 stores, and out of them 100 stores are having a sales of Rs. 5 to 6 per sq.feet. Whereas , the expenses are above Rs.200 per sq.feet. Knowing well, that any expenses including rental , if exceeds Rs.110 per sq.ft. It is a loss making proposition.
All this started with Kumar Managalam pushing for numbers in the initial days. Due to intense pressure, Sumanta Sinha did what the master expected. So the pressure filtered downwards , leading to the number game and the quality of the locations and the rentals were compromised heavily.
Now more than 100 stores need to be closed in my view, and earlier the better, or the business gets on the block. The grapevine is, that Mckinsey is doing a valuation excercise.
Adding to this mistake of chasing number game is the expat seniors who take crores of package , and learn the Indian retail business at the expense of the biggies like Reliance or Birla’s. Time will tell us, those who don’t know what is being sold and where, are teaching India how to sell ???
Hiring expats is another stupidity from the Indian retailers. Who will learn the lesson the hard way.
Mumbai Terror Strike – Declare Pakistan a Terrorist state
Recent terror strike has proven a few things again.
1. Our politicians are headless and spineless ( Do not talk of respect or self esteem !!! It does not apply to them ).
2. Our police force and intelligence is ‘Unintelligent’ and ‘Corrupt’ from top to bottom.
3. We as voters have failed to do our duty
Let’s note these few lines and not forget them
When Trust is gone , people resort to justice
When justice fails, people resort to power
When power is ineffective, people resort to violence
See America , one 9/11 and then no one had the guts to replay the same. Our country sees it time and again. Nothing new! Living in India is as insecure as living in Kabul or Baghdad !
We have a force ( police and military ) which is corrupt and used by politicians for settling its scores or making money. How can we expect them to deliver ?
None of the Congress or BJP has the solution for these problems . We need to form a new front that comprises of people who want change . It does not mean that we form a political outfit , we must have an ideological agreement to select the candidates that we want , it is not easy , but we have no other choice !!! We must not delay or else , next time when such things happen. We might be mourning the loss of our loved & a dear one !!!
Just think that India is crying foul and saying that Pakistan is responsible for these incidents. But can India not declare Pakistan a ‘Terrorist state’ and sever the diplomatic ties till it hands over Dawood Ibrahim etc ?What holds these idiot politicians from doing this !!
We must have a ‘policy that is documented to fight terrorism’. A written document that states that we will not negotiate with terrorists at any cost, and strike them dead along with whomsoever they hold hostage. So that the terrorists will know, that nothing will work on this land that involves black mailing or terrorism. The trails should be done within ninety days and the punishment should be ‘ Hanged until death’ Nothing less.
We need a government that acts not with compulsions, but according to the circumstances in the best and long term interest of its citizens. Realise this , or regret later.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Countryfirst.
Religion or Honesty
No God supports a Religion
Did Jesus build a single church in his lifetime ? Did Ram build a temple ? Did Prophet build a mosque ?
Not a single incarnation of the almighty build a place of worship. We build them after their deaths for meeting our selfish ends and we are reaping the outcomes. All religions and beliefs are meant for guiding our conscience and strengthening it. Not for flaunting it to grab importance , power , positions or property . Today , that’s all we are trying to do by using religion
There are only two religions; man and women and nothing else. There is only one faith , the universal faith of peace , love and forgiveness. No belief tells us to kill or take someone’s life. Infact, all our politicians are totally ignorant of the laws of nature . The day they understand the same , this world will be a much better place to live in and die for.
I hope that we have a divide a digital divide and literacy divide an urban and a rural divide . So that these divides can lead us to equality and progress. Let’s work for it. We don’t need religion, we need honesty with courage and conviction
It’s a call to action
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Countryfirst
Cell : + 91- 9323109456
+ 91- 9867300045
(USA) +1515-450-6165
Skype: rajendra.india
E-Mail: mail@rajendragupta.org / rajendragupta@aol.in
www.countryfirst.org
Mumbai Terror Strike – Root Cause of Terrorism
Misplaced priorities , corruption & lack of public awareness is the root cause of Terrorism
Let’s examine in detail. Our governments and disgraced politicians see vote in every individual and not an individual in every vote. They treat their families as the most important lives and the public as mere statistics. Just try to reason out why politicians are rarely killed ? Because they are heavily guarded and they have the intelligence reports that we know only after the terrorists strike !! Politician’s main goal is to ‘Report progress’, waste public money in press releases for image makeover or getting votes, making money by taking cut in deals or passing orders that benefit the big business houses and moneyed people to further their goals . Clearly the public welfare is not the goal of the politicians . Don’t hope much. If so many ministers have been sacked , it is only because the public anger will cost them votes in the coming elections or these ‘political bastards’ would be standing behind these corrupt or / and inefficient politicians and not dismissing them !!
The Politician- Bureaucrats-Businessmen- religious heads- Criminal nexus is eating the state and good governance in India. Today , all major business houses pay ‘fees’ to solicit political support . Trust me, not a single business house can survive and prosper without political support . All these are nothing but “an all cash deals”. This cash not only fills the political parties coffers but also that of the individual politicians . This money is used to get into power and not the intellectual class votes as many would impress upon us. If a few lakh people light candles and write slogans or shout at Gateway of India . Don’t think it will change the election outcome. As still ,a good 65 % of the rural folks who will be ‘Brought’ by these political parties and directed to stamp the ‘Lotus’ or the ‘Slapping and fearful hand- read congress’. If you want changes , you will have to do a lot more …..That’s why you will find that the public aspirations are never political goals !! There is a clear disconnect. India cannot have an Obama as it is not a ‘Personality’ based political system , it’s a party based political system. Except the ‘Gandhi’ dynasty no one has been able to sustain. There are roads , hospitals and even a Sanjay Gandhi Park in his name . Except being the son of the Prime Minister and a MP for five months ???? Still so many memories in his name ??? What did he do for this nation ?? This is what the World Famous Wikipedia search has in his name .
“Sanjay Gandhi (December 14, 1946 –- June 23, 1980) was an Indian politician, the younger son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and politician Feroze Gandhi. A controversial figure, he was accused of abuses during the Emergency and died in an aero plane crash shortly after his mother’s return to power. He had been elected to the Parliament of India five months before his death. Sanjay, along with his elder brother Rajiv Gandhi, studied Grades 1 to 6 at the Welham Boys’ School and Grades 7 to 12 at The Doon School in Dehra Dun, as well as in England. Sanjay never attended college, but took up an apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce. He was very interested in sports cars, and he also obtained a pilot’s license. While his elder brother Rajiv was building a career as an airline pilot independent of politics, Sanjay chose to remain close to his mother.”
Not let’s examine the corruption : I had raised an issue against the Mumbai Police Commissioner , A.N.Roy ( Currently , Director General Police , Maharashtra ). He had no option but to suspend the two corrupt police men. Though, there was a lot pressure on myself from him to withdraw the case & i did not . I wrote an open letter to him which was published by the media and he had to bow down. Today, one of the policemen who had taken bribe and has returned it later, and was suspended on those charges, is in the personal security of the Deputy CM , R.R. Patil. Whom public thinks is a damn honesty guy – What a joke !! If he is honest , why the hell did he keep Inspector Raju Mane in his staff ??? A.N.Roy is an inefficient officer and there are ample proofs of his incompetence . When the two police inspectors were suspended on my complaint, a few officers appreciated my courage to fight against their ‘Big Boss ( A.N.Roy was the Mumbai Police commissioner at that time) and they became my friends, and revealed to me in confidence , that there were gangs within the police force affiliated to the likes of Dawood Ibrahim , Chota Rajan and Chota Shakeel etc. And that for killing the rival gang members , the police force is ‘decently paid’ by these gangs. Having a police uniform is just a mere a public eyewash. Now you can understand , why despite the fisherman society’s President telling the Maharashtra police about the imminent terror attacks via Colaba fisherman’s village, the police did not act ? Who wishes to lose the ‘Hefty payments’ from these gangs. If policeman own the best of cars, gadgets and houses- Some of the policemen are owning bars and buildings !! Where does the money come from ??? A few days back , a Police inspector had called me on Diwali to wish me and informed that he was trying to get into Narcotics department . We all know ‘Rave parties’ and the use of drugs !! Now we can understand why all this will not stop.? Police is corrupt from ‘Top’ to ‘Bottom’ and most of the posts are ‘Sold’ rather ‘auctioned’. Get a CBI inquiry and all this will come to light .
Now let’s examine the awareness part. After every terror strike, politicians – officers make a announcement that they had warned months in advance, and they were even aware of the ‘target’. Here is the most important issue. First let’s take the case of the recent Mumbai terrorist strike. A lot of government agencies like RAW etc have given similar statements . When RAW came to know that the sea based attack was to happen at Taj Hotel and Oberoi hotel. For sure, that they did not dream this piece of intelligence . It would have come through some people , credible sources , intercepts. Why the hell these people not get into depth or the details. Suppose , you intercept a call. You can trace the caller and track him down till his location- technology today enables you to do it. The call certainly was between two countries and one of them was probably , India . It was easy to catch the guy in India and interrogate him , the terror strike could not only be averted but also have prevented future strikes . Or when the Colaba fisherman’s association President gave a written complaint to the DGP /CM about the probable terror strike. He must have seen a suspicious ‘Jetties or people coming on boats or talking about the same’. So the terrorists were known to us and no one tried to stop them. Allowing them kill 200+ people. If the police would have acted the very day this complaint was filed by the fisherman. The person who aroused definite suspicions must have been arrested , questioned and the Mumbai terror strike would not have happened.
I must ask you , why do we as public not know about such information in advance ? Why it is limited to the so called National Security Advisor or the Intelligence agencies. After all, we all as ordinary citizens die. Government wants public support ? But they do not want to disclose us about the strikes from terrorists ? We can do a better job than these inefficient police and politicians . Hand over the intelligence reports and we will handle terrorist Mr. Manmohan Singh !!
Role of money and where it comes from ? All builders in Mumbai take a portion of the cost of the flat or House as ‘Cash’. This is shared with BMC – CIDCO – Other approval authorities – underworld . Finally, the money paid to Bureaucrats get’s routed to the concerned politicians and the underworld money may be used in the blasts like the intelligence pointed at the involvement of Dawood’s role in the blasts. No need for a CBI inquiry. Just walk into any builders office . You will have all answers
Irony from the government is, that we still do not have a clearly defined policy against terrorism. We must formalize a policy that, INDIA WILL NOT TOLERATE TERRORISM. WE WILL DO ALL TO KILL ANY TERRORIST ENTERING , LIVING OR LEAVING OUR COUNRY. INDIA WILL NEVER NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISM. A short ,clear and vocal policy against terrorism is an immediate need.
We cannot afford to wait , the media must play an active role and we will fight to win.
The result of writing this : I may die ( Read killed ) in a suspicious manner !! You might act and try and bring about the change that will have a lasting impact on our and the coming generation. ACT , ACT & ACT NOW or you might lie paralysed or dead in the next terrorist strike.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Countryfirst
Cell : + 91- 9323109456
+ 91- 9867300045
(USA) +1515-450-6165
Skype: rajendra.india
E-Mail: mail@rajendragupta.org / rajendragupta@aol.in
www.countryfirst.org
Way forward for India- Declare Pakistan a rogue state
For the last few decades, India has been losing lives, money and economic opportunities due to the terrorist activity emanating from the land of Pakistan. Since , terrorism is not limited by geographies , it is high time, that India initiates a “Global partnership to fight terrorism” . Forms an international coalition of military forces that fights terrorism across borders . Let all countries sign the partnership, contribute to this military force , and let these forces enter any member country, and take all steps to ensure that none of the countries allow its land to be used for terrorist activities. This is the only way to fight terrorism. Am sure that Pakistan will always avoid to join this . This could be done under the auspices of UNO. The burden on individual nations would not be much , but the outcomes would be phenomenal.
Else, there is a more harsh way to deal with it- which we should avoid. Attack Pakistan and countries that indulge in terrorism. If i were the PM , probably , i would have given a 24 hour ultimatum to Pakistan to handover the most wanted terrorists. In case, it failed to do that , i would have bombed Pakistan and taken the India’s political map back to pre 1947 days. Why let our billion population live under constant fear of dying any moment with bullets , when we have already given what Jinnah wanted and shared our culture , people and natural wealth more than 60 years ago. We lost millions then , and we continue to lose now . We have already divided the nation in 1947 based on religion. Why not decide either ways now. If India wants to be secular , it has to be safe or else , let it be a Hindu nation . if that let’s poor Indians to live in peace – We have tried all peace processes , our options are running out ! Why lose lives after lives every day because we have chosen to be a secular nation. Are we paying the price of being a secular nation !! Our politicians should not forget that we are not dying with terrorism but living with terrorism , and that’s more dangerous . We are dying every moment , psychologically. Why ? What is our fault.
In any case, after terrorist attacks in Mumbai, we must snap all ties with Pakistan and declare it a ‘Rogue and Terrorist state’. If we want to have a milder approach . Let it be declared a ‘Terror watch list nation’ and take this issue internationally.
Peace is the first pre-condition to progress and development . How long we will continue to live under the fear of dying with bullets ? Any nation that has the potential to develop and grow exponentially is a victim of terrorism today. I am not too sure who is behind the ‘Terrorism’. But the first suggestion is the most practical .
I want all Indians to not waste any more time . But get organised locally and form chapters to take the nations issues in our hands. It is high time we do it. If we fail to act in the next general elections , we will lose another five years and push India behind by another 30-50 years . Do we have that luxury ? We have a billion + population and majority of them are frustrated with the current system. Let’s change it . It is only in our hands. We have a big responsibility and people have expectations from educated people like us who can use the internet , write and read and connect. Let’s not betray them. More than 99 % of India wants us to bring about the change , do we ditch them ???
You all must be expecting that these politicians will act. No , they will not . Till date, the person who was sentenced to death for attacks on parliament is not hanged. We have politicians who make tall media statements and fail to act where they need to. They want their stupid and ugly face and words to come every now and then on the media …………We cannot be silent spectators anymore . Act now.
Each one of us has the potential to change this moment and this nation. We need to take the first step. The first step is to act immediately and connect with all our friends and start a wave, a moment to redefine the role of each one in building a nation. India has always shown the world the way to learn and lead . We can do it now and you will have to start.
Note this ,
One mind can awaken another, the second can awaken their next-door brother, three awake can awaken the town, by turning the place upside down, and many awake can make such a fuss, that they finally awaken the rest of us. – Helen Kromer
Best ,
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Countryfirst
Cell : + 91- 9323109456
+ 91- 9867300045
(USA) +1515-450-6165
Skype: rajendra.india
E-Mail: mail@rajendragupta.org / rajendragupta@aol.in
www.countryfirst.org
Beauty and business – Aviation Sector
Dear Mr.Praful Patel,
When a few months back Jet airways sacked about 1200 air hostess . Seeing these pretty girls crying , you were moved so much that you called the Jet Airways chief and pressurised him to with draw the order. You even went to the extent of black mailing ( by saying that if the airlines needs sops , they need to avoid sacking )
Look here now :
There are about a crore travel agents in India who sell almost 85 % of the air tickets ( as per the report published today in The Economic Times ). They are nearing to get out of business. As the airlines have decided to withdraw the commission on the sale of air tickets and also the surcharge that these agents were levying on air tickets.
Most airlines did away with the 5% commission on Nov 1,2008 forcing travel agents to shift to a fixed transaction fee for every ticket issued. However ,the fixed transaction fee which was in the range of Rs.350 to 2500 a ticket depending upon the class and routes , had also been discontinued from December.
Mr. Patel, India is in a severe recession ( read www.rajendragupta.wordpress.com ) , and putting one crore travel agent’s families out of business is a proof of your inaction and being unpragmatic. Please wake up and get into the act immediately. It’s a call to action
Best,
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Countryfirst
Cell : + 91- 9323109456
+ 91- 9867300045
(USA) +1515-450-6165
Skype: rajendra.india
E-Mail: mail@rajendragupta.org / rajendragupta@aol.in
www.countryfirst.org
Economy in recession, aviation , Stock markets , India , Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Economic forecast for 2009
If the Indian economy grew at 8 -9 % in 2007-8. I must believe that, about half of this came due to intrinsic or local market factors that is about 4 to 4.5 % . So we will continue with that growth with some downward slide in 2009, and also that the remaining half was due to foreign or extrinsic factors. Which i believe, will reduce by a good 50 % . So intrinsic or internal growth will contribute between 3.5 to 4.5 % and remaining 2- 2.5 % will come from the extrinsic factors . So in all , i guess the next year we will witness growth somewhere around 6.0 to 7.0 %. If the World economies shrink badly , which is expected. This might impact this growth a little more and bring it down under 6.0 %
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Countryfirst
Cell : + 91- 9323109456
+ 91- 9867300045
(USA) +1515-450-6165
Skype: rajendra.india
E-Mail: mail@rajendragupta.org / rajendragupta@aol.in
www.countryfirst.org
Indian Economy- At the right place under wrong circumstances
Indian Economy is in a severe recession: Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Except God, for everything else , i believe in data. Here is what the Honourable PM must consider and restate the fact that actually , India is into a recession
The Tax collections for December quarter dropped by 22 % ( According to the Economic Times dated 27th Dec 2008 )
60 % of the 8000 units into diamond polishing and cutting business went on forced holiday leaving 100,000 people without jobs . Narendra Modi has refused any package for them ( Times of India 27th Dec 2008). There is a 40 % reduction in demand according to Gems and Jewellery Promotion Council ( GJEPC). Exports account for $ 20 billion in the industry
According to ET 01 Jan 2009- Slow down in the leather industry is likely to axe 5 lakh workers in leather units in the next three to four months with worsening market scenario in US and Europe . The industry employs almost 2.5 million people
Jet airways and Jet lite have defaulted in payments of Rs. 32.78 Cr to AAI TOI 29th Dec 08
Hotel occupancy has dropped by 50 % in the holiday season – Sept – Dec 08.
Net profit of India Inc likely to decline by 46 % in the 3rd quarter of this fiscal.
The gross NPA’s of banks will reach 4.7 % of the total loans in FY10 from the current of 2.3 %. Credit card delinquency has gone up to as high as 14 %. Loan defaults would follow shortly and this will be a big blow to the banking / loan system. In the first half of Dec 2008, in Bangalore itself there have been defaults to the tune of Rs.80.23 crore at Corporation Bank . Out of the total home loan portfolio exposure of Rs.1000 cr , 50 % is in the IT sector. Defaults will start increase going forward. We will see the real impact in April 09.
I was recently in Delhi and talked to my cab driver ( he drives for a cab company at Delhi airport ). He informed me that, earlier he would earn between 15 – 22000.00 per month . Now for the last three months , his income has dropped to Rs.6000.00. He is expected to do a minimum of 52 trips a month to get his basic salary , which is getting difficult now . So he was worried.
Approx 90 % of all the commercial vehicles sold in India are via loans. Kotak Mahindra Bank has repossessed about 200 vehicles. Deepak Sachdeva , President of the Delhi Goods Transport association said that between April and December 2008 alone , close to 158000 commercial vehicles were either surrendered or repossessed due to loan defaults. According to The Mint dated Dec 26th 2008. With such an massive loss, just imagine what must be happening to the families of 158000 truck drivers, helpers , cleaners and the people associated with providing services at Dhabas and repairers for these trucks !! It is a solid loss for a small economy like India
All the businesses have cut down the expansion plans and the same will continue for the next year in my view . TATA motors have cut the production for two days a week, Cisco is on long Christmas and a new year holiday, All auto majors including Maruti is slowing or voluntarily suspending production to take care of the ‘standing or piled up’ inventories
ACC cement has already shut the production in one of the plants and slowed the same in others
I visited quite a few malls and talked to employees. At Lifestyle store at Mulund last year around this time , the 2nd floor has five counters. This year they just had one counter. The salesman when quizzed ,did accept that there is a drastic drop in customers and sales
Big Bazaar, has no different story. They were operating with two counters and not long queues which earlier operated eight counters. Big Bazaar has launched shopping schemes that is drawing customers but not much sales. The same scheme in 2007 March could have doubled the turnovers. ‘Marketing Steroids’ are not working well
The news is not good for mall developers. The big retailers who use to easily come as anchor tenants have changed their mind . Now onwards , they will expect the malls to get other tenants before they step in . Earlier, the anchor tenants would come in at a low rental and assure footfalls for the the new tenants. So it was easier to get new tenants . Now the anchor tenants have clearly said no to such anchor tenant proposals thereby putting already troubled mall makers in a spot
The best mall in the country , Inorbit Mall employees had the same views. They were shocked at the drastic drops in customers and sales. Their wide aisles at the Hypercity had few customers.
Aditya Birla retail is likely to shut down around 100 out of 700 stores in the name of rationalization . They are doing a business of Rs. 5 per Sq. Feet and expenses of Rs.200 per Sq. Feet. It is a thumb rule, that such retail formats should not incur more than 120 per sq. Ft.
A month back when i visited the Fame Adlabs at Kharghar to watch the night show for the hit film Fashion, my wife and myself were refused tickets as we were the only two people to watch the movie and the counter girl told us that, she needed at least 5 people to start the show !! Did you expect this in good times !!
Reliance retail is no better, they have changed the strategy for the second time in the last two years and if i remain accurate in my predictions. This time again Reliance will have to redo a lot of things to avoid exiting the retail venture . All these retail majors banked on experienced retail expats . Who themselves wanted to ‘Earn while Learn in India ’ at the cost of these employers. It is learned through credible resources that, Reliance has shut down the Wellness vertical and asked most of its employees to leave . Firing of people is becoming a norm at Reliance
Some organised retailers are not even in a position to recover their expenses , losses are mounting and credit is moving at an escape velocity not imagined in 2007 !! Money is not available, as earlier even the small companies would value themselves on the lines of the listed companies . With stock market following the Wal-Mart model ( everyday low prices, even Wal street is joked and nick named as Wal-Mart street !!! ).Now there are no takers for these companies . Defaults are increasing day by day. We know the outcome.
Industrial production and growth is slowed . I believe that at this time , for most businesses , survival is the main question and not growth or profits !! . Takeovers will happen or closures. In India , bankruptcy is not practised widely. So we will see closures. The government should be vigilant on big business houses for accounting and reporting in case they are listed, or we might see a fraud and failure like Enron or WorldCom. This is a step to avoid ‘financial terrorism’ . Some business houses ‘control’ many politicians and this is an area of big concern. We have created unequal wealth in the form of strong and gigantic business houses who are iconic Any wrong doing in such a big business houses would be like a corporate suicide and will severely impact the market scenario. I don’t rule out ‘accounting manipulations’ or ‘jugglery’ in these ‘tough times’ to keep the image and reputation intact for such big business houses.
Even the TATA’s are not able to raise funds , the rights issue was a case in point . DLF , Unitech were rising stars in 2007 are shooting stars now. Projects are delayed and more news is to come in the times ahead.
The Dec 08 quarter results of companies will be disappointing and that will take the shine off the Indian growth and strong fundamentals story.
I urge our politicians to give up the ‘Academic definition’ of recession and accept that we are into a recession and take steps to correct the path going forward .
Let’s see the countries by their GDP and their share in the World GDP. India may not be more than a rounding error at this point !!
2006 GDP USD GDP as % of the world GDP
1.USA 13,201,819 27.3
2. Japan 4,340,133 8.9
3. Germany 2,906,681 6.0
4. China 2,668,071 5.5
5. UK 2,345,015 4.8
6. France 2,230,721 4.6
7. Italy 1,844,749 3.8
8. Canada 1,251,463 2.6
9. Spain 1,223,988 2.5
10. Brazil 1,067,962 2.2
Top Ten Total 33,080,602 68.6
World 48,244,879 100.0
Chinese Consumer spending is to reach USD 1.3 Trillion this year, France USD 1.4 trillion, US economy is USD 9.9 Trillion , India is just 660 Billion according to the Mint Dec 23 , 2008. So if the world’s biggest economies is de-growing and we are dependent on these countries. How can we say that we are not into a recession ??? Are you talking sense Mr.P.C and Mr. Singh ????. Those who buy clothes and other merchandise from US / Europe know well, that all leading brands outsource their production to India , Bangladesh and Sri Lanka . Now that the sales are down, these countries are under sever loss . USA, Japan and Europe account for 68 % of the world GDP and they are into recession. Do we need more reasons to convince ourselves that we are heading towards a more severe recession. Problem started with US , till it ends in the US the problem the world over will continue. The interest rates in USA and Japan have come close to zero. China will get into recession or pass on the pressures to countries like India via dumping cheaper goods to avoid recession. This is one area where India needs to be watchful. US recession will also pass on pressures to nations dependent on its economy
I believe that congress may take to surgical strikes to play with the public sentiment , to dodge the economic issues to come into power. Forgetting , that the parliament attacker is still alive. All these steps should have been taken when parliament was attacked . If then we did not act then, i see no reason to act except for the fact that the elections are near . The government needs to fight many forms of terrorism . i.e. Economic terrorism, militant terrorism ,healthcare terrorism ( seeing that 6000 children die every day below the age of 5 years due to disease and malnutrition ). Few reasons that India might not attack Pakistan are that , we are working with weapons which are Bofors like and secondly , our economy cannot afford to take on a full-fledged war with Pakistan, thirdly, in case we do surgical strikes , Pakistan will drop a nuclear bomb as it is not a nation that honours any pact ( All likelihood , that it will not honour its pack on this as well and quote anything stupid to justify its act.)
India needs to understand the order of world has changed with history. Earlier , the nation with a stronger military was considered stronger , then the nation which was financially stronger was stronger . Future will be for both technically and financially stronger nations . India needs to be financially and technically independent .
New year is not going to be better than 2008. So i don’t know how to wish you for 2009, but i must send my best wishes for hopeful and a pragmatic 2009 that is full of moderation in growth plans , better financial regulation , increased spending from governments , encourage and increase savings for emergencies and a more peaceful 2009
Best wishes
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Cell : + 91- 9323109456
+ 91- 9867300045
(USA) +1515-450-6165
Skype: rajendra.india
E-Mail: mail@rajendragupta.org / rajendragupta@aol.in
www.countryfirst.org
Corporte Governance – Just a lip service
Also, please read the next blog below titled “Indian Economy- At the right place under wrong circumstances” that talked about the accounting fraud much earlier than the Satyam Fiasco.
Also check the blog that i wrote on 27th Dec 2008. http://rajendrasays.blogspot.com/2008/12/economy-in-severe-recession-government.html
———————————————————————————–
Madhav Mehra
President
World Center for Corporate Governance , U.K .
President
Institute of Directors
India.
Dear Madhav,
Wish you a great 2009.
While i was the Hon. Director at IOD , i had clearly cautioned IOD, that the companies that are getting the award for corporate governance from IOD could be the next Enron’s of the world and i had cautioned Gen.Ahluwalia categorically even quoting some of the recipients
Having said this , i must re-iterate that IOD must be careful in giving out the award to companies who really deserve it after proper scrutiny and due diligence .
I had written earlier on my blog ,much before the Satyam fraud came to light. I ,must emphasize again , that more corporate frauds can’t be ruled out. Though, after this Satyam Fiasco , corporates will be more vigilant before they resort to this route.
After leaving Reliance almost two years ago , i had taken a course in Corporate governance from Kellogg Business School ,USA and decided to pursue independent board positions as my full time professions , much before people focussed on this board positions as a full time profession. Earlier , it was considered as a retired Executives parking slot,. While i took on this lead in India , a lot many people were shocked that i gave up a cushy job in Reliance and decided to pursue independent directorships as my profession. Trust me , i have been very strict with my companies for compliance and disclosures . I clearly insist and minute my issues in the board meetings so that compliance and disclosures are not dealt with lightly ( i can show some of the minutes where i have requested the board members to furnish me the quarterly compliance certificate ). If i find that the companies are not willing or are shying away. I move out of the board and mention the same in my resignations. I did that in the MNC – Medicine Shoppe . Today , we see it on the verge of closure and whatever i wrote to the board members while resigning from the board has happened . I could see that the company was not managed well and there were discrepancies in what the management was presenting to the board every quarter . I could foresee a downfall good two years back and wrote to the board and moved on as i believed that board and the management were not driving the company well.. This is despite the fact, that Medicine Shoppe Intl is a part of the fortune 20 , Cardinal Health, it was the fastest growing retail chain in India and a pioneer in pharmacy retail, adding to this ,the the investors were highly regarded PE players in the country .The country not just needs a strong law and strict guidelines to have independent directors but also the independence of directors . Independent directors and independence of directors is equally important This is not as easy as i write , as i have the experience of a dozen companies and i can understand it well from the independent directors standpoint .This has to be done by SEBI and the government without any further delay. Today, most of the independent directors are chosen from the level of comfort of promoters with the individual . In India , corporate governance is as big an issue as in the US . Only difference that , in USA you have punishments and in India you can get away with ‘ Contacts’ and ‘Payouts’.
This is what i wrote in my blog much before Satyam fiasco came to light http://rajendrasays.blogspot.com/2008/12/economy-in-severe-recession-government.html
.
“The government should be vigilant on big business houses for accounting and reporting in case they are listed, or we might see a fraud and failure like Enron or WorldCom. This is a step to avoid ‘financial terrorism’ . Some business houses ‘control’ many politicians and this is an area of big concern. We have created unequal wealth in the form of strong and gigantic business houses who are iconic Any wrong doing in such a big business houses would be like a corporate suicide and will severely impact the market scenario. I don’t rule out ‘accounting manipulations’ or ‘jugglery’ in these ‘tough times’ to keep the image and reputation intact for such big business houses”
You might like the entire blog at http://rajendragupta.wordpress.com/
It is high time that IOD reconsiders the Corporate governance award model to people who just give up the “award fee” , it must have the options of picking up people besides these applicants. Thus people like Satyam would easily get this award and no wonder that these business houses will pay any amount to get these awards and fool the investors. Seeing the current list of recipients of IOD awards. I am scared that more such names may come to light ! There is more pain in the corporate world in these turbulent times – Just wait to watch
Also, please work on the corporate governance day on 3rd Feb to create the awareness amongst people
All the best ,
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Cell : + 91- 9323109456
+ 91- 9867300045
(USA) +1515-450-6165
Skype: rajendra.india
E-Mail: mail@rajendragupta.org / rajendragupta@aol.in
Address to the Journalists who covered the Mumbai Terror Strike on Nov 26,2008
This is the text of the speech delivered to over 100 Journalists who were Felicitated recently at a function organized on Feb 2nd 2009 at Mumbai.
Good Evening Friends,
We all are glad to have ‘brave hearts’ with us today and we feel proud of you. In fact, on 26th November, i was awaiting to board the flight at the New Jersey airport for Mumbai when i got a call from my friend with whom i had the lunch that afternoon. He sounded worried and said, Rajendra, my God, did you see what is happening in Mumbai? I asked him? What do you mean Nailesh? He said terrorist have taken over Taj and Hilton hotels and a police Commissioner has been shot dead. It sent shudders down my spine. I had heard about Akshardham temple but now, it was my very own Mumbai .I walked to the nearest TV screen at the airport. I was shocked. I could watch all this thousands of miles away as you all staked your lives and kept sending the live footage. This held the nation captive for three days to the television sets. After the freedom movement, this was the first time that united the communities and the nation.
Press has always played an important role in nation building and society.
How many of you know how the democratic movement started? It was with the Introduction of printing press in mid 15th century in Europe, the proliferation of printed information helped fuel the rise of democracy. So my journalist friends, when you started the democratic movement, you will also have to safeguard the same.
After this November 26 terror strike, a lot many politicians have lost their jobs and so a debate has started on whether press should have shown everything live. I strongly believe that, since the press was showing it live, and that the whole nation was watching it, those who were fighting the battle with terrorists performed to their very best. Else, we could have lost many more lives. You all in fact, pushed the forces for their best performance . Freedom of press should not be compromised .I would go to the extent of requesting to the government to even make the sting operations legal and give immunity to the press for bringing such issues to the public . Most of the development and progress that you see in India today, is due to two reasons ; first, cheap telecommunications and second, proliferation of the Media. Media has opened the eyes and ears of the common man.
Now coming to the root cause of terrorism: Remember that each of the terrorist had 400 USD. Intelligence agencies took weeks to figure out why only 400 USD was in each pocket. This is exactly the amount you require to pay to enter your boat or jetty into the Indian waters. Our national security is priced at USD 400 ? If we stand at the Vashi check post , the price is down to 500 rupees. You can get your truck into Mumbai by just slipping a Rs.500 note at the check post
“Unemployment, uncertainty & frustration amongst the youth coupled with corruption in the government and administrative inefficiency is the root cause of terrorism and you just cannot fight it with sophisticated weapons alone” .
Terrorism survives and thrives on political and systemic corruption and inefficiency .
Remember,
When trust fails, people resort to justice
When justice fails, people resort to power
When power fails, people resort to violence
India has already slipped into an economic recession .Thousands are becoming jobless every week. This will increase criminalization and health problems.
How can we help fight terrorism? We must have a nationwide ‘Neighbourhood program’. Where every 50 or 100 people in a locality form groups and spend 4 hours a week for community work. This way, we will be able to watch and ward out suspicious people and help build closer ties within the community and will be more active to serve the community and the nation better
Why did Country First decide to honour our Brave hearted journalists? Today we only recognise the contribution when someone dies, but rarely during their lifetime. You all could have been hit by hundreds of bullets getting fired. But you decided to stay there , track this terrorist strike at the cost of your lives. Police had weapons, all you had is just a camera & the conviction and courage to stand there without caring for yourself in the interest of this nation – that is Country First ! Some of you had a near death experience .We must recognise your contribution. So we are here today
Hat’s off to you !
Jai Hind!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Country First
Email : President@countryfirst.org / mail@rajendragupta.org
Mobile :+91 9323109456 / 9867300045
FDI in Retail
Dated : February 16th, 2009
Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi
Chairman
Parliamentary Committee on Commerce
New Delhi
Ref : Foreign Direct Investment in Retail Sector
Dear Dr.Joshi,
I wish to draw your attention to the following for a postive consideration and further recommendations.
There has been a lot of debate about the opening of the retail sector for foreign direct investment
My view is , that the retail sector in India is a major employer and is the key to India’s youth employment and empowerment . It today comprises of about 12 million establishments . Adding to this, there are atleast 2 helpers at a retail outlet. Further , indirect employment is provided to at least 6 people
With such a massive employment potential . We must consider the following before we talk of FDI in retail sector
1. Why should foreign brands take away India’s earnings ? Land is ours, employees are ours, spending is ours , raw material is ours. Then why do we allow foreign co’s take away our earnings by just putting their brand names ?
2. It is a known fact that, most of the reputed brands all across the wordl manufacture their products in India sub continent and sell across the World . The products are of highest international quality and well accepted . Why do we not sell locally and serve the local economy as well
3. It is well known that this big foreign MNC’s change the rules of the game by increasing rentals , salaries and lowering prices or even increasing them . Thereby , making it difficult for the localites to operate . We cannot regulate all this , but for sure , we can check the entry of these MNC gaints
4. What the retailers in India need is a different version of FDI – Finance from Domestic Institutions . If we get finance from domestic finance intitutions , we will be more competitive and we can grow profitably and grow even internationally . Indian products are already sold in differne parts of the world
5. I also suggest you to consider and recomend that retail be given an ‘industry status’ and there should be a separate ministry for retail and vocational training . That also takes care of re-skilling of the talent . We have a sever skill gap that needs to be immediately addressed
Hope that your good selves will consider my suggestions and incorporate with your recommendations
Looking forward to hear from you
Thanks again with high regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Mobile : +91 9323109456
+91 9867300045
Email: president@countryfirst.org / mail@rajendragupta.org
Indian Government is clueless about the Economic Crisis – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
India is clueless about how to resolve the current economic crisis?
For over a year, the world has been sliding into the grip of recession. First it was America, then Europe and now Japan. It was naive of our Harvard and Oxford educated FM & PM to keep denying that India would not be affected from the crisis. They kept shouting that India was fundamentally strong and that the crisis would not impact the Indian economy. Even after issuing a ‘Token Bailout’ package the Congress government believed India was better compared to the rest of the crisis affected economies. But of late, congress has accepted the fact that 2009 would be worse.
The height of irresponsibility and lack of knowledge is evident from the fact that Indian Government also did what America was doing i.e. issue a bailout package. India should have acted differently. But why apply brains? Just copy what USA is doing – copying others is the biggest folly of our selfish and mindless politicians !! Way back in August 2008, i wrote for Financial Express supplement – SME World about the impending crisis. This article got published in November 08 issue of the magazine (download the original article from www.rajendra.collectivex.com ). But the contents were very much available on my blogs much earlier. I had clearly mentioned that the crisis in India started much earlier and the government was a silent spectator. It did nothing to correct it. Now it is acting posthumously. The moment banks started hiring recovery agents , the crisis has started. After all , banks don’t hire recovery agent for small NPA’s.
I see quite a few reasons for this illogical and irresponsible bailout step. Why should bailout be avoided and what did the current government to the economy. Listing a few view points
• Indian government and our foreign educated PM & FM are totally clueless about the crisis , so leave alone management of the crisis
• They quickly hired foreign experts in their advisory council. Irony is that these foreign experts have rarely stayed in India and know little about the realities on the ground. Adding to this , they had the so called Knowledge commission , P.M’s advisory council, Economic advisory council and many such sinecure posts to keep the sycophants and power hungry corrupt people on benches on our tax payers money
• Political compulsions & uncertainty keep the government & the public guessing for the future moves and the markets will never gather momentum
• Real issues have not been addressed so far, and i don’t see any signs of revival in the economy with such an irrelevant approach to this crisis which will worsen with time passing
Now let’s examine what the government is doing:
• Pumping more liquidity in the banking system
• Decreasing interest rates
• Announcing sops for exporters
• Announcing increase in NREGA scheme
• Making tall statements of strong fundamentals etc…..
Now let’s see what each of the above mentioned steps would lead to:
• Putting more liquidity in the system. But Indian financial system was never cash strapped, Banks were growing very well. We have enough of money available! Now, the bank and financial institutions are becoming risk averse. Who trusts these crooked politicians? If the banks dole out loans and they turn out to be NPA’s. Manmohan and PC Would be gone by then , and the poor branch manager or the M.D. of the bank will become the scapegoat. So in as much as these measures are announced with much fanfare, the implementation is poor. No one is trusting each other. It is a ‘crisis of lack of trust and transparency in our System’. PM can increase liquidity by repo rate cut, but he cannot force the local branch manager of State Bank of India to start lending tomorrow from 9.30 AM till 5.30 P.M. Imagine, even if this was a reality. Would you and i take this loan? For what & Why? We are concerned about the uncertainty of income and job. Liquidity in the system is not the remedy, right? So clearly, government is not taking the right step as it does not know or acknowledge the problem in reality. Today, even corporates like TATA are finding it difficult to raise money. Let’s see why? TATA’s went overboard, and brought big businesses abroad for billions of dollars, and mostly, in all cash deals!! Wrong strategy? When they brought these companies, the stock markets were racing around 20000. Their stocks were really valuable. Had they done a cash and stock deal for all its acquisitions, they would have been better off even when the markets tanked. Now for the price they brought Land Rover and Jaguar, they could have bargained to buy the entire company!!! Any ways, the companies that owned these brands are fast becoming history or getting bailouts and kind of getting nationalised or filing for bankruptcy. Same is the case with Arcelor Mittal. What a deal it was. Now the question is, was it structured in the right manner?? Wait for another quarter, Iconic Ambani’s are likely to tell a similar story. Indian systemic corruption has created mammoth business houses, and the future of this natural imbalance is a foregone conclusion. It was just a coincidence that Satyam got caught. No big corporate can exist without political patronage, and this political patronage comes at a price in cash and with moral flexibility . Satyam is just the tip of the Iceberg. Each and every corporate has shady spots somewhere or the other. Difference is that they have not been caught like Satyam.
• Lowering interest rates: Still the loan port folio of financial institutions is not increasing. Reason , people believe that companies due to drop in sales going forward, and increasing inventory pile up, will dole out better discounts and so are deferring the buying decisions, till the prices drop further. The recession has taught people that, cash in hand is better than ‘Notional money’ in real estate etc…. People are pretty sure that times ahead will not be easy. Assume for a while that, even if the corporates go for taking a loan and increasing the production. Who will bring the buyers? People are in no mood for discretionary spending. All in all, lowering interest rates is also not working in isolation. The problem is totally different and not getting addressed here at all. In today’s tour economy is akin to cycling, either we are peddling or we will fall!
• Announcing Sops for exporters: Suppose, i am an exporter and i am exporting to USA, Europe and Russia. My order books have dried up as the economy is headed for trouble in these countries. Will Sops help me bring orders? Is this not an eye wash for the public? Sops will only work when orders start pouring in. This is again a misfired weapon.
• Announcing increase of funds for NREGA (National rural employment guarantee Scheme) Schemes: This scheme was already in place. We have never been able to quantify the positive impact of this scheme on poverty alleviation. Albeit , our politicians have become richer ! We all know the fake musters made and the amount eaten by the babu’s and ministers. What poor need is not money, but training to earn money consistently. It is like if you feed fish to poor; you can feed him fish a few times, better teaching him how to fish and he can earn for himself every day. How long will NREGA spend our hard earned money on feeding people? This is a misguided and misplaced scheme. What we need is a NYVTS – National Youth Vocational Training Scheme & NRSS – National Re-Skilling scheme – to re-skill and retrain people in better earning vocations and not NREGA. We must create – SEZ’s – Skilled Entrepreneur Zone in every tehsil / district to empower the rural –real India. Still 68 % of the population lives outside urban India. Mind you, urban poor are worse off than rural poor. What schemes are meant for them?
Solution to the Crisis:
Essence of this is that printing & pushing ‘Notional money’ in the system is not the solution. It is an illusionary step. Creation of money by the hands of people is the right solution. How will that happen? I believe that government (Even the US Govt.) should not have resorted to bailouts. If Lehrman Brothers collapsed, it collapsed. So what? Let all the financial institutions and auto majors be left to meet within themselves and come out with a solution. They could have formed a practical consortium to deal with the problem, shared resources and planned a better crisis management. Now each of these corporates will get a bailout package, they will go out on the rampage with cut throat Competition and crisis will aggravate, a few of the bailed out companies will eventually cease to exit. We are just giving a palliative care through bailouts. Competition and collaboration are two ways to save the economy. We need collaboration now. Today the government is patronizing inefficiency and paying the price for poor regulation as bailouts and it will cost it dearly.
Even after the bailout, i fail to understand, how 16 or 25 billion dollars will save General Motors? About a year back , GM had about 30 billion dollar as cash and it was burning billions of dollars every month and finally they fell on the knees.People are not going to buy a Chevy due to the fact that the GM motors has a government bailout plan and package! History was a witness to Enron collapse, World Comm collapse, and IT Sector bust after the boom. Well that’s in a business cycle. All that goes up comes down. If the government wanted to do well. It could definitely take some practical steps like.
• Put a moratorium on corporate , housing and other loan EMI’s for the next 3 years or part payment instead of full EMI’s for the next 2-3 years a nominal interest be added, so that even banks do not suffer loss. But public should be relieved of the burden of payments substantially and immediately
• Automobile industry should be happy as the crude oil is cheaper. What the government could do is to step in and make the cab drivers replace taxi’s older than 10 years by a bank loan for 10 years duration at reduced interest rates like 7.5 % for any duration i.e. fixed rate of interest for the entire term of the loan . The duties and other taxes should be cut by 50 % for all the taxi’s that are older than 10 years, by 75 % for vehicles that are more than 5 years to less than 10 year old. Would this not boost both the auto industry and the banks? Also, this would increase collection of the government as road tax. Which could be reduced by a good 50 % for all purchases made in the next three years? It would boost a whole lot of industries associated with Auto , fuel, Iron and steel , rubber , etc …….Make the small car ‘Nano’ and the ‘electric car & scooters’ totally duty free . Any ways, the government collections are down. At least, here it will not lose anything, but only gain as whatever taxes it can collect directly. But indirect collection of taxes will get a boost as a host of activities will increase with this push. It will lead to substantial increase in employment
• Business and Real estate : Service tax on rental be abolished , Increase the tax slab for interest payments to Rs.2 lacs, issue home loans at fixed rate of interest from 7 % till 8.5 % for any amount of time . Appoint immediately a Housing regulator to check inflated real estate cost and check the cartelization to keep the prices low. One thing that government can do is that, all buildings under construction and not sold, in those buildings, 70% of the units can be sold and remaining 30 % have to be rented only. Government must construct flats & shops for poor and low income groups for rental occupancy only. This will not only boost the demand but also keep the real estate prices low. The stamp duty and other government charges should be reduced by about 50 %. Any ways, government is not making any money due to poor or nil demand in real estate sector. 50 % taxes would be good enough at this point in time. Even the biggest real estate company by market cap, DLF has reduced the prices of their projects due to poor sales and their prices have dropped by a good 32 % in one of the Bangalore projects. Most of the real estate co’s are abandoning the projects.
• Alternative Energy: Wind power and solar power is to be immediately pursued in every house hold, town & district. This can be financed by banks and will lead to a cleaner and greener countryside and improve the economy and generation of power for households and communities
• SME: this sector is contributing to just 39 % of the manufacturing output. In developed economies, this sector contributes about 90 % of the manufacturing output. Government needs to push this sector into growth mode by setting up nodal growth centres for SME’s manned by professionals from the corporate world. Setting up incubation centres in major national & regional institutes for providing technical support and professional guidance. For detail steps , read the article that i have recently written for The Financial Times supplement – SME World
• Transport & Logistics: Approx 90 % of all the commercial vehicles sold in India is via loans. According to Deepak Sachdeva , President of the Delhi Goods Transport association , between April and December alone, close to 158000 commercial vehicles were repossessed or either surrendered due to loan defaults. This impacts the employment of drivers, helpers and host of other people who run the road side businesses dependent on the truck movements. We need to incentivise these set of people and relieve them from the loan burden with moratorium on EMI payments. Reduce tax on road permits , remove penalty for late payments of EMI for up to 2 years . Octoroi tax must be abolished immediately.
• Agriculture: The government needs to push this sector with more reforms and technical innovations considering that more than 80 % of the farms are of small size holdings less than five acres. We need to bring a sigh of relief to these farmers by host of measures
These are just a few of the steps that government can start with. Rest later
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Country First
Mobile:
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Email: president@countryfirst.org
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Kamalnath Says, Worst for the Economy is over !- Is he in senses ?? Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Worst for the economy is over – Senior Congress Minister – Fooling Indians to vote ???
On 28th December 2008, I had written on this blog, that the GDP growth will be less than 6 % , I had also given the reasons as to why it would fall below 6 % for sure, when the government was firm that GDP growth would be 7.1 %. The fact is out now , and we our GDP has grown as low as 5.3 % in the Q3, 2008.
We will have lacs of suicides from job losers ! Earlier it was the farmers , now it will corporate people and workers who will commit suicides or commit crimes or suffer a nervous break-down. Why are we sleeping now . We just have 45 days – Please check the congress score card on my blog , They are a bunch of inefficient & dishonest people ! Can we entrust them our nation ?
As per the latest data ,
• India had an external debt of $221.3 Bn at the end of June 2008, 20 % of it is the short term debt, this will be hurt badly due to weak rupee .
• NRI deposits declined by as much as 1.1 Bn USD at the end of June 2008 compared to end – March 08 level.
• India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by 62.35 Billion dollars to 249.53 Bn USD as on Feb 20, 2008 from 311.88 Billion as on April 4, 2008.
• Agriculture is reporting negative growth at -2.2 % in Q3 , 2008,
• Exports have plummeted and people in export oriented companies are being fired every minute
• Industrial production is at a record low
• Fiscal deficit is highest since independence
• Sensex is at a record low in the last 40 months , Investors have lost more than 2/3rd of their investments
• Real estate sector is facing worst crisis ever
• GDP fell to 5.3 % in Q3 , 2008
• Rupee is weakest at about Rs.52 to a dollar
• Tax collections and revenue earners for government are dipping every day due to the above mentioned factors
Is what we call an economy of strong fundamentals ? When US , Europe and Japan sank into recession, immediately our growth story withered away, and we had been fooled to believe that India had strong fundamentals and we will not be affected . Is this not severe recession ?
At the top of all this , our learned writer of the book ‘India’s Century’ & also our Union trade and commerce Minister , Kamalnath had said just 3 days ago, that the ‘Worst time for the economy is over’. And just three days after the rupee is about 52 to the dollar and the sensex is on its 40 months low !! How clueless is our Union Minister ? Do we give such people to run our trade and commerce for the next five years ? If his words cannot last even a week , how come he writes a book on India’s century ?
We are into an unprecedented crisis , if we let congress win , I am sure that some of us will not even survive to vote !!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Country First
Email: rajendra.india@gmail.com
President@countryfirst.org
Mob: +91-9323109456
Difficulty viewing the blogs ?- Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Some of the tables get jumbled . Please check the following link to see it correctly –
http://rajendrasays.blogspot.com/
A must read for all
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
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Youth and Women hold the key to success in 2009 Elections- Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Youth, Women, Minorities and Regional parties hold the key to success.
In the last twenty five years, the electoral dynamics has changed. It is easier to understand and a challenge to manage. One who can manage will form the government at the center.
Let’s have a look:
According to 2009 electoral rolls, women are in majority in six states Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Poducherry.
• Andhra has 2.86 crore women compared to 2.80 crore men
• Kerala has 1.11 crore women compared to 1.03 crore men
• Manipur has 8.97 lac women compared to8.29 lac men
• Poducherry has 3.91 Lac women compared to 3.63 lac men
• Tamilnadu , Daman , Diu had more registered women than men
Also we must carefully understand the implications of these statistics :
• 49.1 % was the percentage of votes that congress got in 1984 elections, in which it won 404 seats.
• 48.7 % was the percentage of both the congress and BJP combined in 2004 elections.
• 477 is the number of seats that six national parties got in the 10th Lok Sabha elections in 1991
• 51 is the number of seats that state and regional parties got in 1991 . In 2004, they got 154 seats.
• BSP increased the number of seats from 5 to 14 in 1998-2004, increasing its percentage vote from 4.63 to 5.33%
• SP increased its seats from 20-36 from 1998-2004 & decreased its percentage vote from 4.93 to 4.32
• RJD increased its seats from 20-24 between 1998-2004 and the percentage vote decreased from 4.93 % to 2.41 %
• DMK increased its seats from 6 to 16 between 1998 till 2004. And the percentage vote increased from 1.44 o 1.81 %
• BJP had a 1.6 % vote loss costing the party as many as 44 seats in 2004
• In the last election Congress got about 26 % seats and BJP got about 22.16 % votes
• Muslim form more than 30 % of the electorate in 42 of the 543 seats
• In 1998 Lok Sabha polls only 7 % of the muslims voted the BSP and 61 % for SP. But in 2007 assembly polls , 32 percent voted for the BSP and 40 % for SP.
Youth :
• There are 34.8 crore youth in the age group of 15-34 years .
• Of these, about 10 crore are in the 15-19 years of age . Of these , 7 crore are rural and 3 crore are urban .
• Of the urban youth , more than one crore are living in large cosmopolitan towns and the more than one crore are living in small towns less than one lakh.
• Of the 3 crore urban youths , only 1.3 crore youths have completed their matriculation or higher secondary .
• Another 24.8 Crore youth are in the economically active age group of 20-34 years.
• Amongst these 7.6 crore are in urban areas , more than a third of them in small towns of less than one lakh.
• Only 3.6 crore of the 7.6 crore have studied till matriculation or above.
• And there are only 1.3 crore graduates . If we count total number of young graduates ( Urban & Rural ). It will add up to 2 crore.
If the party can understand the evolving electoral dynamics & worsening economic scenario coupled with elections just 45 days ahead & has a carefully evolved high noise level strategy. Victory is a foregone conclusion
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: rajendra.india@gmail.com
mail@rajendragupta.org
Mob: +91-9323109456
An appeal to teachers – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Dear Teachers,
Most of you are busy conducting exams . After this , you will get busy evaluating answer scripts. Here is what i need to appeal to you. As most of you will remain untouched from these hard economic times , as you belong to government run schools and colleges. But your students have a multiple problems, that i must apprise you. Most of your students are depressed with poor job prospects after education or their long term future prospects , Besides , they are also facing problems in case their family member has been fired from the job recently or has taken a pay cut or the family business is passing through trying times .
Appeal to you all is , that please be liberal in evaluating the answer scripts unless the answers have no relevance . Please do not add more to students problems . Try and boost their morale .
Hope this appeal does not fall on deaf ears
Thanks for your kind consideration.
mail@rajendragupta.org
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Mobile:
India + 91 9323109456
Third World War is on- Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Actual GDP growth around 4 % ? – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
According to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry provisional data released on 6th March 09.
Core growth shrinks to 1.4 % in Jan 09.
The growth of six infrastructure industries – crude , oil , refinery products, coal , power , cement and finished steel –slumped to 1.4 %. Reflecting India’s decline in consumption and getting deeper into recession. Sector had grown at 3.6 % last year. According to the provisional data released , the crude production & petroleum refinery output slipped into a negative growth in January, recording a fall of 8.1 % and 2.6 %.
Agriculture has already moved to negative growth at -2.2 %
Bad loans jumped by 60 % in the third quarter of 2009 for CANARA Bank . Almost similar is the case with other banks .
Had the sixth pay commission recommendations not been implemented , the growth would have been much lower than 5.3%. Growth would have been lower than 4.3 % for Q3 2008
With the rising unemployment as time passes, we are headed towards creating more NPA’s in the financial sectors. With banks becoming more risk averse , their profitability will suffer, as they wound not make money in lending , and give away interest on deposits and lose on increasing NPA’s via defaults .
Chinese economy is slowing down, and it will affect Indian economy in two ways. One , the exports to China will slow down . Second, the Chinese will dump the goods in India with the closing of Chinese factories
If you thought that the Third world war would be fought with weapons , you were fooling yourself. We are in midst of the third world war . Every part of the world is fighting . But as it would have been , the very definition has changed , we are all resorting to protectionism- Financial world war- This is nothing but the third world war in its new avatar.
We are headed towards a major crisis . Time to act fast ………..
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
E-mail : rajendra.india@gmail.com
Recession – Causes and solution – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
India & Recession – Why & When
It is more than one and a half year that we have heard and read about recession , slowing economy, reduction in industrial output , high inflation , negative agricultural growth , voluntary cut in production , lay-offs , reduction in wages , shutting down of companies etc . Prime Minister and other ministers kept assuring that we are a decoupled economy with very ‘strong fundamentals’, and that India will not be affected. In the interim budget they did not give anything as ‘Stimulus’. Suddenly, when Standard and Poor down-graded our economy ratings to one level above ‘Junk status’. Overnight, the government announced a stimulus for the economy, and still keeps saying that, the economy will grow around 7 %. Personally, I am compelled to be optimistic, as I can’t afford to see my colleagues losing jobs, factories shutting down, people dying of hunger. A country with a billion populations fights a blame game. Government will finally put it on the global crises. But India was supposed to be a self reliant economy? Right? So are we saying we are beggars to the world and when the world goes belly up we will be reduced to what we are? Shame on the politicians who are liars of the highest order and distorting facts
There are five big questions that need answers from all of us and not just the government whom we have voted to power. These questions are related to the so called recession
1. Why it happened
2. Who failed us or who let us down
3. Where are we today
4. What is the solution
5. What we can do to prevent the same
Why it happened?
Congress ruled India for around 50 years .They gave us the infamous license raj, where it was difficult to produce without a license, available only to a select few. Outcome , politicians became rich , corporate houses became richer and the masses in India remained poor. When it came to voting, it was easy to ‘Influence’ and ‘Buy’ votes by offering ‘Daaru’ and ‘Sarees and cycles’. 70 % of the population lives in villages and they are the people who count when it comes to voting, and not people like you and me who read these blogs are merely 40 million in a population of over 1000 million?
In the 1990’s, our economy’s balance of payments situation became worse and Manmohan devaluated the currency twice and opened the economy to the foreign sector. After that, there was no looking back. Our immediate problem was solved but long term problems started. We started measuring our economic strength in the foreign exchange reserves in the country. These foreign investors also got into the stock market. Over the years, we got a very high Sensex- 21000. WOW!
As a result, Mukesh Ambani became the richest man in the world (albeit for a few days!!).
Just a few Indians who left the Indian shores for abroad and made it big ( V.S.Naipaul, Amartya Sen , Indira Nooyi , Arun Sarin etc..) or Arcelor , Tetley, Land Rover & Jaguar , or Corus acquisitions . These were merely aberrations. In India, where 16 % of the world populations reside, why do we not have 16 % of the top executives and 16 % of the top class firms in every sector? So these achievements were not a part of the Indian government’s plan or strategy. Clearly, these were a few aberrations and we arrogated them to India coming of an age. If you are asked about five top Indian names in the global corporate sector, you would find it difficult to reach the number. If you were asked to name five Indian fortune 500 companies, you would start looking at the wall. Is this what a land of billion minds should have produced? So we went wrong in our human resources management
We measured India with how many contracts Infosys or Wipro’s signed in Europe and India, how many call centers started serving US and European clients, and how many dollars got invested into India.
On the other hand , Ambani’s , Birla’s & Tata’s were looking at these ‘News’ and assuming that the entire India is growing fast . The reports that Indian government churns out is nothing but a bunch of information that government wants the public to know ,so that the government remains in the good books of the public and makes it win the elections and give it another term.
While Manmohan had opened the economy, he did nothing for farmers or small scale industries or BPL people. The result, we created a huge disparity in the income generation and spread. This was the sowing of seeds for a long term economic failure that our economy is facing today. Ideally, 25 out of the 100 richest people should have been from India, 100 of the fortune 500 companies should have been from India and 50 % of all patents should have been from India. Our billion plus population is for a mere statistics. Actually, our effective population is not more than 150 million. Rest is mere numbers or rather they have been just treated as numbers. I recall a definition of a politician ‘One who promises to protect rich from the poor and poor from the rich on the pretext of extracting money from the rich and votes from both’
Who failed us ?
Government did not fail alone. Media, in my belief, which is the teacher of modern society failed by selling its ethics and focusing on yellow journalism. Most of the top journalists are known to enjoy privileges and selling their conscience to others and write what their ‘Actual employers’ pay.
Judiciary: I read a day before yesterday a judge having said that, they should not equate to politicians & judges should not be asked to disclose their assets. SHAME ON YOU MR. Judge. Hopeless is a charitable word to describe judiciary in India . All the pillars of democracy have failed as judiciary is corrupt to an extent of over 90 %. Can you imagine the rot when a judge issued the summons to the President of India, Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam? What worse can you imagine? If the president can be a victim of this inefficient judiciary what can a common man expect? If the judges have any shame they must quit en masse! You are a bunch of corrupt and inefficient people on the tax payer’s money and you don’t want to disclose your assets? Why the hell you want to keep them secret? Tell me a reasonable cause
Could you not try cases related to political corruption on priority things would have been different. But these greedy judges are not worth trusting for any worthwhile things for a suo moto action. They just keep passing judgments that gives them publicity.
No one trusts the government; everyone fears the judiciary and enforcement agencies. In all, the system has failed to deliver. I am not commenting the education and healthcare system as they don’t exists in the country
In all, I believe that our education system & more importantly teachers, media and judiciary have failed and delivered a fatal blow to our democracy
Teachers should be blamed for not being able to inculcate values amongst the students
Where are we?
A country is as strong as its citizens. When more than 80 % of the people are struggling to earn a two meals a day even after 61 years of Independence, have we gone the right way?
We are today in midst of two serious crises. One is the economic crises and the other is political crises.
Economic crisis can further be divided into two.
First, the one that has resulted into wrong economic policies blindly focused on FDI inflow and on making India a body shopping country. Also that, Indian government did not focus on developing the agriculture, infrastructure, SME, Retail & research based education. This had created a ‘Big economic divide’. Our politicians did not realise that the capacity building that could have resulted on building these sectors could have catapulted India to a different growth trajectory in the last two decades.
Second is the one that has been due to FDI, stock markets and the so called retail revolution. This was limited to about 35 towns directly and indirectly this gave employment to a lot of rural migrants. Knowing well that, most of agricultural families also depend on the members that work in towns and send money back home. These people have been affected due to reality and retail sector that is slowing down. All these are having a cascading effect.
Most important : Every one , right from the Reserve Bank governor to PM says that the worst is yet to come but they don’t tell what is the worst and when it will come and what is the solution ? It is like an astrologer telling you that you will die. Everyone dies one day , so what big a deal to tell that ? One should be able to tell when and how will you die .
I believe that , We are actually nearing the mid of recession cycle, and we will come of it in another year and a half.
Political crises: For more than 50 years, our country has been ruled by Gandhi family – A family of Kashmiri Pandits. This is enough to understand their commitment.
Who took the Kashmir issue to UN? Jawaharlal Lal Nehru, and we blame Pakistan for internationalizing the issue? Learn history
Congress lead by Gandhi’s has created a vicious cycle. Even today, Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson of UPA, constitutionally authorized to oversee the implementation of CMP. Why these dual centers of power? Ideally, the Prime Minister’s role should not have been decimated. Why in the first place this extra authority created? Gandhi’s love for power is not hidden and they will keep away anyone who comes in their way. Gandhi’s have never allowed anyone to be number one in the party or politics. Whether it was Sharad Pawar or anyone else. No matter what. Also, that they have paid the price for this? What the Gandhi family is doing is against the law of nature. Power is like sand being held in the fist. The more you tighten the fist, more the sand will flow out. I would not be shocked if the family suffers a few adversaries in the times to come. They have always paid the price for their misconduct and the country had paid more …………………..Till the country gets rid of this family in politics, nothing can change.
Also, every Indian citizen has failed by not being active in politics and just making politics a tea table and road side discussion item. It is such a serious issue and has been treated casually by the Indian population.
What is the solution?
Complex problems have simple solutions – Read my earlier blog – An open letter to the PM.
Economic crisis has a political solution and political crises have an Economic solution.
First thing that needs to be done is to cut interest and lending rates in one shot and not in installments. I have been telling our PM since last year that we don’t need ‘Baby steps’, we need firm and drastic measures
Secondly, we must announce massive investments in infrastructure, Education & Research and IT (Government should set at least 100,000 IT kiosks as Government’s touch points for public access). The work should be given to IT companies of small and medium scale to retain the young IT talent.
FDI In retail should be discouraged and stopped immediately. We need an Indian version of FDI – Finance from domestic institutions.
Agriculture should be given a big push with incentives for organic farming & cash crops. According to NSS (National sample survey), even if one works for a day in a field, he is a farmer!! Which inflates the number of farmers in the country?
Five sectors can relieve India of its miseries; Infrastructure, Agriculture, Education, Retail & IT. Fortunately, we are at a nascent stage in every major sector . Be it agriculture , SME, Retail , IT , Automobiles, industrial growth , urbanization etc . In the US , the problems are of plenty , saturation & wastage . We are just at the reverse . Whilst US might find it difficult to protect and grow , we can log on to a massive growth with the right initiatives . Infact, India and US are at the two extreme ends of the growth cycle. All sectors in India have a potential for phenomenal growth. The 800 million Indians have to be made earning class and a spending class, and this one thing will take India to a 10 % + growth for the next twenty five years . We have a long way to go . Right governance can help us . NREGA Is not the right solution for a long term growth
Where will money come from?
What do you do when your family gets into financial problems? You sell a part of your assets for temporary relief and buy them back or buy better things in the good times or when the financial condition improves
India needs to re-look at the ‘Navratnas’ and dilute the equity and follow a moderate privatization drive to raise money to invest in the five sectors mentioned above. This is the way India can come out of the recession faster and build an economy with 8-10 % GDP growth every year or more.
India’s parallel economy is much bigger than the economy of taxes ( Black money economy is for sure a lot bigger than our 1000 Bn USD economy ). This money needs to be brought back and invested . I am not at all mentioning the money hoarded in Swiss banks and other heavens. All this can solve India’s problems today evening. This is a must , if we want to build an economy based on solid Economic and social foundation.
Lay-offs are one part of the problem what about the fresher’s who are struggling for jobs. We need to create more job opportunities. No one seems to be addressing the issue knowing well that, we will have more 10 crore people who will get hunting for jobs in the next 5 -10 years
Defence spending should be cut and the same be invested in infrastructure. The defence strategy should be re-looked and reworked
All tenders for house-keeping, parking stands, vendors in public places and railways etc………should be reserved for both educated and uneducated youth irrespective of caste but on financial background
We must have guidelines where we build economy on 40 % services, 50 % manufacturing and 10 % on global trade. We must never exceed exports more than 10 % of our GDP
Need driven services never go slow or out of business? Indian economy must be ‘inward looking’ and should be build on essential services and these should not be imported. All the national demand should be met by domestic producers. Need driven sectors like agriculture , FMCG, Healthcare ,textiles , processed food , Education , Oil and natural gas should be country centric and needs more thrust for explosive growth .
Any tender worth 500 Crores or more should not be allotted to bidders who have a manufacturing outside India. This will increase capacity building within the country
Seeing that it is recession time, the EMI of housing and vehicle loans for people who have lost jobs should be adjusted for at least two years. If the loans of 65000 crore can be waived for an income class that does not pay income tax (farmers). Why not give a moratorium on payments for the income class that pays tax. The two years EMI that are deferred for payments should have the interest based on the PLR or at reduced rates.
Every Indian needs to spend 10 minutes a day for politics and community work – An hour a week. Go start a neighborhood-nation building programme to ensure good governance. Rest I will add in my next blog
There are three sources of growth for an economy, increase in capital, and increase in labour force, and improvement in productivity. We will have to address all three
There is a difference in Economic growth and economic development. Economic growth is purely GDP but economic development is a broader concept that includes not just GDP but also indicators like social justice , income distribution, political freedom, pollution , Equality of income …………GDP captures average national income , but do not reflect how that income is spent.. Even increase in aids and cancer incidences in the country will add to the GDP expenditure on health services , Also, calamity will lead to the increase in GDP due to increase in reconstruction activities.
Moreover, GDP growth rate is inadequate measure of growth as it is calculated largely on the basis of rate of growth of income of the upper 20-30 % of the population who receive disproportionately large share of income. It calculates only money transactions and leaves many important activities and social measures and conditions like adult literacy rate, life expectancy and HDI rank
We must change our economic measurement methods from Economic growth to economic development
India needs to re-look into the growth measurement model. We have a solution for economic crises. We need to act fast and grow faster. Rest in my next blog
Good luck
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Country First
Mobile:
India + 91 9323109456
Email: President@countryfirst.org / mail@rajendragupta.org
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Urban voters can’t make a differnce in the current system- Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Why should the public vote ?
A lot many people expected that the voting percentage would be higher this time due to the people dissatisfied with the current system, and that the campaigns like Jagoree would enthuse voters. Just two days before the voting , I was talking to my friend Dr. Anand Trivedi , State President of Shiv Khera’s party, and I told him that , I did not expect voting percentage to be higher . Reasons are clear , those who are concerned are in very small number ( urban voters) don’t vote due to lack of trust in the current creed of politicians and those who vote don’t count or don’t think of the consequences of voting . For them voting is a trading business . Money for vote . Simple to decide .
Over the years , politicians have done little to enthuse voters or convince them that they stand for the good of the nation. On the contrary, people like Sanjay Dutt standing in the elections , crores of wealth disclosed by the contestants , statements made by Varun , Mulayam etc , too many political parties in the fray have convinced the intelligentsia that voting will not change the system
From my personal experience , I must state that these independents and small time parties will not make any big change in the election , they can just raise some awareness. I am sure that, most of these people will lose their security deposit. Also , that most of these people are ambitious and fight for who takes the lead . This is spoiling the equations that could have created an impact . In essence , these small parties are not united . Everyone thinks that he or she can change the system
Last time when Shiv Khera supported a few candidates through his party , I had warned him of losing security deposit and also gave him the logic for this conclusion.
People who vote diligently are amongst the 600 million people who earn less than a dollar a day. They are a creation of 50 years of congress misrule . These people don’t care about development or five year plans , they are concerned about today’s dinner and fun ( they rarely would imagine indulgence !! ). So politicians can get them for election rallies in hot summer afternoon by promising them chicken curry , buy their vote by cash for vote offer. Why are we so stupid to think, if these politicians can trade in crores for joining the government , why will they not spend 20 crores buying votes ? After all , you can recover in multiples by voting in a ‘trust vote’ . Which is now almost a common occurrence .
Politics is such a game that people cannot change it without media support and an proactive , effective and an independent judicial system. Both are handsomely paid by politicians . If the judicial system just set up special courts to try cases related to politicians & political corruption, the system could be cleaned in the next ten years.
I think that majority of the people have started believing that the system will never change . This is the death of democracy by suffocation from politicians .
What will Rahul Gandhi do to this nation ? His father used to say that out of Rs.1 meant for poor only 15 paisa reaches the poor . Recently in Gangtok, he said out of Rs.100 meant for poor only 15 paisa reaches the poor. All this , when his great grand father , grand mother and father ruled India repeatedly and divided it ? We must not forget that Gandhi’s were Kashmiri Pandits and they could not save Kashmiri pandits from fleeing from Kashmir. Infact , the biggest mistake that Nehru did was to take Kashmir to United Nations and internationalize it ! Same for Amethi , it has been the ‘parking lot’ for Gandhi family to cry , sing and dance before the elections and win . Whereas, after representing it for decades , the latest data of Amethi shows that 35 % of the population is still below the poverty line. If the Gandhi’s cannot save their Kashmiri brethren and constituencies they represent , What good they will do to India ? Now you can understand why people don’t trust politicians and why they will not waste their time to vote .
Urban voters don’t waste your time ……….Do something that counts.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Country First Email : president@countryfirst.org
Rajendra.india@gmail.com
The Government has to deliver – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Manifesto 2009 -2014
Government must Pledge the nation to fulfill the promise of REAL Development.
YES – That’s the only way …
Empowered women – Vibrant India
Cheerful farmers – Progressive India
Educated & Financially strong youth – Strong India
Well Equipped Soldiers – Safe & Secure India
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Contents
Preface
Every nation has the government it deserves:
Congress Scorecard 2004-2009.
India Today :
Time has come : It is the worst crisis ever !
Y-our agenda
Priority areas. (YES) Youth, Economy & Security
(REAL) Development – Rural , Education , Agriculture & Livelihood
Food , Clothing , Clean water and Healthcare for the Common Man
Economic Development
Key issues
Solution :
Youth and Women empowerment
Employment Generation from Different initiatives
Organised -Unorganised Sector
Urbanization of rural areas
Retail trade & Shopkeepers community-
E-Governance
SME
Police reforms , National Security & Terrorism
Education and vocational training
Cultivation & Agriculture (IEC- Irrigation, Electricity & Credit) –
Transport
Banking & Finance
Judiciary.
Poverty Alleviation
New thrust areas for bold actions
Economy of the people, by the people and for the people of this country:
Village Republic Scheme (VRS) & BOARD
Healthcare
Adopt a child, senior citizen, Village, School & PHC scheme
Administrative & Governance reforms
Special abilities – disabled, BPL, Beggars & Destitute
Urban infrastructure
Tourism
Energy & Environment
Loans & Housing
Goods & Services Tax (GST )
Yoga , Mediation & Sports (YMS )
Labour laws
Population Control
Constitutional & Electoral reforms
Defence forces
R&D
Income & taxes
Defence technology SEZ
Export Oriented SEZ for wine
North East Region
National Task force for Animal husbandry, Milk processing, Food processing and fisheries
Post & Telegraph
Private Public Partnership
Cooperative Movement -
Consumer protection movement
Media & Sting Operations -
Disaster Management
Common Civil Code.
Backward – BIMARU States
Tribal Development
Wool Production
Good Governance
Foreign Policy
Preface
Having reaching here to read, i believe you are concerned about this nation with this, i must take you through my journey of how i wrote this Manifesto 2009-14, and why it is important for each and every concerned citizen of this country.
Sometime in 2003 i wrote a book ‘Truth Alone Triumphs’ which was not published for public, but was sent across to all leading decision makers, politicians, influential people and Journalists. Most of them acknowledged and sent me their best wishes. Sam Pitroda wrote back ‘ You must enter politics to change the system from within’, Similarly , many people including the Prime Minister , Speaker of Lok Sabha , leader of the opposition appreciated the content ‘ as good for the nation to follow’ ,and sent me the note ‘to spread the message’. Over the last couple of years, i have written a number of open letters to our Prime Ministers right from Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee to Dr. Manmohan Singh. Outcome, as you all know, a formal acknowledgment follows with appreciation.
Sam Pitroda , whom i have always considered as an architect of modern India through his revolutionary PCO booths earlier , and now as the chairman of the National Knowledge Commission. The PCO’s, i believe, had reduced the distance between geographies, created a rural & urban connect, empowered a lot of entrepreneurs. With his PCO movement, suddenly people used to days of travelling to talk to people or communicate through our lethargic postal system suddenly started talking whenever they wanted, Indians got a new high and India was now a connected nation. I my view, his innovative leadership catapulted India and sowed the seeds of the current IT revolution which has put India ahead on the IT & BPO map. Even today, his recommendations as Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission, if properly implemented, can bring an enormous benefit to this nation.
Besides Sam’s comment on my earlier book, three people came out to meet or associate or help. Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam met me, sent me the details of Viksit Bharat Foundation, where he has invested his entire earnings. His office has been in touch for all the years he was the President, and still is reachable at a call. Through Dr.Kalam’s office, i was able to get one important change done – ‘Bilingual labelling of medicines ‘. When only 5 % of the people in India know English, why medicines sold in India should carry the name in English? Dr.Kalam moved this through his office and got it implemented. The other important change i was working was ‘None of the above found suitable’ in the ballot papers. This was sent to the Chief Election Commissioner, J.M.Lyngdoh and Dr.Kalam. I wish he had a second stint; this change could also have been done.
Second person who came out to connect, is a top politician, a former Union cabinet minister, founder of BJP & honoured with the best parliamentarian award, Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi, He has always been available to meet me whenever i wanted, and kept boosting my morale for making a
positive contribution to the nation. Last year, Dr.Joshi summoned me to write the manifesto for BJP. This could have been a great opportunity to contribute to the nation. Moreover, for the first time, i was being asked to write the ‘Vision document – the Manifesto’ for a leading political party. I wrote from a ‘common man’s’ point of view. Off course, all was not accepted by BJP’s parliamentary board .But still, they took a major portion from my original draft. Also, i must say that Dr.Joshi is rare politician, who practices highest standards of ethics, which is difficult in today’s political environment. I am left to wonder sometimes, how he has survived politics in today’s tough and highly corrupt and institutionalised system. Third personality who has been like a God send gift is a world renowned business guru and acclaimed author, Shiv Khera .Who shares the same passion for the betterment of this nation. He appointed me national President of the organization he founded, Countryfirst. Despite his busy schedule & sessions, he is always reachable and hopefully, one day, he will see the nation changing during his lifetime.
All these people have been a real boost to my activities, and gave me ample opportunities to speak & share my ideas with a whole lot of people.
Back to the manifesto: While the manifesto written for BJP was shared with the parliamentary board of BJP and they decided to pick and choose what was politically helpful and could add to the to the vote bank. Since a lot of research and hard work was done for writing this document of national importance , i thought , it would be good to publish it for a common man to see how the common man’s vision and party’s vision could be aligned . I had a chance to go through the earlier manifestos of both the parties (Congress & BJP); it is shameful that most of the promises are not kept by any of the parties after taking the reins of power. I sincerely hope that the government in power will go through this, and use whatever it considers useful. I am sure that this time, the party will try and implement most of the points mentioned in its manifesto. Though, it is not possible for any government to implement all that is promised in the election manifesto. But still, if 80 % of the promises are delivered upon, it is not doubt, great performance for any government. I also wish that the common man takes the responsibility for change to ‘himself’.
My view is that, the government’s agenda should not be election oriented. It should be drawn from the requirements of the grass root level public. We all saw that Manmohan Singh’s government sacrificed the support from the Left front to get the nuclear deal through; it was at the cost of the government. Finally, we have seen that he is back with a thumping majority, and Left is reduced by its humiliating defeat. This in itself proves that good work cannot go unrecognized. So, the current government must pay more attention to the steps that lead to employment and income generation. The government cannot clap with rising Sensex, as rising Sensex does not raise the GDP of the nation. We also cannot build a lasting economy on dollars only. We need an economy that focuses ‘value creation’ of about 80 % from domestic sectors and for the majority of the population. Exports must never exceed 20 % of the GDP, if we want to create an economy that can grow 10 % for the next 10-15 years.
Sadly, in the last 60 years, 60 % of the population still lives below a dollar a day. Think how they can survive when rice is above Rs.20 a KG, Pulses above Rs 60 a kg, Ginger Rs. 80 a kg? We need to
Convert these people into earning and spending class by imparting them basic skills. We need basic skills at the base of the population, higher & specialised skills at the top level in the population for taking this nation ahead on a faster growth curve. Every year, India must aim to lift 5 % people above the poverty line, and then India can truly become a developed nation in the next ten years. We need to create new income streams; NAREGA is not a solution for such a massive population, the only way these people can grow is by hard work. India has the best of brains but lacks the generation of leaders and will power to shape an actionable road map to harness the potential of the people. We have seen wrong policies being implemented; only Delhi and Mumbai get the most focus and funds. No wonder we are facing migration from smaller towns to these two cities. I have always heard people talking of making Mumbai as Shanghai. Why do we not convert ten smaller Indian towns into Mumbai rather than just looking at already over burdened towns like Mumbai becoming Shanghai? I would also like to see some paradigm change in the tax structures, why do we have an income tax for individuals at all? Tax expenditure! Let people pay taxes only when they buy goods and services and not on their income. Why can we not have such a system?
Now to recession: What everyone is calling a global recession is not a recession. The world has pressed the ‘Reset’ button. With this, a new multi polar world is going to emerge; it will end the uni & bi polar world. Now we cannot dream of independent economies but a truly connected and an interdependent world, full of surprises and opportunities .It is a fact that America has lost all its innovation and it is coming to India and China. Every recession has shifted the power. Earliest recession shifted the position of global power from U.K. to USA & USSR. This recession will finally shift the power from USA. It may be quite unfortunate, if we cannot use this opportunity. Indian Economy is like a sleeping giant, the day it gets up and starts running, no one can stop it. It is a force of a billion brains, and we know what ‘charged’ billion brains can deliver. The current government has to wake up this giant and charge it. Here is the key:
Youth , economy and security are the three key issues before the nation and that is why the acronym ‘ YES’ , and the action of the government need to be towards REAL Development .i.e. Rural , Education , Agriculture and Livelihood . So this acronym REAL. We cannot afford to lose time and focus. Also, the current leaders need to include more common people from the public and a younger generation to lead the nation for the next 25 years.
Our scientists and youth have struggled a lot to reach where we are today. Those who can struggle to survive are the best people to innovate. We have so many opportunities to create jobs, money for the people that we cannot just count our success on increasing FDI or WPI based inflation control to pump the economy or the NAREGA scheme. People are losing jobs & hope with every hour passing by. We need to set our own limits and set out achieve them. It is time for the current government to deliver on the economy by focussing on SME’s and Agriculture. This can lift the economy into to a new orbit.
Foreign money is never free, it comes with its own riders and when it exits, it causes unbearable pain. It might be prudent to divest some of the PSU’s or all and deploy the money into the development schemes. Black money economy is a parallel economy, and is more than our real GDP.
This must be checked and brought back into the system for development. It is time to re-look at our policies, priorities and politics, and do an introspection to evolve out a new growth paradigm. Fire
Fighting and re-construction are two set of activities on the same place and need to be handled by separate teams.
So far, election manifestos have always remained for the media and not for the public. I wish the concerned citizens to review this manifesto , work out their local manifestos based on the local agenda, for each district and approach their local representatives to adopt that and work for the constituency . Politicians have to work for us and they are just public servants and not our masters! We must take India ahead of the world. I will call it ‘India Ahead’ campaign.
We have to come out of our shells and become assertive individuals not only for ourselves but also for our nation. Today, we should not talk about ruling party and the opposition, but of ruling party and the watchdog party but work constructively. Together, positive changes can take place not by criticising, boycotting, opposing and disposing but by participating proactively. I am sharing my vision for what the current government needs to do. We all need to wake up and participate then only, we can change the nation for the better. India has always addressed problems that are non-existent. For examples, we are finding out what is wrong, what is missing in a nation of a billion minds? Trust me; India has all that can make it a strongest, progressive and a powerful nation in the world. Just two things are missing; Honesty and courage. If we all decided to be assertive with our honesty and courage and don’t have dual lives, no one can stop this nation. We talk about corruption but we are active partners. I have always seen that people blame our system of administration. With my personal experience, i can assure you that, we have the best administrative system, no one follows. Today, if you complain against a government employee, an action is certainly taken, but how many of you complain?
The key for the success of the government lies in its active citizens. We have a passive electorate so we have outdated leaders, the moment we participate and start questioning the politicians about our rights and money and how it is used; we will never have to read this book again! Inefficiency cannot tackle inefficiency!
Best wishes,
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
E-mail: rajendra.india@gmail.com
mail@rajendragupta.org
Every nation has the government it deserves:
Congress has ruled this nation for more than fifty years and other governments have ruled for around 8 years let’s examine what they did to this nation?
In the last sixty years, the leaders have contributed immensely to deteriorating the economy and suppressing the rights of the common man, by denying him the right education and running the economy on the ‘Self serving’ license raj. It was only in the 1990’s that the policies led India towards Bankruptcy, and the economy had to be liberalised on the directions of the World Bank. We should not forget that, a single party running the nation for more than 50 years, it did not let the common man to get proper education, as ‘The Common Man’ would have protested for change. The self serving leaders never wanted. A huge Population under the misrule has just remained a mere statistics and a vote bank to be used during elections and abused thereafter. Respect for talent and merit has never been a norm in the any political party. No party practices democracy at home, how can they practice democracy in the nation? Respect for democracy and talent is still to emerge with the politics of this nation maturing.
We are still talking of Indo-US nuclear deal forgetting that, with or without the Indo-US nuclear deal, India should have become a self sufficient state – A Self Reliant India by now.
Leaders have in the last few years built an economy aimed at serving the developed world only, and reduced India to a body shopping country. People have always talked of strong fundamentals in Indian economy. If at all, the Indian economy is strong, then why it is sliding day by day as the developed world sinks deeper into recession? It was never built on strong fundamentals. On the contrary, fundamentals were never addressed. The moment the foreign economies got into trouble, we got into a deeper trouble. This proves the shallowness of the economic principles and that Indian economy was not build it was sold to foreign economies and now that these economies are in trouble, we are in a deeper trouble. None of the political leaders understood what India needs to have to build a robust economy. Today, we are saddled with the burden created with myopic policies of the leaders, and the whole world is adopting protectionist policies and we are going to head for a painful 2009-11. USA will be saddled with trillions of dollars of deficit and will find it difficult to come out. India must avoid that path.
Inflation hurt the common man by taking the prices of daily needs sky high. Though, leaders have manipulated the numbers, it is hard to believe the cooked inflation numbers, as the prices still remain high
At the time of budget, Congress talked of constitutional propriety and refused any stimulus in this financial year. Suddenly, Congress let loose everything throwing the economic principles to the winds. Such Adhocism is only a sure shot recipe for disaster and conveys that Congress knows how to capture power and not how to empower India. Even senior congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar have written, that economic reforms have led to lopsided development outcomes- 836 million Indians haven’t felt the benefits. It remains a big challenge to see how the same people can deliver different result.
Below is an ‘Eye Opener’ on what political parties have contributed to this nation: Key democratic institutions have been used as weapons of vendetta or denigrated. Credibility of the institutions is eroded beyond imagination.
A Failed Judiciary:
On Feb 6, 2009, the Supreme court said that , the Criminal justice system has collapsed – Making the chilling observation, which too many only confirmed the widely held perception of the erosion of the system, a Bench comprising Justices B N Agrawal, G S Singhvi and Aftab Alam also said that the lower judiciary had decayed. “The courts of magistrate and munsif have ceased to be an option for the common man,” the Bench said and compared the lower courts to ill-equipped and ill-staffed public health centres (PHCs) in rural areas.
Only those people go there who have no other option,” said the Bench as an apparent indicator of the low measure of public faith in these courts, which are the first points of dispute settlement for the masses.
While the last Election manifesto of congress in 2004 quoted ‘Immediate measures should be taken to drastically cut the delays in courts, particularly in the high court’s and in lower levels of the judiciary’.
Central Bureau of Investigations: “Only God can save the situation”.
On Tuesday 11th Feb, 2009, the Supreme Court said the CBI was acting at the behest of the law ministry while investigating the disproportionate assets case against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members. An exasperated Bench said, “Only God can save the situation”.
“You are acting at the behest of the law ministry. You are not acting on your own,” said the bench comprising Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Cyriac Joseph ‘
Ironically, the last election manifesto of congress quoted ‘An administrative reforms commission should be established to prepare a detailed blueprint for revamping the public
Administration system completely so as to make it more performance oriented and accountable’.
Divided Election Commission: Fading hopes!!
The Chief Election Commissioner’s recommendation for removal of Election Commissioner , Navin Chawla ahead of the general elections brings to the fore the differences among the three-member body which has often been marred by clashes over crucial decisions. This is the second pillar after the Judiciary that safe guards the democracy. Under the current s rule, The Election commission’s decisions cannot be trusted anymore. Apparently, looks like, that the system has lost its credibility. Whereas, the Election Manifesto of Congress quoted ‘Congress is deeply committed to electoral reforms’. I do not understand how come the last election commissioner became a union minister for youth and sports affairs? Same happens to most of the people occupying the posts of judges and officers who get elevated to Rajya Sabha or as diplomats or get nominated in different government bodies.
Congress is not in favour of Aam Aadmi??? Poor accountability on spending:
The CAG (Comptroller and auditor general) report released on 20th February 2009 said that the centre’s Aam Aadmi Bill was highly inflated. According to CAG, the funds meant for social and infrastructure development were diverted to celebrations and giving aid to NGO’s and other expenditure rather than creating infrastructure.
Remember Rajiv Gandhi saying, out of every rupee meant for the poor only fifteen paisa reaches the common man. This is what the leader of party said, whose family ruled this nation as its fiefdom since the very independence! On 26th April 2009, at Gangtok, Rahul Gandhi went a step further to say now on 15 paisa reaches out of Rs.100. If so is the case, what have the successive governments done!!
We are living at the mercy of the terrorists.
The less we talk the better. This government has failed utterly against terror. We had all kinds of attacks at all the places – Air, Land & Sea. It is not just Kashmir, it is all across. We are totally at the mercy of the terrorists. Successive governments have let the nation down badly. Congress accepted its failure to act against terrorist in the form of sacking the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil. If politicians don’t act fast and decisively on terror, we are readying India for another partition.
Financially, our economy is at its worst:
The fiscal deficit for 2009 would be in around 11 %. The Fiscal deficit budgeted at 2.5 % of the GDP this year, Should end up at 6 %, to which should be added another 1.5 % of the GDP for the off-budget items like dues on oil and fertilizers companies. Throw in another 3.5 % of
GDP of state government deficits and India Should have a consolidated fiscal deficit of 11 % in 2008-9. Remember, during the CITIZENS led NDA, Revenue deficit never crossed 4.5 %. Congress took over an Indian Economy growing at 8 % every year and after five years; we are just a step away from being rated as a ‘Junk status’ under the current policies and misrule with growth numbers less than half of what we had in 2004.
Current policies led to unchecked inflation. Even we are not sure, whether the low inflation numbers we see today are correct or cooked up. Economy is sliding day by day. Companies are getting into voluntary shut downs, expected job losses till March 09 have crossed two crore. Last Election manifesto of Congress reiterated “its firm commitment to eliminating the revenue deficit of the central government in five years time” & actually gave India the worst ever revenue deficit since its independence . According to S&P’s ( Standard & Poor’s ratings ) , India’s fiscal position is unsustainable in the middle term, reduced the outlook on long term debt from stable to negative for four government entities , and , in turn, the UPA government . In the 3rd Week of Feb’ 09, even Fitch ratings had called India’s finances in to question.
Urban Poverty:
According to the ‘India: Urban Poverty Report, 2009′,The poverty in cities is not an overflow of the poverty in villages but has happened because of the faulty nature of urbanization in India, says the country’s first report on Urban Poverty released in Feb,09. According to the study, an estimated 23.7 per cent of the urban population was living in slums amid squalor, crime, disease and tension, but not all slum dwellers exist below the poverty line.
They have been marginalised because of the poor city planning and poorer urban land management and legislation.
The urban poverty was not about only nutritional deficiency but deficiencies in the basic needs of housing, water, sanitation, medical care, education, and opportunity for income generation. As many 81 million or 25.7 per cent people (2004-05) subsist in urban areas on incomes that are below the poverty line. Eighty per cent of their meagre income goes towards paying for food and energy, leaving very little for meeting the cost of living in an increasingly monetised society
Congress Election Manifesto of 2004 quoted ‘The Congress is conscious of the havoc that corruption at all levels ads to the harassment of the common man’.
In fact, sixty years of misrule is a naked, sordid & ruthless saga of Gareebi, Bhrashtachaar and Aantakwaad and not the Roti, Kapda aur Makaan that has just remained a slogan after 60 years of rule.
Overall, the governments have failed on all fronts. What all we see as growth is incremental growth that happens on its own. . We have totally forgotten the sacrifices of our freedom fighters. We are at loss of words to express our anguish to forget Bhagat Singh
, Neta ji and Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Maulana Azad and others as well who contributed to India’s freedom struggle.
Sixty years of misrule has certainly achieved one thing; ethics has been eroded in politics and no one trusts a politician. Citizens should be committed to change this by participating actively in bringing about this change and creating an India for the common man. Criticism alone does not work; we need a solution oriented approach even from the opposition. We must support the current government. Though, in the current elections and the new government, we don’t have the actual representation of the common man. All that we see as next generation leaders are the second generation leaders of the existing politicians. Though, there have been some bold statements by Rahul Gandhi for reorganising the congress. Which has been unheard of from the Gandhi clan till now, but still we need to see watch closely what Rahul does going forward. It should not remain just rhetoric. I hope that the congress does not repeat the score card that it had in 2004-2009. The good part is that congress has a clear majority to implement the key plans. Following is Congress scorecard based on the last manifesto.
Congress Scorecard 2004-2009.
This is taken from the congress manifesto for 2004-2009. Reality is shocking.
No. Key Result areas What Congress promised in the last Manifesto What it did
1 Agriculture Annual growth of less than 4-4.5 % is unacceptable Agriculture Growth in Q3 2008-09 is Negative -2.2 %
2 Intensive agricultural development program Should be started in 100 districts ???
3 Farmers insurance Farm insurance schemes for both crops and cattle Should be implemented ???
4 Employment Accelerate employment Generation More than 2 Crores jobs lost till March 2009
5 Fiscal Policy Committed to eliminating the revenue deficit of central govt. By 2009 In Feb 09, the revenue deficit reached at 11.4 % , highest ever since Independence
6 Growth Growth of below 10 % in industry is simply unacceptable Growth figures in Q3 2008-09 was around 5.3 %
7 Education To spend 6 % of GDP and set up Education Development Finance Corporation ???
8 Khadi & Village Industries to be modernised ???
9 Block level Establish at least one industrial training institute in each development block of the country ???
10 Annual Rozgar report To be released every 1st May ???
11 A great thrust on Exports of textiles , handicrafts , Gems & Jewellery , leather , software & engineering Painful slowdown in all this sectors and the government is clueless on what to do? Units are shutting down and much more than one crore people are expected to be out of Job by March end in these sectors
12 Farm labour Ensure the fullest implementation of wage laws for farm labour ???
13 Landless Congress to Redouble its efforts to distribute surplus productive land to the landless ???
14 Women Congress pledges to press for the constitutional amendment to reserve one third of seats in Lok Sabha and in Vidhan Sabha’s for Women ???
15 Healthcare Congress Should raise public spending on healthcare to at least 2-3 % of GDP ???
16 Reservation Congress pledges to extend reservations for the economically deprived persons belonging to communities that are at present not entitled to such reservations ???
17 Weavers & artisans New middle level technical institutions Should be started in places where for example weavers and artisans are concentrated ???
18 Food scarce areas Grain Banks in chronically food scarce areas Should be started ???
19 Girl Child Nutrition program for the girl child particularly Should be expanded on a significant scale ???
20 Organised , Informal & Unorganised sector
Urban Poor Every initiative Should must and Should be taken to expand the proportion of employment in the organised sector, congress Should ensure the well being and welfare of all workers in unorganized sector Only job losses have been reported in the last few years in all these sectors and Congress has remained a silent spectator
21 Congress to establish a National Commission to examine problems facing enterprises operating in the unorganised sector ???
22 A national fund Should be created ???
23 A single , simplified law Should be enacted to set out the obligations of these enterprises to labour and for safety ???
24 Congress Should create legal space in towns and cities for hawkers , vendors , food sellers etc……so that they are spared the risk of extortion , eviction, confiscation and harassment ???
25 Social housing schemes Should be launched to meet the needs of the urban poor ???
26 Security of the nation Congress Should strengthen the intelligence network Most gruesome 19 attacks. A record of 63 blasts in 35 days. Assam, Oct 30, 2008 – 63 people killed, Imphal , Oct 21, 2008 – 17 people killed , New Delhi, Sept 13 , 2008- 26 people killed, New Delhi, Sept 27, 2008 – Three people Killed , Ahmedabad , July 26, 2008 – 57 people killed after 20 bombs went off in two hours, Bangalore , July 25, 2008 – One person killed, Jaipur, May 13, 2008 – 68 people killed in serial bombings, Faizabad , November 23, 2007- 15 people killed in Court bombings, Hyderabad , August 25,2007- 42 people killed in two blasts, Samjhauta Express , Feb 19, 2007- 66 people killed , Malegaon , Sept 8, 2006- 40 people killed in two blasts, Mumbai , July 11, 2006 – 209 people killed in seven blasts on sub-urban trains – the lifeline of Mumbai , Varanasi , March 7, 2006- 21 people killed in three blasts including one at the temple and another at the crowded railway station, New Delhi, Oct 29, 2005- 61 people killed in three blasts on the eve of Diwali
27 Judiciary Immediate measures Should be taken to drastically cut delays in courts , particularly in the high court’s and in lower levels of judiciary On Feb 6, 2009, the Supreme court said that, the Criminal justice system has collapsed… A Bench comprising Justices B N Agrawal, G S Singhvi and Aftab Alam also said that the lower judiciary had decayed. “The courts of magistrate and munsif have ceased to be an option for the common man,” the Bench said and compared the lower courts to ill-equipped and ill-staffed public health centres (PHCs) in rural areas
28 Manufacturing Sector Congress Should establish a National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council ???
29 Yearly report card – Jan Dastavejh Every year on October 2nd , the congress pledges to present to the people of India a Jan Dastavejh on the progress of the implementation of the manifesto ???
India Today:
India is a land of a billion talented brains. Over the last 62 years, we have proven to the world of our people’s strong determination and capabilities. We are blessed with a rich cultural heritage, natural resources, intellectual capital; world’s best human resources and our ability endure everything & still reach the moon! No wonder, the world looks upon us for the best people. There has been a lack of direction and right atmosphere at home. This has led to brutal crushing of our talent and enormous wastage of our resources. We have contributed to the whole world. But at home, we remain a frustrated population & a struggling nation. Today, we stand at the cross roads to take stock of what did we achieve in the last 62 years of freedom from the foreign rule? Why we were never allowed to flourish and how we can end this?
Time has come: It is the worst crisis ever!
Friends, we can keep hoping things should change and sit back. But honestly, we cannot afford to lose time. We either participate and change or let it go. Time and again, it has been proven that, common man has not participated in nation building via elections. How can 1.03 billion people not wake up when 500+ people are taking them for a ride? Don’t frustrate yourself. Till undemocratic politicians remain at the helm of affairs, nothing can be expected. This is not about an election but our determination to participate and change the nation; it is the question of changing the destiny of this nation going forward. It is not just an appeal to politicians, but to all who wish to see a different India, an India which stands tall above all.
Y-our agenda
All have equally been suffers to the same atrocities and misrule of the political class. Let’s pledge for a better India, a country where a common man has a say, and it addresses the issues that you want to be addressed. This is how we can transform this Nation. All of you are hoping that things will change on their own. But the fact remains, that hope is not a
Strategy. The ruling government will look into this .We say our agenda is nothing but your agenda. Our priority and path is summed up below in YES, REAL Development
Priority areas. (YES) Youth, Economy & Security
(REAL) Development – Rural , Education , Agriculture & Livelihood
Food , Clothing , Clean water and Healthcare for the Common Man
Government needs to immediately attend on our national plan of action to bring about a reform process that starts with addressing the urgent and important issues related to youth, as youth is a ‘Golden Demographic advantage’, with a special focus on empowering women . Women power alone have the strength to change the nation !Putting overall economic development mechanism leading to creating an equitable allocation of resources aimed at creation & distribution of wealth in both rural and urban India , agriculture & non-agriculture , manual & Hi-tech, small scale and large scale industries and aim at security -social , Economic and military ,with the base focus of ensuring Food , Clothing and Healthcare to the common man. The government must earmark 60 % of the plan funds for and effect public investments in REAL development – Rural , Education Agriculture and Livelihood generation .
Economic Development – There is a difference in Economic growth and economic development. Economic growth is purely GDP but economic development is a broader concept that includes not just GDP but also indicators like social justice , income distribution, political freedom, pollution , Equality of income …………GDP captures average national income , but do not reflect how that income is spent.. Even increase in aids and cancer incidences in the country Should add to the GDP expenditure on health services , Also, calamity Should lead to the increase in GDP due to increase in reconstruction activities. Moreover, GDP growth rate is inadequate measure of growth as it is calculated largely on the basis of rate of growth of income of the upper 20-30 % of the population who receive disproportionately large share of income. It calculates only money transactions and leaves many important activities and social measures and conditions like adult literacy rate, life expectancy and HDI rank. The government must move towards transforming the Ministry of finance to economic development so that the real effect of the economic measures can be validated against the goals. There are three sources of growth for an economy, increase in capital, and increase in labour force, and improvement in productivity, Government should impact all the three in its pursuit to make India a stronger nation
Key issues
1. An Equitable, sustainable and stable growth environment needs to be created. The current policies of the government have brought the economy back to its knees.
2. Jobs need to be retained and a massive push is required for employment generation in retail, education, agriculture, Healthcare, infrastructure, Education, technology and tourism sectors on a war footing.
3. IT & BPO sector is under stress , and the current government must create opportunities within the nation to keep up the growth in the sector
4. Vocational training and re-skilling needs to be taken up on war footing to keep the momentum in job generation and growth at all levels in the job hierarchies
5. Agriculture needs new impetus as more than 65 % of our population is dependent on agriculture. More value has to be added to agriculture to increase the productivity and profitability
6. Communication is the key to growth and the government should strive to reduce the tele-communication cost by 90 %.
7. Security of the nation needs a total re-look with a action oriented approach and need to make this system more result oriented and accountable & more freedom be provided to operate without any political interference . A zero-tolerance policy on terrorism should be enacted. Defence forces need a booster.
8. SME sector needs a fresh vigour to make India a developed country. The current government must take all necessary steps to achieve this goal with priority and equal thrust
9. Rural India needs a completely new focus. Despite all tall claims in the last six decades, rural India still remains underserved, underfunded and an outdated system.
10. Judiciary needs to be ramped up to restore faith in the law and order
11. Innovation , entrepreneurship and new emerging opportunities Should be attended in a focussed manner
Solution:
We have failed as a nation. Today the country is facing a severe crisis. People are losing jobs by every hour, faith every kilometre and hope every day. Rising stock market does not raise the GDP of a nation, and this, the leaders must understand. We must do a quick fix for this economy but work out a short term and a long term solution for the economy and society. The mistake every government has done is to address the economic issues without including the social perspective
The detailed road map and action areas are as follows.
Youth and Women empowerment:
• There are 34.8 crore youth in the age group of 15-34 years. Of these, about 10 crore are in the 15-19 years of age. Of these, 7 crore are rural and 3 crore are urban. Of the urban youth, more than one crore are living in large cosmopolitan towns and the more than one crore are living in small town’s less than one lakh. Of the 3 crore urban youths, only 1.3 crore youths have completed their matriculation or higher secondary. These youth need to be guided & incentivised to study and undergo compulsory vocational and on the job learning. They should be a priority area for forming the policy on ‘Earn while you learn’ program.
• Another 24.8 Crore youth are in the economically active age group of 20-34 years. Amongst these 7.6 crore are in urban areas, more than a third of them in small towns of less than one lakh. Only 3.6 crore of the 7.6 crore have studied till matriculation or above. And there are only 1.3 crore graduates. If we count total number of young graduates (Urban & Rural). It should add up to 2 crore.
• These youth of this country are talented and responsible but lack the right guidance, skills and opportunities to tap their potential. The current government must immediately address the issue and how to channelize the power of youth by providing them suitable employment opportunities. Education today is lacking monetary value and the goal would be to ensure that educated people don’t sit idle. Special schemes for women education and empowerment should be launched within six months. Special scholarships aimed at promoting higher education and entrepreneurship in women should be introduced. The government must make the conditions conducive and bring up laws to introduce ‘Earn while you learn’ scheme for employing students to do part time government jobs in shifts.
• The government must work out a policy to allot government tenders wherever feasible, to only unemployed / employed youths limited to running or operating different facilities or housekeeping in government establishments thereby, throwing open 10, 00000 of jobs across to the first timers.
• The hawking zones must be set up with vendors getting legal status to ensure that they have a source of livelihood on prominent public places where the foot falls are high and can create income for people and also serve the public. This should once and for all end corruption and harassment of small business owners. This should create at least 1 crore vendors who can legally earn their livelihood by servicing the needs of the common man in urban and semi urban areas.
• Government must do its best to start reservation in jobs for people from economically weaker sections of the society, eunuchs and especially for orphans. If one is born handicapped or becomes an orphan ,does it mean that government leaves them at the
Mercy of the creator? It is a matter of real shame for the all the governments whether BJP or Congress that no one has taken any steps to give reservation for such children
• Academic and research institutes must also act as incubation centres for meritorious students and , as a norm , Government must make the framework to absorb 1 % of the best brains to be absorbed in the mentoring at the incubation centres. These incubation centres must be funded by the ‘National Innovation & Incubation Bank program’ which should be set up
• Gross enrolment ratio in higher education stands at 11 %. World average is 23 %. Government must put in all efforts to reach the world average in the next four years.
• SHG – Self help groups (Swabhimaan Plan) must be launched in the next six months at the taluka level. Government must form a frame work to organize women self help groups at block level for making them financially independent, and at the same time serve the society by different tie ups from corporates and government. The group must offer services exclusively and not through other channels to ensure success and self sufficiency. The government must create 50,000 SHG’s every year. This should create employment for 1-2 crore women across the country. Same should be applicable to unemployed youth. Government must give a formal legal frame work to SHG’s. A suitable law enabling micro-credit operations and nurturing them to be scaled up must be enacted.
• The government must also encourage & impress upon various corporates and government offices to give special lower rates to students for different products and services which should be 30-50 % lower than the normal market rates like telecom ,hard ware , travel etc.
• Special girls hostels and working women hostels should be established in every town
• Youth hostels should be set up on railway premises which should make cheap accommodation available to students travelling to various towns at actual costs. This Should create employment for 100000 people in the next five years
• 40 Technical institutes especially for women should be set up. 10 in each zone.
• NSS & NCC should be made more broad based & integral part of curricula for people to get involved on a compulsory basis during schooling, understand the rural set up, and also contribute to the development of the same via the NSS / NCC.
Employment Generation from Different initiatives
No. Initiative Total number of jobs generated
1 House-keeping and in house service tenders for youth 10 Lac
2 Legalization of Vendors 1 Crore
3 Self Help Groups for Women 1-2 Crore
4 Youth Hostels 1 Lac
5 Khadi & Village Industries –KVIC
For weavers, Handloom workers etc. 10 Lac direct
50 lac indirect
6 E-Governance , SMART Districts 50 Lac direct
25 Lac indirect
7 SME 2 Crore
8 Government jobs like Police force , Judiciary etc 6 Lac
9 Vocational Training Institutions 1 Lac
10 SOFZ –Special Organic farming & Food processing 10 Lac
11 Local manufacturing units of Global tender suppliers 1 Crore
12 Healthcare 30 Lac Direct
20 Lac Indirect
13 New Townships 25 Lac
15 Tourism 1 crore
16 Energy Sector 10 Lac
17 Yoga , Meditation and Sports centres 1 Lac
18 N.E. Region 5 Lac
19 Cooperative organizations 10 Lac
20 Electricity Meters 10 Lac
21 Post & Telegraph 10 Lac
Organised -Unorganised Sector: According to Sen Gupta report, in 2005, the total employment in Indian economy was 45.7 Crore. Of which, the unorganized sector accounted for 39.5 crore, or 86 percent. This unorganised sector has reduced the poverty by lifting people above the poverty line. The report also mentioned about the socio economic plight of workers from unorganised sectors. Low level of education and poor access to land denies workers access to good jobs in organised sectors.
Commission also found that 40-50 % of the men and 81-87 % of women get wages below the standard minimum wages
The government must commit to radical changes in the handling of this sector that is crucial as we not only need to create more employment opportunities but also create fair payment systems to these 45.7 crore population .
Urbanization of rural areas: This must aim not just to connect rural hinterlands to the urban belts but to provide the basics of urban India all across the country. The goal should be that in the next 10 years, there should be one India and rural world should cease to exist. PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural areas) would be the thrust area of government
• Education, healthcare and infrastructure should be available within every five kilometres across the nation. Clean water and electricity in rural areas should be a top priority. Clean water is a must for rural areas as it causes 80 % of all diseases and ailments.
• Sanitation: 67 % of the rural population and 22 % of urban population has no access to toilets. This should be addressed in the next five years
• Help should be just a call away. The government should set up toll free numbers for connecting with the rural brethren in the times of need. Government must set up Private public partnerships to make this viable model giving the PPP a matchless opportunity in urban and rural India together. Government must evolve a framework so that no urban PPP contract should be allotted without a rural service clause. So urban and rural India should grow together.
• Further, the Golden Corridor project should be completed quickly. Now we need to add a new dimension by identifying and starting townships or economic hubs along the entire corridor
• Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) movement should be upgraded with better technology and the product portfolio should be extended to increase employment in rural areas. Weaver community, Power loom, hand loom, handicrafts and other untapped opportunities must be added to KVIC that is passing through hard times. Government may issue guidelines to the government staff to buy a quota of the official dresses from Khadi and Gram Udhyog to ensure the profitability of the sector. KVIC must be franchised to educated youth across the country in small and medium formats financed by the National Youth Bank .Handloom exports should be increased from today’s Rs.3000 Cr+ to Rs.10, 000 crore in the next five years. India’s strength in being the largest yarn producer should be innovatively harnessed. ‘Khadi’ as a brand should be globally positioned. All this is likely create employment for 100,0000 youth
Retail trade & Shopkeepers community- Retail is a big employer. According to RAI – Retailer Association of India, the Retail sector is estimated to be Rs.130000000000000.00 (Rs. 13 Lac Crore). There are 12 million retailers in the country. Every 200 Sq.feet of retail space employs one person, Specialty retail employs four people per 100 sq.ft and Hypermarkets employs one person per 300 Sq.ft. and these twelve million retailers actually support at least 8 times the same number in the associated industries like marketing , advertising ,logistics , house-keeping , packaging etc…
• Government must look at giving industry status to retail
• The entire thrust should be to get the best practices from all over the world for making the domestic retailers globally competitive and protect the domestic retailers
• The government must promote modern trade and set up a single window for clearance to ensure smoother functioning of retail. According to a 2003 study, a new shop needed, on average, 15 licenses from 11 government bodies and securing them took an average of six months and cost up to 500,000 rupees.
• Incentives Should be in place to set up world class supply chain infrastructure
In the matter of consumer articles of daily necessity, it is observed that despite adequate supplies available in the States, movement of goods from one state to another is still restricted. This policy, apart from creating artificial scarcity in some States also leads to rise in prices prejudicial to the interest of consumer. Harassment is also caused to traders on account of setup of Check Posts and barriers besides technical formalities of Road Permit and entry forms etc. The government must ensure that there is no barrier to the free movement of goods. System of entry forms & check post should be abolished. Time has come to withdraw, amend or drastically restructure all laws to facilitate smooth inter-state and intra-state trade, which is a prerequisite for a strong domestic market. Formation of ‘Trade Review Commission’ to look into, review and suggest measures to help make the environment conducive to traders and consumers
E-Governance – Today the world over, the public is becoming literate. Mobile phones are becoming the first computer. The mobile connections in India are close to 400 million. The density of mobiles has reached almost 40 %. It is high time that E-governance now converge to the next level in E-Governance. With 3G becoming a reality, the government should move closer to the public.
I believe more the number of offices to visit; more are the opportunity for corruption and bribes. SMART District program should eliminate the harassment of the common man. He / she would not require at all visiting multiple government offices but having a single window nearer to his home
• By issuing digital ID cards and also enable futuristic technologies that can be used to connect to the government departments via mobile and get the basic work done. Why should a citizen visit a government office unless necessary! If at all one needs to, the SMART District kiosks should be the first point to procure all forms, government records etc.
• Government must launch ‘SMART Districts’ program and set up government service kiosks across till the block level. People should go through these kiosks and not to offices to get the work done, so that they don’t even meet the officers, forget paying bribes to get a small certificate.
• These kiosks should only be awarded to economically weaker sections of all societies & unemployed youth. The government must plan to open about 10,000,00 Kiosks in the next 3 years employing at least 50 Lac youths who can read and write . Besides, the setting of the Kiosks should throw open another opportunities for at least 25 lac jobs. IT sector that is passing under a painful period should be used for domestic requirement. So that we can counter global slowdown with inward looking policy. Some of the services like government forms & collection of bills, Photo copy, and fax, STD / ISD should be serviced through these kiosks to ensure relevance and viability. Half of these Kiosks should be exclusively reserved for women. Who might find it convenient to work nearer to their homes?
• E-governance should also make government records digitalised and accessible to citizens without hassles today, people fear treading into a police station or a government office. Mechanism should be set in place to ensure accessibility nearer to the community. All government related permissions and works must become time bound, so that people should not have to wait indefinitely for a petty job to be done in the government office.
SME: Globally SME’s contribute more than 90 % to the manufacturing output in the developed world. In India, it is just 39 % and employ 1.3 crore people.
• The guidelines for units should be re-considered. Eligibility for SME’s should be revised upwards and re-worked to a limit of Rs. 5 Crore or more
• Government must pass strict guidelines to PSU’s to clear the payment due to SME’s within 30 days of the work being done or levy the market interest rates as penalty
• Government must seriously consider that a portion of the store purchases in defence and railways be reserved exclusively for SME’s
• Government must check the feasibility of exemption of earnest money and deposit security for SME when applying for government tenders
• The Government must revisit the criteria to be considered for audit limit as set up in 1984 from Rs.40 lac to Rs. 1 Crore.
• TDS process for SME’s should be revisited and re-looked
• More incentives should be granted for the SME with the goal to make SME sector contribute to more than 75 % of the total manufacturing output in the next 5 years.
• SSI Bases SEZ’s should be considered for every state. More so, near to the ports.
• A separate bank dedicated to serve the needs of SME (National SME Bank) should be considered. Besides introducing a national level institute that should special in SSI education leading to a BBA / MBA in SME.
• The Government must strive to create SME’s employing only women. There should be 25 SME’s in each zone ( North , East , West & South India ) fully funded by the ‘Progressive India venture fund’ set up to promote Women and youth empowerment . . All these efforts from the government Should lead to creation of atleast two crore jobs in the next five years
Police reforms, National Security & Terrorism: Lapses in National security has cost countless lives & we are at the mercy of terrorists today. Lawlessness is a norm and ordinary people to high and mighty are the victims in one form or another. Years ago, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee had spoke about the fact, that Terrorism is not limited to geographies. We are under the evil shadow of lawlessness and terrorism and we should have to fight it out and finish it off. I have met up with people personally in North Eastern part of the country. If we fail to take immediate steps, country should be partitioned again soon. Assam is becoming a hot bed of Bangladeshi immigrants. AUDF is getting stronger only banking on Muslim votes of immigrant Bangladeshi’s. This has to end with a stern hand from the center.
It is glaring to note that;
• Last five years witnessed the most gruesome 19 attacks. A record of 63 blasts in 35 days. Assam, Oct 30, 2008 – 63 people killed, Imphal , Oct 21, 2008 – 17 people killed , New Delhi, Sept 13 , 2008- 26 people killed, New Delhi, Sept 27, 2008 – Three people Killed , Ahmedabad , July 26, 2008 – 57 people killed after 20 bombs went off in two hours, Bangalore , July 25, 2008 – One person killed, Jaipur, May 13, 2008 – 68 people killed in serial bombings, Faizabad , November 23, 2007- 15 people killed in Court bombings, Hyderabad , August 25,2007- 42 people killed in two blasts, Samjhauta Express , Feb 19, 2007- 66 people killed , Malegaon , Sept 8, 2006- 40 people killed in two blasts, Mumbai ,
July 11, 2006 – 209 people killed in seven blasts on sub-urban trains – the lifeline of Mumbai, Varanasi, March 7, 2006- 21 people killed in three blasts including one at the temple and another at the crowded railway station, New Delhi, Oct 29, 2005- 61 people killed in three blasts on the eve of Diwali
• The tribunal reviewing the ban on SIMI threw out the Government’s case because of the shoddy preparations and argued half heartedly. This is despite the fact , that SIMI activists have been behind the blasts in India
• Speedy trail of parliament attack was a deterrent to terrorists. There has been a failure of the government in its ability to understand and tackle terrorism.
• Today, India faces multiple threats to internal security from separatists in North East, Jammu & Kashmir; Maoists in 156 districts in 13 states; and Jehadis and terrorist sleeper cells all across the country.
• Prime Minister defined Maoists as the ‘Single largest threat to India’s internal security’. But did nothing beyond that. We need to take them heads on and throw them out.
• There is a strategically planned infiltration of Bangladeshis and Pakistan’s from Bangladesh’s borders.
• There has been no successful prosecution of terrorists in the last five years under the existing laws. On the contrary, Prime Minister equated Pakistan as a victim of terrorism. Whereas, Pakistan is the considered the most notorious nation and the cause and creator of global terrorism. We must declare Pakistan as a terrorist nation. Why wait for USA or UN to do that. We don’t need any proof.
The government must work on the possibility of the half yearly defence review to ensure the security, territorial integrity and unity of India. I mean it, when I say; we must take all necessary steps and exercise all available options in the interest of the nation.
• National security establishment should be well equipped with latest intelligence gathering techniques
• Super surveillance should be set up for checking ‘porous borders’ to avoid infiltration. Fencing of Bangladesh and Pakistan borders or equivalent measures should be taken
• NSG should be stationed in four zones in the country with their own fleet to reach any spot within 3 hours across the nation
• Special toll free number 2611 should be dedicated for complaints and information relation to terrorist activities. 2611 is in the memory of attacks that happened at Mumbai on 26 /11/08
• Special courts should be set up to try cases related to terrorism. Parliament attack convict should be hanged immediately
• The government must pledge to enact stringent legislation to combat terrorism. The New anti-terrorism act must incorporate measures recommended by the recent Administrative Reforms Commission and U.N. Resolution no.1373 on the subject
• The government must take effective steps for scrutiny, detection and repatriation of all illegal migrants from the country
• Defence must be re-looked and reinvigorated with a new vision. The goal should be to make India develop its own defence R&D and manufacturing capabilities and reduce the dependence on foreign procurement.
• By 2030, India should not procure rather supply arms and ammunitions to the world at cheapest prices. The automatic surveillance systems would be installed on all borders. India Should start the R&D center at Futuristic Weapon technology institute
The government must take all measures to ensure a better functioning of the police force & National security. Today, India has one police personnel for every 10,000 population this needs to be attended as it is crucial for a safe society and prerequisite to economic development.
• Police and armed forces should be equipped with latest ammunitions
• IT enabled, citizen centric police system should be put in place in the next two years. One of the ways it can change your experience is, that you can register a complaint anywhere and get it transferred online to the area of its jurisdiction automatically – Why should the victim run from pillar to post to lodge an FIR just to figure out the area of jurisdiction for registering an FIR? Functional and infrastructure reforms should be done ASAP
• National biometric Identity cards should l be issued to avoid infiltration and check extremists
• Watch your community program should be initiated at every community level to check any suspicious activities and people.
Education and vocational training. Educational goals should start with the basic premise that every child should go to school, every school must impart meaningful education, and everyone who is educated gets employment. One of the systemic failures has been the collapse of the education system. Once we had the Nalanda’s and Vikramshila’s of the world. Australia has 400,000 foreign students, Dubai has 50,000 and India has 27000! Today, people are going abroad to study. We need to reverse back this trend and start centres on the lines of Nalanda’s and Vikramshila’s again. I believe that six decades after independence is a time gap sufficient to review the educational system. We must re-look and envision the new education system keeping in mind that ‘Education and training is the fundamental right that should not just create employment & income for Indians, but also shape their character’. It is glaring to note that 2/3rd of our universities
And ninety percent of the colleges are said to be functioning at a ‘Below average level’. Further, with regard to the higher education, the National Knowledge Commission in 2006 stated that the participation rate of the population in the age group 18-23 is only around 7 percent. It is far below the developed countries and is only one-half of the average for Asia
• The government must strive its best to raise the level of the education system & appoint a National Commission of Education to formulate the new national policy for Education. Capacity building should be one of its major responsibilities .Today, degrees are being scattered and there is not much value attached to this, the same must be addressed. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan must be strengthened and the Mid-day meal scheme be improvised
• The government must operationalise the constitutional amendment of Education as Fundamental right. The promised allocation of the GDP percentage should be strictly adhered to
• Capacity building should be one major thrust area
• There are 2800 diverse trades in India; each requires sound domain knowledge and good skills. Vocational course loans must be started for students undergoing a vocational training without any guarantee.
• In the next five years, we must set up and upgrade at least 25 world class universities across India. This Should transform our AIIMS to IIMS ( International Institute of Medical Sciences ) , IIM’s to ( International Institute of Management) , IIT’s to IIT’S ( International Institute of Technology ) to raise the bar and position them as Global institutes of excellence and research. We must upgrade the REC’s , RMC’s and Regional Management Institutions to the level of IIT’s , IIM’s & AIIMS to ensure that people don’t have to wait & forego education despite talent due to lack of seats
• The focus should also go beyond IIT / IIM’s. The government must set up four International Institutes of Nano Technology (IINT) one in each zone (north, east, west, and south).
• More importantly, government must set up 100,000 vocational training institutes across the nation and this itself should generate employment opportunities for 1 crore people directly as staff of these training institutes. Provision must be made for certification of skills acquired traditionally or through private initiatives.
• The government must set up National Skills Development Authority to oversee the requirements for various skills in different regions from time to time
• The government must dedicate four International centres of excellence and innovation for low cost technologies in all four zones across the nation.
•
• Scientists working in all R&D labs must co-own the patents so as to reap the monetary benefits of commercialization of such patents. This Should be a big incentive for getting the scientists back to India
Cultivation & Agriculture (IEC- Irrigation, Electricity & Credit) –
Everything else can wait but not agriculture – Jawaharlal Lal Nehru
Food is an important weapon in our arsenal. We can use it for bargaining – U.S. Under Secretary
I believe that this Nation is a nation of ‘Rishi’ and ‘Krishi’.
Agriculture must remain the basic fundamental of our economic strength and core focus of our plans. More than 80 % of the farms are smaller than 5 acres. Moreover, between 1971 -96 the average size of the farms have reduced from 2.3 to 1.4 acres. The input costs have risen dramatically and the cost of living in rural areas have gone up substantially adding to this, are the high cost of loans thus making agriculture unviable for most the farmers . Agriculture needs to grow at 4 % for the economy to grow at 9 %. Currently, it is under negative growth as per the Q3 2008-09 estimated at – 2 %. I believe that there are four prerequisites for a good yield, profitable prices, availability of Irrigation, Electricity and timely credit besides,
• Currently, Governments investment in agriculture is miniscule 0.5 % of GDP. This must be increased to 5 % over the next five years.
• Agriculture must be supplemented by Seri-Culture, Animal husbandry & Poultry, Fisheries, horticulture, Floriculture, Diary and cattle breeding to enhance the income of farmers. There should be special attention in framing the micro policies for the rural sector empowerment and growth.
• Agricultural profitability needs to be addressed by providing newer techniques, higher yield varieties and new farm practices like organic farming.
• Setting of SOFZ – Special Organic Farming zones on the lines of SEZ. At present only 8000 Organic farming exists in India employing 30000 farmers. World over, the use of organic foods is on the rise. Countries like Europe, North and South America, Finland, Canada, Denmark and Sweden have a great demand for organic food. It is expected, that the world market for Organic food would be between 35-40 Billion US Dollars (175000 -200000 Crore rupees). The Organic farming revolution has to spread swiftly and the government must set up a special Task force to oversee the growth of organic farming. The processed organic foods , Should provide employment to atleast 100,0000 people
• MSP- Minimum Support Price for agriculture produce must be fixed on as recommended by the National Farmer’s Commission .i.e. 50 % profit over the cost of production. But this
Should not be the right approach, unless the correct parameters for fixing the cost of production are arrived at like the notional cost of land, labour, opportunity loss.
• Direct Selling direct to customers to get better price for their yield
• Food processing of the agriculture produce. Today food processing is below 3 % of the value of our agriculture produce. The action plan must be set up in place to increase this to 10 percent within 5 years. This should lead to the creation of another 25 lac jobs. The foremost task of food processing in India is to reduce the distance between production and processing points.
• Farm credit based on average yield for five years need to be worked out and rolled out at the earliest.
• Focussed steps must be taken to better irrigation facilities and promote rain water harvesting at every Panchayat level.
• Nationwide irrigation program ‘varsha’ must be launched
• A “National Farmers and Micro credit bank” must be established to cater to the needs of Agriculture sector should be set up.
• A technology up gradation team should be set up with concrete time bound goals to bring modern farming and food processing techniques to India and spread them all across for increasing the output and decrease loss of crops.
• Agriculture and food processing ministry must be merged into one.
• A case study approach should be the responsibility of the government to improve the conditions in the sector.
• The union government must set up a National Agriculture Improvement Centre with branches in all five zones to cater to the farmers for their specific issues.
• The farmer’s development council must be set up in each state with set goals for improvement and implementation of plans.
• Farmers must be connected to technology & cold storage hubs for easy access of information
• Plan would be in place to give credit to farmers based on the credit rating based on the last five years produce. This should be simple and transparent process.
• The small farmers should be entitled to interest free credit for one year.
• For irrigation the government must launch ‘More crops per drop’ campaign to encourage drip irrigation to increase the yield per hectare.
• SHG should be extended to the female members of the farmer’s family to increase the income of the family.
• Each district should have a Chief Agriculture & Irrigation officer to oversee and proactively support the farmers in the district.
• Agriculture focus should be micro managed with special departments under the ministry to oversee , vegetable production, cash crops, Wheat and rice, Pulses, organic farming , Agro food processing
• Agriculture labourers need to be paid on hourly basis
• The government must create in four regions special zones for manufacturing Agriculture implements. For implements not manufactured in India , they can be imported without duty
• Coconut, Palm, Coir and rubber boards should be established in Tamilnadu and Assam.
• Namakkal is the main center in Tamilnadu for supply of Eggs to other states and foreign markets. A central Poultry research center should be established in Namakkal.
• National River interlinking project can only address the issue of floods and draught and the government must implement it without fail so that the dependence on weather Gods becomes a little less.
Transport: India needs cheaper, faster and safer connectivity to smaller towns and between smaller towns to bigger towns. Students, women cannot be travelling with the office goers and vice versa.
• Government must ensure that women, students & office goers have separate buses and trains in towns where and when they need most. The same must apply for handicapped category. The life becomes mechanical spending hours of daily travel in jam packed and suffocating environment. Government must try addressing this issue on priority basis. An average Indian suffers most of the health problems not because of work but because of the poor conditions to travel to work. Government should seriously address this issue to make life and India better. Mumbai locals should be started for students and more ladies special trains should be started. Same should be applicable to other towns
• Government should also work with the state governments on a plan to upgrade the hand cart rickshaws to peddle rickshaws, peddle rickshaws to electric or fuel driven tempos
• Those with old taxis should be given tax breaks and low interest loans to upgrade to fuel efficient cars as taxis. Most of the towns have yellow and black taxis. The government must
Take all possible steps to modernise them for better earning opportunities and comfort of the travellers.
• India needs also needs better airports. But despite newer airports, the congestion has gone up and so have the congestion tax and other taxes and also the risk associated with air accidents. Government must work out better conditions and value for people who spend a lot of money on air travel.
Banking & Finance: is the core to India’s growth story. Government must look to start a few innovative banking initiatives besides strengthening the existing banking and finance sector.
• Government must look at a National Students Bank. Which should be managed majorly by the student’s community and work for providing new opportunities to unleash the creative power of the educated youth and harness the entrepreneurial instincts of students? This bank should work closely with the incubation centres established in various educational and research institutes
• The role of development banks and financial institutions should be enlarged to provide necessary funds for the projects critical to the achieve 8- 10 % growth rate.
• The following new banks Should be set up
No. Bank Sector
1 National Innovation & Incubation Bank Researchers & Entrepreneurs out of Universities and colleges
2 National SME Bank SME
3 National Farmers & Micro Credit Bank Farmers and farm related heads
4 National Students Bank Managed & run by students for their needs
Judiciary. The United Nations Development Program says some 20 million legal cases are pending in India. The High Court in New Delhi is so behind in its work that it could take up to 466 years to clear the enormous backlog, the court’s chief justice said in a damning report that illustrates the decrepitude of India’s judicial system. Chief Justice A.P. Shah of Delhi high court said in the report that “it would take the court approximately 466 years” to clear the pending 2,300 criminal appeals cases alone. Independence of judiciary does not mean that it is not accountable to the people, the ultimate sovereign
• Government should take this as a top priority to enable speedy judicial system by filling all vacant posts within two years of taking over the government.
• The criteria and system of recruitment of judges needs to be changed
• Also, it should attempt its best to ensure the system is overhauled at the earliest possible.
• Digitalization of records should be taken up
• Witness protection plan should be worked out
• Whistleblower bills Should be introduced
• Cases related to political and bureaucratic corruption should be tried on a out of turn basis or special courts should be set up for the same
• Civil and Criminal procedure codes which are over hundred years old should be suitably amended for speedy justice
• Family courts and fast track courts to be increased.
• Alternative dispute redressal mechanisms though Lok Adalats and tribunals must be expanded and strengthened
• Government must ensure that a corpus is created to an amount of Rs.5000 Crores to modernise the infrastructure of court rooms with proper seating arrangement for attendees and lawyers.
• Judicial data should be published every year. This should not only help in reducing delays, but also make the legal system more transparent and accountable to the people, and enhance the image of judiciary in the public eye.
• Government must take all steps to work out a system so that the criminal cases can be disposed within two years and judgement pronounced within two weeks of completion of arguments
• Punishment of economic offence should be made more stringent with imprisonment and exemplary fine
• Jail System should be worked out on ‘top priority’ to prevent over-crowding of Jails
• Judiciary discretion wastes a lot of time. Government should look at introducing guidelines for use of judicial discretion
• For serious offences, the government should work towards speedy justice to restore the faith in the system.
Poverty Alleviation. According to the World Banks release mid 2008, there were 421 million poor below USD 1.25 a day in 1981. Now that number has increased to 456 million in 2005. This clearly shows that the programs of the government have failed to deliver on the socio economic growth. According to several reports, almost 600 million plus people survive on a dollar a day. This is
After 61 years of freedom. The true and sustainable economic development of India is possible when these people become the earning and spending class. No one can stop India that day from becoming an economic super power. I have not seen any government giving a correct solution to create an earning and a spending class out of the 600 million Indians. We can really become a super power if we just focus on this class of people. We need to address the basics
• Government must start programs at the lowest ladder in the society to create self employment opportunities to them and push them out of poverty by providing them FOOD, CLOTHING AND HEALTHCARE. Urban poverty is worse and this is not just an inconvenience to the urban infrastructure but also is a menace to the society, as all evils spring from these slums.
• The government should come out with a time bound policy to phase out slums across India by 2015.
• This must include construction of low cost housing facilities. The government should make laws to make renting easier by providing a strong, simple and easily enforceable legal frame work to protect the interest of both the tenants and the land lords.
New thrust areas for bold actions
Economy of the people, by the people and for the people of this country:
Model envisioned by government must
• Make Indians proud of their products
• Make Indian brands internationally acceptable
• Make India politically and Economically strong so that it can never be ignored in international arena
• Provide adequate levels of consumption
All the programs undertaken by Government Should be guided by one goal,
To provide Food, clean water, Clothing & healthcare for all.
• The Public distribution system must be strengthened to ensure that the people don’t go to bed empty stomach. No matter in which part of the country they stay , they must have access to clean and hygienic drinking water ,
• The khadi and Gram village must be integrated with PDS to provide cheaper garments for all seasons
• Government must work for making primary & secondary healthcare be available within 5 & 10 Kilometres maximum to all across the nation We must be proud of our technology , scientists , competent work force & the Quality of products.
• Government must work towards making this an integral part of all Global tendering processes. Anyone, who qualifies for a tender above 1000 crore needs to have a manufacturing unit in India or set up the plant in India as a precondition to apply for the tender, This is one sure shot way of making India a hub for manufacturing . Also, why we should not derive value locally for the work done for domestic requirements? This Should be passed with taking necessary approvals .This has the potential to create one crore jobs for skilled and educated professionals
Village Republic Scheme (VRS) & BOARD. Till the villages become self sufficient, India can never dream to be a developed nation. This is fundamental to government’s vision. The BOARD (Base organisation for agriculture and rural development) should work alongside Panchayats for making each of the six lac Indian villages self sufficient. The composition of the BOARD Should be of the two local Panchayat members ( One male ,one female ), MLA’s representative , BDO, ASHA, Patwari and two – five members from NSS / NCC / NGO’s / Local Police representative . The BOARD should set the vision and target to make each village self sufficient in every manner in the next three years.
Healthcare – India is sitting on a ticking time bomb when it comes to healthcare. It is now fact the India is infamously moving towards becoming the ‘Diabetic’ and ‘Cardiac’ capital of the world due the highest prevalence of these chronic diseases. Currently ,There is an average of one urban primary health facility for about 150000 urban population, with only 2-4 health workers, There are a total of 22,370 primary health centres functioning across the country, and the shortfall is of 4,833 PHCs, there is a shortage of 2,525 CHCs across the country, 1.5 Lac people get ESRD failure per year. Only 3500 undergo kidney transplants, about 6000 get dialysis, rest die. 2 people die of TB every minute; 1000 every day, 4 million children die due to pneumonia on an annual basis in India, 6 % have access to Ambulance service, and the bed to population ratio is 0.70. Per 1000 population, to reach a 3 bed: 1000 population, India needs 3 lac beds. An average rural Indian walks two Km’s to reach a chemist , 6 Km’s for a blood test and 20 Km’s for a hospital, almost 25 % of all the drugs sold in India are fake or sub standard.
• The GDP spend on healthcare should be doubled by 2014
• Government must take all the necessary steps within its frame work to logically develop the industry with thrust into reduction of duties / levies on medical equipment
• Bringing pharmaceuticals within the health ministry to ensure proper co-ordination
• Focus on preventive diagnostics and chronic care management & geriatric care. This has the potential to save billions of rupees and millions of lives.
• The focus must be on tele-medicine and tele-diagnostics
• Increase rebate on preventive care and not just on health insurance to really benefit the stake holders in the continuum of care. All working class people are entitled to rebate of Rs.15000 for expenses towards medical insurance. The same should be increased to Rs.10, 000 for preventive check-ups and Rs.15000 for medical insurance. This is one major incentive for healthcare sector to grow at a faster rate, and will make it worthwhile for people to invest in the healthcare sector
• I believe that one of the critical areas that need attention is saving lives by Organ transplants. We intend to set up 100 organ transplant centers across the country and start a national registry for donors with proper incentives. 78000 people die on road accidents every year. Even if 25 % donated the organs. It would be a death leading to birth of someone; means adding a new life to someone who needs an eye, liver, heart, kidney transplant. This should be covered under ‘Rebirth’ program started by Government with a lot of incentive to donors
• Healthcare along the roadways and air ambulance services should start for rural India where tertiary and emergency care services are not easily accessible.
• Clean water is one of the pre-requisites for good health and the government should implement a time bound scheme to implement clean water scheme in all Panchayats areas.
• India has to have a world class healthcare infrastructure. Government should work towards making primary healthcare at your doorsteps a reality and emergency care at your call.
• In Next five years, government must ensure that people will not have to travel more than 50 KMS for serious illnesses.
• Government should start 100 institutes of nursing across India. There is a shortage of 32 lac nurses and we should strive to fill this gap.
• Government must work for recruiting 100,0000 health workers to spread information about various chronic diseases and help people to keep fit through information , education and communication.
• The government must enter into PPP to set up 100,000 day care centers across India for minor procedures and immunization. All these should be the nodal centers to issue the Electronic health records and for basic preventive checkups.
• Government should also set up 100,000 chronic care centers across the nation to address the issue of chronic care.
• These initiatives should create about 31 Lac direct jobs & 20 lacs jobs associated indirectly for setting the infrastructure in the healthcare sector in the next three to five years.
• Government should enter into PPP for low cost healthcare model to drive healthcare nearer to the people and diseases away from people without compromising on the quality of care.
• FSI – for hospitals, the FSI should be doubled or trebled compared to the commercial property. PPP hospitals must be allowed to build residential and commercial space within its ‘zone’, and appropriate FSI should be allocated for the same
Adopt a child, senior citizen, Village, School & PHC scheme – The society cannot be happy if the senior citizens just depend on government schemes and lead lonely & isolated lives. They also need to spend time and mix with people and contribute to the society with their experience.
• The government should open senior citizens home in every town.
• “Adopt a senior citizen scheme” should give certain relief to the family who adopts a senior citizen. Hopefully, it should bring smile to a senior citizen.
• The same should follow for a child. Government should also set similar schemes for adoption of villages, schools and PHC’s by professionals , industrialists and NGO’s to bring about a revolution at the ground level in the society
Administrative & Governance reforms – Government must initiate a review of the outdated systems and implement the best practices in governance and administration to ensure speed and efficiency of the system and eliminate unnecessary procedures and simplify others. Efficiency, accountability and pro-common man attitude should be hall mark of the administrative system in the years to come.
• The recommendations of the joint consultative group should be implemented without delay & in total
• Civil service system Should be reformed
• New cadre system and modern service code should be adopted to enable professionalism at all levels in the administration. Senior officers Should be suitably empowered to take timely and bold decisions
• Responsibility and accountability Should be fixed for the fulfilment of goals and targets
• Officers should be allowed to work in private sectors. Similarly, lateral entry of talented professionals from private sector at senior levels Should be encouraged
• Objective criteria Should be laid down for use of discretionary powers
• Planning commission Should be reformed and re-organized in light of the changing developmental needs of the country
• Post the Satyam Scam, it has become imperative to strengthen the entire supervisory and regulatory mechanism including SEBI, MCA etc to ensure best practices and fair return to investors. This is also important to keep the faith in the system and for attractive image of the corporate world. , Government should revisit and revise some of the laws related to corporate governance in companies (Both Private and Public) to ensure that the facts are placed before and acted upon. Unless, private companies become more transparent in their
Internal processes and external dealings, scams will keep happening and people will continue losing money, faith and this will adversely impact the image of the corporate world. Needless, to mention that all private companies only become public at one stage. Government should address this issue seriously.
• Government should undertake a review of all the laws and regulations relating to industry so as to free it from bureaucratic control; institute a system that ensures compliance with the law including speedy redressal of the grievances
• Government must abolish the rules providing protection to bureaucracy from enquiry and prosecution for corruption.
• Revamping the municipal system Should be one of the thrust areas for a citizen centric approach
Special abilities – disabled, BPL, Beggars & Destitute – Disabled people constitute 5 % of the country’s population. Destitute and beggars are never a part of any government schemes nor are they covered by the census properly. In an all inclusive growth, all these categories have to be taken care of as the total responsibility of the government
• Government must work out a ‘Real India Plan’ that should take of the special needs of the disabled, BPL, Beggars & Destitute. We understand the plight of these people. Their needs are small but they have tremendous ability & potential to work hard and contribute to their upliftment and growth of this nation’s economy.
• The needs of these special classes of people like transport – food, clothing and healthcare Should be taken care of by the ‘Real India plan’ that Should not only provide them the basics, but also train them to become self sustaining community. When they earn, they would be provided with peddle cycle, carts etc at government subsidized rates. Travel via general class rail would be free for all these card holders.
• Special provision would be made to relocate and train them to places where they can get employed and earn respectfully without relooking into their past or special abilities
Urban infrastructure: I believe that the faulty policies of the ruling governments have created 2-3 towns with best infrastructure and all most all towns do not have even decent roads. Migration is encouraged as the entire focus is towards two or three towns only. Everyone wants to transform Mumbai into Shanghai but no one talks about converting Shahjahnpur , Hardoi , Nampalli or Ballia into Mumbai !!
• On one side we Should create more towns and allow new units to be set up there with long term incentives and
• On the other side, work towards decongestion of over populated downs through well planned measures.
• Government must set the pace for at least 25 new world class towns in India in the next five years so that our next generation does not have to struggle for the daily chores and the job related travel.
• This has the potential to create 25 lac jobs
Tourism – India should achieve the status of being the spiritual capital of the world
• Government must promote this tourism– Cultural or spiritual tourism in addition to medical tourism. This has the potential be the third largest employment & revenue generator after retail and the government should make the best of it.
• Regional centres of tourism should be started in five zones across the country along with institutes to impart specialised education in these sectors. The goal would be, to become a global center for tourism both medical and non-medical. Government should ensure that all hurdles are removed in achieving the goal within the next five years
• Tourism has the potential to create 1 crore jobs in the next five years
Energy & Environment – The Global warming is a Global warning for all of us to get serious about the future of our next generation. We all love our children but we are not blessing them by leaving a healthy environment. Government must take all Steps including drafting of stringent legislation to protect the environment, save it from pollution, degradation and ensure a greener earth. Also, the future of entire economy depends upon the clean and green energy. Government must acknowledge the importance of both and should leave no stone unturned to make Energy and Environment an ‘Urgent & Important’ issues to be addressed
• Advanced institute of green technology should be started
• Afforestation, social forestry and agro- forestry should be started all over India
• Re-cycled product industries should be enjoying special concessions in tax structure.
• Same should apply to solar energy and alternative fuels.
• Electric vehicles should be made tax free and the government should use the best of resources to provide them incentives for growth and profits.
• Ethanol production should be incentivised
• New towers more than 2 storeys should have to be green buildings. Green buildings should be given the necessary fast track clearances within 30 days on priority.
• All the government buildings that can be converted to green buildings should be converted within the next three years. A special Green fund should be set aside for this.
• New buildings should have wind mill or solar panels for passage lights
Energy: With a focus to provide uninterrupted electricity to all parts of the country in the next 10 years. Government should lay an action plan that encompasses the use of nuclear power, wind energy, solar energy, Hydro power, enhanced exploration & Bio fuels to make India self sufficient to meet its power & fuel needs.
• If need be, PPP route should be taken to achieve the goals.
• Smaller dams , Hydro electric plants Should be one of the principles in shaping the vision for power sufficiency
• Government should work within the framework and help formulate a policy to replace all the electricity meters across the country to digital meters starting with Metros. The electricity bills should be visual with photo to avoid tempering with the bills. Only youths should be employed to take the meter readings. This Should throw open opportunities for at least 10 lac jobs
Loans & Housing – This sector needs serious actions from the government in terms of more number of houses to be built. This sector has a cascading affect on growth because a whole lot of sectors are associated with its growth like this sector employs 25 million people, and associated industries like cement, iron and steel, finance etc taken together employ much more
• Government should pursue the agenda of affordable housing at affordable interest rates that are fixed for the entire duration of the loan tenure to ensure that the common man’s budget does not get hit due to frequent changes in the interest rates
• The government must build a large number of houses for rental purpose only and not for sale to drive the cost of the flats down for the common man
• The government should appoint a housing regulator within one year to protect the interest of the home buyers on the lines of IRDA, TRAI.
• For two wheelers and small cars, the loan rates would be lesser than medium and sedans or SUV’s.
• Corporate loans should be at a reduced rates for SME’s and start ups below 5 years in operations
Goods & Services Tax (GST ) – I believe that the government should ensure that GST is designed and implemented flawlessly, it would ensure that a substantially common , yet cumulatively much bigger tax base for the center and state, so that the center and states Should benefit from a much bigger tax base. I believe in the Ability of the GST – enabled unified pan-India market to reduce burden and produce huge macro-economic dividends – It is estimated that the economic value of GST would be half trillion dollars or half of India’s GDP. This would enhance the buoyancy of the states revenues as well. Today 40 % of the government tax collections in the country go to the states even as centre and states share annual development expenditure in the ratio of 2:3.
• The government Should remove tax and duties on by cycles , peddle rickshaws to enable economically weaker sections to use this as an incentive to grow faster
Yoga , Mediation & Sports (YMS ) – A national YMS promotion task force with a dedicated fund of Rs. 1000 crore Should be set up to promote the same across India in a systematic manner . This has the potential to create one lac jobs & drastically improve the well being of its citizens
Labour laws – According to the Sen Gupta report , ninety one percent of the total work force of around 39 crore is in the unorganised sector .Government s should make labour , both organised and unorganised , an equal and proud partner in the production of the nation’s wealth and in its progress . Laws relating to equal pay for equal work for men and women shall be strictly implemented.
Population Control – The real issue for corruption, lack of good governance and poor economic growth is its huge and ever increasing population. We need to address this issue ASAP. None of the government has focussed on the issue seriously due to vote bank politics. A suitable and judicious mix of incentives and disincentives for population control should be presented early so that national commitment on this critical issue is obtained
• A people’s movement should be launched to realise the goals and targets set in the National Population policy. States lagging behind should be focussed more.
• The Government should introduce a set of non-coercive disincentives for a two child norm, and incentives for a girl child. Two child norm Should be made a qualification , on a prospective basis , for contesting any election
Constitutional & Electoral reforms: The Government should set up a Constitutional reforms commission to review the constitution of India in light of the experience in the past 60 years and to make suitable recommendations
• Government Should introduce necessary electoral reforms on the basis of the recommendation of the Goswami committee so as to deal with glaring issues that might reform the politics and ultimately , the governance of the nation
• Consensus Should be evolved to prevent entry of criminal elements into politics
• Government should seek to work towards raising the standards of parliament and state legislature
• Government should work towards holding the Union & State elections together
• A national institute for training elected representatives Should be established
• Currently, we have the M.P.’s and other representatives based on the census of 1970’s. We must realise that the population has grown tremendously, and we need to increase the number of public representatives based on the 2001 census. Every ten years, we must match the number of representatives to the population ratio. Today each M.P. represents a population of 1.9 million. It is humanly impossible to reach out to such a huge number of residents. So there is a complete disconnect between the representatives and the populace. No wonder, the voters are not enthused to come out and vote. It is not about not being serious about voting, but an average voter does not know his M.P.’s very well. If it is not so, how can you expect one to vote? If need be , we must build a new parliament house to seat the increased number of representatives and same in states for legislative assemblies or use teleconference to do the proceedings . Anyways, both the parties have talked of taking the broad band to villages.
• The salaries of the public representatives should be enhanced as they have a big responsibility on their shoulders. Why should a President, Prime Minister, Ministers and other public representatives not draw salaries better than the corporate world? When they draw 8 figure salaries , then only we will have the best of people drawn to it and people will also question their contribution
• I had raised in 2003 an issue of giving an option ‘None of the above found suitable ‘in the ballot paper. This way, we will be able to incentivise the concerned citizens to come out and vote.
Defence forces: Dignity, status, Respect and attraction of the defence forces has reached the lowest level, with people returning the medals back to the government. Government must recognise the importance of Defence forces and should ensure that they not just treated as security men but the custodians responsible for the safety of the Nation.
• Removing bottle necks that lead to delays in decision making for defence establishment
• On priority, latest arms and ammunitions should be provided to the force.
• Parity in status with other services at appropriate level
• Betterment of career prospects and service conditions of all ranks
• Revamping and strengthening the existing mechanisms to resolve individual and collective problems specially of personnel below officer rank
• One Rank one pension as recommended by successive governments
• Government should commit to make the salaries of defence forces better by giving them additional tax incentives
R&D: The government should encourage and rewards innovation and R&D in all sectors should special incentive for milestones in each and every step. The government should incentivise the regional educational centres to be become the incubation hubs at the institute levels itself. A special fund of 1000 Cr should be set up for this purpose. Scientists should be able to co-own the patents with the institutes to monetise it in case of commercialization of the patent
Income & taxes: The slab for deduction for LTC, Children education and meal vouchers should get enhanced substantially based on the current spends level to give relief to the earning class. Today the meal vouchers and education allowance are not comparable to what the citizens actually pay. Though the government is charging taxes comparable to the United States, but the public services are not even 1/1000 part of what US does for its citizens
Defence technology SEZ: the government should work towards making India as worldwide supplier of defence uniforms, parachutes, small arms, night vision devices and bullet proof material. India already has capabilities for the same
Export Oriented SEZ for wine – India produces world class grapes and wine Industry can be a good revenue earner as there is a great demand for good quality wine worldwide. This can bring in good income for wine orchards, farmers and processing units
North East Region – the problem with the North eastern states is, that the government has failed to understand and act on the needs of these regions. The biggest issue there is that there is no source of employment created for the youth of those states.
• The Government should take all measures within its framework to dedicate special infrastructure and employment plan that can be implemented within the next three years. All this is likely to raise the earning potential of the region many fold and take the region to heights of prosperity.
• Development of communication infrastructure to overcome the constraints of physical distance
• The plan should encompass setting up a North Eastern tourist grid
• Settings up industries which are based on the natural resources of north east like the herbal medicines and bamboo based industries.
• Further IT industry should be given impetus as that can ideally work in hilly areas.
• Setting up small Hydro Electric plants in North East region
• North East has popular traditional folks culture, if marketed well, can drive in a lot of new opportunities. Government is expected to make it happen.
• These efforts Should create 5 lac jobs in North East
National Task force for Animal husbandry, Milk processing, Food processing and fisheries Should be set up with time bound goals to make India amongst the top three producers in the world. The frame work to achieve the goal should be in place within the next three years. This is the best way to increase the earning ability of the rural & coastal India.
Post & Telegraph – Post and Telegraph have a matchless network covering all the pin codes in the country. I believe that post offices present a matchless opportunity to increase services to every nook and corner of the country and to create at least 10 lac jobs via PPP with Telegraphs and posts network. The government should use this opportunity to not only modernise the post offices but also create value for the public and the government with a special focus on rural India
Private Public Partnership – So far, most of the private public partnerships have not done much over a long period of time, we understand that government has limitations but also has the responsibility to deliver on the expectations of people. Government must appoint a PPP Regulator. An autonomous body to identify implement & monitor the PPP. This should ensure a smooth roll out in all sectors
Cooperative Movement – Cooperative movement is crucial for the success of rural economy. I believe that cooperative movement must be radically reformed to make it more relevant at the taluka level to India’s growth story. This has a high employment potential. If property reformed, this can create fresh 10,000.00 jobs across the nation. The cooperative movement is not just limited to milk production, but also to oil and Beedi production
Consumer protection movement Should be strengthened and proactive steps should be taken to protect the interest of consumers. Also, that the consumer protection is not just about products and services
Media & Sting Operations -
Media should be given more teeth. Sting operations must be made legal and a special court should be set up to look into the exposes made out of such operations. The journalists should be given security for ‘high level’ expose
Disaster Management apparatus should be reviewed and strengthened
Common Civil Code. All the parties should be taken into confidence and a common civil code should be adopted.
Backward – BIMARU States: Government must focus on special projects to take the economy & employment to the next level. Though, in the last five years most of the Bimaru states have notched good growth, still a lot needs to be done,
Tribal Development – 7 % of the Indian population is tribal. This needs to be attended with sensitivity and a planned needs to be evolved for their development and getting them into mainstream. Which includes?
• SSI for tribal’s
• Industry based on local natural resources
• Promote tribal and traditional folk
• Special quota in police and armed forces
Wool Production – India is the world’s second largest wool producer. However, the wool industry is by and large at a low level of quality and value realization. An action based time bound plan should be placed in the first year to modernise and expand the wool production
Good Governance:
• The government should review all its commitments and progress every six months and review the same at the public vigilance committees (PVC) appointed at every district / taluka level.
• The public vigilance committees should consist of citizens from all walks of life. This should ensure that we stay committed and on track when it comes to fulfilling in our commitments. The PVC Should serve as a watch dog on our time bound action plan that we Should release on all Priority issues within 30 days of coming to power
Foreign Policy: Government should pay the highest attention, to not only enhance Indian role in international affairs, but should, also, ensure that India’s vital national and security interests are fully projected and protected, so that it can contribute meaningfully to the global community and deal with the challenges of the future and boldly assert its position on key issues. Few contours of the Foreign policy:
• UN- India Should support all efforts at a further democratisation of the UN structure and system and Should pursue to Secure a permanent seat in the UN security council
• Out a more Work closely with G-8 , to bring about a more balanced economic order which would seek to ensure that the current global disorder is overcome at the earliest so that the developing countries in particular , are not disadvantaged any further
• Strengthening the SAARC Process
• China. While the normalising relations with China Should retain and eminent position in foreign policy, it is , at the same time, expected that China too , Should display sensitivity to India’s position on various issues which have plagued our relations over the last 50 years. India also expects China to avoid any future violations of NPT.
• Pakistan: Peace is the precondition to the development of both the countries. Somehow, Pakistan has not been able to convince India on its track record to ensure peace in the region. Government should be supportive of a widening of contacts and ensuring peace and stability in the region, working with Pakistan on resolving land standing and urgent issues in the interest and as per the will of the people of India
• Europe: The EU is a valuable source of technology and investments. Relations with EU should figure prominently in the foreign policy initiatives. We Should do everything possible to further strengthen our relationship , consistent with our national interest
• Strengthen our bond with USA nuclear and seek revision of certain clauses of the Indo-US nuclear deal which adversely impact on India’s nuclear program and profile
• Relations with Russia needs to be further consolidate
• West Asia and North Africa: Government should rejuvenate our old ties and traditional bonds of friendship with the Arab world, as well as intensify our cooperation with the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council).
• Bangladesh: Government should convince the old neighbour that harbouring N.E. Insurgents and terrorists should be highly counterproductive. A positive response to India on cooperation in the economic filed, including transit, Should be beneficial to both countries. Bangladesh must also pay urgent heed to and extend full cooperation to India to check the illegal influx of Bangladeshis to India in case it is keen to have cordial relations with India
• Sri-Lanka. India supports a united Sri Lanka in which both the communities can realise their aspirations. The India –Sri Lanka agreement of 1987, provides an important & immediate starting point for the peaceful resolution of the problem. We note the successful implementation of FTA and favour an early conclusion of the CEPA ( Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement ), to the satisfaction of both the countries
• Nepal: Indo – Nepal relations are age-old and are based on ties of geography, history, culture & religion. These Should be maintained and further reinforced
• Japan and Korea. Both economic as well as political relations with the economic power houses of Asia, namely, Japan and Korea Should be further developed
• Afghanistan. Indio’s relation with Afghanistan has been traditionally close. We Should continue to firmly support the present government in that country , and at the same time , take all steps to further enhance the security around Indian projects and the Indian embassy and consulates in that country
• Iran. We value our strong economic ties so far. These Should be sustained with positive fallouts to the mutual benefit of both countries
• Africa and Latin America. Relations with Africa and Latin America should be enhanced with great vigour. Further groupings like IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) should be encouraged to the benefit of all countries concerned. Further cooperation Should also aim at energy self sufficiency
• NRI & PIO’s. The role of NRI’s and PIO’s in the qualitative enhancement of India’s image abroad and their investments in India are warmly acknowledged. They should continue to be accorded high priority.
There is more than what meets the eye- Rajendra Pratap Gupta
July 6, 2009
Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi
Member of Parliament
Lok Sabha, New Delhi 110001.
Dear Dr.Joshi,
Thanks for the call. It was a pleasure talking with you again. I have always appreciated your approach of being connected to the common man, recognizing the talent, promoting it , and talking straight, no matter what!
As advised, I am sending my inputs not just for the Economic survey and the budget, but also on the overall situation facing the government.
I have been following the budget & the overall situation in India. Budget is a routine event. As I had expected, budget did not give any answers but only raised a few questions! As always, Congress has been known as pro-rich and propaganda-wise, pro-poor. Common man is just a slogan . Under the new tax structures, people who earn more will have to pay less tax. This is what Congress regimes have done since independence . That’s the reason , more than 60 % of the people are poor and cannot afford to spend more than Rs.20 a day . Budget was just to divert the attention from equally important issues, without addressing any concerns of the common man and this nation.
I must draw the attention of the powers that be, that, recently I read that Pakistan is a ‘failed state’. I must add that, India is a ‘failing state’. Let me put the points why I say this.
Every nation has three weapons ; Economic , political and military weapons, and every nation has three priorities i.e. domestic economic growth & employment , security of the nationals & healthcare , and peaceful relations with the neighbors & good relations with super powers . Let’s examine each
Economy: We are told that the economy is getting better, and that there are ‘green shoots’ because of the ‘Green shots’. I am rather surprised! Rising Sensex does not raise the GDP of the nation! I don’t think that the fundamentals have changed either in the domestic market or in the global scene in the last three months. Whilst, I believe that the current budget is based on ‘Hope’ & ‘Hype’, ‘Ifs’ & ‘Buts’ , but the realities can’t be ignored for long- we will make our condition irreversible .Oil prices have been cleverly increased before the budget. It is high time that people gave up the thought that, Indian population is a good shock-absorber with a short memory that believes in forgive & forget!!
The growth that we saw as 6.7 % in 2008 was due to the government spending and stimulus, and atleast, I cannot rejoice on that as a common man. Prices are still sky high for food items- retail inflation is around 12 %, loan rates are high and jobs are flying away. These three factors are adding to uncertainty and fear. The stimulus are like giving more drugs to a drug addict, so that he lives longer , avoids immediate pain , but weakens with every dose and time passing, and finally collapses’. Moreover, the stimulus that the government has given is in forms of tax cuts and subsidies & and not spending. I don’t understand one thing, why do we need ‘Bold’ steps in every budget despite 60+ years after the freedom? Is this not a failure of the planning commission & our British legacy systems that has lead to Adhocism? Why the hell do we not look at changing the way we envision and plan for our nation? I believe that we are still not independent in our thoughts. We are still bogged down with western concepts of growth and success!! We must see deeper in this statement. Our system is more wrong than corrupt! Inefficiency cannot tackle inefficiency!!
Exports are falling month on a month, companies are paring down the costs and people are losing jobs every day. Uncertainty and fear are the two harsh realities of the current Indian economy. I know that Dr. Manmohan ji is taking of 7.5 % growth, but has three riders; if US Economy bottoms out by September, Rains are adequate and Oil does not give a shock. I think this is a clever statement or trying to pull a fast one. If one of the three or all three goes wrong, then what is going to be growth of the Indian economy? Ideally an economist of his experience should table before the parliament the three best cases and worse case scenarios incase all goes wrong or two or just one factor fails us? We cannot be silent spectators in a time of such an unprecedented crisis. I see that global Economic intelligence; forecasting and contingency planning is clearly missing with our policy makers. We need proactive and pre-emptive policy makers! Thanks to India’s robust banking system and strong fundaments (as we hear often!) that India’s credit rating is currently one notch above junk status at BBB-.
My belief is that, India’s problems have been structural, and with Indian meteorological department predicting less than normal rains, cyclical problems will also add to the woes of the government and the vast suffering population. So India’s problems today are both structural and cyclical, all because of the misguided policies of chasing wrong targets and attacking non-existent problems. India has some ‘high propaganda’ and ‘high leakage’ schemes like the NREGA etc. So the final outcome is not as expected. Execution of such schemes benefits the ruling class and not the working class and remains such a statistics. We have seen in the last 15 days that farmers are mortgaging their lands due to delayed rains. I am afraid that, if the rains are below normal, we will start hearing about farmer’s suicides again. Economic or fiscal management is as important as good governance, which is decimating all the progress. If the measures are missing, we will be back to square one!
The government should act fast, or else, the public would conclude having voted in haste, and we will see the change in the assembly elections that are due shortly
Recent survey from National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that, 60.5 % of the population were capable of spending only Rs.20 a day
National commission on enterprises in the unorganized sector had suggested that 77 % of the total population in the 2004-5 could spend less than Rs.20 / day / person
More glaring to note from the National Sample Survey (NSS) of 2004-5 that, only 24.4 % of the rural Indians used the Public distribution system (PDS) for rice and only 11 % used for wheat! Increasing outlay will not just solve problems.
Imagine this with the following facts:
Today , Tomato costs Rs. 15 K.g , Potato Rs.10 per K.g., Onion Rs. 12 per K.g. Rice cost more than Rs. 20 per K.g , Pulses are above Rs. 40 per K.g. Ginger is Rs. 100 per K.g. Do request our P.M. that BPL (Below poverty line) should be changed as a terminology to FSTD (Families fast starving to death). BPL is a very charitable word today seeing that, majority population of this nation cannot even earn enough to eat one decent meal a day!
I have not seen the recent Economic Survey in detail, but have been following it through media and press. The above stated facts do make one shudder at the thoughts of how many people would have died of starvation by the time you finish reading this note!!!
I am yet to see our learned politicians talking about the global environment in the budget. So I must educate our politicians on that as well. In the month of May, I was in Europe and this is what I discussed with various people.
Germany’s economic output will shrink by 6 %
UK.’s economic output will shrink by 4 %
French Economy will decline by 3 %
Italian economy will decline by 3.5 %
Romania’s Economy will decline by 4 %
Latvia’s economy will shrink by 13.1 %
Slovakia’s Economy will decline by 2.6 %
Of the 27 nations in EU, only Cyprus will grow. European Union expects its recession to last till 2011 & 8.5 million Europeans will lose jobs over the next 2 years.
With unemployment hitting 10.9 % in EU & 11.5 % in Euro area in 2010, EU has revised its GDP estimates for 2010, predicting a 0.1 % drop rather than a small rise.
This data is stated by Jaquin Almunia , Economic & Monetary Affairs Commissioner , European Union.
Germany’s boom has been due to sales abroad. Which reached 40 % of its total output because of China & India buying heavy machinery, but when growth in China & India collapsed due to economic down turn – Germany’s exports collapsed?
Facts of the US economy need not be mentioned – in June 09, US unemployment rate moved highest in the past 25 years US has already lost 6.5 million jobs since the recent recession. We are reading how many companies are going bankrupt!!
Bank of International settlements (BIS ) States in its 79th Annual report released on 29th June 09 that, there is a significant risk that recovery in emerging market economies will be delayed . Further BIS said that, foreign reserves in the first quarter fell to 80 % in Korea and India.
Given the possibility that external shocks could persist, such depletions raise questions about the reserve adequacy. A severe economic downturn and a delayed recovery in capital inflows could produce future episodes of market instability that could lead to a much faster draining of the reserves than suggested by these indicators.
Economic growth in developing world will be 1.2 %, the world bank had said on June 22. Developing nations in eastern Europe and Central Asia will be amongst the hardest hit, the world bank has stated. The region’s economy is likely to shrink by 4.7 % this year.
The World Economy will contract 2.9 % this year, as global trade slumps 9.7 % according to the Washington based Bank.
My belief is that , though the economies may not have a free fall any further, but will deteriorate slowly for two- four quarters. Growth will start only after one year, and that too, slowly. I don’t expect miraculous growth in the next two years . Miraculous growth is nothing but the growth that was at the start of 2007. So there is enough pain for the common man for the next one to two years.
Dr.Joshi, the issue is not of growth alone, it is about uniform growth. High growth and low distribution is not the solution, neither is low growth & high distribution. We are looking at in this budget high growth and wider distribution across all segments. Budget must address this issue .The growth of 6.7 % that we see is from 20 % of the Indian population. Our policy makers are all so glued to Mumbai and Delhi that we forget smaller towns.
What to address: E.g. one of the ‘Gem’s ‘is food processing sector. Of the total agricultural produce, India just processes only 5 % annually. In contrast, countries in the South East Asia process at 60 % of their food produce. This will not only create employment, but also give more income to farmers, thereby, raising their financial status and spending capacity. Perishables would not be lost, adding to the nation’s food bank. This would also enhance India’s share in the global food trade from 1.5 % to 3 % thereby increasing the forex . India has vast natural resources, we need to use them, generate employment.
Also, that we need 92 million jobs as identified by the 11th Plan. A report from the working group on skill development and training points out that 8% growth can create employment opportunities for about just 30 million people and special employment generation programmes can add another 20 million job opportunities . We must take into account that we add around 12.8 million are added to work force every year. Need is not just of job creation but the right skill development. Over 40 % of the government expenditure on education goes towards elementary education!! Will this work to help the nation??
Dr.Joshi, you must tell Dr.Singh that he is driving his car seeing the rear view mirror of another person’s car (China). He needs to look and drive his own car, and carefully look sideways and more importantly, the road below and ahead!! Integrity & good image of the PM is not a question but competence to steer the nation is! . He might be an intelligent Professor , a honest man but not a successful Prime Minister. He has so far failed as a PM . I do not wish to comment whether he is a ‘weak PM’ or ‘Strong’ & that does not matter here. But for sure , India has become weaker under his regime in the last five years . He will not be remembered for what he did in 90’s, but how he steers 09. That is the test of his leadership. You all must realise India is a world in itself & act accordingly.
Now coming to Military: This is our weakest link ! Most of the fighter planes are ‘flying coffin’s- every fort night, we have a crash. Agni missile is a ‘paper missile’, and out of 39 squadrons, only 9 work. Our submarines are in bad shape- top defense officials know this in the heart of heart- To conceal these secrets , the parties appoint army men on diplomatic or gubernatorial assignments . No comments on the nuclear arsenals! India is not at all strong militarily . We have seen Kargil; we see deaths in Kashmir, terrorists attacking. So Military- wise, we are a failed state. It is not that we cannot attack Pakistan; we know that we cannot defeat them! That’s the reason; we only bark at Pakistan and not bite!! Had US been in place of India, Pakistan would have been sanitised years ago for its mischievous demeanor & misadventure!!
How will this government ensure the safety of Indians!!
Security of the nation- Diplomacy :
Neighbors: We are surrounded by all the neighbors who are hostile.
China is raising the issue of Arunachal Pradesh and Dalai Lama.
Sri Lanka is resolutely hostile and we have just seen the end of war against Tamil Tigers.
Pakistan , less said the better.
Burma is known to patronize ULFA etc.
Bangladesh infiltration and our issues in North east is not a hidden issue. It is believed without doubt, that the Muslims from Bangladesh have increased in Guwahati & North east to such an extent that Hindus are in minority compared to Muslims. In the next election, we will not see victory of any other than Muslims – if the issue is not tackled now!
Nepal has already expressed its discontent and accused India of meddling in its internal affairs.
America is not the same as it was before signing the nuclear deal. It is doling out aid to arm Pakistan
Russia : has also agreed to supply arms to our neighbours
Now, having cleared the air about the failure of India’s diplomacy, I have nothing more to tell. Anyone can conclude a total failure!! We have failed to build friendly relations without neighbors.
Finally, Economically, we are clueless about the solution. We are one status above junk , having a huge fiscal deficit , rupee at a new low of Rs.48 to US $, Poverty is 60.5 % of the population , We have not built any shock absorbers in our economy . Defense is doing badly, Neighbors are hostile and we are weakest , waiting only to be attacked and defeated. Our foreign policy is a total failure. Are we not a failing state? Who to blame? The government, obviously. I don’t want to shift the focus due to this budget which is nothing more than a mere ‘Eyewash’.
Dr.Joshi , please do express the common man’s dilemma & pain in these unprecedented times of ‘fear’ and ‘uncertainty’ when you speak in Lok Sabha, and do inform our leaders that , we are not at all amused by the long speeches in the budget or ‘eye wash budget’ to pacify us till the next budget. We need outcomes drawn from each investment (Which is our own money given as direct and indirect taxes ), outcomes have to be measured in a time bound manner. We don’t just need to fix the problems but also fix the accountability. We need an outcomes based budget with a plan that addresses the three issues , Youth , Economy and Security of the nation, and creates enough jobs , eliminates corruption in judiciary and creates social security and safety for all staying within the borders of the nation without any discrimination based on caste , religion or economic stature.
Hope we will not be left to believe that we wasted another five years for a promise
Waiting to hear you in parliament
As always, with best regards
A common man
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: rajendra.india@gmail.com
Michael Jackson’s death & the Indian Economy have similarities – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Indian Economy Opti – ‘mystic’ about growth numbers- Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Why is an economy of a billion people failing ? why are we fast becoming a junk economy ? I know it is quite good to hear 7.5 % growth estimates coming from the government, with riders that are totally justifiable for our failure to achieve 7.5 % growth or ‘cook’ the numbers to show ‘Illusionary statistic’. The future predictions of 7.5 % growth are dependent on US Economy , Oil economy & Rain Gods . Do you still believe our politicians for the growth numbers ?
Growth in 2008-09 : A large part of our 6.7 % growth in 2008-09 was nothing more than an illusion. 1.8 % out of it is accounted for by a 7 % spurt in ‘community , social and personal services’. Which is the arrears paid to 20 million government servants in 2008. If we deduct this out of the 2008-9 estimate , the actual growth was 4.8 % and not 6.7 %.
Confirming the correction of the GDP data to only the second half of 2008-09 , which is when the pay commission awards were paid out, reveals the GDP grew not by 5.8 % but only 2.2 %. This is the harsh reality. Check the fact that , agriculture grew by 1.6 % and industry, utilities & construction reported 2.4 % growth in the entire year as stated by the economic survey. Did we actually grow by 6.7 % ?
This year could be the worst for the economy. Outlook for industry is more bleak; zero growth till May 09. Agriculture is slipping due to poor show from the rain Gods . Even World Bank’s estimate for growth at 4 % looks optimistic
Now that government has to borrow about 4 lac crore to finance its largesse . If the government is borrowing 4 lac crore , what will happen to such an economy . Are we not already a bankrupt & Junk Economy ? Are we waiting for it to be rated as junk !!
No government or department talks about the ‘Job deficit ‘. Hiring Indra Nooyi or Raghuram Rajan to drive in ideas don’t work, as these people have stayed away from India for long and they themselves are in out of touch with the common man’s problems . So their solutions would all be on financial reforms, and they cannot suggest things that can salvage the common man. Till the common man does not become financially strong , Indian economy cannot take off. NAREGA is not the soultion , it is just a temporary morphine like injection to ease out pain . Indian economy will collapse like Michael Jackson, who died of drug overdose .
The status of the government is better than the citizens who cannot even borrow money to run their finances. We need a miracle to happen to save this nation .
Address to the students of ISCS- Indira Group as Chief Guest
Dear Friends,
Good morning, Congratulations and a warm welcome to Indira Group. You have embarked on an important stage of your career.
When I was invited as a Chief Guest, I had another meeting planned at Guwahati today, but I cancelled it and came here. I recollected a discussion with one of the senior most professors of Welingkar institute a few months ago.
I was looking for a good management institute for admission of one of our family friends. So I talked about this to Indira School, D.Y.Patil and Welingkar. While I was chatting with my Professor friend , he told me , Indira Group had won the maximum awards from the industry, and if I could get a seat there , nothing like it ! So friends, let me tell you that you are luckily in the management institute that is highly regarded by the industry
Now that you have a wonderful platform of ISCS, you will have the confidence of having graduated from this well known institute. Now you have to make the best out of this institute by your hard work.
I thought it would be helpful if I shared a few important points with you which will help you , based on my experience & learning right from being a research officer to being the Vice President , COO, CEO , Executive Director & Vice Chairman in different companies and across different sectors
First and foremost, what I must share, is the value of time:
Just think , at 99 degrees water is hot and at 100 degrees water is boiling, 1 degree makes the difference. In 800 m 2004 Olympic games , the margin of victory for a gold medal was .71 seconds . In Formula one racing, in last ten years, the average difference between the first and second position has been 1.54 seconds. The first prize is 1.27 (1278813) Million USD and the second prize is .621 Million (621321 USD). A difference is 657492 USD for just 1.54 Seconds, So friends, never forget that time is the most valuable asset that you have. You cannot afford to delay your decisions when you are studying or working
Time Management : What is the common thing that people like Henry Ford , Albert Einstein and Wright Brothers and all of you – 24 hours of time, and what is the difference ? How they managed their time Also, the most important thing every day is not anything else but how you handle the most important task of the day – Time Management. . I suggest that you pick the most difficult or the most time consuming task first and time management will be quite easy. Time management will help you achieve your goals much easily. If you mess up on time management, you will end up frustrating yourself. These four lines are very relevant for you to remember
He slept beneath the moon
He basked beneath the sun
He lived a life of about going to do, and
Died with having nothing done.
Knowledge Managment :Let me ask you a question: How many of you brush your teeth every day? Almost every one! How many of you brush your knowledge every day? Remember both are equally important. I would strongly recommend that you not just study your course, but also regularly update yourself on the economy & all the sectors of the economy on a regular basis and spend at least two hours a day on updating your knowledge. You must read three newspapers a day
How many of you can buy 50 management books or magazines in a year? How many of you can buy one magazine & book per year. Imagine, if you did so, you have access to 200 books & magazines to read. When you leave this institute, you can donate the same to the institute library with your name and batch on the cover page. Not only that this will enrich your batch but also the subsequent batches who join this institute. They might be thankful to you for your contribution when they read your name on the book. If this continues for the next ten years, this institute will have the best library due to an individual’s effort! On the choice of books, I must advice, you pick a wide range of topics from self management to management and beyond.
Working and networking: Networking is equally important as working. In a world connected by internet and VOIP, networking is boundary-less and free. Please keep enhancing your network and maintaining your old network of friends. It will eventually become a big asset
World Economy: Having talked to you about the values of time , knowledge management & networking , now let me update you a bit on the world economy & the industry: We are hearing on the state of the world economy that we are into a deep recession. I believe that, the world has been put on a reset button. Every recession has shifted the global supremacy of economies. The first recession shifted the power from Britain to U.S.S.R. & U.S.A. if I were right, the current recession will shift the powers to multiple economies like China, India etc. So it is a natural progression from a uni-polar world to a bi-polar world and now towards a multi polar world. So ,you will have an important role to ensure that Indian corporate world makes the best use of this God send opportunity and that, can only happen when you are prepared to make the best use of this opportunity . You all have an important role to play
Indian Economy: Two sectors have to be changed if the economy has to grow at 9 or 10 %. These are agriculture and SME sector. About 65 % of the population is engaged in agriculture & 40 % farmers are willing to give up this profession. We will have a serious economic crisis if things don’t change. For agriculture, this also presents two great opportunities – organic farming and food processing. You must consider these opportunities once you pass out from this institute. These two opportunities can add real value to the economy both in terms of domestic revival and foreign trade. SME sector contributed to about 39 % of the economic output in India, but in the developed world SME sector account for more than 90 % of the economic output. In India, SME’s are not that competitive, as we lack good managers in the SME Sector. You can contribute a lot to the SME sector to raise the GDP of the nation and contribute to the economy of this nation
Overall economic environment is very dynamic. As students of management, you must keep a watch on the sectors. SME , Agriculture, Retail, Healthcare, Real estate , Tourism, Education & travel will remain the hot sectors for the next few decades. You must add value to these sectors when you join the corporate world.
Having updated you on all these opportunities , I must also let you know two most important realities.
One, that things never come to you without efforts and you will have to work restlessly to achieve them. Most of the time you will be discouraged and turned away but never mind. Keep chasing your passion. In the end, you are bound to succeed…
Chester Carlson was turned down by all the 20 companies he approached, including GE & IBM. But Chestor gave us Xerox.
Jeff Hawkins & Donna Dubinsky invented the palm pilot, they were turned away by the VC’s who believed it was a sure fire way to poor house. In 1995, Jeff and Dona settled for USD 44 Million from U.S. Robotics
Same was with John Grisham; he was turned down by about 80 publishers only to become the best- selling author
Marconi was taken to a psychiatrist when he talked about his invention – Telephone
Let me give you examples of a few Indian’s.
Thyrocare – largest path lab in the country. The owner of this lab slept on CST, Mumbai station from August 18-22 in 1982. He went on to do PhD from BAARC. One day he realised what will happen when he retires from BAARC. He quit and started a one room lab at Byculla with three employees, one who would collect samples; other would do tests in the night and the third who would deliver the reports. All three were Dr.A.Velumani. Today, he runs a 500 cr Business
Suman Jha- He went to Russia to study M.B.B.S. Today at the age of 36, he runs a 700 million USD business that he started when he had 100 USD in his pocket. Shreya entertainment and Shreya Life Sciences are his company
So, may be that most of the time you will be discouraged or turned away. Does not mean that you give up. Remember, a setback can let you down or get you more determined. Choice will be totally yours. Second and most important thing, contended people never bring any changes, they happily adapt to the world. It is the dissatisfied, discontented & the restless people who bring about the change. You all must try to be a change agent. India is a land of billion plus people but we only have about 6 major corporate groups. There is another big question. Can we not create more?
Last question :How many of you think that you will settle down in your life in the next 10, 15 or 20 years? You can never settle down in life at any point in time. If you were ever to do that, It will be after death! Being settled is against the rule of life. Check with any doctor. What does it convey from an ECG when it is a straight line? It means the person is dead. So if the ECG is not a straight line , that is a good news . So friends living and being successful cannot be like a straight line . I was talking to my friend who is from the corporate world and known as the biggest business guru and motivational speaker of his time. He was about to venture in a new field. And I asked him, are you willing to give up your earlier venture for the sake of a new venture. He immediately said; No, I am still to settle down …………………..So live with the reality. We are never settled in life, we have to keep working & we are never settled and will never be. As you reach the horizons, the horizons will expand. Keep moving .
Always remember that life is a moving target
Please work hard, support the right , don’t compromise on the values & be assertive and the world is yours. Try to make it a little better place
So friends, it was real pleasure being with you all this morning & i wish you all the very best
Rajendra
State of the nation today- Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Where are we heading as a nation – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Let’s examine the state of the nation after the election. It is good that the public voted out all the nuisance mongers like Lalu, Mulayam, and Mayawati & Jayalalitha. Public is growing aware and taking an active interest in the governance of the nation.
Let’s see where are we now?
Rural India
NAREGA – This is the over hyped scheme of the regime. Recently, a study revealed interesting statistics about NAREGA.
• Only 10.62 % of the total 33.89 million registered rural households in 2007-08 were provided 100 days of employment
• The national average of the number of work days per household in NAREGA was only 48 in the last fiscal year. Less than 50 % of what was targeted
• 80 % of the of the households said that they did not get the work within the stipulated 15 days time of demand for work in writing , nor were they paid any unemployment allowance
• It was found that only in 42 % of households could women share the one-third of the allocated person-days ( wage days )
• It is also doubtful if any permanent assets can be created with unskilled labour
Agriculture:
Rain gods have shattered the claims that rural India was shining that the rural economy was unaffected by the global crisis. With drought rampant in most parts of the country. It is going to spell disaster. It is really painful to see that the image of the farmer has not changed in India despite 62 years of independence. When you think about the farmer. The image that comes to mind is that of a ‘half clad, dark skinned frail old man looking at the sky covering his fore head with his hand ’.
All our leaders forgot that ‘Farmers of the nation are the fathers of the nation’
Poor planning for farmers have led to a stage that the government had to push over 7 billion dollars to rekindle the rural India.
Prices of the agricultural produce are going sky high, and the grocery items are supposed to reach a new high from the next month onwards when the rainy season is over. Adding to this, about 70 % of the population lives below the poverty line revealed a national study early 2009.
Aviation sector:
Thanks to our efficient Aviation Minister, the biggest and the only government carrier is bankrupt. All the airlines are bleeding. New airports are in bad shape, the waiting time is an average 30 minutes before landing and 20 minutes before take off. Air India burnt more than Rs.150 Crores for the waiting time in the air.
Foreign policy:
We are surrounded by hostile neighbors and all the time is spent in fire-fighting with Srilanka, Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bangaldesh and Burma. With such ‘un-cooperative’ neighbors. In addition to this, we don’t share the same relations with US & USSR (CIS). USA is openly supporting Pakistan with arms and ammunitions ,and doing a lip service to India.
With such relations, do we not conclude that the foreign policy is a total failure? Our entire diplomatic energy is wasted balancing equations of power
Sharm-Al-Sheikh was another blunder after JLN took Kashmir to United Nations. We must wait and watch as the future unfolds in the Indian Foreign diplomacy.
Defense & Internal Security
Our moon mission is a failure, our fighter planes are being called flying coffins. And there is a serious issue with attracting talent in the army.
Earlier it was Kargil, Kandahar , Kashmir and then it was terror attacks. We are still waiting for the next anniversary of attacks to repeat. We are not prepared to avert any attacks
Healthcare
Neither there is Health nor care. Swine flu is taking its toll and health minister is giving absurd statements. Millions of kids die every year due to malnutrition. 75 % of the population is anemic. The Cardiac diseases and diabetes are taking away millions of Indians away from us every year with India not having an effective coverage system.
Judiciary
With crores of cases pending in courts , anyone who says he respects judiciary is respecting the inefficient and corrupt and insulting the nation. We can certainly be forced to abide by the decisions of the courts but the question of respecting the judiciary in its current form is not acceptable
Opposition
At this point in time, Indian democracy should have has a strong opposition. Unfortunately, BJP is paying for its misdeeds and image and self projection issues of its top two leaders. It is high time; it shapes up to ensure that it plays the role of an impactful opposition party in India.
Hope that the good sense will prevail
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
office@rajendragupta.org
0922 33 44 542
Vulgar Salaries – Indian Corporate World
Mr.Salmaan Khurshid
Union Minister for Corporate Affairs
Government of India
New Delhi
Dear Mr. Khurshid ,
I wish to put my view point on your statement made a few days ago on the Vulgar salaries. Since i was travelling so i could not send this earlier .
Recently there has been a lot of hue and cry created due to a statement made by you. Earlier a similar statement had come from Dr. Manmohan Singh. According to you, corporate honchos are drawing salaries that are 12500 times the per capita income of this nation
I am not at all happy with your statement . I recall my letter to Dr. Manmohan Singh in January 09, wherein i requested that the salaries of the public representatives must be made more lucrative to attract the best brains
Also, that I must walk you through some of the realities in the corporate world and the politician’s working so as to make a correct assessment and a logical conclusion.
Firstly , Mr.Salmaan Khurshid , you must question why the governments in the last 62 years have not been able to increase the per capita income in this nation ? If the per capita income would have grown sufficiently , then you would not have a devastating comparison of 1:12500 ? Prime Facie your governments are at a fault for the backward development of this nation on the basis of caste and regions , and focussing on the real issues
Also , that the corporate world have created wealth for the nation and politicians have taken the nation’s wealth to Swiss Banks ? Did you take this into account before your statement ?
Corporates have created millions of Jobs. Be it TATA’s , Birla’s , RPG or Reliance or any big or even the smallest corporate house . These people have a lot of responsibility to deliver & risks to take at the cost of their family and social life. Still of whatever they earn , you ( i mean the government ) takes 50 % as taxes , both direct and indirect taxes. Needless to mention, about the income that government makes from the corporate taxes that the companies pay due to the hard work and intelligence of these executives !! . If they earn Rs.50 crore a year after delivering billion of dollars for the nation’s economy & creating lacs of jobs, what is wrong in that ? You forget that Ambani’s themselves contribute about 10 % to the total tax kitty of this nation ? What an irony that you would pat your back with his 60 % voluntary salary cut . Anyways, he has his net worth in billions of dollars as stakes in RIL etc…….. You must think of nationalising his stake in RIL
Did you also take into account the CSR ( Corporate social responsibility ) that the corporates undertake ?
Mr. Minister , did you ever consider that government run companies are ‘Toxic assets’ till your people run it, and they become ‘Exotic assets ’ once they are privatised !! Because when you pay peanuts , you get monkeys !!
Today , you go all over the world and scream of the India’s IT & Telecom numbers . This is done due to the hard work of Private CEO’s and not political monkeys !! You had the monopoly of BSNL & MTNL . What great job have you done despite the monopoly ? You privatised VSNL to TATA’s and it is doing good. You could not make good business out of it. In the 60’s when the private sector wanted to grow you licensed it and even nationalised it, claiming it was the right thing to do . After messing it for 40 years , now you are privatising and you believe that it is the best thing to do ? Are you not fooling the public ? You all are privatising as you don’t have the money to run the government !! That’s the truth .
Let me show you what you politicians do. Here are some examples
Centaur hotel at Mumbai airport was sold to Batra Hospitality for Rs. 85 crore . Without doing anything , Batra Hospitality sold it to Sahara for Rs. 143 Crore within a few weeks . And its occupancy is 100 % at any given point in time. What was your minister doing when Centaur failed to deliver ? What was the basis of his selling to Batra and not to Sahara directly ? Reason out why the hotel was sold at such a low cost to Batra Hospitality ? Government lost due to a minister that was not at all as competent as Batra Hospitality executives or …………………..
Your Current Civil Aviation minister had lost the election in 2004, despite that he was made the minister . Under his leadership, Indian airlines would stand to lose Rs.5000 Crores this year . Is this how a corporate CEO performs when he takes the so called ‘Vulgar’ salaries? Give me one example in India where the CEO gives such a humongous loss and still continues !!
India is facing an unprecedented shortage of agriculture products ( grains etc due to erratic and insufficient rains ). Please check the rule book of the FCI (Food corporation of India ) godowns ( warehouses ). 2.5 % of wastage is permissible ( please correct me , i may be wrong on this info). This means for one lac ton of grains , 2500 tons of wastage is permissible !! How efficient is this ? Please privatise and see the magic !!
Mr. Telecom Minister is delaying the allocation of 3G spectrum. It is estimated that the spectrum allocation would earn the government anywhere between Rs.20000 to 35000 crore . Ministry has already delayed the spectrum allocation by more than a year . If he takes it to two years . Just the interest loss to the government on the spectrum fees would be as high as Rs. 7000 crore ? Wish you had a corporate CEO taking Rs.100 Crore a year salary and saving you Rs.6900 crore ( Assuming a loss of Rs.7000 crore on the interest income ) ? Does it sound ‘Vulgar’ ? And , interestingly, even after giving such a massive loss to the government exchequer . Your minister has the ‘Cheeks’ to make tall statements and he is not accountable . Had it been a corporate CEO issue , he would have been removed ‘unceremoniously’ from the board , and his career would have ended forever !!
Sometime in 2007,i had a chance to meet once of the relatives of your Telecom Minister Mr.A.Raja . His relative asked for 10 lacs to make ten calls on behalf of the Minister to corporates irrespective of the outcome . What a business model ? Dare to act ? Please initiate a CBI inquiry against Mr.Raja’s assets and the truth should be out .
Earlier , you had the license Raj that killed the corporate world . Now you are trying to license the salaries ? Do you want corporate CEO’s to meet the Minister for taking approval of the salary hikes ? So that you all can start making money on corporate salaries ? Have some shame Mr. Minister !
When parties go to collect donations for the elections , why do you not talk about this ‘Vulgar salaries’. Shamelessly, you collect money from corporates and then have the ‘balls’ to talk nonsense !!
Do you also have a figure of the cost of buying an M.P’s vote in the ‘floor test’ of the house ? For an ordinary MLA it is about 50 core !! That’s what we have always heard or read in the news . Does this not sound ‘Vulgar’
When your allies ask for ‘Plum postings’ in Ministries what does it mean ?
Mr. Khurshid, let us check what the Minister’s take as salaries and perks:
• Average minister get’s an M.P.’s basic salary of Rs.1.92 Lac per annum
• Rs.24000 additional
• A Bungalow in Delhi – Costs upwards of Rs. 200 crore at today’s prices and would mean a rental of Rs.60 lacs a year
• A staff strength of 16 for cabinet ministers and 13 for Deputy ministers
• Plus Security Guards
• A fleet of three cars with Petrol ???
• Unlimited domestic and international calls
• Now ‘Cattle Class’ travel and also private jet’s and government choppers used for luxury travel – cost cannot be calculated off hand .
• A MPLAD fund of Rs. 2 crore for expenditure
• Above all . No accountability !!
Do you think that an M.P. can represent 1.9 million people and win an election at these salaries and perks ? unofficially , the average cost of becoming an M.P. is Rs. 20 crore . That is the reason that most of the current lot of M.P’s are either owners of media houses , educations trusts , shady businessmen or sons and daughters of politicians .Pay decent salaries to your M.P’s, rather than being jealous of the corporate salaries !! Corruption in politics is only, because all of us expect a lot from our politicians and they are grossly underpaid . My view point is , that each M.P. represents an average of 1.9 million citizen, and they must be paid a between Rs.5-10 crore per year as salary to get the best out of them.
With 545 M.P’s in Lok Sabha and 245 in Rajya Sabha working for this nation . We still had a staggering fiscal deficit of Rs. 2,10,000 crore in January 2009 and counting . It works out to a loss of Rs.575 cores a day , 23.95 crore per hour or Approx. Rs.40 Lac a minute. Does it not make sense to pay each M.P. a salary of Rs.5 -10 crore a year and get the best brains ? You all are penny wise and pound foolish policy makers !!
What a colossal opportunity loss for India due to ‘mediocre brains’ and ‘low salaries’. Please re-consider the salaries, and we ( at least i would be for sure ! ) would be glad to join !!
I know that recently , Mukesh Bhai decided to take a 60 % cut in his salary so Salmaan Khurshid can pat his back . Don’t take common man for a ride Salmaan Sahab . Your statements are a proof of your getting distracted by handling the ministry of corporate affairs . You should be made either the rural development minister , NAREGA , JNRHM or the minister of telecom . Your mouth would be shut for the next few years !! After all they are ‘Plum postings’ !!
Don’t forget that until 1980’s India was only known for poverty , population & corruption. It is the private sector that has taken India where it is today. Don’t try and meddle with the sector
Though , i must make a point that a very few corporate CEO’s in India take a salary of about Rs.10 crore or more . They are a handful in a land of 1.2 billion . Pray to God that we have more such CEO’s so that India can grow more . I want a wealthy India . You might say it is ‘Vulgar ‘ to think so !
Regret to write to you this email, but can’t stop expressing the thoughts
With no wishes or regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Countryfirst
office@rajendragupta.org
President@countryfirst.org
+91-922 33 44 542
C.C.
Mrs.Sonial Gandhi
Dr.Manmohan Singh
Rahul Gandhi
Sharad Pawar
Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi, Chairman , Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance
Sitaram Yechury
A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
Shiv Khera
Ratan Tata
Mukesh Ambani
Anil Ambani
Media
Address at the Dhanvantri Sewa Samman felicitation function by Chikitsasansaar
Friends ,
Thanks a lot for bestowing me this honour and giving me an opportunity to visit this historic city
I am thankful to the jury for having selected me for this honour though I am not a doctor !
It is a real pleasure to be speaking with such an audience in the land of famed rulers like Chandragupta I, Vikramaditya , Ashoka & Poet Kalidasa.
“The town fallen from heaven to bring heaven on earth” wrote Kalidasa about Ujjain. It is a twin blessing for me , first to visit Ujjain and second to get the award !!
I have been asked by the organizers to speak for a few minutes on
• India’s healthcare system versus the World Healthcare system & the future of the India’s healthcare system
• Retail Chains in India
• Indian Economy and its future
These three topics are loaded ones , and I need to dwell briefly on the same
Firstly,
Healthcare in India & the way forward : All across the world the healthcare systems have failed . In India, we are placed at a point in time when we can chose what we want, as we are about to build our healthcare system. We are here not by design but by default ! I have always said , we must not import failures !! Recently , i have sent out a detailed note to the Prime Minister and our Health minister on healthcare reforms . Imagine , we do not even have a epidemiological survey in India , so how can we build a healthcare policy without it ? We need to build more preventive care then tertiary care , unfortunately , we are doing the reverse . NRHM & NUHM can spend a lot of money but these adhoc schemes cannot build a lasting and a result oriented healthcare system
Health Insurance : People are very gung ho about Health insurance , we need to check if this is the right model for India !!! Government run blanket insurance schemes make people irresponsible and careless and the systems go bankrupt , this is what the failures in USA & Europe prove. Taking cue from this, India must re-look into the entire insurance business
Technology is advancing fast and becoming cheaper day by day and this must be used extensively at the PHC’s and PHC should become Panchayat Health centres with basic telemedicine facilities . India is the youngest nation with an average age around 26.5 years. If we don’t focus on healthy diet , fitness & chronic care , our economy will collapse due to exorbitant healthcare costs and an ailing and non-productive population over the next 30 years .
Retail chains in India .
Retail sector is the key to India’s economy. We have more than 12 million retailers and many times the multiple of 12 million earn their livelihood from this sector . Whilst the media opened the eyes and exposed us to the western world, we have got carried away and are trying the cut , copy and paste model to imitate what happens in other parts of the world , without even caring for the basics !!
I will limit my references here to the pharmacy chains here, though most of what I say applies to other general retailers as well.
Pharmacy trade has to be looked upon from three players perspective :
Independent retailers , organized chains and AIOCD Venture for retail
We have about 20 + retail pharmacy chains and trust me , all are having serious issues with scaling up and profits !! This leaves us with one learning , the current organized pharmacy model does not seem to be working .
Ironically, even AIOCD got carried away with organised retail . Though my understanding is that it will never be successful in getting into total pharma distribution , retail and market research; as their history shows them as a cartel extensively into boycotting and arm twisting pharma companies to accede to their demands. With such a history , and with same people at the helm of affairs , think what will happen if the pharmaceutical companies become totally dependent on AIOCD for their market research reports & distribution !! Also that, AIOCD is looking at private labels , manufacturing , retail chain companies , distribution and market research . Last thing for them to do is to appoint their health minister !! Result is a foregone conclusion
Retail chains have their own set of problems and will take time before they get the ‘right’ funding & the right people which has become the biggest bottle neck for the success of the pharmacy chains in India . If this continues , the organized pharmacy retail will be eaten up the MNC chains that will find a way in India in the next 3 years . Also that, the pharmacy chains are not united to present themselves as one voice and this is telling its tale with AIOCD tightening its noose around them . Overall , the next three years will see more deaths in the trade . Already a few players have started showing up symptoms of Asphyxia
Independent retailers : Two places where no one can defeat them is a sense of ownership and cost advantage !! Most of the organized retailers are losing money in monitoring their business with its supervisory infrastructure . Where you need to gear up is customer record keeping and satisfaction . Add adequate stocks and join hands to do good marketing by adapting to latest standards. Most importantly, please look at offering basic health checks for the part of the population you service . In the next two years , I expect pharmacies in India offering chronic care programs . This is what the pharmacies should be doing in India . Think small , act fast and aim big !!
Focus on basic cold chain infrastructure , join hands and approach the government for putting you in ‘Essential Population health services’ and offer you discounted electricity charges and lower taxes so that you could have the standards to maintain efficacy of medicines or else , ask the government to increase margins to 25 % for retail and 12 % for distribution. We have enormous potential for employment and pharmacies can bring about change that can make the healthcare system more result oriented as it the first and the last point of care for the common man . I see a bright future for small & independent retailers and big MNC chains !!
Indian Economy & Future :
We must not forget that India is a great country and we call ourselves a ‘developing country’. Now we need to change from being identified just as a ‘developing country’ ! We have much more than our economy for the world . The World cannot ignore our contribution to science , spirituality and peace . Ironically, our lack of public activism has given us a self seeking political leadership that lacks original ideas and for years, they leaned on Russia and then USA and in all probability , will lean on China in the next decade. We are trying to copy models from abroad . Even most of our Prime Minister’s advisors come from Abroad or foreign universities . Trust me , we are importing failures . China built SEZ’s , we tried to do the same ………………why , no one asks how many people have exited the SEZ business !! What kind of tax loss will the government have when we are currently under a huge budget deficit by promoting SEZ’s !!
We are living in a country with enormous potential . Just check that 1/6th of India is under naxals , 4/6th lives under less than Rs. 80 a day. So effectively , what you read in the news as growing India is just 1/6th of India . We have started measuring our growth with the growth of the sensex . If the sensex grows , we see growth . Unfortunately , not even 1 % of the population trades in shares . Ground situation is that we have a very high inflation , lawlessness and insecurity, and we push more poor people below the poverty line due to healthcare costs and price rise than we push above the poverty line every year
Go and check a crowded general compartment in Indian railways . People are seated in toilets to reach their destination. Looks like a scene of partition days . Why do we witness such a scene after more than 60 years of Independence ? Can railways not increase the coaches or trains ? Will this not make the lives of a common man better and earn more revenue for the government & add to the development of this nation ?
A few days back there was a hue and cry on Shashi Tharoor and S.M.Krishna staying in five stars hotels. Government announced an austerity drive. This week , government passed a bill allowing ministers to travel with families and relatives 48 times a year !!! Don’t forget , government’s money is not someone else’s , it is our money and we are letting all this happen with our eyes open and mouths closed. A time to get into action . But the government is least concerned as we are . We only speak , government also speaks; when we will act , government will also act! Government mirrors its citizens in actions
Finally , I must say that the government must focus on Agriculture , industrial production and SME’s for making India a progressive nation . All industries can fail but not agriculture & industries into daily needs
Lastly, i must touch the topic all the major nations for fighting for – Climate change
We should carefully commit to emission cuts keeping in view that we are far from industrialized . India must focus on emission per capita rather than ‘committing percentage cuts’. If you see the rough emission trends of the global emissions , India emits about 5%, Europe about 11 %, China about 15 % and USA about 20 %. Compare the population size and emissions and then decide . At maximum , we must stick to standards for emission norms and not commit summary cuts , even self imposed .
Even the World Bank’s study has contradicted the governments claims made that India can achieve an emission intensity target of 20-25 % below 2005 levels by 2020. It wonders how it is possible when the capital costs in setting up cleaner grid power could rise by 15-25 %. Though capital cost is only one of the several cost factors . Government’s claim was based on the home work done by the planning commission .
With this , i must thank you for patiently hearing me and enjoy the speakers ahead
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
2010- The start of the India Decade
Happy New Year
I wish all my friends a very happy new year and a great decade ahead. I truly wish that this decade becomes the ‘India Decade’ for the World, and we emerge as a great nation by 2020.
Best regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
India Decade Foundation
Email: office@rajendragupta.org
Mobile : +91 9223344542
Babri Masjid demolition- The Real Culprit is ……………..
Babri Masjid Demolition – Who is the real culprit ? – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
It took seventeen years for Justice Liberhan to deliver his ‘Trash Report’ on the demolition of Babri Masjid. While a lot of finger pointing is being done at Rajiv Gandhi who did the Shilanyas in 1989 and opened the doors to the problem , then it comes to the turn of P.V.Narasmiha Rao, during whose ‘Rule’ the Masjid was demolished and lastly, comes the names of politicians like Atal Behari Vajpayee , Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi and Shri L.K.Advani et al. From different political perspectives , you can blame all of them or either of them !! History is always written by who wins the war !! This time the history was written by Congress !!
Over the last few weeks i have followed the Liberhan Commission report , the discussions and the writings in the media about the blame game on this Babri Demolition . If i were Justice M.S.Liberhan , i would have concluded my report in just three lines .
When trust fails , people resort to justice ,
When justice fails people resort to power,
When power fails , people resort to violence
My understanding is that ,the Babri Masjid case has been running for decades what the hell was judiciary doing for all these years ? Had they decided the case , the people would not have taken the law in their hands . History has proven that whenever law fails to deliver justice on time , people lose patience and take the law in their hands . So i would say that , neither congress nor BJP nor Kar sevaks nor the politics of this nation was responsible for the demolition of the Babri Masjid . It was the failure of the Indian Judicial system that led to the demolition .
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.org
Maharashtra – Drive against non Maharashtrians – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Maharashtra – Change the name
Over the last two years , Maharashtra has been trying to tell the world that Maharashtra is for Maharashtrian’s and outsiders are unwelcome and unsafe . Raj Thackeray has been sending out his goons to recklessly beat & drive out the poor and weak people who do menial jobs like driving the rickshaws & Taxies , selling fruits & vegetables and working as masons for big builders . Actually, these are the people who run the economy of the state , and their families back home . They did not snatch anyone’s job. Amitabh Bacchhan or Shah Rukh or Mukesh Ambani or Ratan TATA did not make it big in Bombay because they came from outside and snatched someone’s job. They created opportunities for themselves and settled here. Same applies to people from Mahrashtra who are well off and have made good name in all parts of the world !! No one snatches someone’s job .
It is just the simple rule of ‘Survival of the fastest’. Go to UAE , 70 % Of the population is from India and they are well to do . UAE was built by Indians. Locals in UAE respect and acknowledge the fact that UAE was built by Indians !!
Maharashtra was built similarly If you just look at the word MAHA- RASHTRA and its literal meaning .( English translation: MAHA= BIG , RASHTRA- NATION ). Maharashtra actually means a ‘Big Nation’. I wish people to interpret this state rightly and then play whatever politics works for the prosperity of this state and its people. With such parochial politics of Raj Thackeray at play , may be, it is the right time to rename Maharashtra . Maharashtra was built by Christians , Sindhi’s , Marwari’s , Gujarati’s , Keralites , Kannad etc ………were they not involved in building Maharashtra , it would be a different place then what it is today There are better issues to address if one needs to do politics , and hope that our wise residents of this ‘Big Nation- Maharashtra’ would not get carried away by cheap and short time tactics of the MNS or its affiliates
Education or Food ? What should become a fundamental right ? Rajendra Pratap Gupta
India’s constitution was based on constitutions of foreign countries —————————No wonder !!
The six fundamental rights enshrined in our CONSTITUTION are:
1. Right to equality
2. Right to freedom
3. Right against exploitation
4. Right to freedom of religion
5. Cultural and educational rights
6. Right to constitutional remedies
The constitution makers of India borrowed various ideas from constitution of various countries . No wonder Food , Clothing & Healthcare was never mentioned in the Fundamental rights . Perhaps the countries from where our constitution was cut , copied and pasted had abundant resources to ignore food , clothing and healthcare but our ‘Wise Architects’ of the constitution did not look at the local conditions and need, and were more academically inclined to write a document then to go and see the realities and then draft the most important document for the nation ! More shocking is that , even today , our Hon’ble Prime Minister had / has advisors like Sam Pitroda , Raghuram Rajan and more recently Mr.Kaushik Basu again from Cornell University has been appointed as the Chief Economic Advisor. We have our own ‘foreign educated’ Kapil Sibal who wants to waive exams for class tenth but wants to make Education a fundamental right . Think that Food is still not the fundamental right and millions of children die before they reach the age of five .
Do we not have misplaced priorities ? With such thinkers having access to power to change the nation . Where are they going to take us . India needs four things on priority . Food , water , electricity & healthcare. Without providing these four basics , nation can never clock any substantial growth in GDP or raise people above the poverty line
We will keep raising the divide between ‘Empty’ & ‘Plenty’
Time to think logical
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: office@rajendragupta.org
Increase in prices for the common Man- Solution
Price increase of basic commodities – Solution
Recently , we heard what Sharad Pawar said . ‘ I am not an astrologer to predict when the prices will come down’. He also stated that, t is the collective responsibility of the cabinet and not just his to take the blame’
With this , two things are clear :
One , he agrees that he has no plan to control prices, and Secondly, the government does acknowledge his wrong policies that lead to increase in prices. The blame must go to the failure of the congress government to take care of the common man. More people may die due to high price of basic food stuff this year
I suggest that we have a State Food pricing Authority in each state to fix the price of Agricultural products and the same should be strictly enforced . This department should be entrusted with the Public Distribution system . All this should come under Central Food Pricing Authority as it will involve imports and exports in some cases. The price for each and every agricultural produce like wheat , rice , pulses and vegetables should be fixed annually by the authority .
No trader should have the right to charge on the whims and fancies, and all the prices should be as fixed by state food pricing authority with the involvement of the Central Food Pricing Authority.
Food Should be made the Fundamental right . After all , we don’t expect the Hungry person standing up and asking for right to freedom , equality ,etc.. etc….Food first ……………country later……..
Hope it works Rajendra Gupta ————————————————————————
Rajendra Pratap Gupta President
Country First
Email: President@countryfirst.org / mail@rajendragupta.org
Solution for water crisis in Mumbai
Water woes in Mumbai – Solution that is tested, tried and is working well
I have been seeing that the issue of water crisis in Mumbai is becoming more serious as time passes by. It has been informed that the water reserve for Mumbai is only remaining for 200 days. Also, that there is water cut of 20-30 % in Mumbai. Imagine, if we get poor rainfall next season, or the monsoon comes late! As always, politicians are still getting as high as 3-4 lac litres of water per day (Read Governor of Mumbai who has been getting 3-4 lac litres of water for his lawns etc !! ).
Solution: Let’s see what Mukesh Ambani did for Jamnagar Refinery Township. The entire water needs of the township comes from desalination plants. Infact, for quite a long time, the entire Jamnagar town got water from Mukesh Ambani’s desalination plant Can we not implement the same in Mumbai and other coastal areas?
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.org
Right time to accept failure
Common Wealth Games – Where are we heading ? Isn’t it the right time to accept failure?
India thought it was a great move to show off and seek the sponsorship for Common Wealth Games. Firstly, it was a wrong decision, as we needed to spend money on accommodating the huts and slums and poor people in NCR, and not on building pools and stadiums and secondly, India is not yet ready to host such events!!
Above all, it appointed a politician Suresh Kalmadi to Chair the same!!
It should be wise to raise hands and accept with the Common Wealth that, we are going to mess with this mega event, and we will face a bigger insult and cause inconvenience and shame for Delhi & Delhites at the cost of immediate priorities. Time to face the moment of truth. Politicians cannot handle even politics, then why give them performance & timelines driven events. We all know the real reason why every politician wants to head the sports body!!
I think , we again took a challenge thinking if China can host Olympics , why can’t India host the Common Wealth !! A wild dream for lethargic and corrupt politicians meddling in sports !!
Time to wake up Dr.Singh and Suresh Kalmadi !
India is 1/3rd of what it is made to believe -
We must consider accepting a new rule which i call the “1/3rd India rule”
It is so relevant & applicable to most of what we measure .
In India , 1/3rd of the population is beneficiary of reforms . 2/3rd still pays a price for negligence of 1/3rd
India has 1/3rd of its population living in urban India and the rest lives in rural India
India talks about 500 million cell phone subscribers . Actually, most of them are multiple / unused / dumped sim cards . So the actual number of users could be just approximately 1/3rd of the number projected In India
Rural per capita GDP is around 1/3rd of the per capita GDP in urban India Even the actual GDP growth is one third of what is shown by the government . If you see for 2009, Agriculture , forestry and fishing grew negative . These three sectors are the basic means of subsistence for 2/3rd of the population . But the government is just working for 1/3rd of the population ignoring a major chunk
Till we address SME , Agriculture and manufacturing , we will be subject to negative cycles
For most of the schems for upliftment , one third of the funds remain unused , which clearly proves that it is not lack of resources , but lack of governance which is dragging the nation backwards .
Last year during the recession , and this year due to inflation (exorbitant price rise) , India has pushed more people below the poverty line then we could have thought . Still the government says , India has been unaffected by recession? India still wants to increase the price of fuel ?? We must take our current policy makers to task and question them about the 1/3rd rule that is shaking the economy and dragging us backward . We are among the lucky 1/3rd of the privileged population . It is our duty to raise the standards of remaining 2/3rd .
Create wealth , increase employment – Shape up Dr.Manmohan Singh
14th February 2010
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
7, Race Course road,
New Delhi.110011
Sub : Some important issues that needs to be attended on priority
Dear Dr.Singh,
This note needs your esteem , kind and personal attention
I have written to you in the past on healthcare reforms agenda with a detailed note on what needs to be done. Through this note, I wish to draw your attention to broader topics that have a deeper impact on our all inclusive growth agenda and if attended properly, can result in more than 10 % GDP growth.
I have been watching the economy across sectors, government initiatives and speaking to people from all walks of life. I feel that it is the time to do an introspection , look carefully at the realities and take immediate corrective action. This letter might be a bit long for you to read, but it might be worth spending a few minutes .
We all know that India has been passing through a trying time . Last two years, we had a recession and it played havoc on our growth and also rural India. This year we are passing through one of the worst inflation & in not the very best of times. We had not fully recovered from recession when inflation hit us. Today, because of inflation, where the prices of essential food items is beyond the reach of 2/3rd of India’s population for its recommended daily calorific intake , we are slowly pushing people towards ‘Partial Starvation’. Exceptional circumstances require exceptional decisions .We need immediate intervention. I recently read that you formed a committee for price control. I had presumed that we must be already having a department for price monitoring & regulating supplies in the ministry of agriculture . It is high time that the current Minister for Agriculture is replaced and the right person is chosen for a very important job. A job that determines the lives of farmers (2/3rd of the population ) cannot be handling cricket and agriculture and also a political party (NCP is headed by Sharad ). He is dedicating just 1/3rd of his time to his ministry. Also, I see that firstly a wrong person was appointed and now he is wrongly blamed for food price hike ! It is an irony that as a Prime Minister , you are equally responsible for the situation that is created and the congress is just playing a blame game when millions of people are being pushed below the poverty line and death. If you see, Agriculture , forestry and fishing recorded negative growth in 2009 but I still don’t see proactive approach of the government . I know price rise is an urgent issue , but there is a more important issue ; Supply versus demand of agricultural products. You must take note of the statement issued by Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi , M.P. on 17th January about the sugar prices going up due to bulk allocation of the sugar produce to soft drink companies and chocolate manufacturers. I must state that these MNC’s take cheap raw material from Indian system and sell expensive drinks & chocolates to our people !! High time that they import their raw materials or produce them . Government must not let the common man pay a price for their products in such a manner . Also, let each state have a state farmers pricing authority that fixes the prices of common products till the next season based on regional produce , buffer stock and demand . No one should be allowed to trade in agricultural commodities , hoarding and speculative pricing
Fund utilization : I understand that CAG has stated in his latest report that most of the programs that were announced have not used the funds allocated to them . So, in all, the government’s commitment and efficiency is put to a serious question.
Recently , i also learned that the plan is to discontinue the NUHM ( National Urban Health Mission ). This shows clearly that either the projects are not thoroughly planned or not properly executed. Infact, it is a truth that major projects do not cross the announcements stage and do not go beyond the paper work
Some of the action points I feel are important are mentioned herewith & I would like you to act on them or let me know your views :
Employment generation : It is high time that the government thinks about increasing employment and earnings to raise the GDP numbers of the nation. All I see from the statements of your finance minister is that the tax collections have gone up or missed their targets . So , are we confusing the portfolio of finance minister with Union Minister for tax collections ? There is no wealth generation happening in the country . Whatever we have we are depleting our resources . You can privatise our PSU’s , Banks etc and reduce our deficit for the next 2-3 years . What will you sell after that ? We will go back to the World Bank & IMF for loans ? We need to create wealth for rural masses and for India . This is the precursor for an All inclusive growth. NAREGA is a bottomless pit and there are suspicions that this scheme is used to rehabilitate political workers for the ruling party. Please understand the seriousness of the situation and act . We need wealth creation strategies .
Here are suggestions of some of the means to create employment opportunities in India in the existing government set up.
Post offices : India has 155,000 post offices( Check http://www.indiapost.gov.in/New_Code.pdf ) . Whereas , it might be worthwhile to implement PAL code instead of PIN code but it more important to create 1 million employment opportunities out of this network. Just think, Post offices remain open from morning to evening on weekdays, they are closed after 5 PM ( Except the 24 hour post offices ), and on weekends and holidays . If we gave an opportunity to college going students and unemployed youth to provide some basic services of post offices which do not have a time bound delivery like selling stamps etc from their residence, and they can work on some commission or may be , take a surcharge for the convenience offered say @ 10 %. We can create a minimum of one million jobs @ home
Passport : Let us look at appointing government authorised agents for each pin code at least in urban and semi urban India , and let people use their services . This gives the citizens the convenience to get things done locally and they will be willing to pay a little more for their comfort , and this will also create additional jobs . People can work from their home .
Bill payment : Bill payment agents can be appointed by the government and these can be the people who can operate from their residence and get a commission on bill payments
RTO : Learning license should not be issued by RTO because people actually don’t know driving when they apply for the new or driving license . Like I mentioned in the above 3 options , people can get their temporary driving license or their learners license from these approved agents and then go to the nearest RTO and give a test to get the permanent license . This will free up a lot of people at RTO from the job of learners license and the proceed of issuing the permanent driving license can be speeded up as well.
Train tickets : Why should only railway stations issue tickets ( Only reservation is available online , normal tickets are still procured from the local station booking counter ). Say even for local trains in Mumbai. There are around 79 sub-urban stations and people should have the comfort to buy a local train ticket at their comfort in their locality , and step in to board the train at the station . This will ease the queue at the stations and people will not hurry up and get tense reaching the station and buying the tickets and then boarding the train
Forms for different office work should be sold by such agents @home .
India is the global capital in Information Technology. We can have MPRSO’s ( Multi-Purpose Resident Service Officers ), who operate from their homes and provide services 24 X 7. It is do-able . We need political will , rest is possible
Indian Restaurants abroad : The world is turning towards vegetarian food and we have an opportunity to open restaurants abroad , create the India brand abroad and win the hearts of people and feed them healthy Indian food. Indian dishes are relished in U.K. / U.S etc . Same is possible for Indian herbs & Ayurveda , Yoga schools , mediation etc . These opportunities create employment , wealth , and do brand building for India
Tourism : India has tremendous potential and the irony is that , it remains to be ‘Potential’. Giving advertisements in newspapers does not help. Major tourism destinations have terrible infrastructure and poor connectivity
Organic food presents a great opportunity for farmers , industry and India . We are missing a multi –billion dollar opportunity . If we work on this , I see that some farmers in every state can earn enough to have their own helicopters to spray insecticides etc and drive BMW’s . Today , even after 62 years of Independence , when we think of farmers , the image that we get is that of an ill clad , dark skinned , white bearded old age person looking at the sky . We must live up to the fact that ‘ Farmers of the nation are the fathers of the nation’ and give top most priority to the sector. Government must allot land to the tillers. When government can acquire land for SEZ for big business houses why not for landless farmers !!
SEZ should not be allowed. No more development should be allowed in already crowded towns . New towns should be built in remotest part of the country .
Courier Service : Government must start courier service as a PPP with existing players or with unemployed youth . This can create lacs of jobs across India .
There is a lesson to learn from Dubai. The vision of one man could convert a desert into a business and tourism hub ( Though they overdid it !! ). People from all over the world go to Dubai . India has a desert ( We too can have a desert safari ) and our products are cheapest . So we can have a shopping festival and our Duty free can be the cheapest in the world . But unfortunately , our politicians are ‘Duty Free’ !
Youth : We have reduced the age for voting and increased the age for retirement but no one thinks about lowering the age for employment . India is yet to ratify the minimum age convention ( No.138 ) of the International Labour Organization (ILO ). Rahul must rethink about the call to youth to join politics at young age and change the politics .Rahul has been running around the country to do that- I find this call quite ridiculous ! While Congress party is in power why are your people asking the poor Indians to join politics ? You run the government, and can change the things the way you want ! I would say let the youth do their jobs and let you do your job rightly. Please do not drag people for doing what you have already been voted for doing . Only message that you, or for that sake any politician must give is to ‘vote’ during elections and keep a watch on the tax payers money.
Remember it is not the defence, technology , Industry, SME , agriculture that will take the nation to the next level of growth, but it is the power of the youth that will push the nation ahead on 10 + % growth per year and we can do it only by empowering the youth with employment and wealth creation opportunities .
Today , every youth is disturbed by competitiveness and lack of options after doing hard work at school and college . Students are committing suicides . Please control the same . Those who are not committing suicides live worse lives .
Agriculture supports more than 65 % of the population but government still has a casual approach towards agriculture . In 2009, agriculture , forestry and fisheries grew negatively . If this sector can grow 4 % , the overall economy will grow more than 10 % . Which will be an all inclusive growth . Government spending in agriculture is neither planned and neither committed . Occasional waver of loans does partially solve the problems of the past but does not open opportunities for the future .
Foreign policy : We do not have a single friendly neighbour . All our neighbours are hostile.
Our relations with the three big world powers are on a shaky ground . Recent statements made by Barack has created a lot of unrest in the IT & BPO industry. We are failing in our foreign policy
Internal security : Blasts in Pune and continuous increase in infiltration are not a good omen . Some areas of the country are not under the control of the government . Go and see in Darjeeling & Maoists areas which is approximately 1/6th of the nation . They run their rule of law . Police and politicians fear treading into their territory .
Healthcare : I will not mention much about what needs to be done as i have already written to you about the same in November 2009. (Link http://rajendragupta.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/india-needs-massive-healthcare-reforms-rajendra-pratap-gupta/ .I read that the Ministry of Health & Ministry of Railways are working on setting up hospitals on railway land near stations . I believe that this is not the best option, as some of the medical equipments need pin drop silence ( For Electron Microscope , the doctors even have to stop their breath for a second to avoid any noise for the sake of accurate results ). Please drop this plan . Else , there could be more harm than general good . Remember bad decisions taken with good intentions are still bad decisions !!
You are building six AIIMS like institutes ,but you are not even able to control the exits from AIIMS ? AIIMS has become a center of excellence due to its intellectual wealth and not due its buildings or medical equipments . You must realise this point . There is no fun spending thousands of Crores from our money ( taxes that we pay ) for things that you will not be able to manage . Work out alternatives, or go back to the drawing board .
I don’t see that the government has concrete plans for healthcare . Ideally , along with six AIIMS , government should have set up National Research & Resource Center for Diabetes, Similar centres for Epidemiology , CVD , Arthritis , mental health , Telehealth etc. Healthcare is becoming expensive due to the high cost of equipments. MRI costs a few thousand due to our lack of technical R&D . Our health minister must push more funds & incentives for research for technical & clinical R&D. This one factor will drive down the cost of diagnostics . Retail margins must be increased from 20 to 25 % for pharmacies so that the storage conditions can improve and the public can take medicines that are efficacious . Still you can drive down the cost of medications by asking doctors to write just generic medications. Please refer my earlier note on healthcare reforms sent to your office in November 2009.
Legal System or Judiciary ? : I will quote CJI , Justice K.G Balakrishanan , who apprehends public revolt because of delayed justice with an every –increasing back log . He once said ; For many , real life is different from reel life . Our judicial system has become an adjournment based judicial system . Parties take stay order in initial date , and then never care to allow the case to proceed by seeking adjournments on one excuse or the other
My personal view is that , we do not have a judicial system at all. What we have is a legal system that works for the benefit of lawyers ,criminals & politicians in power. We can safely say that the current CJI will be sitting on some assignment after retirement. Similarly , we can say the same about our Chief Election Commissioner or the Chief of Armed forces or the Chief of CBI etc. The possible rehabilitation after retirement in return for their political obedience and return gifts.
Judicial system is one that not only acquits or convicts but delivers justice . Our judicial system delivers only incomplete judgements about either conviction or about acquittal ; mostly about acquittal. I will quote two cases for your better understanding
Jessica lall murder case : The judgement that came can be safely concluded as that ‘No one killed Jessica ‘ . This is what it meant when it acquitted the so called ‘Suspects’. Ideally a judicial system should have stated that Jessica was killed by ———– and he is found guilty and convicted . Stating that the suspect was not guilty and freed, the judiciary did not state who killed Jessica ? Why at all we call ‘Black coats’ as ‘Judges’ or ‘Justice’ ? . You cannot call it a judicial system !! It is a legal system where all can argue but outcome is one ‘Justice delayed if not denied or both in most of the cases’.
Second case – Babri Masjid : It took few hours to demolish the mosque with all video clippings and it took 17 years to figure out who did it ? It took seventeen years for Justice Liberhan to deliver his ‘TRASH Report’ on the demolition of Babri Masjid. While a lot of finger pointing is being done at Raji Gandhi who did the Shilanyas in 1989 and opened the doors to the problem , then it comes to the turn of P.V.Narasmiha Rao, during whose ‘Rule’ the Masjid was demolished and lastly, comes the names of politicians like Atal Behari Vajpayee , Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi and Shri L.K.Advani et al. From different political perspectives , you can blame all of them or either of them !! History is always written by who wins the war !! This time the history was written by ——————-( Anyone’s Guess ) !!
Over the last few weeks i have followed the Liberhan Commission report , the discussions and the writings in the media about the blame game on this Babri Demolition . If i were Justice M.S.Liberhan , i would have concluded my report in just three lines .
When love fails , people resort to justice ,
When justice fails people resort to power,
When power fails , people resort to violence
My understanding is that ,the Babri Masjid case has been running for decades. What the hell was judiciary doing for all these years ? Had they decided the case , the people would not have taken the law in their hands . History has proven that whenever law fails to deliver justice on time , people lose patience and take the law in their hands . So I would say that , neither Congress nor BJP nor Kar sevaks nor the politics of this nation was responsible for the demolition of the Babri Masjid . It was the failure of the Indian Judicial system that led to the demolition. I have been reading that our CJI has been asking for reimbursements for his wife’s bill who travelled with him abroad. Shame on him ! India is running a huge budgetary deficit and the government is following an austerity drive . CJI must understand that his legal system is a sham when it comes to efficiency but he has the temerity to demand allowances from a government in deficit . On the contrary , he should not have taken his spouse with him under the current circumstances and given up the cabinet status enjoyed by him as CJI .
RTI : We must move RTI online and provide information by email as well. Why should I have to go to a post office to give my form . Get an online payment gateway so that the people can use online application and get an online form . The process saves hassles of travel ( Fuel cost ), Paper ( Eco friendly ) and time .
Role of ministers : We have approximately 100 people who work as union ministers and it is their responsibility under your leadership to run this nation as per the mandate of the people.
Delay of the 3G auction has cost our tax payers a loss of approximately Rs. 7000.00 crore. Read this : http://rajendragupta.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/vulgar-salaries-indian-corporate-world/I would say that the basic responsibility of each and every minster should be measured on few Key parameters every six months against targets set for each . Incase people fail thrice, remove them. They cannot be wasting our money.
- Wealth creation – ironically no ministry works for it . Please don’t take divestment as wealth creation !
- Job creation
- Managing expenditure
- Regulation , controls & reputation ( Brand building for India )
- Protecting the citizens
- Enhancing the international foot print of their respective ministries as applicable .
- All the above should be self-sustaining and the ministers must spend half of their work time amidst the public and not in the comforts of their AC cabins and cars.
Charitable public work cannot be a long term plan. It can at best work as a short time gimmick which costs exorbitant to the exchequer and loss to the citizens ; in a sense it is like a bottomless pit . One must remember that , any investment that does not build assets or results in outcomes that positively impact the future become ‘case studies of fraud, faulty implementation and finally, failure ‘
Dr.Singh, you are known for knowledge ,integrity and obedience to 10 Janpath . But that is no measure of your performance. I tried to rate you on the following parameters as a Prime Minister of India on a 10 marks report card for each of the following key performance Indicators:
- Performance on national integrity & Secularism: 00/10 ( India is fast becoming regional – A dangerous sign that can split India )
- Performance on Preparedness for war – defence capability – 2/10
- Performance on population control : 00/10
- Performance on forecasting , identifying key priorities : 00/10 .
- Performance on preparation and pro-activeness of the government for unforeseen contingencies : 00/10
- Performance on action time from the time of identification of problem : 3/10.
- Performance on Team work : 5 /10 .
- Performance on foreign policy : 0.5 /10 ( 0.5 marks for signing the nuclear deal )
- Performance on law and order at home : 2 /10
- Performance on planning , fund allocation and utilization : 2/10
- Performance on enhancing the competitiveness of Indian industry & exports : 2/10
- Performance on making India’s voice heard in the global affairs : 3/10
- Performance on rural upliftment – farmers , rural infrastructure : 3/10
- Performance on healthcare : 2/10
- Performance on delivery of justice : 00 /10
- Performance on Raising funds from divestment, issue of Telecom licenses : 1/10
- Performance on wealth creation in India : 00 /10
- Performance on brand building for India : 1/10
- Performance on climate change : 00 /10
- Performance on empowerment of youth : 1/10
- Performance on women welfare : 1/10
- Performance on long term planning : 00 /10 ( Infact, there is no plan )
- Performance on budget / deficit : 2 /10
- Performance on approvals / industry : 3/10
- Performance on SME : 2/10
- Performance on Education reforms and capacity building including vocational courses : 2/10
- Performance on infrastructure creation & new towns : 1/ 10
- Performance on curbing corruption : 00 /10
- Performance evaluation of the team / reports : 00 /10
- Performance on transparency & accountability of public servants and representatives : 00/10
- Performance on public perception : 2 /10 ( This was much higher before elections in 2009 )
- Overall performance versus commitment & mandate : 1.5 /10
Dr.Singh , i believe that leadership is performance and you are failing badly. Time to shape up !! Good image is not performance !I am not surprised as your team of advisors lack ‘common man’ and internal critiques . You have advisors who are out of touch with reality . Correct this immediately .
As a honest tax payer , it is my duty to seek answers from the people who use our money and run the ministries and as bureaucrats . Every minute you people spend in your office or every inch that you move is funded by money collected as tax from people like us . I need your response
Please respond at your convenience . Should you require any details , feel free to connect . This is an environmental friendly mail and so not sending a hard copy
Best wishes & with warm regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.org
Cell : +91 9 22 33 44 542
Sanctity and accountability is missing in the Budget – Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Yesterday, i was invited by the Ministry of Finance for an interactive discussion with the Finance Minister . I asked him the following question :
Question :
Pranab Da, Sanctity and accountability is slightly fading with every budget presented before the people . If we consider the fact that government announces many programs and schemes and delivers partially on a few . Example is the NUHM ( National Urban Health Mission ) which was announced in earlier budget with an allocation of Rs. 50 crore . The money was not used and the program is shelved now
Also , the Telecom minister has failed to allocate the 3G spectrum for almost two years which could have fetched us Rs.30,000.00 Crore. The market interest loss is in itself approximately Rs. 3000.00 and Pranab Da you had to add 8 more services to garner an additional Rs.3000 crore this year for taxes. So are we paying for the inefficiency of the people at the helm of affairs ?
Also, You can divest the PSU’s to fulfil the shortfall for your generation and for raising funds , what will be left for our generation to sell with such a widening revenue and budget deficits ?
It is our ( tax payer’s ) money, and i need an answer as to what steps the government will take to ensure the accountability of the people at the helms of affairs and the sanctity of the budget . So that my money ( taxes ) are used productively for the progress of the nation ?
Pranab Da was quite taken aback with such a question but he did reply in detail and admitted that there has been gaps , and that a lot needs to be done
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.org
Organized racket looting poor passengers at International Airports
Shri S.M.Krishna / Mr.Shashi Tharoor,
Ministry of External Affairs
Government of India New Delhi
Subject : Poor / Illterate international passengers being looted every day at Mumbai & other airports
In the above quoted reference , you might be quite surprised as ‘Air passengers’ are not expected to be ‘Poor & Illiterate’ !! Yes , the fact is that the thousands of poor Indians that travel to UAE / Middle East countries for menial jobs every day & are both ‘Poor’ & ‘illiterate’ ( Some know how to read and write Hindi but for Ministry of Foreign Affairs , they are illiterate as it still prints the immigration form only in English ! )
Let me appraise our ‘Twitter savvy’ minister and his superiors in power that, i have been observing that people travelling especially as labourers ( Poor & Illiterate )have to pay between Rs.20 to Rs.60 to fill the immigration form at the Mumbai international airport . I have witnessed this several times . Our politicians are fighting for local language being spoken in Maharashtra but our immigration form is not even in our national language spoken by Majority – Hindi ( I do not know if deliberately the forms are only made available in English, so that the poor people have to use the services of ‘Touts’ who charge for each form being filled . I tried to help some poor / illiterate people by filing their form but i have limitations with time so as to catch my flight .
I find these poor people are literally begging these touts to negotiate the price for filling the form .
Once i heard the ‘tout’ telling the poor traveller that, “he had to also pay to enter the airport to offer these services, so he cannot charge less ” !!
What security are you talking our Hon’ble PM / HM ? If ‘Touts’ can find an entry to the international airport ……………..rest is at the mercy of the terrorists !
Suggestion :
1. Please start a counter at all the international airports ( i am sure that this must be an organized racket in all international airports and not just in Mumbai ) for these poor labourers who leave their loved ones to do menial jobs to keep their kitchen fires burning . They are ‘robbed’ even before they leave their country at the airport !!
2. Also, please print the immigration forms in Hindi and local languages 3.
Poor are never heard. I am speaking for them. Please act immediately and respond to this email.
Do not forget to raid the airports and suspend the corrupt directors of these airports immediately
Best wishes
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.org
Budget or Fudget ?
Thanks Paridhi for regularly reading my blogs and your comments . Regarding your observation on the price rise . Why i am not convinced that this was the best step is because :
People like you and me do not make 1.2 Billion people . We are amongst the 5 % of the population who can afford a Rs.2 increase in the price or may be even more
- For farmers in India , the input cost has gone up for their daily livelihood with subsidies going down . Their cost of living is going up due to inflation, that is going up. Recently , due to hike in fuel prices , the transporters have increased their rates by 15 %. This will be passed on to the consumers . I always hear a famous line from C.K.Prahalad – ‘fortune at the bottom of the pyramid ‘. I must say after this budget , i would call it ‘Unfortunate at the bottom of the pyramid’ . Imagine the lives of such people who would hot have even seen a Rs.500 note ? Who do not know if they will have a meal tonight ? Who are shivering in cold but know that no one will help them with a blanket ? Life is not as easy as you read in the Economic Times of the Times of India ? It is a ‘hell across the bottom of the pyramid’
- NAREGA has worked well for congress and helped it come back to power. As NAREGA was used to legally pay for who vote for congress . People should know the real intent of this scheme . Congress found a clever way to buy voters- No wonder the allocation has been increased for such so called ‘Social schemes’. I am not against congress or its leadership. I am just putting my point across for them to stop saying that out of Rs.100 meant for the poor only Rs. 10 reaches them ? Why ? This statement was made by Rajive Gandhi in 1980’s . So after being in power for 25 years , Congress has not addressed this question !
- Pranab Da is the finance minister is for the urban areas , for rural India , he can be rightly called the ‘Famine Minister’. Due to his policies , the so called BPL families are living in the same condition that prevail during the famines . Showing increase in taxes does not pave the way for a prosperous nation . I have seen on 27th Feb at Delhi how industrialists behave like Sycophants, and shower heaps of praises on the Finance Minister seeking favours for the industry, and they are not even a bit concerned about the nation
- Instead of addressing the needs of the ‘Common Man’ . The definition of the common man has been redefined . Anyone earning above Rs.3 Lac / year is a common man as the budget has gone all out to appease him with the best possible
Instead of budget , it will call it ‘Fudget’ – a fudging of figures in the name of budget.
Please feel free to share your views, and i shall attempt to answer them with my little knowledge & understanding .
Best regards
Rajendra
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Mobile:
India + 91 9223344542
USA + 1515-966-6557
+ 1515-450-8036
UAE + 971-553121829
Email: office@rajendragupta.org
office.rajendra@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/rajendragupta
e-Health & Adoption Incentives
Adoption of e-Health
Today i was attending the Joint Round Table on Communication Policy – eHealth in India
I made a few comments and they were accepted by the Round Table, and will be presented to the Hon’ble Union Minister for Health , Dr Dinesh Trivedi & the Planning commission on Monday , 8th March 2010
My view was that if the government tied up with private players like TCS, Infosys , Cognizant ( or anyone ) and worked out a nationwide uniform solution for eHealth for the practising doctors and nurses , it could transform the healthcare system in many ways
- The government can bear the cost of the software ( Entire solution- i am not a techie so cannot spell the exact terminology !! ) and give it free to doctors who wish to get on this platform within the next three years . This will help a faster adoption of the EMR or the eHealth platform . After three years , the doctors will be charged for the program on the market cost . Here the disincentive will work as the incentive
- The government can negotiate the rate with the hardware vendors for doctors who wish to install the hardware. This way , the doctors will get a better deal
- This eHealth can start with 40 metros and finally drive down to smaller towns and finally to every doctors
- This will check fake doctors . As only registered / qualified doctors will be given login id / password . The patient can even identify the fake doctors
- This will get the government the actual number of doctors working in India in each geography. This will help government map the ‘gap’ areas and post government doctors in those areas or initiate PPP in those select areas on priority
- With the doctors details resting on the central database , i can simply SMS to a number and get the details of the nearest doctor to my pin code . Pin code mapping will get government and patient the correct picture of the practitioners in the area
- Patient database can be used for patient education and immunization of children in an effective manner . Since patient’s medical and allergy history will be available , the medication errors will minimize to a large extent and the treatment will become more outcome and compliance driven .
- Spurious drugs can also be tackled to some extent
- Medical history / patient record can be made mobile / universally accessible
- This will empower the patient for referral / changing his doctor . The patient might not be required to repeat the same tests if he changes the doctor in a short time , as all the tests might be available online for a similar treatment
My view is doctors are not adopting to EMR – eHealth, as most of the dealings are in cash and there is no record of how many patient the doctor sees per day. With this one uniform system , the government’s tax collection will zoom . Thereby making the entire policy change a zero sum game for the government . The government will make money by selling the software to doctors who come on this system after three years , and also by increased tax collection for recording each patient on the central database .
Worth adopting this !!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.org
Budget , Governance & Political leadership
Budget , Governance & Political leadership
Few important points :
Paridhi : Here is the answer on how budget could have been better: Besides ,there are many other points that i have covered based on queries from other Blog subscribers
1. If the budget was not just a statement of account or an announcement . All the investments should be related to quantifiable outcomes
2. What will 37 % investment in infrastructure lead to ? How many jobs ? How much time will it take ? Were there any other opportunities that can have a better ROD ( Return on decision ?? )
3. If the PSU will get divested , what is the return on Divestment (ROD ). When you divest, you are giving away profits to the investor forever . How much profit will we give away because of divestment ? one is the ROD ( Return on divestment ) or the cost of divestment ( COD ) over the next 10 years & the last is the Return on Opportunity loss ( ROOL ) .
4. Every year 3 % of the population ( 30 million ) go below the poverty line due to healthcare costs . Last year due to recession , at least 3 % more would have gone down below the poverty line + 1.55 % annual population growth rate adds another 15.5 million people to India every year . Where does the budget put in place these numbers and the plan to address the needs of additional 75.5 Million people ? . Can we call the current budget without such considerations & provisions an all-inclusive budget ?
5. Budget should also give an account of the last year’s budget versus achievement and also state how many plans have been shelved and what is the amount that has been unused by the various departments . So that we can ensure the sanctity of the budget and the accountability of the people at the helm of affairs
6. On one side we are talking of revenue / budget deficit , on the other side , we have given a 30 year tax holiday to SEZ ? What is the logic ?
7. Over Rs.6 Lac crore worth of Black money is lying in the banks . Government should promise the people that the money will be brought back to the country in the next few years . This should actually cover the revenue deficit
8. The current budget is provoking budget for Naxalites . Naxalites strives on poverty and poverty thrives on poor governance
9. If the government wants to increase spending for employment generation , it must pass a rule that from 2015, any company bidding for government tenders should have a manufacturing base in India to cater to 50 % of the delivery of products and services
from its Indian company . This will fuel large-scale investments and generate phenomenal employment opportunities .
10. The budget must have allocated money for solar energy in Rajasthan and for villages that still do not have electricity
11. Pentakota in Orissa has one school for 40,000. We need one university and 15 -30 schools in that town. Such things should be considered if we talk about all-inclusive growth .
12. It will take 320 years to clear the judicial back log, Every Indian judge has a load of about 2147 cases. This must be addressed or else i might consider becoming a hard core criminal than writing such emails expecting a change . Simply because my case would beyond 2147 and it will never get settled in my lifetime at least !!
India has the biggest problem with the average age of the political leadership that is a big disadvantage seeing the average age of Indians . The ratio’s are out of sync . Age of political leadership should match the national age group . I am totally against reservation that divides the society and the nation. The best thing would be to provide financial and institutional support to those who need and may be get 50 % of the youth in government ( without any reservation )to lead this nation’s political agenda
. RESERVATION PROVES THAT PEOPLE AT THE HELM OF AFFIARS ARE NOT WILLFULLY WANTING TO CHANGE AND NEED LAWS TO ENSURE THAT CHANGE HAPPENS BY FORCE !
WHY RESERVATION FOR WOMEN ? GIVE THEM 50 % TICKETS TO FIGHT ELECTIONS ON YOUR WILL
See the case of 3G spectrum : few questions .
Why are we launching 3G. Can we not move directly to 4G ? Smaller countries like Sri Lanka started 3 G five years ago. Why are we so late ? It could be a better decision to move directly to 4G . Government wants to collect more than Rs.30,000.00 crore. But it has not stated what is the benefit of 3G for the investor over the next 5 years . What is the life cycle (Span )of 3G, when the 4 G comes , what will the players do then ? This could prove to be very costly and killer for some of the telecom players. India is still a voice driven cell phone market .
2. Why India should have 16 circles . Why not one India . USA has single geography for its mobile user
3. I personally believe that 3 G will hit the telecom companies mercilessly . It might lead to losses and mergers & finally consolidation amongst telecom companies in India
In India , i believe that the basic problem is ‘powerful announcements and powerless execution’
Corruption & leakage is leading to a black money economy : Why it is that giving bribe is a crime ? No one gives bribe willingly . It is only a choice-less option when you are pushed against the wall . We need to encourage people to report bribing . But seems that the current law is to protect and patronizing bribe takers. The law must be amended with a clause that giving bribe is not a crime as long as it is reported with the vigilance authorities after the bribe has met its purpose. This will help ensure that the work will get done and the person taking bribe can be brought to the book. We must encourage people to come out and report without the fear of getting caught and that their genuine work does not stop !
China – India : Politicians in India are trying to ape china . The fact is that, a few decades from now China will be a big economy and an old nation. India is not a big economy now but is a young nation today and we will lose our Future demographic advantage (FAD ), if our politicians do not act with right policies now .
We are a victim of a good government , but poor governance .
Vscan – Please do not launch in India
Mr.V Raja,
President -South Asia – GE
Dear Mr. Raja,
Trust this finds you doing good.
This mail is regarding the Vscan product that GE is planning to launch in the Indian market .
I have been always appreciative of the latest technology that GE has brought to the Indian market and helped millions across the nation . GE , under your excellent leadership has also set up the PPP models that are a good start for our healthcare system
I have some serious reservations about this product Vscan & that i must share the concerns with your good selves . In fact , i believe that Vscan is an absolutely fantastic product for the rural masses and for physicians in general, if we are able to prevent the misuse of this wonderful piece of portable technology !!
I might be wrong in my assumption, but this is what i wish to share and humbly submit to your company – GE If Vscan can be used for Sex determination in a handy manner by unscrupulous doctors etc. It will adversely impact the use of this technology and go against the interest of the society .
I might be wrong in my assumptions on the capability of this beautiful device, but this is what i fear will happen and since the device is portable , it can be disastrous for the nation and the female births .
If the Vscan can identify the sex as in the case of the sonography machines , please do not launch the product in India
I hope that you will take this email in the right perspective and do the needful in the larger interest of the society as a responsible corporation
With best regards
Rajendra
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President & Director
Disease Management Association of India
Mobile: India + 91 9223344542
Judiciary, Diplomacy and political leadership of the nation will be tested soon
The recent confessions of David Coleman Headley about his involvement in 26/11 proves his guilt . With this , India must seek David Coleman Headley and Tahawuur Rana’s extradition for trail in India . Both David & Tahawuur have committed an offence on Indian soil and there is no reason for India to give up the demand . If America does not extradite David Coleman Headley and Tahawuur Rana to India , it would mean the failure of Judiciary, Diplomacy and political leadership in India
India created NIA after 26/11 along with a lot of show biz and media hype to show that India is committed to fight terror. India needs David and Tahawuur more than the nuclear deal from America
I am sure that India will get to try and execute these gruesome offenders soon on Indian soil as per the law of the land .
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.org
Growth, Recession & Realities
Dear Blog Readers,
Thanks for your continuous feedback .
I am attempting to address the issues that you have talked about .
Over the last few months, i have been reading a lot about inflation , double digit growth and so on………………..
We need to understand the real issues a little deeper and better if we wish to do something worthwhile for this nation
Consider the following :
A few decades back , government thought that nationalization was in the best interest of this nation and it nationalised the airlines , banks etc…….Now after a few decades , privatization is considered in the best interest of the nation !!!
The government was cursing the huge population in 80”s and termed it as ‘Population Explosion’ . Now the government is talking of the demographic dividend , because everyone across the world is talking about the same ! We are having the government that does not have original ideas but have copy cat versions or China inspired & induced growth !
What is the government doing to convert ‘No productivity jobs into low productivity jobs and finally into high productivity jobs’ Every district should focus on productivity . People do not reason the government and never questions the actions and government even does not know if it is doing the right things .
Look at these facts
Between 2010 and 2020, India will add 120 million people in the ‘working age population’ . It will also add 43 Million senior citizens to its population . Does the government have a concrete plan to address this ?
If we do not plan for 120 million people that we are adding to the working age population , we will be provoking between 10-30 % of them into naxalites or anti-social elements . Imagine , 12-36 million gun wielding naxalites !!
If there is no growth , it does not lead to poverty . It either leads to ill health & evil minds . Which is more disastrous than poverty In the next 10 years , some parts of India will become more developed than they are today. We will become a more materialistic nation in places like Mumbai , Goregaon , Bangalore , Pune etc…………….. Media would have exposed this ‘Have not’s’ to this material world .This will lead to aspirations in youth for a better life style, and with no means to make it to this elite league with legitimate means , the criminal route to making money will lead to more extortion , more drug lords and criminals in politics – GDP growth can be 8.5 % or 10 % but criminal activity will growth much faster under such conditions . There is no doubt on this . India will become a naxalite factory and will surpass Pakistan in producing anti-social elements
GDP attributable to agriculture is de-growing , GDP attributable to services and industry is growing . Agriculture not only supports 57 % of the work force & has low productivity per capita but has to feed the 1.2 Billion population else , we know the triple digit inflation that will strike India by 2050.
Agricultural productivity can go up if we bring down the cost of logistics from the current of 16 %. Worldwide , it is around 9 % …………. Government must plan in detail how to boost the agricultural productivity
We are treading a difficult path and the “demographic dividend will become a ‘demographic disaster’ or the ‘Demographic bomb’.
People with many educational degrees ( Indian experts from USA recruited by the government as advisors ) are working for people with no degrees (poor population ) . So they do not identify the real problem leave alone addressing the issues . Recently , i have heard about the food coupons being distributed to the BPL families . What a joke ? BPL people do not know how to read and write & also this is bound to be misused ( 10 paisa of every 10 rupees will reach the BPL families )
Few fundamentals have to change .
India has not to change , Indians have to change .
Made in India has to become made in ‘rural India’
We are talking of CSR ( Corporate Social Responsibility ) but what we need is ISR –(Individual’s Social Responsibility )
We are all talking of divestment . The government is looking to raise Rs.40,000.00 crore through divestment but why is government not looking at investing back 10 % of the divestment money to build another PSU that can yield returns disproportionate on its investments ? How about setting up the Solar Energy Corporation of India or the Hydro Power corporation of India ? Build them now . Don’t just sell
Governments tax collection targets have been missed by around Rs. 40000 crore, i am sure that divestment target is also going to be missed !! Where will be the GDP deficit be in 2011-12 ?
Indian government has not just to create jobs ( employment ) but also create entrepreneurs . It has to think inside the box only ( forget out of box ). Imagine , if different cities with tourism potential start training tourist guides , taxi drivers and listing them on a central website . People travelling to these towns can avail the services of the government approved guides at the pre-decided rates & can pay in advance through the website . The money can be transferred electronically directly to the service provider after a referral cut ( government can retail 20 % & transfer 80 % money). Safety & savings for tourists and income for self employed people .
Back to my favourite recession & India :
Why did recession in the USA / Europe not affect India so much Or you all believed that government was able to protect India from recession effectively ? Think about this report
Times of India , 17th March 2010. According to the WHO – UNICEF report ,58 % of all the people in the world who defecate in the open are in India . 638 Million people in India have no access to toilets . Will India, with such living conditions ever get effected by recession ? The same government could not control inflation . Imagine how they can control affects of recession – they faked the efforts and impacts and we all believed it like fools !
In 62 years after Independence , we have more than 60 % population having no access to ( toilets ) hygiene , 2/3rd of the population living in absolute poverty , 1/6th of the nation living in naxalites controlled areas . And we are already a “recession proof” India . Entire India has still not felt the impact of growth except a few urban towns , so recession hitting us is a joke ?
By the way , next few days will show India conquering the world as ‘ BHARTI is acquiring an African Telecom Giant’. Read all the headlines …………………………..
While you read these headlines , more than 50 % of India will go to sleep without a meal ………………………..
And also, according to the government , the austerity drive for Indian government is over & our babu’s and politico’s can fly business class, so finally , India is out of recession & on a high growth phase
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : Office@rajendragupta.org
from CSR to ISR
Thanks Paritosh,
Keep up your good work. I hope that the article is as per your request on the issue of Naxalites . Though , i have covered other issues as well.
Here is what i want to do next . Your newsletter reaches out to 2 lac people . Let’s bounce this to them and build upon this
For a prosperous India – Fixing accountability is the biggest challenge and how we can address it
All the money that we pay as taxes is frolicked by these politicians without any questioning or accountability
Consider these examples :
- Air India & Indian airlines ( NACIL ) will lose this year Rs. 4500 crore . Does the public realise that we will pay for these loses from our pocket as increased taxes on our fuel , service tax , property tax etc ? The parliamentary committee has asked the Ministry to pay for these loses as they have resulted from a wrong decision to merge these two incompatible airlines . Should we not sell it off to avoid thousands of Crores as loses ?
- BSNL will lose a lot of money this year . While all private telecom players are making money and some are even open to acquiring foreign telecom companies . Why is BSNL losing money ? What has the government done to make it profitable ?
- Dr. Manmohan Singh , Our ‘honest but inefficient’ PM & his team delayed the auction of the 3G spectrum by almost two years which would fetch our nation some Rs.30,000.00 crore. This delay caused our nation a loss of atleast Rs.6000.00 Crores . Now imagine that it was just an action of air waves with no hard infrastructure to be built in ? This year 8 new services were added in the budget to raise another Rs.3000 crore . We as citizens will pay newer and more taxes for the inefficiency of these leaders ? Who is responsible for this loss to the citizens ?
- 7 out of 11 major projects announced by Mamta Banerjee have been given to West Bengal . This is when it will take another five years to connect the nation by railways ? No one asked her to justify the reasoning behind such an allocation !!
- Last year , in the budget , the health minister announced National Urban Health Mission and allocated money for the same . This year , the project was shelved . Why was this announced in the first place ? No one has questioned why it was shelved
- Austerity drive for the bureaucrats & political leaders is over . Now they can travel business class. On what basis has this decision been taken when we are falling short of budgeted revenue by thousands of Crores ? Public does not realise that it is our hard earned money that is being wasted. Domestic travel is on an average an 2 hours flight . Why should business class be offered at all. Infact, it should only be Economy class
- Mayawati is installing statues from the money that people like you and me pay as taxes.
- All ministers spend the largesse in their home constituency , while they represent the nation . They are biased . Why are they not questioned and removed ?
Now the question is , do these politicians realise that it is not their personal money ?
Most importantly , do the people know that directly or indirectly we are paying for all this from our hard earned money ? It is the money we pay as taxes that goes in such spending .
Every minute a politicians remains in office and every inch he or she moves , is funded by our money . Why do we not hold them accountable ?
I think , we need to form a tax payers association and ask these reckless spenders on everything they do that is a loss to us ?
We are paying more for food , fuels and more taxes with every year passing by, but there is no improvement in our lives . Nation is plagued by ‘Powerful announcement and powerless execution’
We cannot take all this with our eyes open and mouths closed.
Let us initiate the ‘Tax Payers Association’ and create education , awareness about all these and fix the accountability . Let’s fix this inefficient and corrupt national leadership . it is time to change ‘CSR – Corporate social responsibility ‘ into ISR – ‘Individual’s social responsibility’
It is our people, our money and our nation . Let’s not sleep anymore
I had discussions with Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary , CAIT – largest traders body with 5000 Supporting organizations and he is keen to take this idea further.
Let’s do it
Best regards
Rajendra
73 murders, One Mine blast – A tribute to our Home Minister
Naxalites kill 73 CRPF personnel:
It is a big loss for each family member who lost these innocent hard workers. My sincere heartfelt condolence and i do hope that our political leaders wake up to reality than making a show travelling in the high security areas. I also hope that the government has given the actual figure on the causalities .
73 CRPF personnel are not ordinary public without arms , if they get killed in such large numbers , it is a warning sign !!
I just need to comment on two points today
First comment- that our Home Minister made to the CM of West Bengal that the ‘Buck ends at the CM’. For the entire nation, the buck stops at the PM and his council of Ministers !! We need an answer that why these 73 people were killed ? What kind of democracy is this ? Gun salute that the Home minister has got has shown what it means for the future?
Imagine how the villagers must be living under the fear of guns – Naxalites? How many loots, rapes and murders these naxalites must be committing every day? No one has a clue as there are no officials or police stations functioning in naxals hit areas.
Second Comment : i recommend that Vineet Jain (Managing Director, The Times of India)as the best fit for being the home minister of India. Reason – A reporter of the Times of India can reach the naxalites leader Koteshwara Rao and meet him whenever TOI wants, but not our force headed by the Home Minister!
Time to wake up friends!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: office@rajendragupta.in
Water tanker mafia’s at work
To : Ashok Chavan , Murli Manohar Joshi and Rahul Gandhi via Email
Mumbai under Siege by water mafia
It is quite disappointing to see that every week water pipelines are getting damaged in Mumbai. More people live in Delhi and water is carried by pipes there as well !!
“In 2007, the ‘redefined’ Delhi urban agglomeration has (a population of) 21.5 million people against 19.3 million in Greater Mumbai. Why do the pipes burst only in Mumbai so frequently, and that too, during the peak demand time ?
Now the BMC will spend Crores of rupees to repair the pipes . Water tankers ( read water mafia ) will use this opportunity to supply water in the affected areas. Is it not a calculated move by the water dons ?
I suggest that a CBI inquiry be instituted in this matter . It is a 1000 crore scandal with the connivance of local government , BMC & Water mafia .
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: office@rajendragupta.in
IPL- Politicians are where the money is !
Why are people so surprised at the disclosures coming out of IPL ?
We all know that politicians get into anything that makes money ( read only big money ). Why is Sharad Pawar left out in this scandal- he is the king pin . ? He would have made less money than Lalit and allowed him to stay ? Money making in politics is hierarchical ! If you all think that only Lalit made money , you are fooling yourselves ?
Imagine , that a person of the stature of Shashi Tharoor could not resist the big bucks , what about petty politicians who are in this game ? Let CBI investigate everyone on the board of IPL. I am aware who all are there on the board and still i am asking this inquiry .
It is a big ‘white collar crime’ – an organized corporate corruption racket – Bust it and send the chaps to jail
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Demystifying FDI
All the major retailers be it Pantaloon , RPG ,Reliance or Bharti . All are shouting from the top of their retail roofs about their demand that India needs to become more liberal and allow Foreign Direct Investment ( FDI ) in retail
Let’s study where retail is, and why do we need FDI ?
A lot of people jumped into retail around 2000 including Pantaloons, Subhiksha , Vishal , Adani group etc . A few years later, excited by the ‘unsubstantiated reports’ from the top consulting firms about the fantastic retail sector , every major corporate houses like RPG, TATA , Birla’s and Reliance also joined the bandwagon. It lead to competitive retail . All Retailers were vying for the same space , same people & same vendors for a much higher price . Marketing costs increased but margins decreased .
Finally , everyone in retail burned their fingers and lost hundreds of Crores . A few merged or died a natural death !!
I have written earlier ( in 2007 ) in my column that retail in the current form and format was unviable . We see that , when we look at the closures of stores at all major retailers. I think that the way forward is clear , either you have to get into Hypermarkets or small ( Kirana ) format . There is no place for medium ( so called super market ) retail format . I see that the Indian customer’s fondness for variety and prices coupled with the entertainment options within the retail super space !! No other format except Hypermarket will succeed
Back to my main topic why do we need FDI :
What do retailers need to succeed ?
- Technical knowhow – This can be had by hiring experienced people from abroad who are happily willing to come and work in India or through the franchising route
- Vendor or sourcing arrangements – can be done via franchising tie ups
- Merchandising mix- Actually , this is the least of problems as one can go around and see what all is visible and can be copied
- Brand value – Franchising tie ups can bring brands like Wal-mart etc
- Training the retail staff – Can be locally developed in collaboration with international tie ups
- Money to grow – Here is where the answer lies – Retailers in India are loss making and even if a few who are reporting profits , they have uncertainty over the consistent growth and profits . Retailers know that, they need to make the best of the opportunity with major foreign retailers entering India. Whenever FDI is allowed , it is a foregone conclusion that major foreign retailers would either pick up a stake or buy the local retailers out at ‘Decent valuations’ and the promoters will cash out with big bucks .
I do not understand if the retailers are successful , why should they have problems with raising money locally ? Any investor would be keen to invest in a profitable venture or the money can be raised from the stock markets .Rest all can be had as mentioned above via tie up or recruitment of experienced people from abroad
PE / VC’s do not invest in retail as it is not profitable and the successful model is still to be seen. Government must be firm that it will not allow FDI in retail , as it will definitely kill smaller retailers . Government should evaluate what the retailers need and understand their reasons for asking FDI to open in retail sector ? These ‘failed retailers’ will cash on and exit and the Indian retail scene with the opening of the FDI . Indian retail sector will get dominated by biggies in retail like Wal-mart or Carrefour or Tesco’s of the world . I see more deaths in retail in the times ahead. Indian retailers have still not figured out a successful retail format and that is the challenge, and FDI in retail does not have an answer . Indian government should only allow franchising in retail and nothing else. If retailers want to raise money they must either raise it privately or through the stock market
If we allow FDI in retail at this point , it will be like creating another East India company and India will lose heavily
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
emai: office@rajendragupta.in
Why only seek quotas for Muslims ?
According to the study done by NCAER along with the University of Maryland ,nearly one third of the muslims in the nation live below the poverty line on less than Rs.550 a month, and those in villages survive on Rs. 338 a month .
Same study also revealed that over 50 % of the Adivasi and 32 of the Dalits are leaving below the poverty despite quotas for over 60 years .
Mandal battle started and was won on the Gangetic plains , but the reservations have failed to raise the standards and serve its purpose .
Two questions :
Why are the quotas only asked for Muslims even in the recent debate on reservations for Women ?
Have quotas lived upto their expectations ?
Should we not do away with caste or religion based quotas and move to a financial denominator driven reservation system that does not discriminate on the basis of caste but on financial status ?
Time to evolve
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
view point
Talks with Pakistan resume
Recently , our economist turned Congress’s Prime Minister announced that the foreign minister level talks will resume with Pakistan . It is quite a shock knowing that Pakistan is not even sparing USA Why will it leave India ? I am worried that one day Pakistan will fire the nukes at India and express a sincere apology stating that Taliban did it and it was not a state sponsored / supported act . It is high time that India asks Pakistan to hand over its most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and then starts any talks . This will be the best proof of Pakistan’s commitment to India
IPL :
All those who are looking forward to action on IPL scam are fooling themselves. This issue will die a natural death as lot many senior politicians of all major political parties are involved .
Loss of food grains due to poor storage
Sharad Pawar’s made a statement that India is wasting Rs.58000.00 worth food grains due to poor storage conditions . This is the second term as a Agriculture minister for congress led government . Have they not planned for the same ? Are we hinting something ? It is high time that opposition takes the government to task and arrests this wastage . The government must come clean on this loss to the exchequer and the resultant loss for the public
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Pakistan is a Schizophrenic Nation
Via Email with CC to Rahul Gandhi , Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi & Sonia Gandhi
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister
Government of India
New Delhi 110001
Dear Dr.Singh,
This has reference to your initiative of the talks with Pakistan
It is a good thing that the talks will resume . The bigger question is , if this is good for something or good for nothing ?
Put three pre-conditions for the talks to start
- 1. Handover Dawood Ibrahim
- 2. Maulana Masood Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammad leader
- 3. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed (LeT)
If Pakistan is sincere , it will hand over these three terrorists or else , it will continue its talk , shoot & blame the Taliban policy . And one fine day , we will be shocked to see that Pak nukes will be used against India and we might be wiped out of the map !! Pakistan will just blame the same on Taliban and express regrets . Above mentioned three Pakistan agents cum terrorists are the key to end Taliban and its activities, and anything less than these three terrorists being handed over to India is a compromise with the security of Indians and underplaying the nuisance value of Pakistan in future
Please do not take Pakistan on face value . You cannot expect a habitual offender to reform with just a dialogue . Pakistan is a schizophrenic nation
Diplomacy does not work with Pakistan . History has repeated and defeated itself when it comes to Pakistan
Take Pakistan seriously to avoid more troubles . I hope that you might not like to defend another 26/11 in the times ahead .
With best regards
Rajendra
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Countryfirst
Email: President@countryfirst.org
Demystifying the Congress Report card
Clueless government
The 3G auction was expected to raise about Rs.32000.00 crore and it raised about Rs.69000.00 crore !! Normally , the statistical error is expected to be + or – 5 % , and that is the standard accepted level of error. If the government’s projections were left behind by a whopping 100 % , what do you call such a government ? Pranab da can rejoice , but not because of his colleagues or his planning !!
Same happens for inflation : Since the UPA government has taken over in May 2009, the inflation has touched double digits , Government talks like an astrologer that the inflation will come down in the next 6 months ( and this has been the talk for the last one year !! ). It does not tell why and how will the inflation come down ? Also, what is the government doing to bring the inflation down ? The government is heavily depending upon the divine intervention ( rain God’s ). When government launched the Maoist offensive , it was clueless that the entire battalion would be wiped off !! It just expressed its regrets !!
All this goof up when our PM is an Economist from Oxford, Home Minister from Harvard and Montek from World Bank + we have a lot of professors from Cornell etc. ……………….All theory and no practicality !!
Education reforms : How many people in India actually use or even remember the knowledge of what they study from 10th class till their graduation ? I for sure , did not use my B.Sc degree ( except that for some weird reasons , since graduation was the basic requirement , i have done both the B.Sc and B.A. (Hon’s, Social Sciences ) and even M.A. Prev !! ). I talked to a good number of my ‘well placed’ friends, and they had the same response . That that qualifications did not matter or help them professionally . Majority of the Indian population study for the sake of getting degrees which finally , makes them either ‘highly qualified’ or ‘not with relevant experience’ category . We must look at mapping the ‘Knowledge gaps’ and ‘Skill gaps’ and then do the reforms in education . We are just manufacturing Degree holders and not creating any knowledge pool that has monetary value . Some degrees in graduation should be scrapped totally . We are wasting our time & killing our talent !! Time to understand what India needs ? In most of the company boards i sit , i find that my CEO / M.D. is not able to find the right ( competent ) talent at the lowest level for the job ? Because of this , all major companies lose out . On one side , we talk about unemployment and over a billion population , and on the other side , we are having acute shortage of skilled manpower ? Do we need educational reforms or ‘Skill development programs’ ? Countries like Finland , Israel etc with just a population between 5 to 7 million have more productivity per capita (PPC – sorry if you did not hear this word before !! I coined it in Indian context ) than India . Unless , India addresses PPC in education reforms , churning out more degrees holders will just add to ‘Educated Naxalites’ in the next 5 years
Demystifying BPL or the Below Poverty line : According to Suresh Tendulkar committee report , poverty line for the rural areas is Rs. 15 and Rs. 19 in Urban areas. Whereas , according to Arjun Das Gupta , any one earning less than Rs. 20 per day falls below the poverty line ( Please correct me for my lack of knowledge ) What can you get in Rs. 20 per day per person ( Tea one cup Rs. 2 , Lunch Rs 10 , Tea evening Rs. 2 Dinner Rs. 10 ) This is the cheapest meal option ( Though ,i still have to find a stall that can serve you such cheap meals ).
Also , with this , i must highlight the following daily requirements:
1. Breakfast – 5 Rs.
2. Lunch – 10 Rs.
3. Evening tea and something to eat – 5 Rs.
4. Dinner – 10 Rs.
5. Clean water to drink , and taking care of the basic hygienic – 2 Rs.
6. Clothes to wear with washing Rs. 5 Per day ( atleast 1500 per year – two sets of an upper garment and an under garment and daily washing will need a minimum earning of Rs. 5 day )
7. Healthcare & Savings for unforeseen contingencies ( Rs. 5 per day )
8. Travel for going to take meals or get to work for earning the daily subsistence is not accounted for
9. Shelter to sleep, with bed sheet and seasonal clothing for winter and rain – 5 Rs / day
So, one needs atleast Rs. 37-50 per day to stay alive on the basics necessities of life On what basis the government calculates the PBL .
I think what C.K. Prahalad mentioned as the ‘Fortune at the bottom of pyramid ‘ , i will phrase it as ‘Unfortunate at the bottom of Pyramid’. The government’s basic responsibility is to create ‘Fortunate at the bottom of the pyramid, and than think of Fortunate and the fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid ‘
Our current Prime Minister is a typical case of good brand and poor performance !!
Time to think practically, and work more Dr.Singh !!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: office@rajendragupta.in
Pakistan , Pakistan Spy’s & Indian Fatwa’s
It is an established fact that, Pakistan does not use funds that it seeks from US for the purpose that they are given. The funds are used for funding terror in India ,U.K. & the U.S.
It Is the right time that India asks for foreign observers ( Including and Indian representation ) to oversee and audit the use of any foreign fund in Pakistan
Also , we have seen two cases of Pakistan setting its strong hold in the Indian armed forces . We have just caught two of them ( Mrs. Gupta & Mr. Prasad ). I believe that there might be 100’s of such Pakistani moles within the Indian establishment and not just in forces and bureaucracy but also beyond . Time to act fast . Kargil , i believe , happened due to such a nexus !!
Also, over the last few weeks , i have see a lot of Fatwa’s issued by non-judicial entities . Why is our ‘Supreme’ court not taking a Suo moto action ? It should be made a rule that no religious entity can issue any FATWA or order that goes against the fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution and the laws of the land . If anyone dares to do that , he or she must be tried for challenging the law of the land !!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
India & China : New Super power and the next crisis state
India and China are headed for a new challenge . India has all the ingredients to qualify as the next super power . Unlike the US , Which has arrogated for itself the ‘Big brother’ status , and almost failed as a ‘Responsible super power’. China might have a big ‘Trade Surplus’ but has a huge ‘Credibility deficit’. With no other credible alternative , it is for sure, that India can work towards being the next ‘Responsible Super power’ by 2025
China is on the way to be become the victim of the ‘economic crisis’ that has already hit the USA & Europe, and for sure , now its China’s turn !!
Wait and watch
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Leading Effective Action Against Diabetes- LEAD
Join the fight against Diabetes. The campaign will focus on
1. Awareness
2. Education
3. Action
Lead will work at three levels A) Consumers B) Communities C ) Doctors
Please visit www.dmai.org.in for more updates
The campaign will be driven under the leadership of Ms. Sangeeta Barde Email : sangeeta.barde@dmai.org.in or lead@dmai.org.in
High GDP but low GDP per capita – Time to give a public explanation – the Congress and the Opposition
If we see , India’s GDP is growing but the majority of the population is not prospering . Why ??
Let us consider this
The quarterly growth report card shows that Mining and Manufacturing contributed between 18-22 % of the GDP in the Q 1 , 2010 numbers released last week.( Remember mining is concentrated in a few government PSU’s or some mining barons like Reddy’s of Karnataka etc )
Exports are roughly 13 % of the GDP
Agriculture contributes 20 % of the GDP ( Supporting 60 + % of the population )
My view is that, the decline in agriculture & growth in mining can be related directly to the growth of Naxalism , as one creates a naxalites and the other nurtures it !!
Rate of growth of yields per unit area in Agriculture has fallen in:
Food grains from 3.39 % in 1992-93 to 1.39 % in 2001-02
Non-Food grains from 3.19 % to -0.57 %
According to the Economic survey between 1980-81- 2001-02 the capital formation in agriculture has fallen from 3.4 % to 1.3 %
FDI in Agriculture was never encouraged or focussed – Announcements does not matter Dr. Manmohan Singh ji ?
Between 2002-08, population growth has been 1.4 % and the labour force has been growing at 1.9 %
According to the World Bank Development report
Between 1988 to 2008( 20 years ) as a percentage of GDP the :
Agriculture sector decreased from 30.5 % to 17.3 , whereas 65 % of the population depends on agriculture
Industry grew from 26.2 % to 28.8 % ( Population & people employable has been growing faster )
Manufacturing decreased from 16.2 % to 15.1 %
Services increased from 43.4 % to 54.6 % ( Private sector contributed to this )
Household final consumption expenditure decreased from 65.8 % to 54.1 %
Imports of goods and services increased from 7.5 % to 28 %
Yesterday , in the Times of India , the Finance Ministry’s chief Economic Advisor said that GDP growth of 8.9 % in the Q 1 of 2010-11 was due to robust growth in capital goods and consumer good production
Does it not look like some Middle eastern countries , where the GDP is very high but GDP per capita is less, as the high GDP is due to mineral oil wealth , and low GDP per capita is due to the fact that the oil wells are in the hands of a few royal families !! In India , Mining , Exports and trade is in a few hands and the focus , incentive and investment is maximum from the government !! For Agriculture , we all do not depend on the government but on the Rain Gods !!
BJP must act as a responsible opposition . The current state of affairs is not just a failure of the ruling front, but of the entire opposition . Public demands an explanation from both !
What is government doing ? Bhopal Gas tragedy GOM’s is just an issue to divert the attention from real burning concerns of the public
Politicians are addressing 90 % urgent matters and 10 % important matters.
Time to act responsibly and explain or else both Congress and the opposition would be damned in the next election
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: office@rajendragupta.in
3 G & BWA Auctions – Things could have been done in a better way
Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi
Chairman
Public Accounts Committee
Government of India
6 , Raisena road , New Delhi 110001
Dear Dr.Joshi,
I am sure this finds you fine .It was really nice talking to you yesterday. I wish to submit the following for your kind consideration
Recently , the government has raised Rs. 1.06 Lac Crore from the 3 G & BWA auctions. Though it is a different issue that the government was expecting a modest Rs. 32000.00 Crore from the auction ! The following should be considered
- What was the basis of the government’s projections ? Was it a failure on the part of the government that the proceeds of the auctions exceeded by 3 times of the projections from the government ? This clearly gives a reason to believe that there was a systemic failure on the part of the government and it shows up in government’s failure to arrest price rise ( inflation )
- Was the spectrum auction and sale the best option ?
- If the government went for a zero price or nominal booking price, and allotted spectrum for the entire India as one circle with say a 25 % – 30 % of the recurring revenue share from the telecom providers, would it not be better in serving the interest of the government in the long term ? It would have eventually generated much higher return per year and every year rather than one a time high auction fee ! What was the basis of deciding one time auction fee with an expected collection of Rs.32000 crore ? This money ( Rs.1.06 lac crore ) might give temporary sound bites to Pranab Da ( and the PM ) for no efforts of his or Mr. Raja . But the fact is that , it will put a strain on the telecom companies and will also suck the liquidity from the markets . This will also cause a long term loss to the government as it could have gained immensely , had it gone for a lower or zero initial fee and a larger share in the recurrent revenue from the telecom providers. This is a myopic policy of this government and a big loss to the exchequer
- What was the total loss in previous auctions done in arbitrary allocation of telecom spectrum, and what is the progress in the CBI investigation ? Why has the FIR lodged by the CBI not named anyone ? When the senior most minister or the bureaucrat should be named in the FIR , what has prompted the CBI to lodge the FIR against unnamed persons ?
- Since Rs.10.6 Lac Crore is already raised through the auctions, i suggest that the government allocates the 10 % the money raised in India Innovation and Entrepreneurship fund to promote innovation and entrepreneurship amongst youth of the nation
I am sure you will take up these matters in appropriate forums . We look at your leadership in addressing some important issues concerning the nation .
With best regards
Rajendra
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: office@rajendragupta.in
Dr.Bamboo – Tall & impressive but hollow – Dr.Manmohan Singh
I think , Dr. Manmohan Singh is like a Bamboo . Tall & Impressive in stature , but hollow .
See what he is doing ? All across, the country is failing but his image continues to be a hit !
China has decided to do a nuclear deal with our Pakistan ! India has failed to check it
America is not as friendly with India , as it is with Pakistan
Inflation is going up and the government is clueless
Naxalites control 1/6th of India
This government is a failed government and BJP is not reining in the government ! I fail to understand why BJP is not addressing the important issues !!
Dr. Manmohan Singh is the Bamboo Prime Minister !! Time to raise voice and get the right issues addressed
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Rich get richer and poor get poorer in India – GDP statistics
On 15th June , i wrote on my blog about the topic ‘ High GDP but low GDP per capita’ is like growth without progress and prosperity . Well, i did not know that 11 days after the blog a report would come out that would validate my analysis . Here is the report
According to the 2009 Asia Pacific wealth report , by Capegemini and Merrill Lynch wealth management , India’s high net worth Individuals ( HWNI’s ) are 120,000 ( 0.01 % ) but their combined net worth is close to one third of the India’s GDP
At the peak of recession ,in 2008, India had 84000 HNWI’s with a combined net worth of $310 billion . To put that figure in perspective , it was just under a third of India’s market capitalization , that is, the total value of all companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange – as of end March 2008. The average worth of each HNWI was Rs.16.6 crore .
According to the firm’s 2010 World Wealth Report , India now has 126,700 HNWI’s , an increase of over 50 % over the 2008 number . In 2009 alone , an estimated 13.6 million more people in India became poor or remained in poverty than would have been the case had the 2008 growth rates continued , according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs ( UNDESA ). Also, an estimated 33.6 million more people in India became poor or remained in poverty over 2008 and 2009 than would have been poor has the pre-crisis (2004-7 ) growth rates been maintained .
I keep saying that recession or growth that we keep reading in the Times of India or The Economic Times , is only affecting people who read these newspapers. Rest all live under abject poverty .
Read the presentation that i made at the 6th India Innovation Summit on 18th June 2010 at Bangalore . You will see that our demographic dividend is fast becoming demographic disaster !! ( Download the presentation from www.rajendra.groupsite.com )
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
National Council for Human Resources in Health -NCHRH
Date : June 30th , 2010.
Mr. Debasish Panda
Joint Secretary
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Government of India
Nirman Bhawan , New Delhi 110108
Ref: D.O. V.11025/10/2009-ME(P-1) dated 8th June 2010
Dear Mr.Panda,
Thanks for the invite for the regional consultation on NCHRH . Unfortunately, I could not attend the meeting at Mumbai on 18th June due to a prior commitment at Bangalore for the India Innovation Summit on the same date.
I had sent you an email on the NCHRH with two recommendations. Since then, I have dwelled on the issue at length and wish to submit some recommendations for your kind consideration
Before I start on the specific recommendations, let us consider a few important points that need to be kept in mind for the National Council for Human Resources for Health – NCHRH
- India has 1.2 Billion population out of which about 1/3rd is illiterate population
- In the next 10 years, India will add 120 million people in the working age category
- Currently, India has about 2/3rd of the population below 35 years in age
- Currently , 2/3rd of India lives in rural India and probably, in that category, healthcare does not figure in the list of priorities
- 2/3rd of India does not have adequate access to healthcare
- Awareness and sensitization about healthcare is missing . People will go and splurge money on dining outside , but will not spend a fraction in wellness .
- India believes more on religion , spirituality and charity than wellness
- Healthcare professionals available are not willing to work in the so called rural India . At max, they are willing to work in semi urban India
- The incidence of diseases is not vastly different in rural India from that of urban India for most of the ailments
- Status of urban poor is deplorable when it comes to healthcare
- PPP’s in healthcare are not going to work in rural India
- Those who study for healthcare in urban areas, majority of them are not willing to adjust to the rural lifestyle for professional or family reasons . Gives us a reason to think to start medical colleges in rural settings !!
- The entire healthcare system is focused on medicine , doctors, clinics and hospitals etc. This has created a fear & suspicion amongst the healthcare users that healthcare means pills, surgery and hospitalization
- New models of care are evolving for addressing the changing disease patterns and Indian healthcare system is ill prepared to handle the same
- Time has come to take health ( not medical ! ) education from medical school to primary school. Basic healthcare education should be made compulsory at the school level.
- 3G has now become a reality , so mHealth will not just re-define the healthcare delivery but also healthcare education
In short , I would say that , the world over , no healthcare system has answers for our problems, as all the systems are already failed or heading towards a collapse . This provides a unique challenge and an
opportunity to build a robust healthcare system for India that is low cost, agile , protocol driven, and evidence based and not eminence based system; one that avoids errors , trails and wastage . Then only we can have an outcome driven health system that cares !
Here is what I submit for your kind consideration :
NCHRH ( National Council for Human Resources for Health ) has been set up with the goals to overcome the acute shortage and uneven distribution of human resources in public health delivery system & aims at overhauling the current regulatory framework. Toward this end, it is proposed to set up a National Council
for Human Resources for Health as an overarching regulatory body to achieve the objective of enhancing the supply of skilled personnel in the health sector
What I can understand from the above stated purpose for NCHRH is that NCHRH will ;
- Regulate the current set up
- Identify the current need gap
- Project the future requirement for the next 10, 20 & 30 years
- Asses the population mix and the disease patterns and address the issues in a proactive manner
- Create a resource pool & knowledge pool ( not just impart knowledge but create it as well )
- Human resources for disaster management in healthcare is missing from the draft that I have gone through . It needs to be incorporated
Health in India has to be looked regionally and planned at the district level: It would be wrong to just limit it to five members headed by a chairman. I would suggest that you must create an “Indian Health & Wellness Service (IHWS )” for the entire nation on the lines of IAS . Today , if I have to complain against deficiency of healthcare services or standards or care at a hospital, there is no grievance redressal mechanism !! Because the system is ambiguous and there is no demarcation for people to look at health and wellness services. For erring police , I can go to SP City , DIG –Range or IGP or the DGP; for an erring postman , I can go to the Post master general etc., and the same for most of the services ; but if there is a deficiency in a hospital service provider where does a common man go ? Another hospital, I suppose !!
So when you are planning for NCHRH , You must consider having an all India service to tackle the multi headed monster called healthcare.
Have separate members in NCHRH, each having a clear role and responsibility for capacity building for the following :
- Urban Health
- Rural Health
- Tribal Health
- Health in hilly areas
- Health in Armed forces
- Health for retired government employees
- Health for private sector
- Work Place wellness
- Healthcare amongst Minorities
- Expatriates working in India
- Geriatric care in urban & rural health should be handled separately by different members
- Split ‘Mother and Child care’ under separate heads, each under a separate member . It is glaring to note that According to International Institute of Population Sciences , Mumbai , 56 % of the Indian women in the age group of 15-49 suffer from anemia
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Arthritis
- Cancer
- Epilepsy
- Mental Health
- Telehealth should be a strong focus area for Urban & rural health. It should also be a part of the Medical curriculum and a 3 month internship should be made mandatory for telehealth
- Medical Education
- Home health & care technicians
- Healthcare counselors and Physiotherapists
- Health administrators for clinics , hospitals other wellness providers
- Gyms & Wellness centers
- Diet and Nutrition
- Acute care
- Immunization
- Awareness & Education about wellness
- Awareness & Education about diseases
- NGO’s capacity building
- Disaster management in healthcare including outbreaks & epidemics
- Epidemiology & research on regional requirements . One example I will quote here. In north eastern part of India , in tea gardens , people take black ( known as red tea in NE ) with salt and so there is a very high incidence of Hypertension and stroke . Same applies to other belts in India which have very specific requirements that cannot be tackled with centralized planning and execution
- Technical up-gradation & training of the workforce on latest developments in equipments and technology
- CME for each level of workforce
- Nurses should be renamed as Physician’s Assistant (PA’s ) or Health & Wellness Officer (HWO’s ) . There should be a plan to create enough specialized resources under this head for rural health, geriatric care , telehealth , chronic diseases etc. We need not make our healthcare system doctor & hospital centric . The number of PA’s / HWO’s should at least be double of that of the doctors in the next 10 years
- For medical education ( all streams ), behavioral psychology should be added in the curriculum . This is one of the most important change that we need in the medical curriculum . Doctors have just been reduced to diagnosis & prescription machines . Whilst we might be imparting the best of medical knowledge, but patient care and handling is missing totally from the curriculum . Writing prescriptions does not deliver care . Patient friendly care is a must . Because of the lack of understanding of the behavioral psychology amongst doctors , the patients fear and suspect the doctors . Even the doctors do not go beyond prescriptions !! This needs an immediate change to ensure compliance and outcome from the treatment , most importantly, regain ‘Trust’ in the system by the users
- Put a separate head for innovation in healthcare education
- Separate head for guidelines, standards , treatment protocols , assessment & accreditation for each aspect of medical & health education and research
Further , each member should be responsible for research , planning & execution for his department. It is clear that if we do not plan for human resources , it will not just lead to deficiency in healthcare services but also increase the cost of healthcare . Limited number of healthcare professionals would be available for jobs and that will definitely lead to unrealistic inflation of salaries amongst health professionals
Since this note is about the healthcare in the country , I would also like to add that, we must look at setting up a TAB ( Technology Adoption Board ). India must not import technologies simply because GE / Siemens have
produced it and it is the latest. Technology is one of the major cost drivers for healthcare . TAB must ensure that the technologies that have demonstrated positive impact on the treatment compared to its cost and accuracy of diagnosis should only be allowed in practice . In 2007 , a 64 slice CT Scan was the most advanced , now it is 914 slide CT scan . The question is what is the difference in cost and accuracy of diagnosis compared to the earlier versions ?
Also, MOHFW should set up ICE – Insitute of Clinical Excellence to formulate and work on clinical pathways & protocol based treatment for all major illnesses , so that the doctors do not resort to expensive and arbitrary line of treatment at the cost & care of patient . A protocol based treatment would let all the stake holders in the continuum of care to work in close coordination
Also, the time has come to move to a greener healthcare system. I hope that we will learn from the MEA ( Ministry of External Affairs ). When you apply for a passport , the passport office gives you two or three receipts , one for the passport application fees, second for jumbo passport ( if you opt for ) and a third one for tatkal category ( if you fall under that category) . I fail to understand that, would it not be better to have one receipt with multiple options for ticking !! It wastes paper , ink and generates three times the heat and noise printing three receipts . MOHFW needs to ensure that we move to a Mobile Health Record system (MHR ) that does not depend on paper . Mobile phones could carry all the records, and more so , when most of the people are likely to carry mobiles. Providers could sync all the medical records with SIM cards. But the success of this depends on the will of the policy makers, honesty and efficiency of implementers ( bureaucrats ) and literacy amongst users
Lastly, it is high time to check migration of our best brains & highly skilled manpower. We can build six AIIMS like buildings, but building institutions will be an onerous task in the current scheme of things, and this could well be the first test for NCHRH.
With some good leaders at the helm of affairs in healthcare , I am quite confident of the changes in healthcare for the benefit of the common man
I do hope that the recommendations are of some help. Incase, you need some clarifications or assistance , I remain at your disposal .
With best wishes
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : President@dmai.org.in
C.C.-
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister for Health Family Welfare, Govt. of India
Dr.Syeda Hameed, Member , Planning Commission , Government of India
Shri Dinesh Trivedi, Minister of State for Health , Government of India
Sam Pitroda, Advisor , Prime Minister of India & Chairman, National Knowledge Commission .
Ms.K.Sujatha Rao, Health Secretary, MOHFW, Govt. of India
Dr.K.Srinath Reddy, President , PHFI, Government of India
Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi, MP.
Mrs.Sonia Gandhi , Chairperson ,NAC , UPA.
Rahul Gandhi
Dr.Sharat Chauhan, csharat@ias.nic.in / rshankar50@hotmail.com
Dr.Gautam Sen
Dr.Devi Shetty
Encl: note on healthcare reforms sent on 23rd November 2009.
Business , Politics and reforms – Coincidence or well planned ??
A few months back the RIL had withdrawn the EOU status ( Export Oriented Unit ) for Jamnagar and the petrol got deregulated !! So that Mukesh bhai can sell oil in domestic market
Mukesh hired the head of Tesco Lotus and the retail FDI paper is out from DIPP !!
What a coincidence ? No guesses i suppose !
Rajendra
Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is already controlled by US / Europe, and now it is Retail Sector’s turn – FDI round the corner
Dear Dr.Joshi,
Namaskaar,
I am sure that this finds you doing good.
Last year i had detailed discussions with you on FDI and i sent you a note on not opening the retail sector to FDI. Till last year , you were the Chairman, Parliamentary Standing committee on commerce .
This year the issue is out again . It is shocking that UPA is even considering to open the Retail sector for FDI. Just consider ;
Total retail market is Rs. 1.2 Lac crore. Isn’t that too tempting for recession hit economies like US/ Europe and U.K. to fight recession through markets abroad ? They cleverly call us as an emerging / developing economy
To foreigners , this is a market but for us (Indians) it is 40 % of our GDP. You can expect that in the next few years , a good percentage of 40 % of our GDP will be in the hands of foreigners !! . We have 15 million retailers , thereby directly employing at least 30 million people and indirectly 6 times more i.e. 90 million .
Only 4 % of our retailers have an area of 500 Sq. Ft.
Food constitute 70 % of our retail trade
The UPA’s discussion paper is a wrong start as it has by-passed the parliamentary standing committee’s report tabled in both houses in June 2009. Consisting of more than 40 Member of parliaments . The committee had taken into account the report submitted by ICRIER
British MP David Amess recently said that the Indian Government to tread”very carefully” if it opened up the multi-brand retail sector to FDI because the entry of companies like UK-based retailer Tesco would”literally change the fabric of life in India” by endangering small shops. Amess chairs the British All Party Parliamentary Group on Small Shops (APPGoSS).
The government is currently holding consultations on allowing companies such as US-based Wal-Mart, France’s Carrefour and Tesco to come in. Critics have urged the government to insert safety clauses following protests from small independent retailers that potentially face closure.”Britain was a nation of small shopkeepers,” Amess.”All of that has changed and this is because of the supermarkets, led by Tesco. It is impossible for small shop keepers, who have so much to offer, to compete with the prices of the supermarkets”.
APPGoSS Secretary Bob Russell MP, added “the expansion of supermarkets in Britain has been to the serious detriment of small shops, there is no question about this”.
One in six small stores in Britain have gone out of business in the last decade, the group said.
Atul Patel, an Indian origin Briton who runs Pelican News, a small store in North West London. said his family-run business was now struggling to survive, with sales of meat, groceries and fresh fruit having dropped by at least a fifth after Tesco opened a store hear his.
Largest Indian pharmaceutical companies like Ranbaxy and Nicholas Piramal have already changed hands and are no more with Indians . With the recent acquisition of Piramal with Abbott , MNC’s control more than 50 % of the Indian Pharmaceutical industry , and more acquisitions are likely to follow soon.
My personal belief is that, the when the large foreign retailers come in , the fight will not just be between large and small retailers but between large and medium retailers . Small retailers will die for sure . Needless to mention , when the elephants fight , the grass ( small retailers ) gets trampled !!
Dr. Joshi , please take it up at the appropriate levels .
Recently , it was reported that acute poverty prevails in 8 Indian states ( 421 million people in Bihar , Chhattisgarh , Jharkhand , Madhya Pradesh, Orissa , Rajasthan , Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal which together account for more poor people than in the 26 poorest African nations combined ( 410 Million ), a new ‘multi dimensional’ measure of the global poverty said According to the MPI- Multidimensional Poverty Index , developed and applied by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative with UNDP support
Also, i hear that Economy is growing at approximately 8 %. I need to tell our Dr. Manmohan Singh, the economist that the literal meaning of Economy is “Community’s system of wealth creation” and not just growth of a few sectors, as is in the case of India and we call it Indian Economy ? So Indian “economy” is not growing , but a few sectors that are in a ‘few hands’ are growing !!
Dr.Joshi , you have profound knowledge of each and every aspect of history , culture and wealth creation and distribution , that is even acknowledged by Congress leaders in power.
Let’s work to change all this . I am hoping to meet you soon.
Thanks with best regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Wrong Economic priorities ,lop sided growth & flawed statistics
This is the follow up blog on my views dated 15th June 2010 & 27th June 2010 on the topic of “High GDP but low GDP per capita”.
Focussing on statistics , in April-May 2010, IIP witnessed a decent growth of 14 % but this did not cover some vital sectors . Only one sector , machinery and equipment , alone contributed 37 % to this high growth. Transport equipment , metal products and mining contributed another 32 % to IIP growth. This implies that around 70 % growth of IIP was a result of high growth in just 4 out of a total of 19 sectors . Also , that these growth rates have an important factor ‘Low base effect’ . Like manufacturing sector achieved one of the highest growth rates of 19.4 % in April 2010 over a low base of 0.4 % in 2009. Similarly, Capital goods sector’s high growth of 72.8% in April 2010 was over a negative base of 6 % in 2009.
Time to balance out. Else , we will blame Greece, Italy , Europe , China , poor rainfall etc. Etc. for all our ills, forgetting that we never looked at “REAL India” for growth
Get the priorities right and actions STRAIGHT
BJP must be focussed more on right issues than routine struggles !!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
UID & PDS – Will wipe out each other’s value proposition
I have been seeing that there is a lot of Hype & Hoopla around the fact that UID will weed out corruption , and that the poor will get their share of monthly grain & Kerosene quota
Let’s examine some hard facts :
PDS system runs on corruption , systemic loot and injustice to the needy card holders. Else, why will a person take a ration shop and run it for distributing sub-standard grains to the poor with so low a margin!!
The margins are barely anything to even recover the rents & other incidental costs !! It is like the fuel stations around the country, the margin of Rs.1.22 per litre of petrol and .64 Rupee on a litre of diesel is barely anything to cover the bribes to inspection authorities , rents and salaries ( few fuel pumps could be an exemption !! ). But most of the fuel stations run on ‘Adulteration’ & ‘Lesser quantities’ dispensed per every litre of fuel.
So UID has a value proposition which will make the business of PDS ( Ration shops ) business unviable for its licensees. So while the poor will have UID card , but no shops to dispense the ration !! I am not mentioning about electricity in rural India etc.etc…for reading the UID card and other related issues w.r.t implementation
Also , UID on paper is very good. Believe me, that about 300 million people in India still think that Indira Gandhi is the Prime Minister of the country !! The reason i write this is, because , parts of our country still live in 1847 ( grossly neglected ), parts live in 1947 ( plans on paper ) and about 300 Million live in 2000 ( have had an impact of ‘time bound’ growth ).
For people who don’t have shelter to sleep , clothes to wear , where will they keep the UID Card ? What will they understand of UID when they cannot even read and write , & when they know that ‘Government establishment’ is meant for either the people in government service or the corrupt !! One must study the ‘High tech’ ideas before taking it to the people who barely have 5-6 meals per week !! Remember , 7000 children die every day due to malnutrition in India
We must also understand that corruption never started because of lack of technology , but because of wrong leadership at the top, absence of a feedback mechanism & corrupt machinery at all levels, that has never taken action . So i believe that, the powerful people in the rural India will mislead the poor and keep their UID cards or the poor will spoil them due to mishandling of the cards . Also , UID does not have the techniques to turn stock hoarders and swindlers into honest PDS contractors !! Either the rot will continue after the UID or will wipe out the PDS shops by making them non-lucrative businesses .
Time to address the real issues. UID is a good idea , whose time is yet to come !!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Impact of Healthcare Globalization on our Economy
Address as the Session Chairman for Panel Discussion on the topic “Impact of Healthcare Globalization on Economy” at the 3rd International Healthcare Quality Conclave, 31st July, 2010
Good evening friends. I have an Interesting topic for discussion amongst my esteemed & learned panel of experts.
Let me introduce you the expert panel. I have with me, Mr. Rajiv Sharma, CEO, Sterling Hospitals, Dr Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director, Apollo Hospitals, Mr. Sudhir Bahl, COO, IVEN Medicare India Ltd, Dr. Dharmendra Nagar, Managing Director, and Paras Hospitals
Coming to the topic, I have had a chance to be involved with a few healthcare systems across the world: The largest, over-funded and under-performing healthcare system – US Healthcare system, the government supported UAE healthcare system & the one that is under-funded and under-performing healthcare system – India
What will be the impact of healthcare globalization on the Economy? Firstly, why will the healthcare globalize? And when this happens, what impact will it have on our economy?
My understanding is that the healthcare in the US / Europe has already embraced the ‘Moment of truth’ – that both these systems are not sustainable in the current form. I believe that the solutions for the healthcare problems of the developed world lie in the developing world, and so, healthcare globalization is the only way forward! With private Indian healthcare organizations setting up world class facilities in India, a good number of Indian faculties are headed back home with better environments to work in their very own home country. This will lead to reverse migration.
Also, developed world is facing the problem of high cost and a long waiting period for major interventions. Certainly, Indian healthcare system offers solutions to fill in this need gap with an assurance of world class care. Adding to this is the healthcare insurance products being launched by some insurance companies in the US that will encourage the patients to travel overseas for treatment
Today, US healthcare system is a big talk everywhere as it is 17 % of its GDP. In India, a 1.2 Trillion USD economy, healthcare is 2.91 % of the GDP. This number of 2.91 % of the GDP is too low to impact the economy unless it becomes 2-3 times of its present number. One of the impacts of healthcare globalization will be that it will increase the healthcare’s share of GDP in India
Recently, we saw a major healthcare group in India bidding for a regional healthcare group. I can safely bet that the Wal-mart of healthcare will be from India
With Healthcare globalization, the healthcare will improve and impact the healthcare of the common man, and ultimately the productivity of our country’s work force will go up; thereby leading to a more vibrant economy
Overall, the impact of Healthcare globalization in our economy will be felt across sectors as Healthcare is a complex industry with the highest employment potential . Healthcare globalization will positively impact employment across sectors like manufacturing , R & D, tourism , textiles, hospitality , education , IT, Insurance , BPO , Telecom etc , and so one can easily understand the multiplier effect on the economy in India due to healthcare globalization
We have started the journey for globalization. India has the potential to set India class standards for the world rather than aping the world class standards for India. We have some great leaders in Healthcare like Dr.Syeda Hameed, and we are sure to reap the benefits that healthcare globalization brings to our economy
So if I were to sum up the impact of the healthcare globalization on our economy, it would:
a) Reverse brain drain in healthcare
b) Increase the share of healthcare as a percent of GDP
c) Create the Wal-mart of healthcare from India
d) Enhance the productivity of the workforce and make our economy more vibrant
e) Have a multiplier effect on many sectors of our economy
Thanks for patiently hearing me out. Now let me open the session to our expert’s panel
3G & the high speed downfall of the Telco’s
3 G spectrum has been over-sold . Keeping in mind the fact that, the average yearly penetration of 3 G users has been highest at 5 % in developed countries like Japan. It took them 7 years to increase the penetration of 3G services to 35 %. India is a country with 150- 220 million middle income people , and not everyone requires 3G !!
In India , do we need high speed internet in our daily lives ? We are pretty okay with Blackberry, emails and voice calls- Just 70 million internet users !!
Industry has perhaps gone overboard to pay “Obnoxious” sums for 3G spectrum.
To ensure profitability , 3G players will have to invade few sectors to make it viable ( trust me , it is a big challenge for immediate future ). The sectors that need to be invaded are HEART ( Healthcare , Education & Entertainment , Agriculture , Rural India & Travel & Tourism , Telemedicine )
People have wrongly understood the first wave of telecom revolution . The first wave came because of the following
- Before the cell phones were launched , getting a land line from the government “monopoly” ( BSNL /MTNL ) was difficult – wait times was uncertain & services pathetic even after bribing the lineman the things would not work !
- ‘Rich’ people could afford the luxury of a ‘Cordless’ phone, that would have a coverage of 10 or 20 Feet . Suddenly , with a cell phone , people could roam with a phone across India or the world !! I think people in the telecom sector have believed that the craze for 3G would be the same as the first wave for cell phones !! But believe me , it will never happen . I have used cell phone since 1996 , when it was launched and paid an “Airtime’ of Rs.16.40 per minute + normal call rates !!
- The actual number of cell phone users are still as per what i call the 1/3rd Rule ( we just have approximately 200 million cell phone users and not 654 Million, what the Telco’s & the government talk about )
- Handsets to use the features of the 3G are not evolved as yet
Overall, paying and bidding for 3G was a lot easier than to manage the profits out of the networks using 3G. This will leave only two players doing something worthwhile ( Vodafone & “may be” , Mukesh Ambani ). Rest will have to work hard to avoid “Consolidation” of the industry
May be , some players will use 3G airwaves to enhance the voice quality
MNP ( Mobile number portability ) : MNP was delayed for obvious reasons !! But once the system is operational, it will crash due to the overload of the people applying for the same . There is a lot of anger amongst users for poor service quality . People will change the provider not for better service but to vent out anger at the existing service provider. Some Telco’s will lose millions of users in months ( who gains in the long run is going to be a billion dollar question ) Time to wake up and take corrective action, and innovate the services !!
Two big challenges 3G & MNP – Head ache of CEO’s of all Telco’s
3G might become the high speed to downfall – Thanks to the myopic government policies and over excitement of the bidders. May be , that’s the reason why MNC’s stayed out of the bidding. Perhaps, they will wait for some companies to bleed, and then, buy them out
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Mumbai airport – A true reflection of India
When you land at Mumbai next time , do peep below to get the aerial view of Mumbai- A true reflection of India . On one side , you have dozens of aeroplanes , and the other side hundreds of Slums . That’s India .
The government will remove the slums shortly, but the poverty will not go ,it will be shifted from the eyes of the viewer. You will have swanky buildings coming up on the slums- may be a new runway or another terminal etc. So after a few months, if a visitor lands in Mumbai and sees that there are no slums , he or she will imagine India growing much faster , slums disappearing …. Poverty vanishing off fast , faster than China .
Think before you imagine the real India . We are doing cosmetic changes and these do not impact the health of our nation
We need change at the grass roots .
We are still far – far away ………….
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Security or Surveillance ?
Since our last major terror strike at Mumbai two years back , one of the major developments have been about security . I feel strongly that since a lot of VIP’s died at the TAJ Hotel , a lot of ‘high octane’ drama was enacted both in the parliament , media and other public places .
Let’s do a quick check of what happened post our 9/11 ?
Where do we see most of the surveillance ? Airports , stations , five star hotels etc. I have stayed in Taj Hotels in Bangalore to CROWN plaza in Delhi and many others. I visit a five start hotel every week to meet friends and visitors who stay in such hotels . Here is what i feel about the so called “over hyped’ security
We have been working for the elite who stay in hotels and travel by air . But still , security issues have not been addressed . Let me walk you through the security processes at display in all major locations
- You will find a metal detector ( by default ) at all major public places , and it beeps every time you walk past though it . You are required to take out your cell phone , keep it outside and then walk through it . I has asked at a five star hotel security person in Delhi . If my cell phone was having a bomb what can you do ?? You do not even scan it in the metal detector , i have to keep it in the tray outside the metal detector . The poor guy was doing what his security company had told him. He was blank and answerless.
- In every airport , the process is the same .
- Interestingly , i was at HYATT regency at Mumbai a day before yesterday. A person came , asked my driver to open the door , bonnet etc wiped the steering with a plastic and went back to the machine to read the plastic . Imagine , i was a terrorist , would i not get enough time ( while the security guy is reading his plastic wipe !! ) to run my vehicle into the hotel and shoot or blast anything i wanted ? can you call it security ?
- In the hotels , well dressed security chaps will say Namaste to you with folded hands , ask you to open the doors or frisk you. No one even understands what the hell bonnet of the car looks like or does it have a bomb ? i bet you that even if i carried an explosive , it would get in well past the entry point ! Like a convict who carried a pistol in Delhi court last week despite all the security !!
So the point i am making is that due to this security scare , dogs have got employment ( my friend who is President with a reputed five star hotel had once told me, that these dogs can work with accuracy only when deployed for 20-40 minutes , but they are made to work for hours ). So the point is that, it is all show of surveillance and not security . Intelligence and pro-activeness is lacking totally in our system. People standing at the security points are ill equipped , and there is no way that these guys can be alive to resist the attack, if terrorists strike !!
Last week , i took the security officer of Mumbai airport to task for allowing the so called VIP vehicles parked at the exit gate no 2. I informed him that the gate no 2 has only pick up and drop and is not meant for parking, and that the VIP parking had been created specifically a few meters away , but our arrogant VIP’s have taken it as their birth right to flash red light beacon or VIP numbers and park vehicles posing a big security threat to Mumbai airport. I asked Asst. Police Inspector , Mr, Mane why he did not tow the vehicles parked on the gate 2. He was speechless , he tried to explain that the VIP’s don’t listen . There were at least 6 vehicles blocking the exit , and not a single driver was in the car …………….I wrote the same to the Chief Minister and the Home Minister …..i do hope that these guys act before a strike !!
We have as a nation failed before naxalites and we will continue to fail against terrorism , till we address technology proactively and pre-empt strikes . Current vigilance in the name of security is a farce wasting money and delaying the check-in in the hotel & airports
Hope the policy makers take the note and act
I have marked this to our Home Minister
Food Inflation – the real issue is of planned production & storage
Pulses – the pulse of the nation : Pre-dominantly , Indians are vegetarians , and so the protein requirements are met through consumption of protein rich – pulses
We have always been worried about high food inflation charging the government for inefficient handling of the prices. Often we quote the high price of pulses . Let’s do a little digging on why pulses cost more when 65 % of our nation is engaged in agriculture ?
Pulses production in India is 12-15 million tonnes , and the requirement is 18-20 million tonnes . Looks like pulses production have never been planned by the ministry of agriculture or the planning commission ; this is when we have celebrated 63 years of independence recently !!
Second issue is that despite poor production , even storage has not been attended to .
FCI- Food Corporation of India has 60.5 million tonnes of food grains ( all kinds of grains & not just pulses ) . This is good enough of quantity to give 21 KG of grain every month to people below BPL . Sadly enough , 30 % of the 60.5 Million tonnes gets wasted every year due to storage conditions
Issue is very simple , and the policy makers need to plan production and storage to address the gaps . Once this is done , we should never have issues related to irrational prices of food grains
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Women / Senior Citizens – Immediate & Important steps that needs to be taken
To: Dr.Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi , Sushma Swaraj, Meira Kumar , Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi via email.
Dear Dr.Singh,
Please pardon me for raising this issue ( this is the only issue for which i have not down much ground work !! ), but i am solely moved to raise this issue , seeing the plight of women passengers squeezed between males across towns in public transport .
I was in Bangalore last week, and when my cab passed by a public transport bus , i could see how we respect our women !! Reservation for women is a good step . But first let’s address the basics
- Ask all the state governments to start special busses for Women passengers / senior citizens in all towns . You can probably have common buses for Women / Senior citizens
- The local licenses for toddy ( local fermented drink ) should be banned
I am sure that women being in key positions in India ( President , Chairperson UPA , Leader of Opposition , Speaker of Lok Sabha ) could make this happen sooner than later
Best wishes
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Don’t try to copy and Chase China
One of the most important ( and expensive ) learning’s out of common wealth games experience has been that we should stop following China !!
We hoped to repeat the Beijing Olympic games at Common Wealth Games , and are very close to mess up with the much smaller games event than Olympic Games ( CWG )
It is time for our politicians to wake up and stop dreaming of making Mumbai like Shanghai or aping China in terms of double digit growth. India can never do a “China story”.
We tried to copy SEZ’s model from China , and today we know how many SEZ bidders have walked away from their signed deals for setting up SEZ’s
We have to come up with our indigenous model of growth rather than making references of China, and trying to bench mark our growth numbers with China’s milestones !
Rajendra
An Open letter to the Prime Minister
13th September 2010
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister
Government of India
7, Race Course , New Delhi-110011
An Open letter from a common man
Dear Dr.Singh,
Namaskaar
I wrote you a letter on 14th February this year asking about creating wealth and employment ( available on my blog www.rajendragupta.wordpress.com ). Post that letter , i did hear Pranab da stating that we need to create wealth ……..but as always, i have not seen a concrete action plan post that “loaded statement”
For the past few months , i have been wanting to communicate to you what an ordinary Indian thinks about the current state of affairs, so that you can take appropriate action. Since so many things have happened, i will just randomly start than prioritizing any particular issue
Wastage of Food grains : In India , it has been a tradition of not wasting food on the plate . But we are wasting more than 50000 of tons of food grain and on the other side , we are having unprecedented and unchecked inflation. Conditions are revolting for the common man. If i was born in a deprived family , i would have become a ‘Civilian with a gun, out there to seek revenge’; what you can call as a naxalite !! But i have a very decent corporate job , i live with my family in Mumbai and i have a more sophisticated way to vent my anger with this note ( i presume that is the reason why we say that the Pen is mightier than the sword ! ). Else , for sure , i would be a more dreaded naxalite that Koteshwara Rao !! My social & financial standing prohibit me to think on those lines for moment …………
Back to the point of the wastage of food grains , i am quite surprised that supreme court ( knowing well , that our courts are the most inefficient & corrupt ). Still they felt that the government should distribute grains free than letting them rot and even passed an order . Not just the citizens but the court also believes that the government is a laggard when it comes to addressing the issues of the common-man & So it had to pass an order !)
What are the steps you are taking to ensure that this wastage does not happen again ? Have you taken the FCI & Ministry of agriculture to task for a poor job on forecasting the production , planning storage and facilitating distribution of grains or exporting them rather than letting them rot when the country is facing a double digit inflation ? If i were in your position, i would sack the minister , the secretary of the Ministry & a bunch of senior officials responsible for the criminal waste and start the legal proceedings to penalise them & disqualify them from holding any post ever . So that no one would ever repeat this even for one KG of food grain, leave alone 50,000 tonnes. You seem to be enjoying as a silent spectator !!
Dr.Singh , how would you feel if your children or grand children slept hungry for a few days or just had one meal a day ? Do not forget that , 4 lac of children have their first birthday as their last & 56 % of the women suffer from anaemia . All this is easily preventable . I wish your children were malnourished and then you became the Prime Minister
Honesty , inefficiency & Corruption : Dr.Singh, i sometimes wonder why people call you honest ! In my view , you are not honest at all . Yes you might have some integrity ( though you have become morally flexible to a large extent ). Let me quote your silence on ministries handled by Mamta , Lalu, Raja, Sharad and others……..if you were honest , you would never tolerate their incompetence and corrupt practices ! You are the patron ( rather the Head ) of this gang of inefficient ministers . CBI has become ‘Congress Blackmail & Bachane ka institution” . When there is a show of strength in Lok Sabha or there is a need for support , CBI goes to the Supreme court to withdraw cases against Mulayam , Maya and Lalu etc . Whenever these people take congress to task , CBI starts knocking the door with charge sheets. Which honesty are you talking about Dr.Singh or are you selectively blind ?
Leadership abilities : You had once remarked that the history will judge you & not the opposition . Let me tell you that history would judge you as the most incapable leader who moved with the tide & sometimes it worked ( like in 1990’s ) and most of the time you failed miserably
Your party always projects you as the person who modernized India. Totally wrong !! In 1990’s , you were pushed against the wall with foreign exchange left for just a few days . Dr.Singh, you had no choice but to let the rupee devalue , and let the foreign investors bring money , and that too, was envisioned by PVNR ( who will never get his due share as he is was not from the Gandhi clan !! )
If you are such a great economist ( Look at your team: Finance minister is an economist , Home minister is a past finance minister , Montek is a finance man , In addition to this , you have Kaushik Basu, Raghuram Rajan etc….bunch of economic advisors ) . Then, why the hell are you all floundering !! You are all simply clueless about inflation and its solution!
I heard Pranab da saying yesterday that he was worried with inflation rising again !! He actually meant that he was failing ! I know that sometimes it is hard to put the right words, but public is not a fool Dr.Singh . We can make out what is underneath your statements .
Here is what historians would actually consider while rating you :
- Allegiance to the Gandhi clan and not to the nation
- Sharm-Al Shaikh & your love for Bush ( the residents of America hated the man and you loved him , i always fail to understand this one )
- Double digit Inflation ( You even failed as a astrologer here )
- Common Wealth Games fiasco
- Kashmir violence ( Worst thing to imagine is that house wives are on the streets pelting stones & Omar & you are on the same boat !! )
- Naxalites
- Relations with China ( Visa row clearly indicates that relations are at an all time low )
- US sanctions against outsourcing and increasing the VISA fees ( you just get flattered by Barack’s calling you ‘Guru’ , and you have gone overboard to get the nuclear deal through . Look at India’s past, and you will see that whenever India has faced sanctions , India has come out with its innovative research and developed the capabilities . Agni & Chandrayaan were built by Indian scientists. I don’t think that we should have surrendered our ‘Nuclear Sovereignty’ by signing the nuclear deal with a lot of riders and opening our sites for inspection to foreign powers …..You have let us down & undermined the capability of our scientists Dr.Singh ! Long term prospects of India of being the nuclear giant is gone with the deal . Without the deal , we could have taken longer but become stronger
- Relations with Pakistan , Nepal & Sri Lanka have gone at an all time low during your regime
- Farmers suicides are a blot to this nation
- Andhra Violence
- You are the only Prime Minister who has appointed & tolerated incompetent & disobedient ministers like Mamta , Sharad , Raja , Tharoor et al.
Under your Prime Ministership the political health, Social health & Economic health of the nation has touched a new low . I am not a fan of Advani , but when i see what Mani Shanker Aiyer did recently w.r.t. the Common Wealth Games or what Tharoor did a few months back or what Digvijay Singh has been saying about the Home minister or your own M.P’s criticizing the Kapil Sibal or Jagan defying congress and continuing with its Odarpu Yatra , i think Advani was right in saying that you are a weak Prime Minister . This is the worse government we have ever seen . The things have gone so bad that people curse you and your team . Even those who are well to do, are revolting in conscience and criticizing you …………you should be ashamed Dr.Singh of still sticking in your chair . Media calls you night watch man !! I feel ashamed to mention the language common man uses for you .
Dr.Singh , you represent the ‘political culture’ of this nation . If you are silent ( or helpless ) seeing the corruption and inefficiency of the ministers who report into you , how can you expect the citizens of this nation to stand up against corruption and inefficiency ? You are leading by a wrong example . Please change it immediately or do not give talks that calls the people to stand up & raise voice , when you are silent and blind to acts of corruption , inefficiency and nepotism !!
Seeing what you have done , i can put here that you never could become a politician and failed , and also that the professor in you died as you could not convince your colleagues of looking after the nation as per the mandate given to your government .
Every minute you stay in office or every inch you move is financed by my taxes ( read common man’s tax money ), and i have every right to question you about your indecision and decisions both . Please do not ignore the concerns of the common-man . Change your style of working , make changes in your cabinet , let the corrupt ministers go …….and do not do the mistake to pass off Rahul as a representative of youth for the nation ………He does not represent the youth , he represents the Gandhi’s
I expect you to act on this ……………you already have a detailed note sent out to you on Feb 14th about the steps you could consider to take in the interest of this nation . Else , resign and go. For sure , we will get a better Prime Minister ……..
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: Office@rajendragupta.in
US increases VISA fees and Bans outsourcing
It is quite natural for any country into recession to resort to protectionists measures. So for sure , that Indian IT / BPO companies will face a flack and lose business . So what to do ? How to counter the threat ?
Improve & increase the current offering , slash prices and force the US firms to come over to you…………..this is the best way for Indian companies to help US based companies to lower costs and increase profits …and ensure that Indian IT companies are more compelling value proposition for US corporations hungry for profits . Let’s see what works better – Business over politics or Politics over business ?
Rajendra
Government ( MP’s ) , Government employees & the Common Man !!
A few days back, the members of Parliament got a raise ( Over 300 % ) . Today, the government employees got 10 % increase in their dearness allowance , and the “poor” Common Man gets to read the headlines that, the inflation for food items has crossed over 15 %. But Pranab says that , the economy will grow at 9 % next year
This is the government (of ) MP’s, (for ) government employees, and (at the cost) of the common man !! This is what happens when there is “democracy” for a population that is either illiterate or unemployed or both …………Votes count and voters don’t .
Democracy will function effectively in a population that is literate and employed. Else dictatorship or democracy mean the same !!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Ecorape in Navi Mumbai
( Via email )
Dear Jairam,
I suggest you to send your team to Nerul, Navi Mumbai ( opposite Dr.D.Y.Patil stadium ). You can see that the beauty of Navi Mumbai ; the hillocks are being razed down under the patronage of the NCP leader , Ganesh Naik.
This is nothing short of an ‘Ecorape’ . Please save the beautiful hills and the natural creations . Today , these are being razed to make way for sky scrapers . Our next generations will pay a heavy price for such neglect and callous attitude of builder lobby in Navi Mumbai
Expect an immediate stop to such activities
Best regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Healthy Foods – A must have
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Dated: October 22nd, 2010.
- Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad
Hon’ble Minister for Health & Family Welfare
Government of India
Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi -110108.
2. CEO’s of the industry
Subject: An important appeal
Dear Shri Azad ji & CEO’s ,
This appeal needs your esteem, kind and personal attention.
Disease Management Association of India (DMAI ) – The Population Health Improvement Alliance is thankful to the Ministry of Health & Family welfare for taking action on its recommendations for health reforms appeal sent last year ( dated November 23rd 2009 ). Members, associated organizations and the Board of Directors of DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance, are highly appreciative of the steps that the current government is taking to tackle the healthcare issues concerning our nation.
One area where DMAI feels that the Ministry & the industry have to draw its focus and attend urgently is:
- Issue guidelines & standards ( and enforce them ) with regards to the food served in airlines , railways , other public transports, government canteens, private dining establishments, School canteens & packed foods ( all forms )
- All such foods / foods items must carry the calorific intake for each serving
- The customer must be given a choice of low calorie, low glycemic index, and zero cholesterol options rather than forcing them to eat unhealthy foods that adds to the disease burden of this nation.
- Above all, all packaged food companies must carry tips for good health on the individual packs – at least a one liner if not more!!
It is proven that Indians are genetically susceptible to circulatory disorders , and that we can only fight it by inculcating healthy eating habits by educating the public on healthy foods, promoting healthy foods ,and at last , giving them an option to eat what is good for their health .
I have personally experienced that all the airlines, Indian railways, public transport and eateries are serving foods that have a high glycemic index, high in fat content and are loaded with calories that remain in the body as excess fats. Such foods are a slow poison for consumers!! This is the main cause of India becoming a diseased nation, and the alarming rise in the obesity amongst children in addition to diabetes and hypertension. DMAI had conducted a random Health Risk Assessment with 2000 people in association with IIHMR, Delhi. The revelations have been shocking!! We have an abnormally high incidence of diabetes, hypertension and obesity. It’s a call to action.
We have to aim at keeping the BMI of Indians below 23, and today, it is shocking that about 50 % of Urban Indians are either at the risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension or joint pains or suffering from it.
By the time Indians reach forty years of age, they become patient of one form of illness or another. It is high time that we all get together and put efforts to make India a healthier nation. We cannot just blame the government for the healthcare issues and leave it to handle this issue alone!
Through this appeal, we expect all the airlines, public transport and eateries to ensure that they serve healthy food and carry the total calorific intake for each serving.
It is also expected that that all the concerned will take the health of Indians as a top priority in all the offerings when it comes to foods intake , and give options like brown bread , sugar substitutes , low calorie and low fat meals as an option and not force the passengers & customers to eat high calorie meals.
DMAI is committed to working with all the major stake holders in the entire continuum of care to bring about a population health improvement through actionable steps
We expect the government to formulate definite guidelines on this issue, and the industry to take a proactive approach. Work place wellness must be focused on by the HR captains and CEO’s of all the ‘responsible’ corporations.
DMAI appreciates the proactive approach of the government to ensure healthcare for all. Should the government agencies need any assistance in drafting guidelines or in the implementation plan, DMAI would be more than happy to volunteer for the same
In hope of the needful
Sincerely
CC:
Dr.Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister
Ms.Sujatha Rao, Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, GOI
Shri Dinesh Trivedi, MOS, HFW
Dr.K.Srinath Reddy, President, PHFI
Health Minister of States
CEO, Jet Airways, King Fisher Airlines, Goair, Indigo, Air India, Spicejet
Minister for Railways
Ministry of HRD / Ministry of Labour / Ministry of Civil Aviation
Koutenya Sinha, Editor Health, Economic Times
Sonal Shukla, Hindustan Times
Priyanka, DNA news
Rajdeep Sardesai
Barkha Dutt
CII, ASSOCHAM, FICCI & CIAT to circulate this to all its members
Mr. Prime Minister , you must go now !
28th November 2010, via Email
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
New Delhi.
Dear Dr.Singh ,
Over the last few weeks, we have seen that that our hard earned money ( about 40 % of our hard earned money goes to government as direct and indirect taxes ) was been looted more blatantly by our own politicians under your leadership than by Moguls or Britishers !!
We are ashamed of your leadership, more so, because you are a highly educated Prime Minister . It was hoped that a highly educated person has become the PM , the politics & governance would be without compromise and would improve , but seeing the massive loot of the our money in IPL, Rotting of food grains , naxalite problem , unchecked inflation , CWG , 2G & 3G , MCI expose , Adarsh’ & now LIC , it seems that the game of looting the nation will continue unabated . I still recall that you were the first one to back A .Raja last year , when the issue of 2G allocation was raised , you have stood beside him . Now that post the Supreme court intervention , Raja is gone , what are your thoughts ?
This is the first government in the country where the supreme court had to intervene many times and express shock ( remember the supreme court questioning CBI in Mulayam & Mayawati case , telling the government to give grains free rather than letting them rot !! & now the silence or patronage of the 2G minister !! ).
Dr.Singh, do not forget that the media reaches till the last man in this nation , and when they hear that the Prime minister lead government has looted lakhs of Crores , the reply in 2014 is going to be worse than Bihar. Over 400 million poor people do not even get one full meal a day & more than 5 million kids die every year of malnutrition !!
Dr.Singh , in history , you will go down as the most ineffective Prime Minister . You are the only Prime Minster, who was blatantly used & his position repeatedly abused by the Gandhi family . No wonder, Sonia came to your rescue saying that you are 100 % above board, and that your honesty should never be questioned . Dr.Singh , can you raise your hand and say that you are honest and you lead ministers like Sharad Pawar, A. Raja , Shashi Tharoor etc………..Your integrity and Honesty is just a matter of your ‘ being an educated & learned person’ and nothing beyond. In the last 7 years that you have lead this country , you have denigrated the government institutions & investigative bodies to mere puppets, and systemically allowed the loot to happen just to retain your chair . Dr.Singh . It is high time that you resigned and moved on and start writing your memoirs ‘honestly’.
I think it was a clever ploy to make you the Prime Minister , so that you could share all the blame for the planned loot , and when it comes to taking credit for NREGA , food security bill or women reservation bill , it would be the NAC headed by Sonia . ……………You should keep this email for your record . Post your stepping down( whenever it happens ) , you will be the first one in the line of fire from the Gandhi family for your inept handling of security , inflation and corruption . They will be the first one to say that could not understand managing a coalition and became morally flexible and allowed the loot of the nation !!
I also urge the opposition ( BJP ) to work on a program to educate the common man, that we must ensure that the congress is out of power for the next 10 years to get this nation back on track ………from 2014 till 2025 we do not need congress at all .
I am sure that all marked in this email will understand the anger of the common man and act as per our wishes !!
A common man
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Raja not only made money out of air waves ( spectrum ) but also out of airtime !!
Manmohan Singh ( You do not deserve any respectable salutations !!)
Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi
Media
Subject : First Hand experience with the de facto Raja i.e. Mr.R.P.Paramesh Kumar
In the year 2007, I had a chance to meet the de facto Raja i.e. R.P.Paramesh Kumar , who has been in the news recently for being the front-man for taking moneybags on behalf of A. Raja
We had a two meetings ( one at his T. Nagar office , and the other in a five star hotel at Chennai ) , and some of the highlights ( take homes from the meetings ) are as mentioned below :
- Paramesh Kumar informed me that he was the cousin of Mr.A.Raja , and that his call was as good as A.Raja’s call . Further , he offered to arrange a meeting with any I.T. company top honchos , and for doing so, his rate was Rs.10 Lac for ten calls . He assured that he would put us in touch with ten people , be it Narayana Murthy , Azim Premji or anyone else , and we had to use the opportunity to make business from those meetings . He was just responsible for getting an appointment !! What a business model !! Rs. One lac per phone call !!
- Also , the person who introduced us to Paramesh Kumar was a nice guy , a close relative of A. Raja . He informed us that Apollo Hospitals group had paid Rs.700 crore to A. Raja for a deal , and that Raja charged for every visit to companies for inauguration and the amount would run into lacs per visit !!
- The same relative informed us that Mr. Paramesh kumar was the cousin of Mr.A.Raja and the company M/s Green house promoters was the entity where Raja routed all his ill gotten wealth
- In one of the meetings with Mr. Paramesh Kumar in a five star hotel , Mr.R.Ramakrishan from Sobha Applied DSP ( part of the Sobha developers ) also joined the meeting.
I have never been into bribing, and so I did not pursue this discussions any further, and this remained just an exploratory meeting called at the behest of Raja’s close relative . This was in 2007, and I am sure that from 2007 ( or even before 2007 ) , Mr. Raja would have made 100’s of crore rupees making calls at the rate of Rs.1 lac per call to just fix meetings !! Manmohan ji , I do not know how he could do that with you as the PM ???
Manmohan Singh ji, if your ministers did such things while you were presiding over them as a PM , what does it indicate ? It is clear that you were a like a blind security guard on duty who did not see who was looting the building which you were supposed to safeguard !! If your intelligence failed even over your cabinet colleagues , how do I expect as a common man, that the same intelligence and supervision will take care of the safety of the nation and its borders !!
Last week , I was in a meeting ( which was also attended by senior people from the USA ), and one of the presenters had a slide that read – “We are a scam friendly nation ”. Trust me , it pained me a lot, and I felt ashamed before foreigners, that what people like you have made of this, once a great country – India !!
Nehru ignored corruption , Indira patronized it , Rajiv participated in it , and now , Rahul and Sonia are setting new benchmarks in corruption . If India had great leaders , we had just about 300 million population during independence ,and we could have become a developed nation by 1975 itself !! A system delivers what it is made for , and India’s system is made to work for inefficiency and corruption !!
I was in Delhi a day before yesterday ,and was having coffee with one of the Rahul’s close aide and advisor , and after an hour of discussion, he accepted that the future of the villages in India was ‘doomed’ . He accepted that government has no plan for rural India , and he was equally frustrated with the current scheme of things . Manmohan ji, your people are also fed up with your working !!
Manmohan ji, if you have little respect for the law of nature , please accept your failure and resign
We need drastic changes in our system and the current stream of politicians are not capable to comprehend the need and do the needful
Journalists : I know that you will doubt that I ever met Paramesh kumar , and that I am working for some vested interests ( as Raja’s aides or the morally flexible congress spokespersons would say ) , so I am attaching Paramesh Kumar’s visiting card along with the Sobha’s Director , Mr.Ramakrishnan’s visiting card . I am sure that it good enough ,and trust me , I have no axe to grind . People who have worked with me are aware of my ‘zero tolerance’ towards corruption and bribing .
I do hope that CBI will investigate Sobha’s & Apollo’s connection with this money launderer- Raja & his ill-gotten wealth . I have no proof other than quoting my discussions and attaching the visiting cards . Raja should be arrested immediately ,and his case put directly under a supreme court’s fast track system . Send these corrupt politicians to gallows !
Please act
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email: office@rajendragupta.in Office.rajendra@gmail.com
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
P.N. I receive over hundred email messages every day , and it is not possible to respond to all the emails promptly. Also , that the response time can be as high as thirty days or more . Please do not hesitate to follow up or sms at +91 922 33 44 542 in case you have a message which needs to be attended on a priority.
Judiciary is as inefficient & as corrupt as its top tier in Supreme Court & the top most politician of this nation
Just ask yourself , why do Chief / Justices of Supreme court, Chief Election Commissioners , Chief of Police , Chiefs of Army etc get plum postings after retirement ? Simple answer – they get return gifts for the favors they do when sitting in the hot seat !!
I was chatting with a senior journalist at the India International Centre , New Delhi a few weeks ago, and he had informed me that, it is believed in political & industry circles that , CJI K.G.Balakrishnan decided Mukesh Ambani’s case just before his retirement and made around Rs.450 Crores !! Well, this may not be just the only judgment to make money !!
Also, we can now understand , why In an embarrassment to former CJI K.G.Balakrishnan, Supreme Court judge H L Gokhale today contradicted his claim that he was not aware that it was former Union telecom minister A. Raja, who had tried to influence a Madras High Court judge in a criminal case
In a statement, Justice Gokhale, who was the chief justice of the Madras High Court at that time, said that in his letter to Justice Balakrishanan, the then CJI, he had clearly referred to the name of Raja.
Justice Gokhale ‘s statement totally contradicts Justice Balakrishnan’s claim that there was no mention of any Union minister in the report sent by Justice Gokhale, then High Court Chief Justice, on Justice S Reghupathi episode.
“I regret to say that the allegations are absolutely incorrect,” Balakrishanan had said last week referring to news reports that he had suppressed a letter purportedly written by Justice Reghupathi to him when he was Chief Justice of India.
CJI K.G.Balakrishnan protected Raja and became a Raja himself after bring appointed to the coveted post of Chairman, National Human Rights commission . Had he not protected Raja and done other favours to Congress , do you think he could have got a Cabinet Minister rank post his retirement ?
Think again , why did M.S. Gill become the Union Sports and Youth affairs minister after retiring as the Chief Election Commissioner ? Gill is in his late 70’s. and his youth passed away decades away !! Does he represent the youth of this country ??
Also reason out , Why did T.N.Sheshan not get any cabinet rank post his retirement ? Why did Kalam not get second term as President ? Why did Kiran Bedi resign before retirement ? Also , the current Judges of Supreme court who have questioned the CWG & 2G scam and taken a tough stand to unearth corruption will certainly not get a cabinet rank position post retirement !!
It is being talked in Congress circles , that the former Chief Minister of A.P., K. Rosaiah had resigned on grounds of poor health , and now he is to be rehabilitated as a Governor of some state. So is Raj Bhawan ( Governor’s residence ) meant to house the sick people ? After all , it is our money ( taxes) that support all such sinecure offices . It’s time to question such appointments .
Why is BJP supporting a sick George Fernandez ( he suffers from Alzheimer’s disease ) as a Rajya Sabha member, when he cannot even recognise who is Arun Jaitley ? Time to question every such decision which takes our hard-earned money that we pay as taxes to run this government !!
Corruption is a trickle down process and starts right at the top !!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
office@rajendragupta.in
Rahul is not at fault – fault lies in his surname !
“My grandmother was behind the creation of Bangladesh”. This was none other than Rahul GANDHI’s remark a few years ago, so when i read his Wiki leak’s revelations about his conversation with Timothy Roemer , i was not surprised .
Firstly , why was he seated next to the Ambassador of the US ? Was there no protocol for seating arrangement or he just grabbed the seat ?
Rahul ventured beyond his role as the General Secretary of Congress and as an M.P. Such comments about terrorism should come either from the Home minister or the Prime Minister . He should have talked about congress and his youth congress , but for sure , not for the nation and its security . Why does he not utter a word against corruption ?
But we must not forget that once you have the surname ‘Gandhi’ , no matter , even if you are insane , you will be the heir apparent for Congress party, that has become a party of sycophants for the Gandhi family …………………….. Competence does not matter in the party , otherwise there are many competent leaders in congress , but once you challenge the first family , you are out .
Last year , i was with a senior politician at Delhi, and i asked him, why do you not promote ‘talent based’ politics in Congress ? To which, he answered ‘ Talented people ( we get some talented people elected to the parliament) are sent to the government as junior ministers or in ‘light’ ministries , and keep the sycophants in the party , because the party runs the government and not the other way round !! This answered my question why was Manmohan elected as the PM , as he is not a politician and would take his directions from the party even for doing wrong things ‘rightly’ and for doing ‘right’ things wrongly , and later take the brick bats without even politicising the issues !
We must wait for the Wiki leaks regarding Manmohan Singh , and that would certainly be more interesting than any of these leaks .
I recall someone from the NDA ( Sharad Yadav perhaps !!) had said during the Bihar assembly elections that, we must dump Rahul in Ganges – Bihar certainly listened him !!
Whenever , this poor chap (Prince RG ) makes statements drafted by his speech writers , he talks sense , but i believe , with Timothy , the discussions were not supported by his speech writers , but were extempore !!
Congress did not replace Rahul despite his irresponsible utterances from Time to time and his devastating failure in Bihar . Look back , Advani was removed for his utterances for Jinnah, so was Major Jaswant , and finally , Advani stepped down after failure in 2009 elections , but Gandhi family members can commit blunders with impunity and have immunity for any adverse actions being taken against them . Only a few weeks ago, Sonia was elected President for the fourth time , breaking all the rules of the congress party !! That’s the Congress (I)
Poor people are looted at the airports – Plan backed by the government
Speed post
December 15th, 2010.
Mr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister
Government of India , New Delhi.
Subject: Email sent on March 01, 2010, regarding Immigration forms & the loot of the poor passengers at the International Airports in India
Dear Prime Minister,
Please go through the attached email, wherein I brought to your notice, the organized loot happening at the international airports across India. As usual, no action has been taken so far .May is, because the poor people do not have a lobbyist like Niira Radia!!
This is how Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is involved:
The MEA knows well that less than 5 % of the Indians know English, still the immigration forms are printed only in English. The poor Indians who cannot read / write in English are forced to shell out between Rs.20-Rs.60 for the touts to fill the forms.
It is more than six months that I have brought this to the notice of policy makers including your selves, but no action has been taken. Is this how you look after the common-man!! Do you not know how many poor workers travel to gulf countries every day!! They are robbed even before they leave the Indian shores to earn for their families, who are struggling back home at their native place to make both ends meet!
Please let me know in writing why no action has been taken on this complaint? Also, for the past so many decades, why has the government not thought of having immigration forms in Hindi and other local languages? Also can we not have counters for illiterate people at the international airport, where assistance can be provided to fill in the forms ?
The existing Immigration form does not mention, if the form has to be filled in black or blue ink, please mention this in the new forms right at the top.
Lastly, give me a definite date as to when this be done?
This complaint will be subject to RTI act, if no response is received by January 31, 2011.
In hope of the needful
-Signed
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Encl: Email sent on March 1, 2010 & Immigration form
CC:
Mr. S.M.Krishna, Minister for External Affairs
Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi
Leader of the Opposition, Arun Jaitley (RS), Sushma Swaraj (LS)
Media
Congress Plenary – Congress shows its double standards
Congress has the right to crack jokes at its plenary session . How can congress shout at the top of its voice to fight Communalism and corruption , when none others than the congress leaders propagated Communalism and corruption ? The whole idea of this session was to extend the rule of Sonia and role of Rahul , and hide their failures by shouting aloud at non-issues .?
We all know that the deterioration of congress under Sonia’s leadership is its worst ever in its history . She should have resigned from the party than extending her President-ship to five years. What was the hurry after all, if she is such a great leader ? She could have become a President for another 3 years after her current term got over ( Her new term , i presume, commenced only a few weeks back , when congress tore the decades old rule book and elected her as the President for the fourth term ). Two things are clear with such a move , first that Sonia is insecure about her getting another term, and second , there are tremors within the senior Congress leadership, who were not happy with the current turn of events , and might have questioned Sonia’s inability to tame the moral and electoral downfall of congress , and the party sycophants silenced them by increasing the term of Sonia – This is congress . No word is heard against the first family and their future off springs !!
Politicising Ram , One is reminded here how the decision to throw open the doors of Babri Masjid first at political level was taken by Rajiv Gandhi under the advice of Mr. Arun Nehru and then the judgement was pronounced by the district magistrate that the doors of Babri Masjid be thrown open which gave rise to a serious problem.
We should also not forget the Congress sponsored Somayagya by Chandraswami at Ayodhya . When Congress failed to milk the Religious issue of Hindu’s , it started provoking and blaming the BJP
My grandfather ( also that my mother was born in Lahore ) was born in what is now called Pakistan , he used to write in Urdu and no Hindu ever questioned him ? It was the leaders of the Congress that divided India in closed door meetings with British on religious lines and started Hindu- Muslim divide ,
It was congress that failed to address the Kashmir issue and the boundary dispute with China ( Nehru shut the door to negotiations on the (India-China) boundary on July 1, 1954″, according to a just-released book by A.G. Noorani based on archival research and hitherto unpublished material ). Nehru’s refusal to negotiate, and the 1960 rebuff to Chou En-Lai when he was visiting and appeared ready to settle the issue — may well have sowed the seeds of the 1962 India –China war, and finally the defeat .
Criminalization of politics was started with Sanjay Gandhi during emergency, and thereafter, this spread like an epidemic. Who killed thousands of Sikhs after the death of Indira Gandhi and got away after decades of blame-free investigation & trail ? Who use to go to meet the Maulana Bukhari before the elections, begging for Muslim votes – Rajiv Gandhi ! See now, this clan (Gandhi ) calls for fighting religious terrorism , and blames Hindu radical groups for fomenting terror !! I have no doubt about what Rahul told Timothy Roemer about Hindu terror groups , and now , his mother will use all the government machinery at the center and in the congress ruled states to put RSS and others on the other side of law . This is what Congress is known for . Perhaps , Mahatma Gandhi was right , when he asked to dissolve the congress after the freedom was achieved . May be, he had got a sense of the future tactics of congress ,and he had lost confidence in the powers in Congress , and their ability to run the nation post freedom using the alter of Congress- which i presume Mahatma Gandhi never wanted to happen .
Digvijay’s communally provocative remarks have been summarily dismissed by the Karkare’s family and also by his own congress ruled government in Maharashtra , still congress calls him to the dais to deliver a talk at the Plenary . This is the true face of congress – Double standards . Do something , and run to stop it – posthumously !!
Another glaring example of double standards of Congress comes from the fact that , Congress goes to bed with any party for grabbing power , and then realizes that the partner was not accommodating in the bed and did not have an appetite for congress’s taste . See the case of poor chaps that got trapped and went to bed with Congress and lost their respect later – Lalu, Mulayam , Mayawati …………list will continue as the Congress party lacks character .
After criminally looting India for close to half a century , Gandhi family chooses to shout at the top of its voice to end the problems that have originated from their weakness !! This is the clever strategy to convert weakness into strengths . This is also called Sainthood in old age
Lastly, after 62 years of independence , Congress party has been working hard to find the definition of the “common Man” !!
Time to expose these corrupt leaders from the Scam Party of India – Congress in itself is a big Scam !
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Common Man !!
Dear Rahul,
I read about your definition of the common man at the Congress plenary session . It is rather a matter of shame that, the Congress has decided to search the definition of a common man after six decades after India became Independent !! Your party has ruled the country for about half a century with absolute power, and your dad used to say in 80’s that, of every rupee meant for the poor only 15 paisa reaches the poor, and now you say only 10 paisa reaches the poor. So what have you all done for this country ? Your contributions are a serious question mark ?? Now to shadow your failures , you are talking of terrorism !!
We have met twice on your call at 10 ,Janpath ( Once in March ’10 & second time in Oct’10 , i could not come in July as i was abroad ). Coincidently , Kanishka was present in both the meetings and had told me that i could have fought the elections !! I must tell you that , i have not been impressed by your rhetoric on development or your being a Sipahi for the Tribal’s etc. Look back , what has congress done to the nation ? In a land of a billion people , if we have to ask the question, to name 10 big business houses ? The person will start answering something like this, Reliance , Tata, Birla , RPG group, Bharti, Vedanta , Sahara …………..and start fumbling for want of more names . Shameful isn’t ? That this should have been the scenario of every state, where we should have created millionaires and billionaires ………….But we just have a handful of tycoons ……..close to the establishment .
But the bigger question is , how & where did these groups become big & make their money ? Answer is simple . They all made their money in natural or government resources ( Steel, Mining , Gas , Spectrum, real estate ). All these resources are owned by the state , and have been either selectively leased or licensed to some tycoons who could bribe the party , politicians and bureaucrats and loot the resources owned by the government . These groups have been created by politicians , and now these groups manage the greedy lot !!
So please do not make tall statements at the public forums . I was having lunch with an industrialist friend from Delhi a week ago, and he thought that i understood the mechanizations at the Delhi’s corridors of power. So quite naively , he asked me ,Rajendra , do you know who is the Mr. Ten Percent in Gandhi Family ? I answered point blank, ‘No’.
To which he named your brother-in-law !! Stating that Now a days , Robert Vadra is known to get 10 % , when he is not even worth ten percent . I also heard Tarun Das , Mentor CII, Stating to Niira Radia that , Mr. Kamal Nath takes 15 % cut . He later justified and retracted .But a senior and an elderly Industry spokesperson saying such a thing is a matter of shame for the nation .
You & others have said many things in this plenary , but do you all have a plan ? The malaise is so deep that people will revolt against the powers, should you try to kill the giant whom your family let flourish all these decades ; The Giant call corruption . I understand when Raja made a statement today that ‘ I am not afraid of CBI’ . He knows that, CBI is busy with Jagan Mohan Reddy now a days and Reddy brothers & Yeduyurappa . It cannot act against its masters ! Else , how will the CBI Chief get his plum post after retirement ? We all know that you do not intent to end the corruption my friend !!
Rise up from your slumber and talk sense Prince RG !!
Regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : office@rajendragupta.in
Thank the generous leaders of the opposition that have not asked for your resignation
Dear Mr. Manmohan ji,
More than six years back, we handed the reins of a great country to you, assuming that, you were the person who had turned around India in the late 80’s. It was on the basis of the past credentials that you were asked to be the supreme custodian of the nation, its values, its sovereignty and its 1.2 billion people . We were wrong , it was Narasimha Rao who did it , and you just got the credit . Also, i presume, that besides devaluing the currency , and giving into the IMF’s demands, you did not have any alternatives , so unnecessarily , you took the credit after being pushed to the wall. Now where is your economic understanding and knowledge in taming inflation , when inflation is killing the common man for over about years now ??
Your men ( ministers) have looted the nation to the tune of Rs. 3.0Lac crore ( 1.72 Lac in the 2G scam and 70,000 Crore in CWG + other routine scams and bribes will add up to the figure of Rs.3.0+ Lac Crore , and now you are claiming innocence and stating that you have nothing to hide !!
You cannot hide anything Manmohan ji, you are already exposed by the taped conversations and the reports of the CAG ! The technology ( mobile phone licenses ) which gave your men 1000’s of Crores , that same technology ( Taped phone conversations of Niira Radia ) exposed you bare before the common man !! People are now asking you to go under the scanner to be punished and that’s a fair thing to ask, as the nation has been under siege by your men, who have recklessly looted the nation and thrown the laws to the wind . This in itself shows how serious the issue is ? You come from a party that that have never respected democracy , and still believes that Gandhi family is the start and end of all. Congress have even strangulated the democracy & its institutions , and has put to stake the interests of the nation before the interests of the dynasty . Do not forget that Indira became a dictator by imposing emergency , and that’s the party you belong to right now . So when congress arm twists politicians with CBI raids and IT notices , you are just carrying on with the DNA of Indira’s dictatorial policies, that were like ‘ either support us or else get harassed’ . Do you not see that Jagan was denied his father’s role , and Rahul has been appointed the Secretary of Congress due to his Surname !! Does it not prove double standards .
As a head of the gang that has looted the nation of Rs. 3 lac crore , you should be thankful to the opposition that they have not asked for your resignation till now . As head of the gang ( basically , what i am saying is that , you are an offender and have committed a crime of betraying the trust of a billion people ) , you have no right to decide who will probe you and how ? You are a big fat offender in supreme office ? You must voluntarily step down and face the law. You cannot be probed till you are in the seat of the Prime Minister . How can a thief decide who will put him to trial ? and which laws will apply to him ? Aren’t you doing just that ? You are a miserable failure as a PM on all accounts , and people have just got carried away by your fanciful & foreign degrees and your old age for which you are being respected .
You loot the nation first and then cry aloud that you are as Pristine as the silver clouds in the sky ?
I am marking this mail to the top leaders of the opposition to ensure that they reconsider their demand, and ask for your resignation besides JPC. If the leaders fail to do so , the public will punish them for not caring for the interest of the common man ! Manmohan ji , You have failed in your fiduciary responsibility as the custodian of this nations , its democratic values and institutions , and now Sonia , Rahul and you are talking like an opposition party , stating that we will have a five pronged approach to fight corruption ? That too, after systematically looting the nation, you are trying to become saintly policemen ? Were you not the PM when you supported Raja, and said that you are in the loop of all that is happening in the DOT ? You were the one who gave him a clean chit ? Now , it’s your time to surrender to the law of the land for a fair probe, and that is a reasonable demand from the opposition . In that , i as a common man , am adding one more genuine request . People with questionable credentials and dubious record of governance must immediately resign
Time to pay for your sins
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : Office@rajendragupta.in
Let not inefficiency , inflation and corruption get into 2011
Dear Mr. Singh ,
Last year was the worst year of the decade, and perhaps after independence due to your weak leadership as Prime Minister.
I read today in the newspapers that, the food inflation is in double digits , i feel it is not just double digits , but a double blow for the poor or medium class fixed earners, whose salary does not increase with inflation . Think about daily wage earners that earn 40-60 Rs a day and manage their family of four ( two children and parents , though we know that poor people have more than two children !!) ? Do you not feel the guilt , that you have caused irreparable damage to the nation, and its people both economically , and its image in the eyes of the world ? Today we are called a scam friendly corrupt nation – a nation of scamsters!!
People have got carried away with your degrees, but seeing your miserable performance , i have realised the difference between being educated , being knowledgeable and being wise . You might be educated , but you are definitely not knowledgeable and not at all wise ! A Prime Minister is expected to be Wise and pro-active on important issues . You have built your good image , but ruined the nation’s image !
You and Pranab are fooling the people of this nation by showing 8-9 % GDP growth and a higher forecast . Reality is before us, it is difficult to survive for a common man in today’s time when one cannot get anything done without paying money , when one cannot live within his salary seeing the high price of daily food intake . A big Shame on you both and Sonia !! With such revolting conditions , i am sure you are working for pushing people to take to Naxalism and crime !!
Two days back i was talking to Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi and discussing the current developments , and i told him that, Dr.Joshi you could have proved to be a better PM ! Incidentally , there is only one Dr. in Congress and in BJP. In Congress ,It is yourself , and Dr.Joshi is the Dr. of BJP. I have had a chance to work with him on several issues , and have seen his grasp of real issues facing the nation, and no wonder , even you have been high in praise for his abilities as PAC , Chairman, besides, other colleagues in congress . I am sure that he would have proved to be a much better Prime Minister . I cannot comment on others , as i do not know other leaders much .
My humble request Manmohan ji, give Indians a chance to celebrate the new year , Please resign and go ……………we do not want more corruption , more inflation and more GDP !!
We would happily settle for no corruption , low inflation or no inflation and a moderate GDP .
Go now Sir , take rest .Let’s celebrate New Year with a new Hope
Hope this does not fall on deaf ears
Wish you a great year ahead
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Email : Office@rajendragupta.in
Stop this loot of our hard earned money by supporting defunct and inefficient public sector companies & being blind to private operators !!
Praful Patel
Minister of State for Civil Aviation
Ministry of Civil Aviation,
Government of India
Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan,
Safdarjung airport
New Delhi -110003
Dear Mr. Patel,
I have been reading all that Niira Radia said about you, ‘ That, you ruined the Aviation Sector & that you work for Naresh Goyal’ . Well, i am not in a position to be judgemental about her comments .Nevertheless , as a frequent flyer ‘common man’ , and a concerned Indian, i am sending you some action points , which will be subject to RTI enquiry by January 16, 2011., in case , no action is taken or no written response from the Ministry within 15 days .
I know that you have been proactively involved though the media, for showing your concerns for high fares , and trying to bring down the fares of the domestic airlines . I am sure that you could at least create media bites because of the same . Through this appeal for action , i wish to share my view points on some action areas that might be worth your getting into, and showing your commitment towards the passengers and the common man .
- Today , i received a message from my friend from BJP, who had a harrowing time due to delayed Spice jet flight at the Delhi airport , he was made to wait for hours without being even served water !! I expect your ministry to come up with Guidelines for treating passengers ( both domestic and international ) for Foggy conditions or any technical reasons etc, resulting in delays beyond 30 minutes , and cancellations . I expect you to ‘instruct’ the airlines with a penalty clause to provide ‘healthy refreshments’, in case of any delay beyond 30 Minutes as per the dietary guidelines . Also, the Ministry of Civil Aviation or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation or the Airports Authority of India must make alternative arrangements for dealing with delayed passengers at your cost (FOC) for making two free phone call ( one at the boarding city and other to the destination city ) to the relatives or friends etc , and for refreshments like hot beverage during winters and cold beverage during summers & a meal for each two hours of delay . AAI and airlines are collecting heavy airport and terminal taxes for each flight that we take. Should it not be a joint responsibility of the airlines and the AAI ? Please set up a toll-free number operational 24 X7 for such complaints . Need your response on this within 7 days
- I was in Bhubaneswar in November to attend a conference which was also attended by ISRO scientists . While we were discussing our travel itineraries , i was informed by them that PSU & government employees are only entitled to travel via NACIL airlines ( Air India & Indian Airlines ). So for travel that could have been done for less than Rs.8500 by any LCA’s ( low cost carriers ), these people paid upwards of Rs.28000.00 because NACIL airlines does not fly direct to Bhubaneswar . Two questions to your ministry . Private airlines fly to Bhubaneswar ! So for sure , it is a good sector , else the private airlines would never fly on these routes . So did NACIL never consider this Or it stopped flights to this sector for any other ‘considerations’. Please clarify with details of the review meeting minutes whether this was ever considered ? Second ; Why should Government employees or PSU’s be allowed to use only NACIL airlines ? Rather i must ask the Ministry of Labour , HRD or the PM through this communiqué , why is there a restriction for government and PSU employees to use only the state-run company services like NACIL or BSNL or MTNL ? Despite this monopolistic practices and captive customers, both these corporations are under heavy losses !! Remember , that PSU employee pays Rs.28000.00 instead of Rs.85000.00 for flying with inefficient NACIL airlines . With this , you are being unfair to the market , and we the tax payers are being put to a double loss to encourage the inefficiency and corruption in the PSU backed service providers and still fund their losses !! Please stop this stupid rule . Let us make our PSU sector to be competitive to get customers. Government backed & public funding of the losses must be stopped immediately .Just consider that the Rs.20000.00 extra that the ISRO scientists paid to travel to Bhubaneswar was coming from our money ( taxes ), and despite giving this captive business to NACIL , it continues to bleed every minute , which is again funded by our monies . You are gonna fund these losses by bailing them from our tax money . My suggestion , government nationalised Air India when it was owned by TATA’s. Last month only , Ratan Tata had said that , he was being asked Rs.15 crore to start the airline business . To my surprise , instead of taking this serious investigation further ( you could have got a CBI inquiry done for all the airlines that have got the license , and how much did they paid to get their airline license ? Instead, you asked Ratan Tata to name the minister, thus obfuscating the real issue and letting it die slowly ). Now , you must give NACIL back to TATA’s and let them run it efficiently , and you remain a 40 % financial share holder and don’t meddle in the operations . We, the tax payers would save our hard-earned money in funding the losses every year , and have a much better experience flying the same airlines under TATA management
Lastly , i have sent a note on October 22, 2010 that healthy foods be served at all airports and all airlines . I am attaching the PDF file in this email , and also pasting some of the action points for your action
Issue guidelines & standards ( and enforce them ) with regards to the food served in airlines , railways , other public transports, government canteens, private dining establishments, School canteens & packed foods ( all forms )
All such foods / foods items must carry the calorific intake for each serving
The customer must be given a choice of low-calorie, low glycemic index, and zero cholesterol options rather than forcing them to eat unhealthy foods that adds to the disease burden of this nation.
Above all, all packaged food companies must carry tips for good health on the individual packs – at least a one liner if not more!!
Detailed note is available on the DMAI – The Population Health Alliance’s website www.dmai.org.in . Link http://www.dmai.org.in/Appeal_DMAI.pdf
I am hoping that you will definitely attend these issues in this year itself
I wish you , family and the team a Marvellous year 2011
CC: PMO / Min of Labour / HRD / Prominent Leaders of the Opposition
Regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Mobile:
India + 91 9223344542 / +91 9867300045
USA + 1515-966-6557 / 1515-450-8036
UAE + 971-553121829
Email: office@rajendragupta.in Office.rajendra@gmail.com
Address for communication 102, Siddhivinayak, Plot no.3
Sector 14, Khanda colony, New Panvel (W). Navi Mumbai . India 410206
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
P.N. I receive over hundred email messages every day , and it is not possible to respond to all the emails promptly. Also , that the response time can be as high as thirty days or more . Please do not hesitate to follow up or sms at +91 922 33 44 542 in case you have a message which needs to be attended on a priority.The information in this message is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this message by anyone else is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, or distribution of the message, or any action or omission taken by you in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Please immediately contact myself, if you have received this message in error. Finally, the recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The sender accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. Thanking you
Quota for medical emergencies in Railways and Airlines
28th December , 2010
Ms.Mamta Banerjee, Union Minister for Railways, Government of India
Mr.Praful Patel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Government of India
Subject : Quota for Critically ill & Medical Emergency patients
Dear Hon’ble Ministers,
I have the honour to write to you on behalf of DMAI (Disease Management Association of India) – The Population Health Improvement Alliance, concerning Quota in trains and airlines for critical ill and medical emergency patients .For airlines, I am aware of the frequent flyers quota ( As a Platinum Member of Jet Airways, I am guaranteed a seat at the full fare 24 hours before departure ). I believe, that the members of Parliament have a quota with NACIL. The different quotas in railways in mentioned below .
General Quota
Ladies Quota
Head quarters/high official Quota
Defence Quota
Parliament house Quota
Foreign Tourist Quota
Duty Pass Quota
Tatkal Quota
Female(above 45 Year)/Senior Citizen/Travelling alone
Physically Handicapped Quota
Though, it is a matter of shame that despite 63 years of independence, we still have a waiting list that never gets confirmed, and needy passengers lose a day or sometimes are not able to reach their destination in time for treatment or pay more to touts who gets the reservation under HOR (Higher official Requisition ).
Besides the poor planning from the railways, one thing is clear; that a common man and his genuine needs are clearly ignored. We are aware of the fact that, during medical emergencies , people have to carry the sick patients to the various national institutes like TATA Memorial ( Mumbai ), AIIMS (Delhi ), NIMHANS etc, for referral , surgeries and other treatments , which are in major mega metros, and that too, at short notice many a times ! Similarly, for various other ailments, the patients have to travel to major towns where the facilities are available, and this might happen at an extremely short notice, and such a travel is necessary to save a precious life most of the times
To be short and accurate, people have to travel from ‘Bharat’ to ‘India’ to save the lives of their loved ones. What I am proposing is that, we must have a quota for medically-ill patients with one attendant at least .This quota must be available for all trains and same for airlines .
How to implement this quota ?
Let this be a simple process for an already suffering family with a medical emergency. Idea is , not to waste the most critical resource; ‘Time’ . The station manager or the station master must be empowered to allow the patient with not more than a one page single form with Xerox of medical report and an identity card, referral letter from a qualified government or private practitioner. The station master could call the doctor to verify the letter and approve thetravel instantly, so that the patient could board the train even if s/he has reached just before the train departure time !!
If you want , DMAI could assist you with qualified volunteers to help frame the guide lines for this . Travel should be made free for railways for AC III Tier , as it has been the failure of the government to provide good care facilities uniformly across India , and people have to travel for treatment to mega metros and other major nearest town for treatment . The guaranteed reservation should be for to & fro travel
I am sure that this is a very genuine request and the government will work out the modalities for implementing this from the next budget itself
We remain at your disposal for further information & assistance , should you need in this matter
In hope of the needful with an action taken report
We wish you a great year ahead . Happy New Year .
Yours truly ,
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Copy to:
Dr.Manmohan Singh , Prime Minister , Government of India
Shri Pranab Mukerjee , Finance Minister , Government of India
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare
Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi, M.P.
Arun Jaitley , Leader of Opposition – Rajya Sabha
Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition – Lok Sabha
Dr.Syeda Hameed, Member , Planning Commission of India .
Dr.K.Srinath Reddy, President , Public Health Foundation of India
Secretary for Health & Family Welfare Government of India
Why JPC ? FAQ- Frequently Asked Questions
As the country steps into 2011, memories of 2010 as the ‘year of loot and Scams & Parliament deadlock’ will keep chasing our minds, trying to find answers. Congress continues to use its good offices to give a wrong picture & keeps confusing the common man, painting a saintly image of the Prime Minister , Sacrifice of Sonia Gandhi for giving up the Chair of PM , side-tracking the issues of uncontrolled inflation and other glaring national issues concerning the common man, and blaming the opposition parties of sabotaging the winter session of the parliament . Here is a short document that presents a factual picture, as to why the entire opposition ( and not just BJP ) is sticking to its demand for JPC & why is the Congress hell bent on opposing JPC, thereby sabotaging the parliament session ? Here are some of the facts;
- On 23rd July 2009 , the issue of the 2G scam was debated for 3 days in Rajya Sabha, & the Prime Minister still asked “What has Raja done” ? The BJP has always respected the people’s mandate and demonstrated highest regard to the constitution and safe guarded national interests. We must consider that , In Rajya Sabha, where Congress is in minority , BJP worked with the Congress to get the Suppliers liability corrected, keeping in view the Bhopal Gas tragedy, and ensured that the Nuclear Liability Bill was smoothly passed . So BJP is not a party that will stall the proceedings of the house, leave alone a parliament’s session.
- According to the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG ) Report , Raja’s opaque and ‘Speed Allocation’ ( Telecom companies were asked to deposit the drafts within 30 minutes !! ) caused a loss of Rs. 17,60,00,00,00,000.00 to the government of India . This is besides the Common Wealth Games loot of about Rs. 7,00,00,00,00,000.00. Total money in just two of these scams is to the tune of Rs. 24,60,00,00,00,000.00. Is the demand for the Parliament probe not a fair & justified demand for looking into the government functioning, that blatantly looted the nation of money and brought down the respect of the nation before the global community ??
- Despite the issue being discussed in Parliament , the Prime Minister did not act on the telecom minister , and the CBI kept its Masters ( Congress Government ) in good taste by registering a case without filing charge-sheets against ‘Unknown persons’ for this biggest scam !. It is clear that CBI had covered up the issue with its ‘Blame Free’ investigation. The scam and the ‘No response’ from the government was such a blatant ignorance that, on October 29, 2010, the Supreme Court had slammed the CBI for its “slipshod” investigations into the 2G spectrum allocation issue and even wondered how Mr. Raja was continuing in office.! We know what had happened in the case of Jessica Lal , where the investigation lead to the outcome that , ‘No one killed Jessica’, and if the congress government continued in its way of dealing this issue , the massive loot of the state exchequer would end up getting lost into files and years and finally fade away.
- We must not forget that it was the Supreme Court that pushed the government to act, and then only after the entire opposition pushed the government, Congress had to sack Raja .
- We must not forget that All India Congress Committee, AICC meet in New Delhi on 2nd November 2010, on the eve of 125th anniversary of Indian National Congress did not even mention a word about corruption despite this glaring and shameless loot of the nation for lacs of crores !!
- The parliament logjam is due to fight between the Arrogance & Rigidity of the congress to not to have a JPC , (so that AICC can maintain the opaqueness of its dealings and keep doing the denigration of government institutions under its regimes to continue to loot this nation) , and the reports of the CAG , reason & logic of the opposition for a very basic demand to have a JPC , so as to set a strong deterrent & a lasting precedent to check the recurrence of these scams . On one side, the Prime Minister wants to appear before the PAC in complete disregard to the framework of PAC, and in addition , the government has decided to circumvent the JPC issue by asking the retired supreme court Justice Shivaraj Patil to probe the 2G scam. If the government is serious about bringing the guilty to book, why is congress shying away from JPC, which will also have a congress nominee to lead . But the fear of the Prime Minister stems from the fact that, in the JPC , there will be representation from all the parties as per the strength of the house in parliament .Congress is well aware , PAC does not have necessary mandate & is restricted , & even if PM presents his views to the PAC, it is not of much consequence . The fact is that , every time governmental transactions take place, CAG goes into those transactions. The CAG is like an internal auditor; it produces an audit report. The PAC’s jurisdiction stems from CAG only. It is restricted. The magnitude of this issue is far greater. Politics, government formation, policy formation, portfolio allocation distribution, people learning of the government’s policy days in advance–these are not auditing matters, they are not accounting entries which PAC can go into. CBI can only determine the criminality of the issue; as to retired judges giving reports on policy, Then you have a PAC with a limited jurisdiction. The only body which can look into all institutional ailments is, the JPC. That’s why the entire Opposition and not just the BJP is asking for a JPC probe. But BJP is firm that it will not give in and bow in to the tactics from Congress
- Karnataka comparison with 2G scam and the reality ? Issues have been raised with regard to certain land transactions and land allotments. It has been an established practice according to which, the state chief ministers have the authority with regard to some discretionary allotments and to the release of land which they don’t require. Now, whether this was properly done or improperly done, questions can arise, and have arisen. There are various mechanisms going into those questions: you have the Lokayukta going into those questions; a separate commission has been appointed. Our party president has said he is taking somebody’s help in going through those questions. The issue is not closed. BJP is committed to complete transparency in its dealings , and time will prove that no wrong doing was ignored and no wrong person was spared under BJP.
- If NAC ( National Advisory Committee) is needed , when a government with a PM & cabinet is functioning , why there should not be a JPC despite a PAC ? Congress must look into its double standards rule book, and then talk . BJP is a responsible party committed to highest values in governance for safe guarding the interests of every Indian
- Congress calls the opposition irresponsible, and Pranab Mukherjee threatens a mid-term election, if the opposition sticks to its demand in the parliament for JPC – Public knows who is black-mailing !!
Prepared by Rajendra Pratap Gupta for the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)
Email : Office@rajendragupta.in
Give us a Prime Minister – Manmohan Singh is a good professor but certainly not a PM material
Dear Mrs.Sonia Gandhi,
Since you are the President of Congress party , please look into this email
Over the last few years , we have tried to accept Dr.Manmohan Singh as our Prime Minister , but his performance as a congressman might be good , but he has failed completely as a Prime Minister . Congress has been blinded by Gandhi dynasty to such an extent that it has become poor in chosing the right people for the right job. May be that your and Rahul’s intellect is not upto the mark where you can choose competent people .
Over the years , congress government under your Presidency has become a government of faulty planning , false promises , blaming coalition for your failures and blame free investigations in most of the scams
- This government has too many highly educated people, economists & NRI experts & advisors , but still the wisdom to understand the problems and give exact solutions is missing .
- Every time your Congressmen give a new date about controlling inflation , and every time they miss it . When the inflation is perpetually high , you blame coalition politics for it. So why do Indian’s pay a price for your forming the government ?Dissolve the government and go for fresh elections .
- You are not able to judge the talent and most of your ministers are highly inefficient and corrupt , and we were hoping that Sharad Pawar would be removed so that he could focus on the ICC world cup in 2011( Which he will do anyways !!), but he seems to have hypnotized you !! He is still around !
- Your party believes that , by revealing the names of those who stole the government money and deposited them in Swiss Banks , would pose a security risk ! So you are trying to tell India that, majority of your office bearers are Swiss account holders !! And that their getting caught would mean that the government would collapse !! Anyways , Julian Assange is on the way for dropping a few names , and I do hope that they are not from India & Congress !!
- Industrial growth has been reduced to 2.7 % , lowest in the past 18 months . Would like to answer it why ? Rather , I must ask you if your people know at all why it happened ?
- People are very bullish about rural India, and every major FMCG , White good & vehicle manufacturing company is over- joyed with the growth coming from rural India in terms of the purchases being made . Let me take you through a very dangerous & disturbing development in rural India – I call it Rubble ( rural bubble ). I have been visiting rural India and talking with villagers . Here is what I want to tell you. Let’s take the example of Chavane village in Raigad. The village has changed dramatically in the past 3 years. It is great to see concrete (Pucca )houses with two wheelers parked in front of the houses. As you dig deeper , the facts reveal that people sold their land to MHADA for Rs.30,000.00 per acre for SEZ, and with sudden flow of funds, the thatched roof houses got converted into Concrete (Pucca ) houses, and two wheelers were also purchased along with some jewellery . Villagers had for the first time seen so much money, so instant money that came by selling land was used to make aspirational purchases , and it is over now , lands are gone as well !! What will the farmer do ? What will the farm labourers do ? How will they earn their living ? Let’s take another village 80 Kms from Nagpur , where Lanco plant is being built . Villagers have sold land for the rates as high as Rs. 25 lac per hectare . In India , average size of the land holding would be around 5-7 acres. Selling the entire land would fetch Indian farmers between Rs. 1.25 lac to 1.75 crore depending upon the size of the holding and the rate paid by the acquirer. On these lands , manufacturing plants would come up. We would never see greenery again. And farmers and their children who do not have jobs and land to do farming will be the next anti social elements or naxalites !! With land not available for agriculture , inflation would be higher than what it is today . Today farming is seen as a disdainful activity , and people want to do a job of Rs. 4000 but do not want to work in farming . Your congress government has kicked the ass of 100’s of millions of farmers over the past 60 years , and we are on a temporaray rural growth that I call as a rural bubble – Rubble !! India is headed for a major crises , & all because of the faulty policies of successive congress governments focused just on building billionaires , industries and encouraging FDI !! Get retail FDI in India , and see how the 12 million kirana stores and their families will starve to death . I have had discussions with the Parliamentary Committee of Commerce , Chairman in 2009 , Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi , and have given him in detail the reasons why we need to avoid FDI for the next 5 years at least !!
- For price rise , last year ,Manmohan ji said that it was due to poor rains , in 2010 we had good rains and good crop , so why the price rise ? Kindly explain
- I was in Nagpur on 17th / 18th , and I read in one of the news papers about the fact stated by none other than Mr.Subramanian Swamy that, your bank balance was about Rs.10 crore some twenty years back , and now it is Rs.80,000.00 crore !! I think that this shows that inflation is very high at 10, Janpath . Please clarify if you actually made 60 % money in the 2G scam or this money came from abroad ? You are answerable
- Ironically , in the current times , we have a strong opposition but a weak ruling party . How can this government run ? If BJP comes down on its demand for JPC in budget session, Indian public will assume that it ‘settled’ the matter with congress and will never let them win again the seats that they are looking for, and if they keep their agitation on like the winter session , your government will have to go , and India will see a sign of relief !!
- Madam, congress might be your personal fiefdom , but not this country . You have created multiple power centers more powerful than the PM , like Rahul , NAC etc….You are the worst Congress President in the history of this country . But usual , we have a saying ‘Andhon main Kane Raja’ So you are the right person for the congress, which does not have any talent left !!
- We have an outdated finance minister , unfit Agriculture minister , Hyper environment minister and an ineffective Person on the seat of the PM. All along, I have heard that we need 100 good people or 1000 good bureaucrats etc. But the fact is that , we just need one right person : at the seat of Prime Minister . One right person will change the future of this nation , and Manmohan certainly is a disaster at the cost of people . At this time , we cannot afford to have a lame duck as a Prime Minister of this youthful nation . Please give us a Prime Minister , we do not need a professor !!
- A suggestion for controlling food inflation : Please ask the government to start a daily free ( even if you charge the farmers for this service, it is fine ) truck service from the remote villages to cities , where only farmers can come directly to the market and sell their products, rather than selling through agents , mandis or APMC . This will ensure that the person who adds maximum value and takes maximum risk for growing the produce ( farmer ) should also get the maximum profit . The profit at every point of sale post the harvestor ( farmer) should not cross 15 % , and this will bring down the prices to reasonable levels permanently . I read Subbarao stating that the government is desperate to control inflation and will raise the base rate , I heard Chidambram that government is clueless about the tools to control inflation , Sharad said that he cannot control what the farmers want to grow and so he cannot control food inflation . All these stupid statements come because you have bookish professors and so-called highly placed intellectuals and NRI & outdated advisors , who have no connection to ground reality . I do not understand how will raising the rates decrease inflation ? You have been doing this for the last two years and the result has been same – inflation has only increased . Do we need such economists who do not have answers to the common man’s problem ?
- Do you never apply your brains about this fact that, the prices of the grains and vegetables are sky-high , still the farmers are committing suicides ? Does this not help you understand the problem and get an answer ? You all must be high level fools then !!
- In addition to high prices of food stuffs, by increasing the price of petrol again you have signaled the common man that ‘do not eat , do not go to work’
Nitin Gadkari ji , please take up these matters with utmost seriousness , as congress is forcing the poor people to take to suicides by failing to control prices . If BJP does not take the matter seriously , the people of India will feel betrayed. Congress is fast becoming a failed party under you Sonia Gandhi ! Please either give us a PM or you and PM can go now ….. do not let this great country go to dogs !! This email is marked to Sharad, your dear son , FM , HM etc. to do some soul-searching and step down
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Budget Expectations – Preventive Care
January 25th , 2011.
Shri Pranab Mukherjee
Minister for Finance
Government of India
North Block,
New Delhi -110001
Subject : One action item in the budget for 2011-12 that can raise the GDP by 1-3 %
Dear Pranab Da ,
I am sure that your team is working hard to find a balance between maintaining the growth, reducing inflation , keeping the debt within reasonable limits , and still maintain India as one of the most appealing investment destination for foreign investors !! I know that it is quite a challenge, but we are sure that your team will achieve it under your leadership
I am making this request on behalf of The Disease Management Association of India ; DMAI- The Population Health Improvement Alliance . At DMAI, we work with various stake holders to bring about a lasting improvement in our healthcare system Healthcare in India is a big economic issue and is fast turning out to be a social & a political issue .
Let me walk you through one reality – Healthcare is not an individual issue , it is a family issue . Take the case of a person suffering from just one of the chronic diseases like Arthritis, Diabetes , Cardiac disease or Cancer (It is a known fact, that by the time an Indian reaches the age of forty , he is either at the risk of or suffering from a chronic disease) . If a person in family suffers from a chronic disease , not only does that person lose his efficiency ( productivity ) , but loses many work days every year due to treatment and restrictions imposed during the course of treatment . In addition to the person having a direct loss in his productivity , his entire family has to make some adjustments & sacrifices , thereby having a cascading effect on the productivity of the entire family !! Ultimately, this affects the entire family , organizations where these people are working , and finally pulls down the productivity of the entire nation directly , which is what I understand as the GDP of our nation !
Pranab Da, just consider one step in your budget , and you would be the first Finance minister in the world to have given top priority to health to boost the productivity of a nation !
I am hopeful that you will allow expenses in meditation , Yoga , Swimming pool , fitness centers, Gyms & preventive health check-ups to be included in the rebate for income tax -Just like we have health insurance premiums which qualify for tax rebate . Health insurance is nothing but transferring the risk and payment to a pool, but what we need desperately in India is “Health Assurance” – avoiding diseases , and that means, we need to encourage healthy habits & provide appealing benefits to people to take to activities that promote fitness and take away sickness !!
I am sure that you will consider to levy a 4 % service tax on all the providers of services like meditation training , Yoga classes , Swimming pools , fitness centers, Gyms & preventive health check-ups , but also give rebate to the citizens who enroll in such activities . Further , I would request you to give equal rebate to Health insurance & Health Assurance in this budget in terms of the total amount qualifying for the rebate in income tax.
I am very sure that, the ministry of Finance and the entire nation would gain from the healthy population in terms of enhanced productivity and lesser loss of man days , in addition to a healthy collection of taxes from the service providers in the fitness segment that will add up the numbers drastically. I personally believe that this one step that has the potential to raise the GDP of the nation by a minimum of 1 % and can go as high as 3 % additional increase in GDP , which means that by 2012, India can grow at 10-12 % in terms of GDP by just taking one step in this budget !
In addition to the growth in GDP , our future generations would always feel indebted to your selves ,for taking this most important decision for bettering the healthcare of individuals & raising the productivity of the nation
I am sure that this very important recommendation would be considered positively and acted upon!
We will always remain thankful to you for the kind consideration
Yours in good health
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
CC.
Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi Dr.Manmohan Singh Dr.Murli Mahohar Joshi Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad Montek Singh Ahluwalia Dr.Syeda Hameed. Shri L.K.Advani Smt. Sushma Swaraj Shri Dinesh Trivedi Sitaram Yechury Members of Parliament Sam Pitroda Secy , Health & Family Welfare , GOI Dr.K.Srinath Reddy Chief Minister’s of States Dr.Salim Hebayeb, WHO Gerard M La Forgia , World Bank
Media
Re-structuring Healthcare in India – 12th Five Year plan – NRHM , ICDS & Malnutrition
January 31, 2011.
Dr.Syeda Hameed
Member
Planning Commission
Government of India
Yojna Bhawan,
Sansad Marg, New Delhi- 110001
Reference: Inputs on the 12th Five year plan W.R.T. (1) Eradicating under-nutrition and malnutrition in India through restructuring of ICDS or other means and (2) Suggestions for improvement in the present structure of NRHM.
Dear Dr. Hameed,
I am sure that this finds you doing well. This has reference to the mail from your office on 5th January 2011, requesting me to provide inputs on the 12th five year plan w.r.t.(1) Eradicating under-nutrition and malnutrition in India through restructuring of ICDS or other means and (2) Suggestions for improvement in the present structure of NRHM.
At the outset, let me put my deep appreciation for the NRHM (National Rural Health Mission) and its positive impact on the healthcare of the rural population. I had a chance to visit many rural pockets over the past few years, and my inputs are based on the reality as seen by a commoner, and I do hope it is insightful along with being helpful.
Policy Changes:
To me, there appears to be no single prescription for addressing the diverse healthcare needs of this country, which is as big as a continent, but NRHM has made its presence felt even in the remote parts of the country. Seeing that the NRHM was launched only in April 2005, and would be around till 2012, with a possible extension for another five years , one of the key policy action items that might be worth considering to create a pro-active Rural healthcare system in another six years ( assuming that the NRHM is discontinued in its current form by 2017 ), is to be able to sensitize the population on the adoption of basic standards of personal hygiene , nutrition & lifestyle necessary for fitness ( wellness) that makes our population less dependent on hospital care . This should be one of the key goals of the NRHM for the 12th Five year plan .The current NRHM has put the onus & financial burden on the centre, as the centre and state partnership in terms of the financial outlay is 85: 15 . Second important consideration , this also must get a key policy shift for the 12th five year plan which should have one more stakeholder i.e. center : state : Beneficiary .
Funding for NRHM:
We need to see a financial participation from the beneficiaries of the NRHM, as they would have got used to the services offered via NRHM centers ( ASHA , ANM, Sub Centers , PHC , CHC & District hospitals ) , and the value of offering would have increased through NRHM centers. In addition to this, per capita income will also go up in the next five years if the country continues to grow at the current pace. So we must consider if we can increase the fees for basic services towards the 10th year of NRHM; even a token increase by one rupee can deliver a quantum leap. Besides, we must keep reducing the financial incentives gradually every year to phase it out eventually. Still, the people would enjoy the safe healthcare services which are subsidized or offered at a very low cost. Villagers are getting used to these services , and I am sure that in the 10th year of NRHM , it might be a right time to bring down some of the subsidies and incentives , as the trust would have built up considerably .
NRHM should welcome ‘tax free’ donations from individuals and corporates: This should be publicized and could become a good way to raise funds in a step towards building a financially sustainable healthcare model for rural India
With a gradual reversal in the expense funding between center and the state, the expense part needs a micro planning as, though the hard infrastructure expenses might not be as high as it is now (since we are constructing sub centers & upgrading some existing centers ), but the maintenance of the infrastructure built will become a huge financial burden, and knowing that the divestment & auctions are not routine incomes for the government, this would lead to a huge deficit in the budgets over the next six years if financial planning of NRHM is not planned and managed well.
Also, one of the key considerations for the policy makers is to look at converting NRHM into NHM ( National Health Mission ) , as the conditions remain deplorable for urban poor , and the private facilities are not going beyond tier 1 & 2 towns .
Structural changes:
It would be worth considering replacing the hierarchical designations to functional designations to have a clearly defined role and an outcome driven responsibility
Mission Steering Group (at the Centre) could consist of the following :
Director for Planning & Forecasting,
Director for Strategy
Director for Analysis & Research (One who looks into the regular reporting & review)
Director – Innovation & Program improvisation (Program will certainly improvise with regular feedback & inputs)
Director – IT
Director – Procurement
Director – Logistics
Director – Finance & Accounts
Director – Standards – Medical Protocols, GCP (Good Clinical Practices) & Quality Control
Director – IM (Infant Mortality)
Director – MM (Maternal Mortality)
Director – Nutrition
Director – Immunizations
Director – Preventive Care
Director – Mental Health
Director – TB- DOTS
Director – ART
Director – NCD
Director – Anemia & Related Disorders (This needs a special focus, as more than 50 % of women are Anemic)
Director – Oral Care
Director – De-addiction (De-addiction must also be a focus area, as the consumption of alcohol has been on constant rise, and wife beating is prevalent in most of the households)
Director – Ophthalmology
Director – Ambulatory services
Director – Pharmacy
Director – NGO & Alliances
Director – Media & Communication
Director – Human Resources & Training
More people can be added depending upon the focus areas for NRHM. In fact, I would strongly recommend that all the national health programs be merged with the NRHM one by one to ensure that health & wellness issues are addressed holistically in rural India
The reason I am recommending a dedicated resource for each action area like Director – MM, Director IM etc. is that, then we have people with specific deliverable, and outcomes would be better. Currently, at the centre, we have four Joint Secretaries and four directors with multiple responsibilities . These might leave them with delivering outstanding results in some areas, and with serious gaps in some!!
The above mentioned Central Committee (Mission Steering Group ) , should be overseen by the board or committee which has members from Public Health, doctors from modern medicine, Ayush, Nursing, Public representative, patient groups & people from different walks of life, who bring diverse capabilities to the team with proven competence in envisioning and executing projects on mass scale or of making a social impact. 1/3rd of these representatives must change every two years (rotating public participation). 50 % of the members must be from the government and 50 % from the private sector. Also, of the total members, 50 % must be practicing doctors and remaining non-medicos.
Further, a similar structure needs to be set up at the state level. At the District level, the work gets delivered via same field workers.
While the PHC’s & Sub centers are done up very well, some gaps remain, like;
- There is a mismatch in the requirement & stocks of medicines. All the PHC’s get similar stocks of medicines irrespective of the load in OPD. So , whereas some PHC have more stocks , some have stock outs – More of Forecasting and logistics issue
- Supplies of nutrients is insufficient & inconsistent - Once we have a focused resource ( Director – Nutrition , Director – Forecasting & Director – Logistics ), these problems would reduce drastically
- Need is for three doctors instead of the two currently at the PHC, so that the load can be handled well. Currently, at times, the wait period for a patient to be seen could go beyond 4 hours at times in OPD. Also, with this, the PHC can operate 24 X 7 , since doctors can do an 8 hour shift each
- It would be good to have the doctor’s residence attached to the PHC
- Biomedical waste disposal has to be given priority to avoid infections in villages.
Challenge: Nutrition given during ANC / PNC is consumed by the family and not by the mother.
Solution: If ASHA can monitor this during visits or otherwise, it would be effective or the gender specific nutrition packs could be made to ensure that the females consume what is meant for them. Self Help Groups have emerged as the new power centers in the villages and every village has Self Help groups. ASHA’s must work with SHG’s to address this issue and oversee that the diet meant for the lactating mother is given to her in presence of a SHG member
Challenge: Electricity – Load shedding in villages: This leads to lack of storage conditions in PHC’s & Sub centers
Solution: India has adequate sunshine for 9-10 months in a year, for rest of the months, the load shedding is less, so it is worth considering having solar panels as an integral part at all the PHC’s & Sub Centers for generating electricity needed for storage and other requirements
Challenge: Poor Quality of Medicines: It is observed that the qualities of medicines are poor, and it is procured by the district Health committee. Poor quality of medicine is a serious issue, as the patients are given medicines for treatment, and if the medicines are not effective, it will lead to mistrust in the entire system, and the poor people will have to move towards private practitioners or quacks and suffer more
Solution: Since all the companies in pharmaceuticals have national level operations, it will be good if the national level tie up is done for procurements of medicines at the NRHM rates, and the order, supplies & payments happen locally. With this, we will be able to get the best rates and also give the best quality of medicines to the needy poor patients. Also, generic medicines should only be allowed to be used under NRHM. This will help to save enormous costs to the government. Also, all the PHC’s & sub centers must set up ROP’s (re-order points for all the requirements, factoring in the time lag for supplies based on past trends. This will ensure that there are near zero stock outs).
It was observed that the specialists (Gynecologist ) in one of the model PHC (Wardha district) comes only for two hours and that too, to direct patients to private practice. This must be avoided at all costs, as this will eventually make ASHA’s & ANM’s, agents for private clinics for all the wrong reasons & erode the trust in the NRHM
Challenge: Absenteeism in PHC: It is a common problem to see that doctors are missing or come only for a few hours or few days in a month.
Solution: It is suggested that the entire NRHM attendance moves paperless (biometric attendance be made compulsory). With this, the problem of absenteeism will come to an end
Challenge: Preparing reports and paper work takes most of the productive time of the health workers
Solution: With the advent of low cost tablet PC’s & low price 3 G enabled phones; it might be worth considering giving these devices to health workers like ASHA’s. Also, if these mobiles / tablets have a GPRS connection, it can mean live data updates, thereby, reducing the three month gap between the village data entry and the central review points at Delhi
When I visited the residence of one ASHA worker, she had more registers to maintain records then her daughter would have used in her studies! In all, she had about six registers to maintain records and spent 2-3 hours daily to just fill in her records. I believe that just one register should have been good enough , with name of the beneficiary , under which head ( disease or operation ) , visit for the purpose of , repeat visit , action taken, next steps, and next due visit etc…….The register given by NRHM was in English with words like Vulnerable men / women . I believe that the language used should be bilingual and not just in English …. This needs immediate attention. Digitizing the records through mobile phones would be great, as has been done in Wardha district for IM & MM programs. The data is updated live and the impact is significant with no chances of multiple entry and errors, and also real time actions happens due to SMS based follow up and care.
Ground reality: I visited one centre in a rural area, and I was surprised to see the PHC decked up to welcome the Health & Sanitation committee that was to visit the centre. I was told by the centre staff that they have been waiting since past one week, expecting this committee and they had bouquets etc ready to welcome them. Such visits do not reveal anything and add no value to the working of the village sub centers or the PHC but work only for photo-ops!! Only surprise visits must be under taken with no formal information given in advance, so that the right picture is presented during the visit, and the action oriented steps can be taken to fill the gaps, if any.
Pharmacies are present in every part of India .It is believed that India has about 7.5+ lac pharmacies across the country, and most of the villages have a pharmacy. All the
Pharmacists must work as ASHA support systems due to their knowledge and skills, being the trusted touch point for basic health problems. Focus through pharmacists should be on chronic diseases and paternal care, and through ASHA’s on child and maternal health
Medicine kits given to ASHA should have all the instructions in English, where as all the pharmaceutical companies are expected to carry the same bilingually (English & Hindi). For NRHM supplies, pictorial presentation along with bilingual labeling must be mandated.
Tribals & Upper caste: Despite the best efforts of the government, tribals are still called the ‘Black castes’ and live in a separate area demarcated for them. One of the biggest challenges is that ASHA from a lower caste would still find few takers amongst upper caste households, and vice versa. This is one issue that needs to be addressed. It would be wrong to create two ASHA’s and further the divide , but some really significant work can be given to ASHA , so that it appears to be compelling enough for everyone to seek ASHA’s assistance- Like the entire village birth certificates must have ASHA’s signature etc.
Changes in the delivery of services
New Opportunities:
Community Radio: This is being experimented in Baramati, and must be looked into. Similar services can be started in villages to drive healthy behaviors. I had visited a few villages in north, where a simple awareness campaign (pictorial & through songs in local dialect) have reduced the maternal mortality by 93 %. The expenses in this project were not more than Rs.5000.00 per village. Such models need to be adopted
Toll free based IVR Multilingual helpline: NRHM must initiate this to help reach the right people for the right inputs
m-Health based Jeevandaini scheme : This has been piloted in Wardha district , with good results in institutional deliveries and drastic improvement in MMR. The simple mobile based applications have lead to live data upload and follow up via SMS, leading to good compliance amongst ANM’s & ASHA’s . This health based model needs to be made an essential part of NRHM . Since 3G & WIMAX is now a reality , the rural health information flow and delivery of few basic services must be done adopting m-Health ( mobile health platform ).
Mobile Sub centers: Sub centers are built at a cost of Rs.8.5 – 13.5+ Lacs. It might be worth considering to set-up mobile sub centers( Mobile Vans ) that can go across to the remotest areas and conduct outreach programmes. So the cost of operating the sub center ( rental , electricity etc ) gets consumed in the form of fuel expenses for the mobile health center and also, these sub centers can be used as an ambulance in case of medical emergencies . Thus it would save Rs.300 that is given for transferring patients to the referral centre. The cost of mobile centre is expected to be much lower than the cost of a physical centre. Location of PHC’s & Sub Health Centers is mostly around a few Km’s from the residential areas, and this needs to be corrected or filled up with such mobile health center
Digital Training of Health workers: It might be worth considering creating a TV programme on doordarshan modeled exclusively for training ASHA, ANM & for increasing awareness amongst NRHM beneficiaries. Also the same should be made available through mobile phones as 3G is now a reality. Expecting mothers must be able to see the demo & programme clippings via their handsets or through ASHA’s handsets, which could be upgraded to a 3G enabled mobile handsets for live reporting or for delivering video content for various programmes.
Technology must be leveraged in NRHM for accountability, transparency and telehealth. 12th five year plan must consider opportunities to digitize NRHM in all spheres of its implementation
Minor surgeries in PHC: Now that that PHC’s have facilities for delivery, minor surgeries must be allowed in the PHC. So far, minor surgeries are not allowed in PHC. This is one important decision that can help save a lot for hassles for villagers and bring revenue for the government. The PHC’s can enroll patients for minor surgeries, and then get a surgeon on call for a day from a nearby town and complete the minor surgeries at the PHC to function as day care centers .
Reporting of NRHM across states should be on the same format as of KPI’s (key performance indicators) so that it leads to apples to apples comparison and this could be on these indicators
- Structural : Setting up and maintenance of the facilities
- Functional : Human resource management and flow of instructions and funds
- Fund utilization: special focus must be paid as to why the funds could not be used, as the money is meant to be spent with an outcome allocated to every rupee spent.
- Outcomes : Measurable outcomes in improvement in the village / Taluka health must be done every quarter
Reporting and review must be
- Weekly for Talukas
- Fortnightly for Districts
- Monthly for states
- Quarterly at the centre
This timely reporting will itself bring out better outcomes. It was sad to learn that during the mid-term review of the 11th five year plan in July 2009, the ministry of health & family welfare was not even aware of any targets. The reality is that, the files from the planning commission were not even looked into by the ministry of health & family welfare until the mid-term review of the plan started. One of the senior official of the MOHFW had revealed to me that rarely MOHFW looked into the files from the planning commission , and they were not even aware of any targets set by the planning commission , and that if the MOHFW did not respond to the plan targets set by the Planning Commission , the planning commission assumed the targets as accepted by the Ministry of Health & family welfare .This is a structural and procedural lacunae and needs to be addressed from the planning stage for the 12th five year plan , so that the ministry does not question in the meeting who set the targets for them ??
Administrative changes:
Financial planning and flow of funds: The fund flow on time is the biggest problem. I have met people working at the lowest level in PHC & Sub centers, where the salary has not been paid for months, and the funds for 2010 were received in mid – Jan 2011. This clearly will encourage corruption. People drawing a monthly salary of Rs.5000-8000 cannot sustain their family without salary for months. Either they will resort to bribing; selling the government supplies or starts absconding and working for employers in parallel. The fund meant for a sub Center or PHC must be transferred in advance for the quarter if not half yearly. This is one single biggest action item to make a sub center or PHC Staff working 6 days a week
Referral centre: It has been found that the referral centre in Panvel (district Raigad) does not even accept patients & turns them away from the door itself ( this is a reality ), and the patients are routed to the Alibag referral centre. Such centers must be a common occurrence across India. Government is paying for them, but they are operational only on paper. Such center must be tracked down, and either made fully operational or closed down. As not only they cause a loss of money to the exchequer, but also diminish the trust of the common man in government’s flagship schemes like NRHM
Why programmes succeed or why they fail- Lessons to learn: Let’s take a look at the successful programmes like NACO for Aids, National TB control programme & the Pulse Polio programmes. All these programmes have worked well because of the fact that they have proper structure and resources allocated. In the ministry of health & family welfare, the programmes are fantastic announcements, but the human resources required are not properly allocated in the ministry to handle such programmes; only the funds are transferred in the bank for the programme. So the department handling the programme is under resource crunch , they do not even have people to handle the communication , and most of their time goes in reporting ; Result – the funds remain un-utilized and are returned back in case of calamity announcement from the PM’s fund or for other reasons and thus programmes fail to leave an impact . Planners must study the success of National TB control programme & NACO and implement the learning’s in all the programmes for Health & family welfare
Incentive to health workers ASHA’s ANM’s & other Sub center & PHC staff: It is expected that since ASHA’s and ANM’s are incentivized for institutional deliveries, referral etc. The incentive might also make them turn to private practitioners over a period of time, as the lure of money will drive them to recommend private gynecologists & give less focus to home visits and counseling, and this might be happening even today as well. It is suggested that the ASHA’s & ANM’s must be incentivized for counseling, home visits, immunization & preventive checks as a routine part of their job and the incentive must be paid for each home visit ( even Rs. 2 to Rs.3 per visit is good enough ) . This will lead to a fixed remuneration to ASHA’S & ANM’s. Certain Evaluation parameters for the success of an ASHA must be established like how many households are aware of sanitation, hygiene, preventive health and healthy lifestyle. Since the NRHM has a huge outlay of funds for the national healthcare, a ‘dip–stick’ audit using random sampling must be done with the households, and this must be done every quarter across the states where NRHM is currently operational.
ASHA is not paid a salary but is paid incentive for institutional deliveries (Rs.100), DOT treatment (Rs.250), meetings for once a month (Rs.150, out of which Rs. 100 is for travel and Rs.50 for refreshments). A supervisor is above ASHA’s and she handles about 30 ASHA’s. She is paid Rs. 3000.00 per month. She is supposed to be meeting two ASHA’s a day. Since both the ASHA’s and Supervisor have to travel long distances by road , and keep in constant touch with each other , I would recommend free local roadways pass to NRHM workers , and a mobile connection with CUG ( Closed user group , that allows free calls between users ) for NRHM staff. The cost of which could be less than Rs.75 per month
NRHM Handbook : Since the NRHM programme is the biggest healthcare programme so far, it is imperative that a detailed multi lingual NRHM Handbook, manual or ready reckoner be brought out for all those involved in the programme , covering basic protocols, bio medical waste disposal , do’s & don’ts dealt with FAQ’s . Also, the digital version must be available on mobiles and internet.
1-3 months rural posting of nurses, pharmacist and doctors must be made mandatory for the courses to fill the resource crunch, and the professionals must be remunerated for these postings along with free accommodation on site at the sub center and PHC.
Awareness & sensitization: Since NRHM is addressing the key areas when it comes to health and hygiene, it is imperative that a chapter on NRHM is added in secondary education (class 6th onwards). This will lead to awareness and sensitization amongst children to adapt to healthy habits
Role model & Case studies approach: People believe in facts, and the case studies & success stories of ASHA & ANM’s must be shared nationally to make the acceptance more impactful for behavioral change. I must share with you something interesting that I witnessed in north India. I was visiting rural belt in north India, and came across an ancient custom called ‘Shourey pratha’. Under this , when the lady delivers a child , she is confined to a room for 40 days , and cow dung is plastered on the walls ,and baked cow dung cakes are burnt non-stop to fumigate the room, automatically the mother and child suffocate to death . Now we can well imagine why the IM &MM (Infant Mortality & Maternal Mortality) was very high in the rural belt in north India. With simple explanations and scientific explanations with the help of the Self Help Groups (SHG’s), this tradition is on its way out. SHG’s is the most powerful change agent in rural India and the NRHM must use this channel to drive a behavioral change in rural India.
Eradicating under-nutrition and malnutrition
The issue of under-nutrition and malnutrition is not just an issue associated with poverty . If I were to say that malnutrition is also prevalent due to the lack of sanitation facilities, people would not believe it, leave alone talking about linking the two.
Here is an interesting linkage : Females in the village have to defecate in the open , and for that , they either go out in early mornings or late evening when it gets dark . To avoid going in between , the women not only eat little , but also feed children just good enough so they do not go out and defecate too often , and this has been a cause of malnutrition and under-nutrition . There is a common habit amongst girls studying in schools with no proper toilets that , they seldom drink water during school hours to avoid going to toilet !! Strange but true . Similarly , mal-nutrition and under-nutrition has become a sanitation issue . This calls for the involvement of the ministry of rural development to address the sanitation issue in rural India to completely address the issue of malnutrition & undernutrition . Also, the ministry of food processing to work with the players for producing locally fortified foods to reduce the cost of ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF).
Nutrition is often overshadowed by other medical conditions, like malaria or diarrhea, despite the fact that malnutrition, combined with these conditions, can more often be fatal.” A “severe acute malnourished child” is more than nine times more likely to die than a well-nourished one, & malnutrition from any means retards normal growth .
Besides sanitation , societal traditions that female child is a burden still plagues the nation ,and there is a bias towards the male child who is treated as an inheritor and an insurance in the old age for parents . Government needs to step its machinery on all fronts . It is a known fact that, a weak female will never bear a healthy male child , and this should form the basis of the Healthy India campaign as the discrimination against the female child is rampant in every part of the nation . The issue needs to be attacked multi-fold ;when the mother is expectant , post child birth , adolescent years, post puberty age in girls . Special focus has to be given to the female child , who bears a male child in future .
One of the key pillars of NRHM must be eradication of anemia amongst women with the focus on the girl child. Special fortified biscuits or snacks with calcium, iron and zinc need to be made available for the girl child ( developed specially for females, so that male child is not given those products ! ) and separate packing for boys to be given as mid day meal or as packaged snacks made especially for children fortified with nutrients ; ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF). For boys, the nutritional support must continue till the age of 6 years but for females , this support must continue till 16 years in age
The deficiencies varies with the region , like Vidharbha region has a severe issue of sickle cell anemia , and this is becoming a serious genetic health issue . Similarly, deficiencies in every region needs to be addressed region-wise.
Diet charts are as important as immunization charts and needs to be given together during child birth based on the physique of the newly born
RDDA’s ( Recommended Daily Dietary Allowance ) should be worked out specific to each child . The role of the nutritionist gains significance in NRHM and is central to the issue . The diet plan must be made for each new born and followed under the directions of ASHA locally . So far, I have not seen a prominent role of a dietician in either the sub center or the PHC
I would recommend national health planners to tie up with WFP ( World Food Programme ) to provide daily nutrition for as low as Rs.5 per day . Even companies like Unilever are working on creating BOP Healthcare ( Bottom of Pyramid Healthcare ) models focusing on healthcare basics for the rural masses. It might be worth exploring PPP ( Public Private Partnerships ) to address this issue & come out with ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF)
Indian Pediatrics has brought out a Special Issue (August 2010) on Severe Acute Malnutrition, which deliberates in detail on the global and national evidence relating to pertinent issues on this subject.
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children is recognized as a major underlying cause of death amongst under-five children. These deaths are preventable provided timely and appropriate actions are taken.
According to National Family Health Survey-III, conducted during 2005-2006 in India, 6.4% of children below 60 months of age were suffering from this malady . With the current estimated total population of India as 1100 million, it is expected that there would be about 132 million under-five children and amongst these about 6.4% or 8.1 million are likely to be suffering from SAM.
With the emergence of home based management approach for SAM children, which includes the use of Therapeutic Nutrition (TN) as part of Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT), it is possible to address this issue in a cost-effective manner. More than 85 % of total SAM cases are without medical complications and can be identified through active case finding in community to be successfully managed at the home level. Global evidence suggests that with integrated management of SAM children, case fatality rates can be reduced to less than 5 percent. Short-term therapeutic nutrition for 6-8 weeks is an integral component of home-based management of SAM. There is an urgent need to develop an indigenous preparation of therapeutic nutrition in the country and operationalize the community management of SAM. Exploring a tie up with WFP / Unilever might be a good start. Also NRHM can start a mission GYM ( Grow Your Medicines) at the PHC , Sub centers and in every households ,as most of the green vegetables and fruits can be grown locally , and can be used for fighting mal nutrition and under nutrition . On one side , fortified snacks could be given , and also the NRHM can distribute seeds for growing vegetables and fruits that can mean much cheaper source of right nutrition .
Height weight charts must be distributed in all households to keep them aware of age- weight –height ratio and the relation to malnutrition . Automated SMS based service could help in ensuring compliance as seen in the case of Wardha pilot for MM /IM.
Awareness and sensitization must happen through short films and pictorial comics about the deficiency of Iron & Calcium in females
ICDS : Policy makers must consider merging ICDS with the NRHM , as it might be worthwhile to double the number of ASHA’s and allocating more high priority job to ASHA’s.
Health Fairs must be organized locally to create awareness on the issue of malnutrition . Those parents who have the healthiest girl child must be made ‘Role Model’s’ for others to follow . A ‘healthy girl child award’ must be instituted in each village ( Say Rani Laxmi Bai Award ,Sarojini Naidu or Indira Gandhi award etc) , and the government must recognize the mother and father ( Good Parenting ) for healthy upbringing of the female child ,along with a cash award of say Rs.1000.00 , or other incentives like 2 KG extra ration at the PDS shops, free bus travel for parents for one year in ST ( state transport ) bus , 50 % fee reduction in graduation of the child ,if studying in government college etc, could also be considered depending upon the consensus of the relevant stake holders. This can be a good competition to start with, which will drive home the message that bringing up a healthy girl child is beneficial in the short run and in the long run & the responsibility of the parents , with the Government acting as an enabler for this . To start with, if each of the 6 lac + villages gives this award to one girl ( parents ) , and each encourages 10 people to take care of their girl child , we would have got 6 crore healthy females in the next 10 years !! If we want faster results , we can fix the criteria for a healthy girl child for the age group 1- 16 years , all those who qualify can get incentives for the healthy upbringing of the girl child like free travel on ST bus etc . Ministry of women and child development might like to take this up in the 12th five year plan.
NRHM must insist with the ministry of education to include in the curriculum few chapters on micro nutrients and their role in healthy living , and this should start from class eight onwards.
I do hope that these inputs are of some help .I remain at your disposal should you need more inputs on other aspects of healthcare & rural economy
With best regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Worst Prime Minister India has ever had & the worst President Congress ever had
A few days ago , the Prime Minister defended that, during the appointment of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC ), he was not aware of any charge-sheet against him , this is despite the fact that, Sushma Swaraj clearly raised an objection to the appointment of Mr.Thomas as CVC based on the charge-sheet.
Now ISRO says, that it had kept the cabinet in dark on the deal with Devas. This office is with the Prime Minister . I am sure that all of us realize by now that , this Prime Minister is no more than a rubber stamp of Sonia , who has no inclination to go into facts and take action . In fact, this is the worst Prime Minister India has ever had , and Sonia is the worst President Congress had ever had .
Sonia is Queen of Corruption and mother of all scams & Manmohan is a lame duck PM
Both must resign and go
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
www.rajendragupta.wordpress.com
NRHM & Jan Aushadhi Scheme review by Parliamentary Accounts Committee ( PAC)
February 14th , 2011.
Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi
M.P.( Lok Sabha )
Chairman ,
Public Accounts Committee
Government of India
6, Raisena Road
New Delhi 110001
Reference : National Rural Health Mission ( Ministry of Health & Family Welfare ) & Jan Aushadhi Stores ( Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers )
Dear Dr.Joshi,
Namaskaar,
This has reference to our meeting on 9th February 2011 at your residence in Delhi , and our discussions regarding NRHM & its review by the PAC . I have gone through the entire NRHM set up and even visited various centres and sub centres operated under NRHM in different parts of the country . I believe that, you must reconsider your views on recommending the scrapping of NRHM, as NRHM has definitely made an impact on the lives of the rural population . Though, NRHM needs some radical operational changes , but as a program , it is impactful. Please find my recommendations to the Planning Commission on the changes needed in NRHM for the 12th five year plan . Planning commission had asked me for inputs on the same , and I am sure that the MOHFW might be working on the changes as well . Rest we will discuss when you invite me to dispose before the PAC as an healthcare expert for NRHM & other schemes of MOHFW.
Jan Aushadhi Stores ( under ministry of chemicals & fertilizers ) : In fact , this scheme is poorly planned and badly executed . You must recommend scrapping of the Jan Aushadi stores scheme with immediate effect . This is a blatant misuse of public money . Whereas , the idea of generic stores is great , but this scheme has been a failure so far , and I do not foresee this scheme taking off . In the current form , Jan Ausahdi is a scam in the making !!
If you are still to review the Jan Aushadhi stores under the PAC , I would be happy to despose based on my hands on experience with pharmacy chains and the ground reality with Jan Aushadi stores
I am sure that you will certainly consider these inputs and revert in case you need more information . Also , Dr.Joshi , I am travelling to your constituency in March 1st week to deliver a lecture at the Institute of Medical Sciences , BHU on NRHM , and If you are in Varanasi , would be glad to meet up.
With best regards
Rajendra
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President & Director
Disease Management Association of India ( www.dmai.org.in )
Corruption mera Karma aur Coalition mera Dharma
Dear Manmohan ji,
The common man is really frustrated with your ‘blame game’ approach in the recent press conference . When you became the PM, we had hoped that an economics Professor who had been educated in the best of institutions in India and abroad , could impress upon the people in his party and change the governance of the nation without compromise. But , by staying silent on all the unethical activities in the congress , not only you denigrated the national institutions , you lowered the stature of the Prime Minster’s post & eroded the trust of the common man .
In the press conference , you said that, ‘let’s not just focus on scams as that lowers the image of the nation’. I wish to point Dr.Singh that, not just the image but also the financial health of the nation has been affected due to your being a patron of corruption !!
You have clearly conveyed that ‘ Corruption is your Karma & Coalition is your Dharma’. While it is known that you had some good qualities like knowledge , honesty etc , but you did not exercise those qualities , so in a sense , you became a greedy professor wanting to just stick to the Chair of the PM .
I am wondering how come Pranab Mukherjee was not questioned in this scam when he is the finance minister ? Is he just responsible for collecting taxes and not about the financial loss to the nation ? He must also follow Raja in Tihar . No one is above law ! Also, If you have the guts , please question Mukesh Ambani . He is the one who routed international calls as local calls and committed a criminal offence. What has your government done ? The Telecom co’s CEO going to CBI office and having coffee & lunch does not impress the common man. We know that these visits might be a ‘eyewash’ for the common man at the behest of congress party, and the common man is made to believe that your government is acting on corruption . Do not put off the JPC demand quoting these arrests .Suresh Kalmadi is still enjoying the dollars made in CWG !! Why he is he not in Tihar ?
Dr.Singh , every one in India is talking about the black money in Swiss banks , Dr.Singh , India has more black money than all the Swiss banks combined ! Why Pranab Dada does not start taxing expenditure rather than taxing income !! Every government officer is directly or indirectly involved in bribery , every business is into tax evasion , every builder takes a portion of the cost as black money , every minister fights election on black money . Still you think that only Swiss banks have India’s black money ? Swiss banks , I believe would only have 10-15 % of the black money , rest is still in India , and may be, some money might be in middle eastern countries .
Please change your tax system. If you tax one’s income , he might not disclose it , but at the end, the money is used to purchase something , so go and tax expenditure , the government will collect more taxes , and we would be happy paying taxes on expenditure !!
Now back to my question of your moral flexibility to run the government .
Why have you tied up with DMK in a poll bound Tamilnadu ??
Why has the CBI let off Mulayam in the disproportionate assets case ?
Is this a part of Sonia’s five pronged approach to fight corruption ???
Rahul : Where is your clean up of the party going ? Are you cleaning up the honest people by such tie ups ? What about your call to go alone in polls ? While I was at 10 Janpath with you a few months ago , a first generation leader whom you inducted in your party had met up with myself , and he told me that you are just getting educated people in the party . So all new congress leaders have started enrolling in MBA !!. Finally , this call for educated leaders is leading to elite with money bags joining youth congress. You are totally disconnected from the reality on ground !! By the way , Gandhi’s are always disconnected with reality . Nothing new !!
Dr.Singh , by asking Supreme court to directly monitor the probe, you have shown that you have no interest to act on your own or you do not trust that you will do a good job in the case ! We all know why retired supreme court judges get plum posting !! So if nothing comes out of these so called ‘Blame Free investigations’ ( Which we know will happen ) , you will shed off your load saying that you had asked the top most court to direct the probe and that you are like ‘Ceaser’s Wife’ etc etc………………….. and you cannot be blamed for the culprits being acquitted !!
When you constitute the JPC , please also mandate it to come out with an action plan that can
a) Investigate the wealth creation formula of the ex Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan .
b) Bring back the black money and put the people behind the black money in Jail
c) Recover the loot of public money by people like Lalu , Maya & other leaders like Sharad Pawar etc.
d) Take action for CWG loot
e) Investigate on all massive loot cases happening in the nation
f) Frame up laws and set up a system say a CIA ( Central Corruption Investigating agency ), which can take suo moto action against any one ( Even the President of India ) , should the need arise without going through any approval , and this institution must report to the supreme body – Legislature every six months . This body should be adequately equipped with resources ( legal, financial and human resources ) to decisively act against corruption , and all top level appointments must be made by a body consisting of the P.M. , CJI , CVC & Opposition leader .
I also want you to ask CBI to investigate if Apollo Hospitals Group paid money to A.Raja. I was told by none other than the brother-in-law of A.Raja that Apollo had paid Rs.700.00 crore to Raja
I am also quite surprised that you have quoted that you will not quit the post of PM. It is the height of being shameless
Dr.Singh , history will paint you as Mohammaed-Bin-Tuglaq- A knowledgeable and wise king who caused lot of misery and pain to his people
If you do not shape up, wait for 2014, and the common man will throw the congress government and return results like Bihar
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
A Common Man
www.rajendragupta.wordpress.com
Unhealthy Promotions- Banning toys with food products meant for Children
February 21, 2011.
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad
Minister of Health & Family Welfare
Nirmal Bhawan, New Delhi – 110108
Subject: For Immediate action-banning of toys given as free gifts with food products & drinks, & framing guidelines on Child Health & Preventive care
Hon’ble Minister,
I am writing this important petition on behalf of the Disease Management Association of India – DMAI; The Population Health Improvement Alliance. DMAI is founded by global healthcare leaders to help improve the population health in India by focusing on the entire continuum of care.
In November 2010, during my visit to the US , I was with Senator Tom Daschle ( Senator Tom was nominated as Health & Human Services Secretary by President Obama , which he declined, and is often referred to as a senior Advisor & Mentor to President Obama). During the discussion, he asked me; how is India a better bet than China? I told him that, in the next three decades, while India will have majority of working age population, China will have one working person and three retired persons. This should put China in serious productivity issue!! India is the youngest nation today, with an average age of approximately 25.9 years, and this is often referred as a ‘demographic dividend’.
While statistically, India is having a tremendous demographic dividend , if we do not attend to the ‘ Child Health’ as a top priority , our demographic dividend will become a ‘Demographic Disaster’, as our working population would be ‘Unhealthy’ and thus drastically impact the productivity of the nation . This is the biggest hurdle for India to attend, if we need to overtake China in the long-term for being a developed & a vibrant economy
For Immediate action: Media has proliferated & children have dedicated channels on TV.They watch T.V. , which is flooded with animated cartoons & other Sci-fi serials, and children get fancied with such shows. The companies have started giving the characters associated with these shows as free gifts to entice the children to buy their food products and drinks. So children force their parents to buy the foods stuff or drinks just for the sake of these ‘Freebies’ , and they also consume these products, so that the parents do not scold them for spending so much on these food items !! Due to this, our children are fast becoming obese & unhealthy!! Just for the sake of an example , I am quoting my son who buys Mc Donald’s ‘Happy Meal’ just for the sake of getting the toy that comes free with it & I can see that he is least interested in the meal , but then he consumes the ‘Burger’ , and ‘Cold Drinks’ that comes with the ‘Happy Meals’ to ensure that next time he gets a chance to buy the Happy Meal from Mc Donald again and most importantly , get the free toy . He already weighs 40 KG at the age of 7 years. Luckily, he has joined the Gym with me. But imagine, the severely ‘Obese’ children that are a result of such ‘Unhealthy’ Promotions with food products meant for children. I have just quoted Mc Donald for the sake of example, but we have most of the companies selling ‘Unhealthy foods’ with promotions aimed at enticing children, playing for their ignorance and their intense desire for playing with toys!
Through this note, I call upon the policy makers to ban such toys and also the advertisements related to such promotions in national media with immediate effect. I also call upon the ‘responsible’ companies to sell & market their products for ‘nutritional value’ and not on ‘Unhealthy promotions’ or ‘Freebies’.
Also, the MOHFW should come up with “hand book on Preventive Healthcare for Children” below 12 years If we fail to take immediate and strict action now, our future generations will grow up to curse this generation for inaction, and the nation will be burdened by poor productivity and high healthcare costs with no signs of health ! It is a call to action . I do look forward to prompt action on the same from all the concerned.
If the policy makers fail to take action, DMAI will initiate a nation-wide campaign for such ‘unhealthy promotions’.
With best regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
CC.
Sonia Gandhi ,Rahul Gandhi , Dr.Manmohan Singh , Dr.Murli Mahohar Joshi , Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad Min, for information & Broad Casting, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Dr.Syeda Hameed, Shri L.K.Advani , Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Shri Dinesh Trivedi , Sitaram Yechury , Members of Parliament , Sam Pitroda , Secy, Health & Family Welfare, GOI , Dr. K. Srinath Reddy , Chief Minister’s of States, Media
Tax till death ! Repeal tax on healthcare – Now Treatment would be worse than disease !!
Shri Nitin Gadkari
President
Bharatiya Janata Party
Dear Nitin ji,
Namaskaar. Trust this finds you doing good.
I am deeply pained by the latest slap by the congress government on the common man’s face . This government has not taxed the corporate world in this budget – on the contrary , there have been some reductions !! But the poor man has been taxed – “Now Treatment would be worse than disease”, as I call it
This appeal is regarding the tax that the government has recently levied on the poor man’s pocket . If he earlier spent Rs.100 on healthcare , now he will be forced to spend between Rs.105 & 110 . Last week only , I returned from my visit to rural Varanasi . I also visited a CT scan centre , where people are provided CT Scan services at almost 50 % of the market rates , still , people cannot afford to pay and go back without treatment . I have a presentation that I made at the Institute of medical sciences , BHU, You can see that :
“ Any major medical intervention pushes a rural family back by 10 years and a death resulting due to such an illness pushes the family back by 30 years !! ”
- 39 Million people go below the poverty line every year due to healthcare costs
- In 2004 , 30 % of rural Indians did not go for treatment due to financial reasons, up from 15 % in 1995
- 47 % of hospital admissions in rural & 31 % in urban India was financed by loans and sale of assets
- Between 1986 and 2004,avg real expenditure per hospital admission increased 3 times
According to the Economic Survey 2009-10
- 13 % of rural population have access to PHC
- 33 % of rural population have access to sub-center
- 9.6 % of rural population have access to hospitals
- 28.3 % of rural population have access to a dispensary or clinics
- 34 % of rural population have access to diagnostic centers (According to CCF)
- Only 24 % of rural areas have access to healthcare facilities
What a shameful act of our tax minister , Pranab Mukherjee !! I am putting some of the slides from my Keynote address at India health expansion Summit in 2010. I am also attaching a short version of the presentation ( and the complete one , if you have time to read it ). I am sure that healthcare needs more focus from our policy makers .
Healthcare policy makers have to ensure that the changes are ‘Patient centric’ and not just ‘industry centric’
Industry is organized but Patients are not , and so patients are never heard . This needs to change . Patient Care Collaborative Organization is non-existent . This is one major detriment for worthwhile changes in the Indian Healthcare
- Rajendra Pratap Gupta
“In a country where our current PM had a triple bypass , former PM had a Joint replacement , Agriculture minister has cancer , Chairman- PSC on Health had a Kidney transplant ,Former Defense minister has Alzheimer’s & one of our youngest M.P. has diabetes & Majority of our politician’s are senior citizens by all measures : still our finance minister decides to bring Preventive health checks under service tax !!’
-Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Biggest Challenge in healthcare is not technology, medical errors, compliance , prevention or disease management . They are all just opportunities coming out because of us failing to address the biggest challenge ; to convert ‘suffering populations’ into ‘active patients’
-Rajendra Pratap Gupta
“ 700 million people live below 2 dollars a day , and for them getting two meals in a day is a daily priority . Irony is that, for these people healthcare should be a necessity but it is luxury beyond thoughts”
-Rajendra Pratap Gupta
All the announcements on the taxes on pharmaceuticals and healthcare ( in any form ) must be reversed . This government is already spending meagre amount on healthcare. People are taking loans to spend for treatment and this rapacious government has no right to dissuade people from doing so by taxing the already expensive healthcare services.
I expect BJP to take this up as seriously as the demand for JPC and get this taxes scrapped from the budget
Thanks in advance for safe guarding the Common Man. This mail is marked to national leaders and media
with best regards
Rajendra
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President & Director
Disease Management Association of India ( www.dmai.org.in )
Elections in Tamil Nadu- AIIDMK Vs DMK
Yesterday I was in Chennai and discussed with some people about the scenario in the April elections for the state assembly
I was informed that the 2 G money is already showing up , and last week only DMK distributed sarees and stainless steel jar to all the residents of kovilambakkam. Each vote is likely to cost Rs.2000 to 3000 only !!
When I asked a few people ( professionals who work in different companies that , ‘ Why you all do not oppose such things ? I was told that DMK has hooligans in their cadres, and opposing DMK means inviting the wrath of these cadres and creating problems for our families !! So it is better we take the freebies & cash and vote them back
Further , these people said that DMK needs congress desperately , as if Congress is unhappy , DMK will invite action from congress for its illegal activities and black money. If congress is with DMK , State is already under its control and now centre will be blind to all the wrongs that DMK does – It is a win-win for both DMK –Congress . We know the kind of people congress works with and the thing congress supports !! DMK is widely referred as Daily Making Money for Karunanidhi – DMK
Also, a few weeks ago, I was speaking with a grass root worker from Tamil Nadu , and he informed that DMK has approached a lot of AIIDMK leaders and offered them cash as high as 50 cores and got them to work in AIIDMK and transfer their votes to DMK !! Shrewd & crafty congress allies !!
So , finally , we know what is going to be used in the state elections in Tamil Nadu & what will be the outcome on April 13. Only Almighty can intervene & swing things differently !!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Inaugural Speech delivered by Rajendra Pratap Gupta on March 14th 2011, at ‘Spardha’ – A national level event organized by VAMNICOM , Pune, for students of Management & Agricultural institutes across India
Good Morning friends !
I feel honoured to be here and am thankful to my friend, Dr.Yash Patil and the Director, Dr.Reddy, for giving me an opportunity to be a part of your National event, ‘Spardha’ .
Whenever I address students – the young , energetic and vibrant crowd , I am quite convinced that India will change . You are all full of great energy and ideas, but sadly , at present , India does not offer you a readymade & attractive platform due to our inefficient leaders at the helm of affairs and corrupt bureaucracy who are eating away the money and opportunities meant for the common man . But I see that the winds of change are on the horizon , and I believe that each one of you will push India ahead ; to set a new bench mark for the world in all spheres.
Today , India stands at a very critical juncture , and institutes like VAMNICOM hold the key for either India’s meteoric rise or a gradual fall !!
I was going through your chairman, Dr.Chandra Pal Singh Yadav’s message , and I was impressed with his views that we need to support farmers ,workers and weaker sections of the society for the development of this country. I believe that the education imparted via VAMINICOM aims to deliver that goal . This is exactly what India needs today .
It is an ironical fact that IIM’s and IIT’s have lost direction and failed to deliver the mission with which they had started with. Today, IIT’s & IIM’s are about fat packages from MNC’s . In fact , they have become subservient to MNC’s packages and are doing little for this country’s betterment . In these times , we want you all to pass out of VAMNICON and set goals that will re-define the future of this great nation.
Let me put things in a little perspective so that you do not have illusions in future when you move out of the campus. I believe that you will pass out this year or next year, depending if you are in 1st year or the final year. Some of you will get back to their family business , some will seek jobs and some will become entrepreneurs . No matter which path you take , the formula for success would remain the same . So let’s understand the realities of professional life :
Each one of you needs to have two goals in mind – Urgent ( short term ) & Important (Long term )goals . ‘Urgent’ is about the present i.e. your studies, to clear the exams with good marks . ‘Important’ is about future . What are you going to do after passing out from VAMNICON ? Don’t ever commit the mistake that President Obama did ! When President Obama started his election campaign, he talked about healthcare reforms & the Wall Street reforms. By the time he became the President , things had changed, but he still focused all his energies on the ‘Urgent’ & forgot the ‘Important’; that the market conditions had changed and there was a deep recession . People were losing the jobs every hour . President Obama still kept working on his ‘Urgent’ agenda,not realizing that the conditions had changed . He accomplished Healthcare reforms & Wall Street reforms !! Mid-term elections came in for the congress . President Obama had missed out addressing the Important , and so he lost to the Republicans in 2010, and finally , he is fighting to save the essence of the bills that he had passed on healthcare & Wall Street . The point is, never loose sight of the changed circumstances and keep focusing on both the urgent & the important . Else , you will have to compromise to survive . We are living in a very dynamic and an ultra -volatile world .
We live in a material world :. Don’t try to kill your desires. Reality in life is that people worship knowledge, position, influence & money. So you need to have each of them if you want to be successful. You must aim to be debt free by the age of 40 and, have a house , vehicle and savings good enough to last you without working for a year or two. It is extremely important to draw a line as to how much is much ? If you do not have those boundaries, you are bound to get into the mad rush for making money without realizing where to stop ! This is what our current politicians are doing . They lack moral boundaries, and they go for more and more and do not stop before nature pulls the carpet under their feet !!
Getting settled in life : How many of you want to get settled in life soon? Well let me quote you an interaction with one of my dear friends – Shiv Khera . He is the biggest motivational Guru in India . Sometime in 2009, we were coming out of The Grand Hyatt hotel , and he was discussing with me about the new path he had undertaken that required tough decisions . So I asked him ‘Shiv , can you leave your book writing and speeches and join politics full time ? To which , he immediately replied ‘ I am not yet settled’ . Imagine , if a person who is the highest paid speaker and the best motivational writer, is not settled , how will people like you and me be settled ? So it is wrong to assume that we ever get settled in life . Life is about facing constant challenges. Have you ever seen an ECG ? If ECG comes out as a straight line , the patient is dead !
You cannot have a long ride without a puncture : While all of you will do well in life , but you can never drive a vehicle always in the fifth gear . Long rides cannot be without a puncture . Some time , you will feel that you weren’t wrong but still you were punished . Never mind , even Gods were punished without fault ! Lord Ram & Lord Christ were punished for no fault of theirs . But do fight back for what is right !!
Keep reading books and newspapers to update yourself on the global and national scene & across sectors . If five friends came together , you could buy one book each and read five books . Form a habit to read at least two news papers a day . But learn to appreciate the difference between education , knowledge and wisdom . A highly educated person might not necessarily be a wise person .
Stay Fit : As you move up the corporate ladder , you will need to be mentally fit and physically active . Devote 5 % of your daily time for yoga , mediation and gym Working is important but so is networking . How many of you are on facebook , Orkut or twitter ? How many of you are on a professional networking group ? Professional networking groups are a powerful professional tool for career progression . Please do not ignore them .
Always look for new ideas & not become copy cats : I was heading a large retail chain as a COO, and every time in the review meetings , I would solve the operational problems with a new approach . Once , my team member asked me , ‘Sir, every time you come out with something new , but one day you will run out of ideas , then what will you do ? I asked him “Since how many years river Ganges is coming out from Gangotri ? . He replied ‘ Since ages’. I asked him again ‘has it stopped ?’ . He replied ‘never’. He got the answer . That there is no limit to new ideas . While you are working in an organization , ensure that your work & experience profile changes every 2-3 years . Else , you would be like a truck driver with 20 years of experience. Remember that a truck driver faces the same road conditions every year . So his actual experience is just one year !!
You are amongst the five % Indians that are graduates . So you are also responsible for the remaining 95 %……… Let me ask you a question ? I know of a family where 56 % of the income goes in paying loans , 30 % of the income goes in running the household and another 10 % is miscellaneous expenditure , and only 4 % is invested to increase the income or to create assets . How would you rate such a family? Well to do, not good not bad or in a serious financial crisis ? So here are the facts about Indian economy : 55.9 % of the GDP goes into servicing the debt, approximately 30 % is the cost of running the government and bureaucracy, 2.5 % goes to subsidies , 2.6 % goes to defense . One fact is clear that only about 4 % of the GDP is going towards asset creation or wealth creation in this country . This is a very serious issue facing the nation.
How will the country be prosperous which spends about 96 % of its income with no wealth creation strategies & adds 17 million people to its population every year !!
If our country borrows Rs.80 lac a minute how will its citizens be prosperous ? Similarly, If the 99 % of the system is corrupt , you & your family members and even your next generation will certainly be harassed unless the system gets changed ?
Let me ask you another question. If you were earning handsomely after working hard, how many of you would share your monthly income with you neighbours or servants after paying your taxes ? We keep hearing that the fruits of growth has not reached the masses.
Common man will not reap the fruits of India’s prosperity unless he is the one driving it !! Why should someone share the earnings of his hard work with someone who hasn’t ? This is where each one of you can make a real difference . Agriculture continues to employ 65 % of its population and contributes just 17.2 % of the GDP. There is so much to be done but none at the policy maker level knows what to do ?
A few weeks back I was with the policy advisor of Rahul Gandhi , and we were discussing about how we could transform rural India . He informed me that he was advising Rahul to create 600 new districts at a cost of USD 1 billion each to transform India, but he could not convince me as to how 600 new districts transform the population’s standard of living ? After an hour of discussion , he admitted that the future of the villages was doomed ? Should we let this to happen ? We know the problem , lets take the challenge to change the fate of these ‘doomed’ villages . Each one of you can contribute effectively . We know that the government might not have the right answers but we must not just find solutions but also go ahead and implement them.
Rural India can transform if we understand that the basic requirement for such a transformation is having ‘transactions’ in rural India . The good thing about money is that whenever it changes hands , the hand becomes heavier ! I request you to think of creating business models that can utilize the local inputs and create products and services that leads to more transactions for rural India . Co-operatives & SHG’s ( Self Help Groups) are central to rural India’s transformation. Think about the 1.55 lac post offices , 2.38 lac gram panchayats and millions of kirana stores . Can we not create rural millionaires out of 700 million rural Indians ? We need micro-preneurs & agri-preneurs, if we want to change the rural landscape . Due to uncertainty of variable factors and no clear political vision for the prosperity for rural India , people do not want to remain in agriculture any more . If they get a job they keep moving and are selling their land. Because of the haphazard developmental policies , land and employment under agriculture is decreasing . In the western world, people are migrating to rural areas for better quality of life and in India , it is just the opposite, as Indians are migrating to urban areas. God forbid, if India ever faced a famine or severe draught , what will happen to a billion people ? Have we planned for it ? Can we guarantee it will never happen ?? We have not been able to tackle inflation even ??
A day before yesterday , I read that government wants to open the FDI in retail for metros and we have heard in the past that ‘Mumbai is being made Shanghai’ . So if we are creating hype and investing in metros , why should people not migrate ? We must create more ‘Mumbai’s in India rather than trying to create ‘Shanghai’ in Mumbai . Government has always said that opening up the FDI in retail will improve the supply chain. But we know that FDI in supply chain is already permitted . So we know that this is a wrong reason to justify FDI in retail.
Most of our growth is inspired due to the growth in China. India woke up for growth when China started growing at 10 + % per year with a much larger population . The current growth in India is about GDP and sensex . India’s growth is only applicable & benefits people who read The Economic Times . Such a growth has no strong fundamentals .
The government has allocated Rs,500 crore for skills development programme, and Rs. 40000.00 crore in NAREGA . This is, when we are facing acute shortage of trained man power in every sector at every level ! If a few thousand crore was invested in skills development for rural India , it would create a lasting value for the rural people and the economy
Wastage of agriculture produce due to lack of proper infrastructure is to the tune of Rs.30000.00 per year . Can we address this issue ? Some of you go and start a daily transportation service that carries the farm produce to the nearest town for sale . Imagine the value addition it would bring to the farmers ? You charge them a fixed percentage of sale ?? All will make money in the process and Agriculture will be lucrative for farmers – something that is missing today .
Can some of you go and set up low cost rural cold chain facilities for rural India Can some of you set up international technical collaborations for enhancing the quality and quantity of farm produce India has the largest number of cattle but not milk products . Can some of you create more Amul’s & Warna’s in India ?
India is the largest producer of milk in the world but not the top most exporter !! India is endowed with livestock resources of vast genetic diversity and accounts for about 11 percent of the world livestock population. The country boasts of 55 per cent of the world buffalo population, 20 per cent of the goat population and 16 per cent of the cattle population in the world. India has the largest cattle and buffalo population in the world and holds the second rank with respect to goat and sheep world population. Some of you could take food processing techniques to rural India
Kiwi fruit is sold at Rs. 25 a piece and it is given to pigs in Manipur as the road infrastructure is so bad that the fruits are unfit for consumption by the time they reach the markets . Some of you develop technologies to save such a wastage
Healthcare reaches only 24 % of rural India . Some of you could create a viable rural healthcare delivery model .Some of you should go and set up telemedicine centres across rural India
Some of you could maybe set up veterinary care centres ?
Kirana stores in rural India are still lagging behind . Some of you can start a rural Kirana store chain
Can some of you go and set up SHG’s in different states in India and empower them to form a national level marketing channel for rural India Opportunities are countless , just go and execute .
Let me tell you that Indian system is very good but manned by wrong people , and so public has lost trust .
Despite all the odds , everywhere in India, I see so much opportunities to work on , and it is a great boon to be born in India . It is how you take it . I believe that each one of you will have a lot to accomplish in life , and am sure that this institution will equip you with the right tools to handle the opportunities that will come your way
I wish you all the best and hope to see you again
Rajendra
Nuclear deal , FDI , Inflation & Black money – You did not change India , but changed India’s image Dr. Singh !
Dear Dr.Singh,
I read the top story in the current issue of the International Magazine ‘The Economist’ , and felt sad . Whenever , people like us visit outside of India , we are questioned or pointed towards corruption in India , and believe you me , it is painful to accept such criticism for our great country ! You put us to shame !
Nuclear deal & Jaitapur Plant : Recently , Wikileaks have exposed that Nuclear deal was not even acceptable to congress MP’s but money was paid to get votes !! It calls for a review and legal action against people making mockery of the most sacred institution of our country – Parliament ! Dr. Singh , please step down , we cannot bear more international assault due to your misdeeds ! Also, that India must immediately have a rethink on the location of all the nuclear installations from a public safety point of view . Jaitaput plant in Maharashtra is in Seismic risk zone and had 92 quakes in the past 20 years . The earth quake in 1992 was measuring 6.2 on Richter scale !! It calls for a fresh consideration of the approval granted in light of the developments in Japan post the Tsunami
FDI : Last week , I read that the government is considering granting FDI in retail for metros . Please desist from implementing your flawed policies again . Do not create hype and investment around metros , it leads to lopsided development and migration . If at all you want to grant FDI , please allow it in class 3 & 4 towns first , so that the local people get employment and we can see some reverse migration of populations and the burden on metros can reduce . Frame policies where foreign retailers cannot own more than 26 % in Indian companies across board . We do not want to lose our freedom Dr. Singh ! Also , as I have always mentioned change the definition of FDI from Foreign direct investment to Finance from domestic institutions ! Encourage retailer friendly policies for locals. Britishers financially exploited India , and took our wealth . Today MNC’s ( Multinational corporations ) are acquiring flourishing Indian companies and will take the profits away ! Are not getting back to pre-1947 days ? We will be exploited financially again and forever ! We are losing freedom with every investment & acquisition ! What is the use of such independence when the financial exploitation is similar to that under the British rule ? Please come up with rules that, in any sector , investments more than 26 -40 % cannot happen . Significant majority has to be with Indians ( Resident Indians). This is in the interest of national security & maintaining independence
Inflation : I have been watching your statements for the cause of inflation . Earlier , you attributed it to recession in 2008, poor rainfall in 2009 , and now you are attributing it to money from NAREGA !! Please do not blame the poor for every thing !! When you blamed poor rainfall as a cause of inflation , people were skeptical about it . When rainfall was good in 2010 , inflation still did not go down , now you had to find another reason , and quite cleverly , yourself & Pranab have been saying that because people are getting NAREGA money so they are buying more , thereby , leading to inflation . Please do not make lame excuses Mr. Prime Minister ! You & Montek have said that we must start to live with inflation as growth and inflation are intertwined . Sorry Dr. Singh , you need to study Economics again . History has shown that high growth and low inflation is possible and has happened in Germany & China and other parts of the world. So please do not give lame excuses . The real issue with inflation is that , because of your flawed policies for rural India , the migration has become perennial , and there is a tremendous loss in productivity ( multi-dimensional loss ) and that has caused inflation . Raising interest rates would not help ever , and time will tell us this hard fact . It is difficult to find a farmer less than 30 years in age .
NAREGA In its present form is causing irreparable damage to rural India , and I do hope that the educated economists in your team and the planning commission will attend to it as top most priority
I am scared that, if God forbid , India had a famine , how are we prepared ? We know such things can happen & without any notice like the recession ,and are not prepared for any such eventuality . Please let your cricket minister work on the worst case scenario’s as well.
Black Money : Last point is about the black money . We have seen all the estimates so far , and every number is an eye popping trillion dollar amount . Please challenge my number if you can !! India spends close to 30 % of its GDP in running the government and bureaucracy every year . it is a hard fact that, every employee who takes bribe gets almost double his salary in bribes ! Now another reality is, that senior bureaucrats and politicians get disproportionately high money in bribes when it comes to comparing bribes with their salaries . So clearly , the average B-GDP ( Black GDP ) is certainly 1.5 times the 30 % of GDP that the government spends on administrative costs of running the government . So If I average out the last five years GDP at half trillion dollars a year . India would have lost One trillion dollars in black money in just last five years , and trust me , these are the most pessimistic numbers ,and so are on the lower side . Your government & Mr.Khursheed talks about corporate governance ? When political governance of the nation is a sham and people have to take out thousands of cores off the balance sheet as bribes to your cabinet ministers , how can transparency and corporate governance work in this nation ? Take the case of telecom licenses ; every telecom company paid money other than the license fee . Where did the money come from , and where did it get accounted ? Not certainly in the legitimate account books , and so the corporate governance was severely compromised . Dr. Singh , The change should start at the top . if the political governance is good , corporate governance is good , if the political governance is shady , the corporate governance can never be imagined .
Dr.Singh , the nation recalls your letter to appear before the parliamentary accounts committee . I think that is not enough . You must be interrogated by CBI and charge sheeted for leading the most corrupt government in history of India ,and perhaps the world !
Read the article below from the Economist !
A Common Man
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
www.rajendragupta.wordpress.com
Article from the latest issue of The Economist
Corruption in India
A rotten state
Graft is becoming a bigger problem—and the government should tackle it
Mar 10th 2011 | from the print edition
INDIANS’ anger over rising corruption has reached feverish levels. What people are calling a “season of scams” includes the alleged theft of billions by officials behind last year’s Commonwealth games in Delhi; $40 billion in revenues lost from the crooked sale of 2G telecoms licenses; and over $40 billion stolen in Uttar Pradesh alone from schemes subsidising food and fuel for the poor. Foreign businessmen, who have slashed investment over the past year, rank graft as their biggest headache behind appalling infrastructure. Now India’s anti-corruption chief has been forced out over, well, corruption (see article).
Graft is hardly new in India: the Bofors scandal brought down the government in 1989. But there seems to be more of it about than ever, if only because India is getting richer fast, and the faster the economy grows, the more chances arise for mind-boggling theft. The government says that in the next five-year plan period, which starts next year, $1 trillion will be spent on roads, railways, ports and so on, with billions more on re-equipping the armed forces and welfare. Add in an insatiable appetite for scarce land, water and minerals and a monsoon of bribes is forecast.
Some are inclined to shrug their shoulders. After all, corruption does not seem to be stopping India from growing. Yet imagine how much better the country would be doing without it. Corruption raises costs not just to Indians, but also to the foreigners whose capital India needs. Thanks in part to those scandals, India’s stockmarket was the worst-performing outside the Muslim world over the past year.
To its credit, the government has begun to take action against powerful individuals. Maharashtra state’s chief minister was forced out over a property scandal. Police have quizzed Suresh Kalmadi, the politician who ran the Commonwealth games. Most strikingly, Andimuthu Raja, the cabinet minister who oversaw the 2G telecom licences, was arrested.
A 2005 act giving the right to information is welcome, as are auctions for public goods, such as last year’s lucrative sale of the 3G telecom spectrum. Technology is helping. In some states, bids for state contracts are being run online, allowing anti-corruption bodies to monitor them. Gujarat does this for all contracts over 500,000 rupees ($11,000). It also puts land records and death certificates online, cutting down on one form of petty graft. Websites, led by ipaidabribe.com, reveal the cost of graft by publicising the sums demanded for everything from registering a baby to fixing a broken water supply.
The central government should now implement a plan for a universal, computerised ID scheme. It would allow welfare payments to be paid into individuals’ bank accounts, hindering theft by state workers.
The licence Raj lives on Most of all, India must redouble its efforts to liberalise. The state could outsource official tasks, cut red tape and sell wasteful and corrupt state-owned firms (why does the government make watches?). For all that the “licence Raj” was supposedly scrapped two decades ago, it can still take nearly 200 days to get a construction permit and seven years to close a business. Regulations are not, by and large, deterrents to corruption, but a source of it.
DMAI wants the government to extend the NRHM till 2017 with radical operational changes
The Disease Management Association of India (DMAI), a non-profit organisation propagating disease management concept and tools in the country, has urged the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the central government to reconsider its recommendations for scrapping of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) as the NRHM has made an impact on the lives of the rural population in the country.
The DMAI suggestion in this regard was put forth by the DMAI president and director Rajendra Pratap Gupta in a letter addressed to PAC chairman Dr Murli Manohar Joshi recently.
The NRHM was launched in the country on April 12, 2005 for a period of seven years i.e. from 2005 to 2012 for providing integrated comprehensive primary health care services, specially to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. It means that NRHM will get expired by 2012. However, seeing its impact on the rural population, the government is thinking of a possible extension for another five years. In this regard the government had asked PAC to review the NRHM. However, in its reports the PAC has recommended on scrapping the NRHM scheme.
However Gupta suggested, “NRHM is a very useful programme and has been successful in having its presence felt even in the remote parts of the country. However, there are many radical administrative and operational changes needed to be made in the present format of NRHM.”
He suggested that with proper administrative and operational tactic, this programme certainly will have the power to create desired impact in the rural health scene. In his recommendations to the planning commission on the changes needed in NRHM for the 12th five year plan, Gupta suggested that technology must be leveraged in NRHM for accountability, transparency and telehealth and that 12th five year plan must consider opportunities to digitise NRHM in all spheres of its implementation.
He said, “There are many important changes that needs to be undertaken in the NRHM, but of all changes the first and foremost change should be to improve the quality of medicines that is being supplied at the NRHM centres. Secondly, minor surgeries are not allowed in Primary Health Centres (PHCs) as of now. This should be changed and the government must allow minor surgeries in the PHCs as it would help reduce a lot for hassles for the villagers and bring revenue for the government as well.”
Other issue that he had highlighted in the letter was on the inadequate fund flow on time which could lead to corruption among the people working at the lowest level in PHC and sub centres.
“I have met people who were not paid salary for months, and also discovered the fact that the funds that were supposed to be sent for 2010 were received by the centres in mid January 2011. Such delays must be stopped with immediate effect as this clearly will encourage and lead to corruption as people drawing a monthly salary of Rs.5000-8000 won’t be able to sustain their family without salary for months. Either they will resort to bribing, selling the government supplies or starts absconding and working for employers in parallel. Thus I suggest that the fund meant for a sub centre or PHC must be transferred in advance for the quarter if not half yearly,” Gupta points out.
He put special stress on telehealth adoption goals for NRHM and other healthcare projects, as setting up and manning the physical infrastructure with qualified professionals at remote places is nonviable. To stress the importance of telehealth adoption in the country the Telemedicine Society of India (TSI) is organising a three-day conference Telemedicon’ 11 in Mumbai from November 11 to 13. TSI is completely dedicated to the promotion of telehealth in India and is being organised at a time when there is a big push from the government and private players in the field of telehealth in India.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Include Homeopathy in National Health Schemes
DMAI wants the govt to give due weightage to homoeopathy in NRHM
Suja Nair Shirodkar, Mumbai Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 08:00 Hrs [IST]
The Disease Management Association of India (DMAI) has recommended the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the central government to increase the role of homoeopathy in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), especially for acute illness.
At present homoeopathy is not being leveraged properly under NRHM in spite of it being the cheapest way of treatment in the country. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, president and director DMAI pointed out that the homoeopathic medicines are cheaper and much more accessible to patients thus it is only natural that its potential should be utilised properly under NRHM.
Though the treatment used in homoeopathy is superficially similar to the medicines prescribed by a conventional doctor it differs in their source, preparation and dosage. He observed that in spite of having enough qualified homoeopathic physicians in the country the government is not giving them enough chance to play any role in the national health program. “Today there are hospitals and colleges that cater to homoeopathy and encourage its use then why isn’t the government utilising these resources to increase the demand for homoeopathic medicines among the rural population.
The government should take step to ensure that the people in the rural India can also benefit from this system,” he pointed out. He said that the demand for homoeopathy has increased over the years as more and more people are adopting homoeopathic treatment due to its effectiveness compared to other available methods. Thus it should be put to use more effectively. He added, “Homoeopathic medicines are very cheap, in almost two rupees a patient can get a weeks worth of medicines which will be a great support to the rural population, it would provide them with cheapest alternative that assures best treatment.”
Homoeopathy is a system for the treatment of illness that is based both on the recognition of patterns within the symptoms of the illness and a wider consideration of how the individual is as a person. Although conventional medical assessment also takes these issues in to account, the homoeopathic approach integrates personality type, previous experiences, emotional state, the influence of the environment and other social factors to a greater degree than is usual with standard medical practice.
http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=62119&sid=1
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Mental Healthcare Act 2010 – Needs revisions
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Registered Speed Post / E-Mail
Dated: March 24th 2011
Shri. Ghulam Nabi Azad
Hon’ble Health Minister
Government of India
Nirman Bhavan,
New Delhi -110108
Reference: Revision of Mental Health Act 1987 & Mental Health Care Act 2010 ( draft )
Dear Shri Azad ji,
This needs your esteem, kind and personal attention.
I am writing this note on behalf of the Disease Management Association of India – ( DMAI)- The Population Health Improvement Alliance . DMAI works with all the stake holders in the entire continuum of care, for improving the population health of the nation . Over the last few years, we have worked with different stake holders to help define the right priorities in healthcare for the policy makers & the care providers .
Through this note , I am drawing your attention to the revision of the mental health act of 1987 and the proposed Mental Health Care act 2010 (Draft). The process of revision of the Mental Health Act 1987 was initiated about a year back, to make it compliant to the United Nations Convention on the ‘Rights of Persons with Disability’. Disability includes persons with long term mental illness. This convention advocates equal rights for all disabled persons.
Dr Saumitra Pathare ( a private psychiatrist) and Dr. Jaya Sagade (a lawyer) of Pune were in charge of conducting the regional consultations on behalf of the Ministry. Over the last one year, there have been 5 regional consultations with various stakeholders. The major stakeholders consulted have been users, care providers, professional bodies in mental health, mental health institutions and state government representatives. However, it is to be noted that, the Medical Council of India, other specialties of modern medicine, and professional organizations of general health field, have not been consulted. This is important, as the changes which are evident in the draft bill have far reaching consequences in terms of the way the modern medicine is taught and practiced currently.
DMAI- The Population Health Improvement Alliance, is surprised with the outcome of the consultations , and that there was hardly any discussion on the final outcome to patients due to the significant changes which are being brought in terms of the ‘mental health’ field of practice of medicine by way of promulgating this act. Proposed changes are likely to cost human lives , as persons who have not been trained to be physician (Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatric Social Worker, Psychiatric Nurse), will be entrusted with the role of independent examination, diagnosis and admission of patients in mental health facilities. Currently, this role rests with a Psychiatrist who is a medical doctor (MBBS) trained in Psychological Medicine. In modern system of medicine ,only a physician (M.B.B.S )can diagnose a patient, as only he has received training in all the specialties such as Medicine, Surgery, Eye, ENT, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Radiology, Dentistry, Dermatology, Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, Preventive and Social Medicine, Pathology, Microbiology, Physiology, Biochemistry, Anatomy etc. , which essentially means, covering all the systems of the body. Unfortunately, Human body cannot be compartmentalized and however we may wish, but we cannot have an Eye specialist who has studied only ‘Eye’ and not done MBBS ( as a basic general qualification and set of skills covering the entire human body system) to examine each and every system of human body. Similarly, we cannot have a Psychologist who has no training of the subjects studied at MBBS level, to diagnose mental disorders by only doing psychological examination!!!!
Only an MBBS trained doctor with the proper understanding of the entire human body system and its functioning, can do a detailed psychological evaluation and come to a diagnosis of whether the patient has a psychological illness or it is some physical illness, which is presenting itself as a psychological illness. In cases of latter, appropriate referral is required and any delay may even be fatal. S/he can also order various tests and imaging and interpret them for aiding in his diagnosis. After a diagnosis is arrived at, s/he can plan and provide physical treatment (ECT), pharmacological treatment or psychological treatment. The role of psychiatric nurse, clinical psychologist or a psychiatric social worker is to assist him by nursing the patient, helping him in psychological interventions, helping him in psycho-social interventions respectively. But the patient is under the overall care of a psychiatrist who is the leader of the mental health team. All the three categories of personnel work under the supervision of a psychiatrist .
A clinical psychologist, PSW ( Psychiatric Social Worker ) or a psychiatric nurse is not trained to be a physician. They have not studied the human body as an MBBS doctor and cannot do detailed physical or systemic examination, investigations and imaging like a psychiatrist. They are in no position to independently examine, diagnose and advise admission of patient. A PSW and Clinical psychologist have not general training in other subjects of modern medicine. Just by talking to patient, how can a Clinical Psychologist or PSW diagnose a mental disorder? They will be severely restricted by their inability to do general and systemic examination and order and interpret investigations and imaging. A Psychiatry examinee will fail in his examination if he did not touch the patient for examination ; however bright drug treatment he may formulate for the patient ; as without a general and systemic examination, a person cannot make a diagnosis of mental disorder. In many cases special investigations and imaging also has to be ordered and interpreted. As per the diagnostic criteria for mental illness, a mental disorder can only be diagnosed after ruling out that the signs and symptoms are not better accounted for by a medical illness or use/abuse of a substance. In this scenario, without proper validation of the reason for the particular condition , what is the validity of diagnosis of mental disorder by a Clinical Psychologist, PSW or a Nurse ? Even the quacks believe that they can diagnose and treat independently. Each such claim needs to be examined objectively in line of their competence and current practice related to their vocation.
In modern system of medicine, which is regulated by MCI, there is no specialization known as Clinical Psychology, PSW or Psychiatric Nursing. The mandate of ‘Rehabilitation Council’ is limited to rehabilitation of persons with disability and practice of modern medicine under Rehabilitation Council is neither required nor allowed. If at all, new independent specialties such as Clinical Psychology, PSW and Mental Health Nursing without any supervisory role of a Psychiatrist is being planned for modern medicine system, then the whole modern medical system (MCI, Indian Medical Association, Other Medical Specialties) must be consulted .
If we go as per the draft, it means that Clinical Psychology, PSW and Mental Health Nursing personnel are as much a specialist as a psychiatrist and can independently examine , diagnose, admit and treat patients with mental disorders.
It is not understandable why a psychiatrist has to do MBBS (study the whole human body) and then specialize in Psychiatry while for the other persons they need to study only psychology or social work and yet be assumed to be qualified to examine the whole body, diagnose, admit and treat patients (albeit without medicines) . The demand to prescribe medicines by non psychiatrist is also going around (and may be later on this will be also be made possible.) There is no institution in the country where a Clinical Psychologist, PSW, Mental Health Nurse examines patients independently, diagnoses a mental disorders, admits patients and treats them. This amounts to practice of Psychiatry under the modern system of medicine and would invite penal provisions of MCI. The sole aim of drafters is to get the bill through and take credit for drafting the bill rather than have a healthy development of the sector. Nowhere in the country there is a Clinical Psychology ward, PSW ward or Psychiatric Nursing ward. The decision to admit is taken by the leader of the mental health team who is a Psychiatrist and it is the Psychiatrist who is overall responsible for treatment of a patient with mental disorder.
One of the reasons given by the people behind the draft of the Mental Healthcare Act 2010, for giving the role of independent examination, diagnosis and admission in bill, is the shortage of psychiatrist in the country. But if we go by the definition of psychiatrist in the bill which is the same as that in the previous Act, ‘an MBBS qualified person with experience and training in Psychiatry can be designated a psychiatrist’ for the purpose of the Act.
At present , there are about 8 lac medical practitioners in the country and these can potentially be designated as psychiatrist. So where is the shortage for the purpose of the Act ? The only purpose which could be served by giving an independent examination, diagnosis and admission to Clinical Psychologist, PSW, Mental Health Nurse in the bill is to later on claim that if they are capable of doing these jobs, then this means that they can practice their trades independently under the modern system of Medicine. This would mean they will be physicians of mental disorders just like a psychiatrist.
The inclusion of Clinical Psychologist, PSW, Mental Health Nurse for purpose of independent assessment, diagnosis, admission to a mental health facility should be deleted and replaced by ‘psychiatrist’ (an MBBS qualified doctor with some training/experience in psychiatry). After this, there will not be a need for defining mental health professional in the Act. If at all it has to be defined, then Clinical Psychologist and PSW shall be designated as Assistant Mental Health Professional as in the present legislation (Section 22 of State Mental Health Rule 1990) and their role clearly specified as being- to assist a psychiatrist.
Further, the supervision and review of the decision of a psychiatrist by a Clinical Psychologist, PSW, Mental Health Nurse in the mental health review commission is not feasible as review is to be done by practitioner of the same specialty i.e. Psychiatrist. Thus, the provision of Psychiatrist in the review commission should be made mandatory.
In a multidisciplinary team such as a mental health team, each team member has a specific role. If everyone will do the same role, which is to independently examine, diagnose and admit, then there could be no team functioning. Rather the role of each mental health person should be clarified in the Guidelines /Rules clearly, so that there is good team functioning and the public is well informed and is not misguided by manipulative persons. Can we imagine a similar provision for a Nurse specializing in Medical, Surgical, OBG, Cardio-thoracic nursing to independently examine, diagnose and admit patients in Medical, Surgical or OBG, Cardio-Thoracic ward respectively? Then why should we consider similar provision for Clinical Psychologist posted with Neurology department?
Psychiatry is a medical discipline as any other discipline. If Clinical Psychologist, PSW and Psychiatric Nurse want to independently examine , diagnose, admit and treat patients without even having the training and skills for the same and government wants to allow the same, then they should be allowed to start their own wards to do so and be responsible for their decisions. If we allow such changes to be brought, this would mean that a Psychiatrist too does not need to do MBBS. Then all the specialties of modern medicine should have direct specialization rather than first spend 5.5 years to be a General doctor. Human body cannot be divided in a compartments. All organs and systems are interrelated. A stroke can present itself as a depression in a mental health facility. What skill a psychologist or a PSW has to diagnose it without doing a full neurological examination or relevant investigations. They will treat for depression while the patient will die. In my view , compartmentalised knowledge is dangerous for the medical profession and defeats the basis of evidence based medicine
We are trying to make Clinical Psychologist, PSW and Mental Health Nurse into Physicians in mental health by giving the role of a Physician to them under the new draft bill on the pretext of shortage of Psychiatrist. However, there are less than a 1000 Clinical Psychologist and PSW both combined in the country. Further, there is no dearth of Psychiatrist under Mental Health Act, as Govt. can very well designate MBBS doctors with some experience in Psychiatry as Psychiatrist (as per the definition and provision in current legislation and the draft Bill). So even the assumptions for the shortage of psychiatrists is not a right justification for this act
The role given to Clinical Psychologist, PSW and Psychiatric Nurse in the draft bill is ; independent examination of patients, diagnosis , admission and then review of decisions taken by a Psychiatrist. Instead of this, in the draft bill, the role of a Clinical Psychologist and PSW- as a rehabilitation professional , and Psychiatric nurse – as a specialized nurse, should have been clarified and focused.
The position of a Psychiatrist as a mental health team leader should be reiterated and the decision of a psychiatrist should only be reviewed by a board having a psychiatrist. These rules could further be clarified In the draft bill psychiatric social worker and clinical psychologist has been mentioned as mental health professional just like a psychiatrist. However, In section 22 of the State Mental Health Rules’1990 (the existing legislation) the PSW and Clinical Psychologist are referred to as Assistant mental health professional. The change in the draft bill under consideration has been done with a view to make their role fit for independent examination, diagnosis, admission to a mental health facility by the drafters, without any regard to the impact of this on the patient care and safety. If they are full-fledged professionals (as they claim) who can diagnose, admit and treat patients, why do they need to be defined as such in the Act. At no place in the draft bill their role has been mentioned separately. At all places they are bunched as mental health professional with no individual roles. At no place it is mentioned that they will function under the supervision of a psychiatrist. If they independently examine, diagnose and admit patients they are then deemed to have an independent role. This will increase the role conflict which is already very high in the mental health team. So much so that at some places there is no team work. In Kerala High Court, there is a case going on, to allow clinical psychologist to independently practice in community to treat patients of mental disorders.
This is a serious issue and needs to be taken up strongly so that untrained people are not given the role of a physician i.e. to practice independently to treat patients.
DMAI insists that the Medical Council of India, Indian Medical Association & patient groups & DMAI needs to be taken in confidence and consulted, as independent examination, diagnosis and admission and also treatment by psychological or psycho-social means is practice of psychiatry under modern medicine and could not be allowed to be done by persons who do not even have a MBBS degree, in view of patient safety and care.
All health personnel shall work within the limits of their competence. In section 43 and 45 of the draft bill related to admission in a mental health facility: a mental health professional (i.e. Clinical Psychologist, PSW, Psychiatric nurse) has a role to examine a person suspected to be mentally ill independently, assess mental illness and its severity and advise admission. This is a role which goes beyond their competence. There are already instances of Clinical Psychologist practicing treatment of mental disorders independently as isolated examples. There is growing demand from clinical psychologist to allow them to practice independently the treatment of mental disorders. This change in the draft bill will allow them to be recognized as persons who can independently examine, diagnose, and admit patients, which will substantiate their claim to practice independently in community rather than under the supervision of a psychiatrist. It’s altogether different matter that they are not trained to examine and diagnose mental disorders as it requires ruling out other physical disorders as well and it requires a person to be a physician to do that. In section 22 of the draft bill : Constitution of district panels of mental health review commission , two members could be mental health professionals (i.e. Clinical Psychologist, PSW, Psychiatric nurse) which may not include a psychiatrist if he is not available, but then how the commission can judge the decision of a psychiatrist if no psychiatrist is in the commission? One needs to have knowledge of psychiatry to assess the correctness of the decision of a psychiatrist in a particular case. Provision of a psychiatrist in the review commission should be mandatory rather than being replaced by non-psychiatrist personnel Mental disorders are medical disorders and should not be treated by non-medicos .
I am quite sure that you will intervene and ensure that the corrective measures are taken to address the lacunae in the bill Also,
DMAI- The Population Health Improvement Alliance has initiated a ‘NCD Policy of India’ initiative, and would be glad to have the views of the ‘Ministry of Health’ involvement on the initiative
I am quite convinced that committed leadership will take cognizance of this note and take measures to implement the suggestions after a debate with all the stake holders in the continuum of care.
Should you need any assistance at my end, do let me know.
With best regards
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
CC. Dr.Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi ,Rahul Gandhi , Dr.Syeda Hameed, Dr.Murli Mahohar Joshi , Montek Singh Ahluwalia ,Shri Dinesh Trivedi , Sitaram Yechury, Members of Parliament , Sam Pitroda , Secy-Health & Family Welfare , GOI, Dr.K.Srinath Reddy, Debasish Panda , Secretary (ME) Governors , MCI DGHS,MOHFW, Dr.Sudhir Gupta , CMO, NCD-MOHFW ,Dr. Suman Sinha, Psychiatrist, IMA , Chief Minister’s of States
History repeats in Congress – Mrs. Sonia Gandhi & Dr. Manmohan Singh , you must go now !
Mrs. Gandhi , Rahul & Dr. Singh,
Today, this great country is ashamed & aghast due to your cowardly & cold-blooded attacks at Ram Lila Maidan on 4th June 2011. India has reached a new low under your regime !
Every now and then, the supreme court has to intervene and direct the PM & his government to discharge routine duties towards the nation & its citizens. When the constitution of India was written , the constituent assembly laid the foundation of an independent judiciary , legislative & the executive , but due to gross misuse of constitutional powers bestowed upon the Prime Minister through his remote control boss ( Sonia Gandhi ) , you all have forced the Supreme court to run the government on important issues like corruption and high handedness , and this has never happened in the history of India .
Politics & governance under congress has reached the lowest level , and today, everyone realizes that the supreme court is running the nation on a day-to-day basis ( directly or under its fear of intervention ! ). After 4th June , Supreme court will have to make bureaucrats discharge their duties . Jai ho Supreme court and shame -shame for congress !
Congress created hue and cry when Rahul was arrested by Mayawati & now that you have mercilessly beaten up the sleeping protestors ! This clearly indicates a few things :
1. If one makes black money and does wrong , Congress will not kick you out ! ( means that Congress patronizes people who do wrong things and make money ). I believe, that you could not buy Ramdev through your so-called negotiations , and so you tried to assault him to kill him in cold blood ! I am sure that your government must be now planning to invoke your cronies in CBI , IT , ED & FDA etc to raid Ramdev’s establishments and take him to task. Same you have done to those who decided not to toe your line like Amitabh Bacchan and Narendra Modi
2. If people peacefully fast and demand the black money back , Congress will go and kick out people in mid night ?
This act on 4th June was not short of what is happening in the Arab World !! Mrs. Gandhi , since Congress party is running the government, and you have been the President of AICC & the Chairman of NAC , you have proven to be the most incompetent person in Congress as its leader. All your top functionaries are economists ( Chidambaram , Manmohan , Pranab, Montek ) , still you have failed to bring down the inflation , which was to be done in the first 100 days of coming to office !! , Common man has been left behind in all that your party is doing !
Congress has been reduced to the party of scams in the name of social schemes ! Corruption has become the order of the day & currency in this nation . Foreign media has tagged India to be more corrupt than developing ! A. Raja has become amongst the top most corrupt person in the recent international list released by a leading magazine . You are bringing down the country before the global forums . We cannot tolerate this as Indians , and I request you as a common man to resign and go immediately !!
I request the opposition parties to declare a “Corruption , mehagaye aur tanashaye ke virudh Bharat Bandh” ( preferably on a Sunday , to cause least inconvenience to people ) as a show of resentment against your dictatorial and corrupt rule . Congress has always played the politics in the name of Poor , Gandhi family and Religion and cheated the innocent poor for decades , it is time to end this rule . All national leaders marked in this email must come forward so that we do not repeat what happened on 4th June .
I must put these facts before you
The Indian Emergency of 25 June 1975 – 21 March 1977 was a blot in the name of democracy by Indira Gandhi
4th June 1989 , Tiananmen Square happened, and Sonia Gandhi’s Congress did it again on 4th June 2011
3– 6 June 1984, Congress stormed the Golden Temple and killed Sikhs in Operation Blue star Congress leaders led to mass killing of Sikhs post the death of Indira Gandhi
4th June 2011, Congress brutally attacked peaceful protestors in cold blood with an aim to assault Baba Ramdev, repeating the history of Gandhi’s & Congress , and the party has the audacity to call itself as United Progressive Alliance (UPA ) ? Shameful acts . This is what happens when you are afraid of being exposed and your black money is under threat ; Go out and kill innocent in cold blood , and , finally, the Supreme court has to take suo moto action for this cowardly act.
If you have to show courage , go to Pakistan and do an act like America did to capture Dawood Ibrahim !
Though this email , I request our national leaders in the opposition to promise that they will honor our Supreme court judges with at a least Padma Vibhushan ( if not Bharat Ratna ), who woke up our highly educated but ignorant PM to act against Raja, and the judges who took suo-moto action for the cold-blooded attacks on peaceful protestors on 4th June .
Our Tiananmen Square has happened, and now our Egypt like protest must happen . Time for India for a ‘Doosri Azadi’ from this inefficient , corrupt , bankrupt & dictatorial government . Sonia and Rahul are failed politicians and bankrupt with ideas , and a liability on the congress . I am hoping congress will stop idol worship of these two leaders; who brought down the congress in the eyes of a common man, and India in the eyes of the world & hopefully opposition will rise up to restore the faith of the common man
A Common Man
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Points raised at the Interactive Civil Society Hearing at the United Nations 16th June 2011
Venue : UN General Assembly Hall , United Nations , New York.
Chaired by Mr.Joseph Deiss , President of the UN General Assembly .
Dear Friends ,
I am honored to be here , & have few key points for the special high level, two-day session that UN will convene in September 2011 for addressing the issue of chronic diseases.
I appreciate the point that UN session talks about local issues across regions . I would further suggest the United Nations that , if we want the governments to act on its recommendations , we must go beyond local i.e. get micro . My experience in public policy makes me believe that governments do appreciate and act on recommendations that are local but also focus on micro issues .
We have mega goals but our actions have to be micro and we must suggest inputs that are local and at micro level, for execution.
Also, let us accept the fact that for this generation , we are late, and we have already missed the bus . What I would not like is, that our next generation sits in the same UN General Assembly hall after 40 years , and discusses the same issues related to chronic diseases , and says that ‘our earlier generation behaved irresponsibly and did nothing for us ! ’. So the time has come for us to distinguish the ‘Urgent’ & ‘Important’ . Urgent is that we must fix the issues related to the chronic diseases now , but it is more Important that we plan to build a healthier next generation . So my expectation from the UN is, that there will be a dedicated session related to Child health at the UN General Assembly in September .
Also that, the technology is becoming all-pervasive and we must use this UN session to promote the use of mHealth to address the issue of chronic diseases . I am expecting that the UN general assembly will dedicate a session to mHealth, and how it can help in the delivery of care for chronic diseases.
Lastly , I would like to run a quick survey on ABCDE of Chronic Diseases / Healthcare . Where, A stands for – Asthma/ Arthritis , B stands for Blood Pressure , C stands for CVD / Cancer , D stands for Diabetes & E stands for Epilepsy / Elderly patients ( as 84 % of all the elderly patients are on one or more medications)
If anyone of you or your immediate family members have any of these ABCDE , please raise hands .
The response is unbelievable ! I have made a point . It is not about the 5 or 10 % prevalence rate of chronic diseases. We have just now had the visual proof of the prevalence of chronic diseases , and it is much higher than the figures that we read often .
It’s time to act now .
Thank you.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
The points i talked about as mentioned above ,were highlighted by Sir George Alleyne , UN Special Envoy in his closing remarks.
Lame duck PM ? Not at all, a duck cannot fly but at least ruffles its feathers to keep afloat
Dear Dr. Singh ,
I read your statement made at the press conference today, that you are not a Lame duck PM. Well, Lame Duck is too generous a word to describe you !! A lame duck will at least ruffle its feathers , you don’t even do that !!
Let me walk you through your years as a PM. What have you done to this nation ?
Share market collapsed
Oil Prices have hit through the pocket of the common man and he is struggling to make two ends meet
You defended CWG and created a massive scam of the games
There was a wheat export scam ………….
You defended A. Raja and gave him a clean chit , and finally created scam out of telecom airwaves auctions which is so far the biggest in history
Finance minister’s office was under the influence of spies and you did nothing compromising heavily with the security of the nation
Somali pirates are operating on our border
Fiscal deficit has not been addressed
Your ministers have no understanding of the collective responsibility and your party and government speaks different language
NAC is operating as a super body and the office of the PM has been denigrated to its lowest level since independence
You blamed inflation on poor rain , then recession and finally on growth !! Do you think that the opposition and public does not know economics and politics ??
You are pushing for FDI in retail , which will create mass social unrest in the country and will be the biggest mistake for this nation , as it will endanger the livelihoods of over 12 million families directly, and more indirectly .
For inflation , your government has been giving deadlines to control it every 2-3 months , and missing it every time . The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) original inflation estimate for fiscal 2011, made in April 2010, was 5.5%. After two revisions, the latest being in March, it was raised to 8%.The annual average inflation figure for fiscal 2011 now works out to 9.43%, the highest since 1995, and it could be even higher when provisional figures of February and March are revised. You are clueless about measures to control inflation , as Chidambaram once expressed .
A government in power , if it makes statements and repeatedly fail , you are misrepresenting the facts and misleading the nation . It calls for a serious action against the government & its leadership
Now let’s talk of the biggest deal of your lifetime – Nuclear deal : Here is the truth : There is no blanket waiver from NSG.
During the more than three-year-long process to finalize the terms of the nuclear deal with the US, you kept meretriciously reassuring the nation that he would operationalize the deal only after securing a broad political consensus in support. you even pledged: “Once the process is over, I will bring it before Parliament and abide by the House.” Yet, you completely bypassed Parliament. And instead of any attempt at consensus building, the country witnessed a polarizing single-mindedness to clinch the deal at any cost.
Now, with several of your key assurances to the nation falling by the wayside, the nuclear chickens have come home to roost. The Nuclear Suppliers Group’s (NSG’s) new ban on enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) equipment transfers fulfils one of the last remaining conditions of US’ Hyde Act, highlighting the rising costs for India of a deal whose much-trumpeted benefits are likely to remain elusive. India also has ended up without a legally binding fuel supply guarantee, despite its bitter experience over the US-built Tarapur plant. And it has secured no right to take corrective measures even if the US again unilaterally terminates cooperation, as did in the 1970s.
That NSG granted India a clean, unrestricted waiver in 2008 is a myth the politically besieged government created to save face in public. In truth, it had signaled to the US earlier that it could live with a conditional waiver as long as the conditions were not embarrassingly conspicuous. Indian diplomacy sought to ensure that prohibitions on nuclear testing and ENR transfers remained implicit, or else you would stand exposed at home……..So Dr. Singh , what are you going to say now?
Mr. Manmohan Singh , you have cheated the nation on every issue , and you had the audacity to say today in the press meet that Sonia Gandhi is the Super president for over 15 years ? Actually , she has been the super Prime Minister ! Sonia has brought down congress to its knees, and now this selfish lady is gambling by sending her son , a political novice with Gandhi brand as a fake youth icon to win UP & 2014 Elections !! Sonia needs to understand India a little better .
As a Congress President, she has brought this 125 year old party to its lowest ebb. PM , you have fooled the nation that you drove the reform in 1980’s, it was actually P.V.Narasimha Rao and not you. So actually , your performance speaks for itself .
Your own General Secretary have no faith in your leadership and are so frustrated with your performance and leadership that they are proposing Rahul as PM , When he has not even managed a state , leave along managing a nation !
Your government has crushed unarmed people in cold blood and talks about checking corruption ?? These common men were just making a demand in a Gandhian style seeking action against corruption. Manmohan ji , you have even dumped the Gandhian philosophy. I would have addressed you as PM – Gen. Dyer ………….hope you remember the Jallianwallah Bagh !! You did the same on 4th June .
Your government has growth without development and job creation . You just could create 400,000 jobs every year , and the NDA government created 12 million jobs every year !! Who did better ??
Do you understand the 30 times more job creation makes for a better economy !!
Lastly, had the supreme court not intervened , the public outcry would have spread like wild-fire and transformed into a civil rebellion ? You are a totally failed Prime Minister, who has brought the nation to disgrace and let down the Indians in the global arena .
India is today perceived as a grossly corrupt nation . Thanks to your ‘I don’t know attitude – Mr. Lame Duck PM’ A common man is being let down miserably , and ashamed of the fact that an educated person like you did not make great political Leader and stooped low to please the Super PM – Sonia Gandhi !!
A Common Man
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
www.rajendragupta.wordpress.com
Post Pone FDI in retail for another five years
Prime Minister Dr. Singh,
Yesterday , I attended the meeting of CAIT ( Confederation of all India Traders ), I felt really bad seeing the plight of the traders, and the hell they would be subjected to , should FDI be allowed in India at this point .
Over the last few months, you have rallied all associated departments and ministries to build a case for FDI in retail. I feel sad that you & your government have ignored the fact , that FDI in retail at this juncture will put a big question mark on the means of livelihoods of over a Crore traders in the country .
I have seen that you / your government has been saying that inflation will come down as Wal-Mart , Carrefour , Tesco’s of the world come to India ( Wal-Mart has already come in few years ago ! ).
Prime Minister , remember, that Inflation has not come down despite Wal-Mart being in India . Your government’s logic that supply chain will get strengthened and prices will fall is fallacious . FDI in retail is a wrong justification for strengthening the supply chain , as FDI in supply chain is already allowed, and a lot of wholesalers are already around and more can come in without needing FDI – Why are you fooling around Manmohan ji ? How low will you stoop now to push to agenda of foreigners !!
Even those who are operating Cash & Carry business , are issuing cards to individuals to buy from them, thereby , stabbing the small retailers . Shut down Cash & Carry immediately after a proper investigation . I go to Sam’s Club in the US ( For your information , Sam’s Club is Wal-Mart’s Cash & Carry Venture in the US). Anyone can buy a card for USD 40 and start buying from Sam’s Club. I have gone twice with my friends to Sam’s club and brought goods from the store , my friends are not retailers , but Indian professionals working in the US . So when these retailers do the same in India , what will we do ???
Your government has failed to understand the cause of inflation , and firstly , you said that recession caused inflation ; then recession got over but inflation did not come down. Then you said that irregular and deficient rainfalls are the cause of inflation. Last year , we had good rains and inflation still did not come down. Realizing that there was no answer with your US educated ( read brain washed ) consultants ( Rajan ,Montek, Kaushik & Sam ) , your government said that inflation was due to high growth and it would continue . Study our next door neighbor – China . They have had high growth with less than 5 % inflation !! All your predictions have failed !!
Also remember dear economist, that ‘inflation is reversible but FDI is not’ . What I mean to say is that , when BJP comes to power, it will bring down inflation , but if you permit FDI ( As your government is hell bent on it ) , we will not be able to reverse FDI . So think before -hand !! Don’t jump like the nuclear deal & do another fiasco !!
Sonia Ji is shouting aloud on NAC podium for poor people on one side, and on the other side , both of you have already done a deal with major international retailers , and are hell bent on cracking the back bone of small retailers by allowing FDI
Government has a flawed policy with regards to FDI, as you are saying that you will allow FDI in top 35 towns to start with. This goes contrary to strengthening the supply chain. If you really want to strengthen the supply chain then please ask this big giants to start retail in ‘C’ class towns and then come to B & A class towns !!
Your statement that farmers will get better value because of FDI in retail : Wal-Mart’s of the world are known for extracting even the ‘blood’ of suppliers !! Their labor policy record needs to be closely examined , and how many times they have been fined !
Also, Wal-Mart is failure in Japan ( social dumping & doubts about its quality ) , Korea ( Wal– Mart failed to understand local customers) , Brazil ( Lack of understanding about local culture ) & Germany ( due to cultural insensitivity ) .
I am producing an excerpt from a report
‘Walmartization does not travel well’ Clearly, neither Wal-Mart’s business concept nor its social dumping – the so-called Walmartization – work in developed economies with a social dimension. Many consumers shun the Bentonville giant and prefer to do their shopping in stores where they know that workers are treated correctly and with dignity. There is also more and more uneasiness and suspicion about many of the products sold. Squeezing the last drop from suppliers can hardly promote safety and quality. There is also a growing aversion against buying, consuming and using products which could well have been made under inhuman conditions. That the tide is fast turning against Wal-Mart at home has not gone unnoticed abroad. Consumers start to know that the retail giant denies its American workers their fundamental rights, and many of them vote with their legs, going to other stores if they have a choice. The poor business results in Germany, Korea and Japan should be taken seriously in Bentonville
Another report : This article appears in the November 21, 2003 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. Wal-Mart Collapses U.S. Cities and Towns by Richard Freeman
During the last 20 years, Wal-Mart has moved into communities and destroyed them, wiping out stores, slashing the tax base, and turning downtown areas into ghost-towns. This is accomplished through Wal-Mart’s policy of paying workers below subsistence wages, and importing goods that have been produced under slave-labor conditions overseas. Often, communities will even give Wal-Mart tax incentives, for the right to be destroyed. Wal-Mart both reflects, and is, a major driving force for America’s deadly implementation of the Imperial Rome model. Unable to produce physical goods to sustain its own existence, the United States, like Rome, sucks in imported goods from around the world, using, in this case, a dollar that is over-valued by 50-60%. America has been transformed from a producer to a consumer society.
I believe that Wal-Mart destroyed American Economy and now it is here to kill ours !! Also, since we know that Wal-Mart is a failure in four countries , please produce a report on those four countries .
Also, let us examine that how many small mom & pop stores have shut down with the advent of Wal-Mart in the United States ? Similar study we must do in China .
Let me also tell you why Biyani’s & Ambani’s of the world are wanting FDI ?
Let me ask these retailers one question ? If the retail trade is so good and profitable , why they have the problem in raising money , investing and growing their business – why do they need foreign investment ? The talk that these MNC retailers bring latest technology is also misleading , as Indian retailers are working in a different environment and all foreign CEO’s have been an utter failure so far in India . You can see the example of Reliance Retail ; How many CEO’s have been brought from outside India in the last four years ? I understand that recently a new CEO was hired from Wal-Mart China !! These traders are actually looking at exiting the business by selling their business to these multinationals to make a quick buck !! That’s the real reason they need FDI .
Once FDI comes , farmers will cry for a good deal and Wal-Mart would never give them a fair deal . On one side , farmers are forced to sell land and other side whatever is left with land & cultivation , they would be forced to sell to these MNC chains at a wafer thin margin .
Congress is a killer party for the poor !! Prime Minister Singh , where is your plan to upgrade the current Kirana stores ? Why are you not excited with their welfare . Give them FDI ( Finance from domestic institutions ) , and provide them training .
I call upon Shri Nitin Gadkari , President BJP to stand behind these standalone Kirana store and oppose FDI . We should post pone FDI for another five years and then revisit the issue. A massive peaceful agitation is called for to stop FDI in Retail for the next five years .
Mail is marked to Montek, Raj Jain of Wal-Mart , CAIT and all leading retailers & political parties in India
A Common Man
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
www.rajendragupta.wordpress.com
UN Summit on Chronic Diseases in September 2011
July 11 , 2011.
Dr.Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister
Government of India
7, Race Course , New Delhi 110001
Subject: UN High-Level Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases, September 2011
Dear Dr.Singh,
In the above quoted reference , and in continuation to the letter I wrote to you on 8th June 2011; I am connecting with you on my return from the UN session on NCD’s
On 16th June 2011 , on the invitation from the United Nations, I participated in the informal interactive civil society hearing & delivered an address at the UN General Assembly Hall . The session was presided by the President of the UN General Assembly , Mr.Joseph Diess
My view was also quoted in the closing remarks by Sir George Alleyne , UN Special Envoy to the Caribbean .
This September, you and your fellow political leaders will have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to halt a global epidemic that is killing and disabling millions of people, impoverishing families and undermining economic progress. The United Nations High-Level Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) is a chance for the Government of India to play a leading global role in confronting this major threat to health, prosperity and security of all of us and future generations.
I wish to assure you of the full support of our organization for the High-Level Summit in September 2011. We campaigned for such a Summit because the NCD epidemic has reached such proportions that it now constitutes a major risk to global prosperity, development and political stability.
Together the four major NCDs – diabetes, cancer, heart disease and chronic respiratory disease – are the world’s number one killer. It is estimated that some 35 million people die from NCDs each year, and 14 million of these deaths could be averted or delayed.
Recently , Our Hon’ble Health Minister quoted; that every ten seconds two new cases of diabetes are reported . Further , 14 % people in Bangalore were found to be diabetic , 21 percent had high blood pressure and 13 % had both diabetes and hypertension. DMAI had conducted the first Health Risk Assessment study in 2009 , and our findings showed that other NCD’s pose a threat of similar magnitude . We found that 44 % males & 42 % females were Obese , 18 % males and 8 % females were suffering from Hypertension , 21 % males and 11 % females were suffering from Diabetes , 7% males and 6 % females were suffering from respiratory ailments .
Overall average occurrence across occupations was found to be thus :
Obesity 44 % , Diabetes 20 %, Hypertension 16 % & , alarmingly 7 % of the students suffered from Hypertension
India’s biggest enemy is taking the shape of a multiple headed monster i.e. Chronic diseases .We must be proactive in keeping India prepared for victory against our biggest enemy, Non- Communicable diseases. If we win the war against chronic diseases, rest of the enemies could be easily defeated, but if we lose the war against chronic diseases, we would certainly lose the war against all other enemies
The right word for NCD’s is ‘Irreversible diseases’ or ‘debilitating chronic disorders- DCD’s’ or ‘Life threatening disorders – LTD’s ’ . As a first step, let us address the diseases with the seriousness they need ! Let’s change the name from NCD’s to LTD’s or DCD’s. Through the same note , I call upon the UN & WHO to redefine the terminology for addressing these disorders .
Dr.Singh , I must highlight you the points of discussions that we had at this special session at the UN on chronic diseases .
President of the General Assembly emphasized the need for a global response to the challenge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCD prevention and control should not be seen as competing with other development and health priorities, and solutions must be integrated with existing initiatives
The Deputy Secretary-General noted that NCDs are a threat to societal well-being, taking
their greatest toll in developing countries. This is an issue that the United Nations is taking very seriously to ensure that there is a global response to the broader social and economic impact of NCDs. Praising the work and commitment of those present at the hearing, who are at the frontline of the fight against NCDs, she encouraged them to learn from and link with those working on other key health development issues – HIV/AIDS, and maternal and child health.
The World Health Organization’s Assistant Director-General for Non communicable Diseases and Mental Health cited key evidence on the scale, distribution and impact of the global NCD epidemic. Reviewing the key achievements of the past decade, he noted the important role that civil society had played in progress of management of chronic diseases to date
The Director-General of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation, Princess Dina Mired of Jordan,
emphasized the need for everybody to be unified in their efforts to get NCDs on the global
agenda and receive the attention they deserve
The first roundtable addressed the health, social and economic scale of the NCD challenge.
There is a fundamental right to good health that is being undermined by the globalization of
NCD risk factors and an insufficient action to date. Thus, a human rights-based approach to
NCD prevention and control is warranted. The global response to NCDs needs to address the
developmental and political aspects of the drivers of the main NCDs, and this will require
collective action – no individual country will be able to deal with the problem alone. Much greater progress can, and must be made in preventing and controlling the NCD epidemic to prevent unnecessary suffering and premature deaths.
Speakers emphasized the need for urgent national and global action as NCDs are increasingly frustrating social and economic development. Some countries already suffer the ‘double burden’ of communicable and non-communicable diseases as well as under- and over nutrition, sometimes in the same household. Health systems in all countries will not be able to cope with the projected burden of NCDs and governments need to be clear that the cost of intervening is much less than the cost of inaction. The economic burden of NCDs is already substantial and will become staggering over the next two decades. Economic policy makers need to better understand that NCDs pose a significant economic threat as they can be expensive to treat, require long-term management and undermine the labour contribution to production. There is also a substantial opportunity cost as the money spent on treating preventable diseases could be spent on other priorities.
Speakers stressed that the economic impact of NCDs is felt disproportionately among the poor and many individuals and families are already tipped into poverty by these diseases; thus NCDs are also a social justice issue. This will only worsen if NCDs are not prioritized in countries’ health and development plans. Health systems strengthening must address the need for social insurance to reduce the potential for ‘catastrophic’ expenditure by individuals who suffer from an NCD.
Given the complexity of the factors driving the NCD epidemic, speakers underscored the need for a response that is ‘whole-of-government’, multi sectoral and spans the life-course.
Both prevention and control are essential, and there is much that can be done by more systematically applying existing knowledge. There are highly cost-effective population and individual interventions for the four main NCD key risk factors – tobacco use, poor diet, inadequate physical activity and harmful use of alcohol – and these should be prioritized.
Focusing on the ‘best buys’ should not be at the expense of the broader range of approaches that is needed to effectively reduce the impact of these risk factors. Speakers noted that this includes the need to consider the broader social, environmental and economic determinants of health, which strongly shape health-related choices and decisions made by communities, families and individuals. Likewise, the cultural, religious and social context should be considered in implementing effective interventions.
Many speakers highlighted the need for a response that is integrated – not competing – with existing initiatives, improving health systems for all conditions regardless of their origin.
There is great potential for synergy with existing health development priorities, including those in the MDGs. The important role of health professionals in both prevention and control was highlighted by speakers. A holistic approach is required that addresses the needs of people and doesn’t treat diseases in isolation. In this sense, other non-communicable conditions such as mental health and substance abuse and oral health disorders should be considered in the health system response to NCDs.
The leadership role of governments was highlighted, which should include a commitment to developing and implementing a national NCD action plan and committing to ‘health in all policies’. It was repeatedly emphasized that all key stakeholders need to be involved in the response, but it was noted that clarity of roles is essential to ensure that potential conflicts of interest are appropriately managed and it was proposed that frameworks be developed to assist countries to do so. It was noted that there are some industrial influences that are in conflict with not just health and social goals but also the goals of other industry and private sector actors; all stakeholders have an interest in dealing with these negative influences.
Speakers agreed on the need for ongoing and improved surveillance of NCDs, their risk factors and outcomes. This will be needed to monitor progress, guide policy decisions and research priorities, and provide information on the effectiveness of different interventions.
There was strong endorsement of the need for a clear monitoring and accountability framework as part of the global response to NCDs, with measurable indicators that countries can report against.
Finally, it was noted that success is possible, and there are many examples of significant and rapid progress in addressing NCDs. Now is the time to scale up collective action on NCDs, and the opportunity must not be lost to avoid the growing negative social and economic consequences of the NCD epidemic.
The second roundtable examined effective ways to address the NCD epidemic. Much is known about effective interventions at both the population and individual levels to both prevent and control NCDs.
These include tobacco control as set out in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; reducing the sugar, salt, trans-fats and saturated fats content of processed food; improved diets; increased physical activity; effective policies and programmes to reduce the harmful use of alcohol; and providing low-cost high-quality essential medicines and technologies.
For example, chapters four and five of the WHO Global Status Report on non communicable diseases 2010 summarize the ‘best buys’ in NCD prevention and control http://www.who.int/nmh/publications/ncd_report2010/en/index.html
There is little contention about the evidence for the most cost-effective interventions, and the challenge is thus primarily one of ensuring their proper implementation. It was agreed that NCDs are a societal problem, so a range of government departments and societal actors need to be involved in the response. An effective mechanism to achieve this should be a priority for every country. There is an important role for civil society and civil society should be given a formal role in both the development and implementation of each country’s response.
Speakers highlighted that premature deaths from NCDs are largely preventable, and prevention is central to a more effective NCD response at both national and global levels.
Many primary and secondary preventive interventions are highly cost-effective and there are existing tools to support their implementation, including agreed international codes, strategies and Conventions.
Full implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was cited by many speakers as being a top priority for action, due to the domination of tobacco-related premature deaths across the NCDs – currently six million per year. The FCTC is now widely ratified by both developing and developed countries, but more can and should be done to support its full implementation in developing countries.
NCD prevention and control should be grounded in a life-course approach, given the fatal and early childhood origins of some NCDs. Children are an important focus for interventions, with the growing impact of risk factors such as obesity on children and adolescents and the opportunity afforded to reach them through schools. Likewise, women are an important target for interventions as child bearers and, frequently, as the ‘gatekeepers’ for food, physical activity and health services for families. Speakers also emphasized the importance of prevention and effective treatment across the life-course, including into older age where much of the burden or diseases falls.
Speakers agreed on the need for an effective health system, which has benefits for all areas of health, not just NCDs. Primary care is the key healthcare setting for cost-effective NCD prevention and control. An important learning from HIV/AIDS is the need for better integration of prevention and treatment services across disease areas – so-called ‘horizontal’ and ‘diagonal’ approaches. In support of this, one participant proposed ’15 by 15′ – namely that by 2015, 15% of funding in all ‘vertical’ programs should be earmarked for strengthening ‘horizontal’ health systems activities. In low-income countries, such approaches should also address the endemic NCDs that affect the so-called ‘bottom billion’, for example sickle cell anemia and rheumatic heart disease, as well as palliative care.
Speakers referred to the roles that civil society organizations can play in NCD prevention and control. There is a significant opportunity to use information and communication technologies to promote health awareness and increase empowerment of individuals and communities to reduce their exposure to NCD risk factors and supporting self care.
Many speakers emphasized that access to essential medicines and technologies for prevention and treatment of NCDs is critical. The cost of the essential medicines is low, and these should be included in readily available ‘packages’ of essential care; this will require increasing manufacturing capacity of essential drugs to ensure quick access to high quality generic pharmaceuticals. The specific need for better access to adequate pain relief, especially morphine, as part of palliative care was raised by several speakers. It was noted that late presentation is all too common in developing countries, partly because of a lack of universal social insurance, as well as lack of awareness; both need to be addressed to avoid unnecessary suffering and premature deaths. Patient and ‘survivor’ groups should be engaged in policy and implementation and can play a significant role in influencing the public, politicians and the media with their stories.
Speakers noted that governments need to set the pace for change and utilize their power to ensure appropriate regulation to achieve public health goals. This may require regulation at both national and international levels to address significant health threats such as the obesity epidemic, for example to support the effective implementation of standards on marketing of unhealthy foods to children and agreed targets for salt reduction. Children and the public should be protected from commercial marketing that encourages unhealthy actions and, exposed to educational messages in schools and in their communities that encourage healthy action. The use of social media to deliver such messages needs to be greatly expanded. The role of physical activity was raised by a number of speakers. The benefits of physical activity are wider than NCD prevention and national and local policies should create an environment that encourages and supports people to be physically active.
Regarding the resources required to prevent and control NCDs, speakers noted that the majority of funding for health comes from within countries, and States need to mobilize their own resources. Health needs to be a higher priority for government spending, and NCDs a higher priority in health spending – this is the only way that funding will be sustainable in the long term. Likewise, current spending on NCD prevention and control needs to be carefully scrutinized to ensure the best possible value for money. NCD prevention and control should also be considered in decisions about ODA for health, in particular through integration with existing health development priorities. In addition, innovative funding mechanisms will need to be explored.
Many speakers emphasized that one important source of funding for NCD prevention and control is through increasing taxation of tobacco products. Tobacco taxation is also irrefutably one of the most effective ways to decrease tobacco consumption, particularly among young people, and is fundamental to an effective tobacco control programme.
Speakers endorsed the need to build capacity and capability to address NCDs among health professionals. This will require concerted efforts to revised training curricula, dealing with ’brain drain’ of trained professionals from low income to higher income countries, and greatly strengthening research capacity in developing countries to monitor trends and evaluate interventions.
The final roundtable examined ways to scale up action at the global level to collectively address NCD prevention and control. The full range of stakeholders, including all those present at the debate, was identified as been essential to a more effective response. It is vital to carefully examine previous international experiences to draw out the key lessons.
The value of international instruments such as the FCTC was emphasized, and it was noted that other such instruments may be needed in the future to support effective international action.
Speakers provided specific examples of enabling mechanisms to support global cooperation, including a ‘clearing house’ function to facilitate knowledge sharing, a global forum, and bilateral and multilateral partnerships to support technology and knowledge transfer.
The need for appropriate monitoring and accountability was reiterated, noting that accountability is a national responsibility that can be supported by appropriate international monitoring.
It was acknowledged that the funding environment is currently challenging, but there is much that can be done with existing funding. At the national level, there are opportunities to generate or ‘free up’ resources, for example through taxation of tobacco, alcohol and foods high in fat or sugar, and reprioritizing spending on ineffective and expensive health care interventions. Reducing donor ‘silos’ will help to ensure that health development occurs in a much more integrated way that will benefit NCDs as well as other priority areas. There is a need to expand the donor base, and opportunities to do so through linking with other related issues such as climate change.
International federations of NGOs, private sector and other organizations have a useful role to play in promoting global cooperation. Representatives of the research-based pharmaceutical industry and the food and non-alcoholic beverage industries outlined pledges they have made to contribute to NCD prevention and control. There is potential to expand new partnerships, for example with the sporting goods industries to promote physical activity. The private sector can bring a range of capabilities to support NCD prevention and control; for example, its global reach, and experience with global brands and global marketing campaigns. With respect to NGOs, speakers identified the value of greater collaboration, which has been realized over the past two years. This has greatly enhanced their ability to mobilize resources, advocate and generate social and political momentum. This collaboration will need to be further developed to support and monitor the implementation of the outcome document that is to be adopted in September.
Sir George Alleyne, Director Emeritus of the Pan American Health Organization,summarized many of the key points canvassed during the day’s discussions. He noted a strong degree of coherence in the day’s discussion and agreement on the need to act urgently, while acknowledging the different views within and between the different stakeholder groups on some key issues. Underscoring the need to use proven tools and the value of strong partnerships within the UN and across broader society, Sir George urged all stakeholders to work together for the global public good of reduced suffering and early deaths from NCDs. He echoed the comments of many speakers on the need to integrate NCD prevention and control with action on other key health priorities, notably HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health.
In concluding, Sir George Alleyne exhorted participants to increase their efforts to stimulate political action on NCDs. Civil Society has the resources and passion to overcome the apparent inertia and it must use its unique ability to ‘agitate’ for change. The wider public needs to be informed of the size of the problem and of the consequences of inaction. He emphasized that the High-level Meeting is an important milestone but that sustained action will be needed beyond September.
In closing, the President of the General Assembly emphasized that, as with other key health and development issues, all stakeholders need to act collectively to address the global challenge of non-communicable diseases. He noted that the global community can act decisively and effectively on important global health issues, and we must learn from these prior experiences. It is in our common interest to act now.
Thanking all those who participated in the hearing, the President noted his optimism that the High-level Meeting and the subsequent response will make a real difference to the global NCD epidemic. This optimism had been strengthened by quality of the discussion and range of ideas canvassed during the hearing and the obvious energy and sense of purpose from all stakeholder groups.
Principal conclusions
The key conclusions of the hearing include the following:
Countries should move urgently to prevent and control NCDs to alleviate the significant social, economic and health impact these diseases are having, which is now compromising development gains. The last decade has seen some progress at the global level in NCD prevention and control and it is clear that concerted action and leadership by governments can result in significant and rapid progress. However, efforts need to be greatly scaled up to avert unsustainable increases in the costs of treating NCDs, which no country can afford.
There is a strong consensus that NCDs are a development issue and urgently need to be afforded greater priority in national health and development plans, and a higher priority in government funding decision. NCDs also need to be incorporated into the global development agenda in ways that complement rather than compete with existing health development priorities, and innovative funding mechanisms need to be rapidly identified and implemented.
The complex drivers of NCDs require multi-stakeholder action, and countries should put in place a mechanism to engage all the sectors needed for an effective response. Governments should ‘set the pace’ of the response and must show political courage and leadership.
Addressing the key risk factors for NCDs will require involvement of government, communities, civil society, non-government organizations, academia and the private sector. It is important that potential conflicts of interest are appropriately managed so that effective action is not compromised.
NCDs disproportionately affect the poor at global and, in many cases, national levels and lead to ‘catastrophic’ expenditure that forces people below the poverty line. Universal social insurance schemes are essential to avoid this and their implementation should be a priority, with attendant benefits for health care that go beyond just NCDs.
Countries should prioritize the implementation of the most cost-effective population and individual level interventions to prevent NCDs, some of which are in fact cost saving, to ensure they are getting the best value for money from existing expenditure. These interventions should be the priority for new spending on NCD prevention and control.
A renewed commitment to full implementation of the FCTC is essential to prevent a huge burden of suffering and many millions of premature deaths among working age people.
Countries should honour their commitment not just to full implementation nationally, but to international cooperation to support low-income countries to implement the FCTC.
Countries should continue to strengthen NCD surveillance and monitoring to inform and guide NCD policy and action at both national and international levels.
The health system response to NCDs must be fully integrated with programmes that address other key health issues, to ensure that services are delivered around the needs of the people who use them. Access to high-quality and affordable essential medicines is an essential component, and the implantation of programmes to deliver them effectively in low resource settings.
The outcome document for the High-level Meeting must have clear objectives and measurable indicators, supported by a monitoring and evaluation function, to support national accountability for scaling up NCD prevention and control. Civil society organizations should play a role in independently monitoring and reporting on progress.
It is essential the Heads of State and Government attend the High-level Meeting, to ensure that there is the high-level political commitment to scale up NCD prevention and control.
Countries should consider including NGOs on their delegations to the High-level Meeting, as they can bring technical expertise, can help to mobilize political support, and will be essential actors in implementing the agreed outcomes of the High-level Meeting.
Health workers are key to an effective national response to NCDS, but many are not trained to prevent, detect and manage NCDs. Training curricula should be reviewed to ensure that health workers receive relevant training in both NCD prevention and control.
Governments should look to tobacco taxation as a key way of raising revenue to prevent and control NCDs – in addition, this is a highly effective way to reduce smoking rates, particularly among young people.
DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance asks you to attend the UN Summit and in person and make this a high priority for the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare . We are also calling for the establishment of a NCDs partnership to lead multi- sectoral and coordinated action, and a UN Decade of Action on NCDs to implement the commitments governments will make at the UN Summit in New York
DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance would be pleased to provide your office with any further information in preparation for the UN Summit.
NCDs have the power to affect us all. Increasingly NCD’s strike people in younger age groups, including children, threatening international economic progress. But we are not powerless.
We have achievable cost-effective solutions. We need political leadership now to make them a reality. Please be a champion for NCDs by attending the UN Summit in September and safeguard the health and prosperity of future generations in India
We sincerely hope that the country will take leadership and set an example for the world on how to manage chronic diseases through early interventions
DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance Recommends that:
Indian government establishes an NGO-Private Healthcare Players – Government Alliance . An India NCDs Alliance , linked to WHO, to coordinate follow up action with member states, other UN and multilateral agencies, foundations, NGOs and private sector
- We must look at enacting a Chronic Care bill 2011 in the parliament in the winter session that addresses this biggest healthcare challenge (NCD’s) .
- Create a high level committee for creating an actionable plan for identification , enrolment and treatment of chronically ill populations or move them under a primary prevention plan for people at the risk of chronic diseases . This plan should be implemented on ground before end of this year
- As written in my comprehensive healthcare reforms document in 2009, we must set up a CDR ( Central Disease Registry ). Details available at www.dmai.org.in .
- Come out with protocols for the treatment of chronic diseases
- Come out with mandatory guidelines for work force wellness
- Enforce child health guidelines in all primary schools & dietary guidelines . Please refer DMAI’s note on Healthy Foods & An Appeal at www.dmai.org.in for details
- Include general & basic information on nutrition and physical activity in school curriculum from class VI onwards . Have a compulsory paper on health & Wellness for class 10th exam for all educational boards in India
- Adopt an open minded and outcome driven approach of roping in private healthcare players to improve preventive care & treatment of identified populations
- Include preventive checks and health clubs ( Gyms & Yoga ) under tax benefits
- Levy additional premium on insurance policies for smokers to dissuade them from smoking
- Launch a nationwide campaign for creating awareness on avoiding and managing chronic diseases
- Encourage and implement the use of mHealth for timely access & affordability
Post my return from UN session , I had discussions with leading pharmaceutical companies as to how to get their support and involvement in this major pan India efforts. All the
Companies I have talked to are willing to work with the government on the way to address the issue of chronic diseases . I believe that we must involve the companies in our outreach efforts and form a long term partnership with the pharmaceutical companies
Finally , I must state that success will depend on the development of strategic partnerships, ensuring there are explicit and measurable targets, and governments providing the necessary political leadership. I would be grateful for your consideration of the following in order to ensure a successful Summit in September:
- Support the strong participation of civil society in the Summit. We request that civil society representatives be included in the official government delegation to the Summit.
- Invest in the consultation process leading up to the Summit to ensure that the meeting produces an outcomes document with strong recommendations and a concrete plan of international action, as outlined in the NCD Alliance 10 Outcomes Document Priorities. This should include:
- Language on the NCD Alliance’s 10 Priority Outcomes, based on previously agreed upon language.
- Acknowledgement of the health, social and economic burden of NCDs in the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
- An increase in international development funds and technical assistance to NCD prevention and control, including support for international instruments such as the Framework Convention on Tobacco control.
- Measures that address the availability and affordability of quality medicines and technologies to ensure that people living with NCDs can access life-saving treatments.
- Agreement to global accountability monitoring, reporting, and follow-up mechanisms.
DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance is a not-for-profit organization formed by global healthcare leaders , and the only civil society organization in India dedicated to the management of chronic disease management in India . In the past three years , DMAI has worked at both International level and within India to address the issue of chronic diseases with the support of patient groups , Industry & policy makers , and wishes to put on record the continuous support DMAI has received from policy makers and the industry . We wish to expand this association further to address the issue of NCD’s together in form of a ‘PPPP’ – Profitable Private public partnerships . I personally believe , that if the first “P” – Profit is missing from PPP We would just be restricted to pilot stage. We should not shy from adding the additional “P” – Profits , so that the industry is incentivized to align its goals to government, and work together in a sustainable and profitable manner with performance that is measurable and with positive outcomes
I think without profit , government cannot demand performance ; and without performance, private players should not expect profit . So profit has a pivotal role in the success of PPPP
To show our support for this summit , we have put the sub-theme ‘Management of Chronic Diseases using technology’ at the International Telemedicine Congress (www.telemedicon11.com ) that I am chairing from 11-13 November 2011 at Mumbai, India.
We would very much appreciate the opportunity to share perspectives on the meeting with you or one of your colleagues. At your earliest convenience, please let me know your availability in the coming weeks.
We look forward to your personal participation with a team of civil society organizations at the High-Level UN Summit in September, & I am sure that your thoughts will be really helpful for the summit and will set an example for others to follow . We wish you and the UN a successful summit .
Yours sincerely,
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President & Member of the Board
Disease Management Association of India
Member – Healthcare , QCI. Government of India
P.N. : Details of the work done by DMAI in managing chronic diseases is available at the website www.dmai.org.in
Encl: Message at the UN delivered on 16th June 2011.
CC:
H.E. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General , United Nations
H.E. Joseph Diess , President of the UN General Assembly
Hon’ble Deputy Secretary General of the UN General Assembly
Ms. Margaret Chan, Director General, WHO
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad , Hon’ble Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GOI
Dr.K. Srinath Reddy , President , PHFI
Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare , GOI
Dr.Syeda Hameed, Planning Commission , GOI
Shri K.Chandramouli, Secretary , H&FW , GOI
Board Of Directors , Disease Management Association of India – DMAI , The Population Health Improvement Alliance .
Address of the President of DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance at the UN on 16th June 2011
Venue : UN General Assembly Hall , United Nations , New York.
Chaired by Mr. Joseph Deiss , President of the UN General Assembly .
Dear Friends ,
I am honored to be here , & have few key points for the special high level, two-day session that UN will convene in September 2011 for addressing the issue of chronic diseases.
I appreciate the point that UN session talks about local issues across regions . I would further suggest the United Nations that , if we want the governments to act on its recommendations , we must go beyond local i.e. get micro . My experience in public policy makes me believe that governments do appreciate and act on recommendations that are local but also focus on micro issues .
We have mega goals but our actions have to be micro and we must suggest inputs that are local and at micro level, for execution.
Also, let us accept the fact that for this generation , we are late, and we have already missed the bus . What I would not like is, that our next generation sits in the same UN General Assembly hall after 40 years , and discusses the same issues related to chronic diseases , and says that ‘our earlier generation behaved irresponsibly and did nothing for us ! ’. So the time has come for us to distinguish the ‘Urgent’ & ‘Important’ . Urgent is that we must fix the issues related to the chronic diseases now , but it is more Important that we plan to build a healthier next generation . So my expectation from the UN is, that there will be a dedicated session related to Child health at the UN General Assembly in September .
Also that, the technology is becoming all-pervasive and we must use this UN session to promote the use of mHealth to address the issue of chronic diseases . I am expecting that the UN general assembly will dedicate a session to mHealth, and how it can help in the delivery of care for chronic diseases.
Lastly , I would like to run a quick survey on ABCDE of Chronic Diseases / Healthcare . Where, A stands for – Asthma/ Arthritis , B stands for Blood Pressure , C stands for CVD / Cancer , D stands for Diabetes & E stands for Epilepsy / Elderly patients ( as 84 % of all the elderly patients are on one or more medications)
If anyone of you or your immediate family members have any of these ABCDE , please raise hands .
The response is unbelievable ! I have made a point . It is not about the 5 or 10 % prevalence rate of chronic diseases. We have just now had the visual proof of the prevalence of chronic diseases , and it is much higher than the figures that we read often .
It’s time to act now .
Thank you.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Recording of the speech is available at www.un.org/webcasts
Right to Primary & Preventive Care
August 10th , 2011
Dr.Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister
Government of India
7, Race Course , New Delhi 110001
Subject: Right to Primary & Preventive Care
Dear Dr.Singh,
Greetings from the Disease Management Association of India – DMAI, The Population Health Improvement Alliance .
DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance is a not-for-profit organization formed by global healthcare leaders. It is the only civil society organization in India dedicated to chronic disease management in the country, with an objective of overall population health improvement .In the past three years , DMAI has worked at both International level and within India to address the issue of India’s healthcare challenges, with the support of patient groups , Industry & policy makers , and wishes to put on record the continuous support DMAI has received from policy makers and the industry .
Your government has been behind some key initiatives like
Right to information Act
Right to Education
Right to Work / Employment
Right to Food
I wish to draw your kind attention to consider enacting, the ‘Right to Primary & Preventive care’ for all citizens of this country, before it gets too late !
The nation is burdened by ‘a catastrophic disaster in slow motion’, moving towards it in the form of a huge population suffering from Life threatening diseases / disorders ( LTD’s ) or Debilitating Chronic Disorders- ( DCD’s ); what is today called the NCD’s ( Non communicable diseases ) .
We are already facing an acute shortage of both, hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure in healthcare delivery , and with our current ‘Baby Boomers’ becoming ‘Patient Boomers’ in the next 15-25 years , we could lose our competitiveness & productivity by over 50 % . India in 2025 , with over 1.40 Billion population and with over 600 million LTD / DCD patients
would be a burden for the human race if we fail to adopt the Right to Primary & Preventive care, as the basic right for all citizens .
I must also state an electoral reason to accomplish this very important act . It is not just the US that fought the last elections on issue of Healthcare reform , but back home, Andhra Pradesh and Assam are examples of how healthcare schemes can be a deciding factor for the public to choose who will run their government and so, lets get this ‘Right to Primary & Preventive care’ implemented at the earliest possible. My detailed note on healthcare reforms agenda available at the DMAI website ( www.dmai.org.in ) , has the details of what could be potentially done in this area . It has to be multi-sectoral and inter ministerial effort & I am sure that this act with vast social & economic implications will be the best thing to do in healthcare !
Also, to keep you posted , I am working on the Chronic Care Bill & the Child Health bill . If all goes as per plan , the draft of these documents will be submitted to the policy makers by end of September 2011
Hoping for a positive response from a responsible government on the ‘Right to Primary & Preventive care !
We remain at your disposal for any help / assistance that you might need on this matter of great national interest
Yours Sincerely
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
president@dmai.org.in
H.E. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General , United Nations
H.E. Joseph Diess , President of the UN General Assembly
Hon’ble Deputy Secretary General of the UN General Assembly
Ms. Margaret Chan, Director General, WHO
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad , Hon’ble Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GOI
Dr.K. Srinath Reddy , President , PHFI
Dr.Syeda Hameed, Planning Commission , GOI
Sri Sudip Bandopadhyay, MOS- H&FW
Shri K.Chandramouli, Secretary , H&FW , GOI.
K.Desiraju, Additional Secretary , Government of India.
Dr.Sudhir Gupta , CMO, NCD’s. MOHFW.
Board Of Directors , Disease Management Association of India – DMAI , The Population Health Improvement Alliance .
Why Jan Lokpal bill will not end corruption !!
The Greater the number of statues , the greater the number of thieves and brigands . With one more bill , we will have more people finding out ways to circumvent the system or make more money, with even the hardest of Lokpal bill in existence .
Our current system is already good, but it becomes ineffective due to few people using it and more abusing it ! So what we need is, more people using the current system then thinking, that the Jan Lokpal bill would be the ultimate solution . Just see that, we have a highly educated and a perceivably honest PM , but the most corrupt & inefficient government in history of the nation
Let us understand that corruption will not be controlled by Lokpal bill though it is a good step . India needs to have good role models, and understand the laws of nature more than the laws of the land … those who understand the laws of nature would never worry for the laws of the land !! Ex- CVC chief had said that , 30 % of Indians are totally corrupt and 50 % borderline . Which means that about 850 million people are corrupt …. and i assume that remaining are victims of the 850 million !!
I have fought the system in the past single-handedly ,and won every time ,without any support from an institution !! I will never accept that our system is bad . We have a fantastic system …. my advice . Use it ….
Pass Lokpal bill , but not too sure if someone like P.J. Thomas or Manmohan Singh becomes its chief , and then, we have to go for another fast unto death !!
Morality cannot be enforced externally through laws in the current system, it has to be inculcated as an intrinsic quality !!Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Tihar Cabinet & the Race Course PM
Dear Dr.Singh,
Over the last few weeks , we have seen the high voltage drama of frustrated and directionless government, working overtime to figure out what to do ? All these things have ceased to surprise me now . Be it failure of foreign policy , economy or agriculture prices or fight against corruption !!
You promised one thing and delivered just the opposite ! Rather , you were not capable of even promising , leave alone delivery .
You got all the advisors and top government functionaries from abroad ( may be , you still carry the baggage of Oxford !! )..believing that importing these foreign degree holders would impress investors and set the country to growth …. You actually imported failures !!
Kaushik Sen, Montek , Sam ………and the list is endless ………..The net result …. a lot of jargon on economics, development and poor , but the results on ground just the opposite . Kaushik, the mail is marked to you. You seem to be headless when it comes to economy and how it works ( leave alone economic growth !! ) ….. Your policies are ruining the nation and high inflation has put millions back to poverty . Please go back to Cornell . …. they may like your teaching , India has paid a heavy price by having you as the Chief Economic Advisor to the PM
Dr.Singh , you promised us that because of your reforms in 1990′s , you knew it well what could take the nation to the path of double-digit GDP growth , and in reality ‘inflation grew double digit’ & not the GDP !! Common Man got killed every day . We are angry with you… It is clear now that you took credit for what Narasimha Rao did, you have misled the nation !!
Based on your first 100 day promise, India was made to believe that , since you were clean you would not get seduced by anyone . On the contrary , the nation got repeatedly raped by none else then your cabinet ministers !! Today , you are the only PM in Indian history , who has the negative distinction of having cabinet colleagues in Tihar jail, and few of them outside also deserve to be there – You are running a ‘Tihar Cabinet’ …..
In August 2011, Pune’s infamous Stud farm owner, Hasan Ali got bail for stashing black money in Swiss Banks , and the same day, you arrested Anna Hazare for raising voice against corruption !! Still you expect me to address you respectfully !! Nation believes that congress and you as PM were a part of a major criminal conspiracy to loot the nation . Today Kani , Raja and Kalmadi are asking you and your Shiela ( Delhi CM ) to be summoned in court in relation to the scams ………lesser i write, the better for you !!
Rahul says that he is worried about Anna’s health and so do you . So Anna is fasting just a few minutes away from where you stay , if you are genuinely worried , why don’t you and Rahul go and personally see him rather than proving to the people that, you and Rahul are just ‘Drawing room’ leaders, who read prepared statements and reach places to give media interviews after the tragedy has happened !! Yesterday , you wrote to Anna that ’you had high regard for his idealism’ ; If it is so, why did you send him Tihar Jail in the first place !!
Dr.Singh, in my view , you have caused immense loss to this nation in terms of money & reputation . We put our heads to shame for having you as our PM. It is time that you raise your hand and go to the nearest judge and surrender ……The right place for the head of ‘Tihar Cabinet’ is Tihar Jail and not 7, Race course road !!
You all are so frustrated with Anna that your official spokespersons have gone wild and mad stating everyone’s ( except congress ) hand in this movement against corruption , right from RSS, BJP and even the USA………..i am wondering why you missed Pakistan’s name ? I am proud of anyone associated with such a movement , but i do understand your frustration for saying , “either you are with congress or against corruption” . If you not with us , all enforcement agencies will chase you ……you have set the example by taking Jagan heads on after he left congress . Till his father was alive and with congress , YSR was tallest leader in congress !! Don’t fool around Mr.Singh …time is up ….
When Murli Manohar Joshi indicted the PM for his complicity in 3G scam , you cried foul and said he was playing politics …….earlier , you well running around all media houses and roaring , that Since a person like Joshi is at PAC , why do you need a JPC ? The moment he put the truth in PAC , you cried foul…..
Also, Sonia’s repeated absence is circumstantial , and also coincidental ( though i empathize with anyone who is ill ). Even if she would be around , congress would be no different . When the dust settles down , she will re-appear and cry foul at mis-treating Anna and reprimand Manish Tiwari et. al for the ’Head – toe corrupt ‘ remark against Anna Hazare . It would be made to believe that for Congress , It is only Sonia who can run the show effectively …………and without her , congress flounders and is headless …… Some credit would be given to her half Indian son Rahul ( i am just quoting Katrina Kaif on Rahul ).
BJP must ask PM to resign and put an all party caretaker government till the next elections.
It is often said , you can fool some people all the time , all people some time , but not all people all the time !!
Time is up Dr. Singh …….please retire at Tihar Jail and face the system you have abused all these years in the name of Ignorance
Rajendra Pratap Guptar
A Common Man
Morally weak PM needs a character certificate from the Leader of the Opposition !!
Dear Dr.Singh ,
This has reference to your statement that you are not corrupt . I respectfully disagree . You might have integrity ( in a literal sense ) but definitely , you are not honest ! You must know that integrity is restricted to an individual , but honestly is a relative term. How do you justify that, as head of the government , people appointed by you looted the nation, and firstly , you were the one who denied any loot & defended them and gave them a clean chit , and now, when they are in jail , how can you wash off your hands from the misdeeds of the government & proclaim to be a holy cow !! You are challenging the constitution . Government is a collective responsibility of the PM & his team, and you cannot absolve yourself from what has happened in the last 7 years under your misrule as PM for the government, leading the cabinet that was chosen by no one else than yourself !
You have asked the leader of the opposition to scrutinize your wealth accumulated over the last 41 years to prove that, you personally did not make money , and so it should be concluded that you are honest and have not been a part of the criminal conspiracy to make money ! Mr.Singh , you have been a teacher for many years . If in a class , a student loots , rapes and murders a fellow student , will the teacher continue to lecture or would he act immediately ? What matters is the outcome and not the intent Mr.Singh . A teacher like you would let the loot , rape and murder happen and say that, i was looking at the black board and i did not notice what happened in the class and i am not responsible for what happened !!
In your heart you know it well Mr.Singh, that to keep the PM’s chair, you have severely compromised with Sonia Gandhi & many others on what level to fall to run the government for Congress, and you failed to run the government for this nation and the common man !! That’s why congress became richer and a common man was driven to poverty and humiliation !!
Choosing your cabinet is totally your constitutional prerogative , and when your own cabinet colleagues & senior political leaders were writing to you to not to appoint Kalmadi and prosecute Raja , why were you standing behind them ? When the leader of the opposition asked you not to appoint P.J Thomas as CVC , why did you not listen to her ? And now, you want the same leader of the opposition to give you a character certificate of being an honest PM ? Being an honest person and an honest PM are not one and the same !! You are a dishonest PM who let the fellow cabinet colleagues loot the nation and you kept sanctioning them as the PM . In common man’s language , you are an equal partner in crime ( may not be a beneficiary ) , and no wonder Kani , Kalmadi and Raja want you as a witness for all the sanctions you gave them for making money !!
You knew about the misdeeds and still ignored the written evidence given by your cabinet ministers , leader of the opposition and Dr.Subramaniam Swamy . The ordinary person , a common man like myself believes that either you are not fit to be a PM or you have a mental disorder or you are part of a deeply planned criminal conspiracy from 10 Janpath to dislodge you to make room for Rahul ………
You have accepted that mistakes might have happened but they not intentional . Can an astronaut say the same while he is on a mission to moon ? If ever he did falter , he would not have the chance to defend ! Remember that running a government is like commanding the mission that has no option to falter or fail !!
This government has lost the right to be in power and must go ……i am very sure that with so many sins in your back , your government and the NAC would be looking at a major social scheme for people , so that you could entice them to vote you back in 2014. You have figured out a novel channel to siphon public money in the name of poor . For the first 60 years , congress created poverty , and now for the next 60 years , congress wants to make money in the name of eradicating poverty ….. shame shame !
I am not involved in Lokpal or Jan Lokpal , but i request you to consider one request . If in any department , company or government , there is a serious charge about corruption or criminal activity , the top man must face the same fate as the one who committed it . So today Anil Ambani must be in Jail and not Gautam Doshi and like wise , Sonia Gandhi and yourself must be in the same jail as your other erstwhile cabinet colleagues are …. with this one rule , both crime & corruption will certainly end faster & totally !!
Whatever it may be , we will throw your government like we did in Tamilnadu …….…i am sure that you will be at least honest in writing your memoirs !
Lastly, It is time to announce Bharat Ratan for Anna Hazare for his fight against corruption !!
A Common Man
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Making Personal Health & Hygiene an essential part of the school Curriculum
September 3, 2011.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
President
Shri Kapil Sibal
Minister for HRD
Government of India
New Delhi 110001
Subject: Making Personal Health & Hygiene an essential part of the school Curriculum
Hon’ble Minister,
Greetings from the Disease Management Association of India – DMAI, The Population Health Improvement Alliance.
DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance is a not-for-profit organization, formed by global healthcare leaders. It is the only NGO in India dedicated to chronic disease management in the country, with an objective of overall population health improvement. In the past three years, DMAI has worked at both, International level and within India, to address the issue of India’s healthcare challenges, with the support of patient groups, Industry & policy makers, and wishes to put on record the continuous support DMAI has received from policy makers and the industry.
We are strongly advocating that Child health become the focus area for our policy makers, so that our demographic dividend does not become demographic disaster! This calls for putting child health at the forefront of the health agenda. The starting point for the same, calls for taking healthcare from medical school to primary school i.e. start sensitizing students about healthcare.
During 2009, DMAI conducted the Health Risk Assessment Index (HRAI), and founds that obesity amongst children was alarmingly high, and so was hypertension, which stood at 7 % amongst students. This calls for immediate steps to create awareness and take action right at the school level.
I suggest that the ministry of HRD makes it mandatory to start imparting education on oral health & hygiene from class 2 onwards in pictorial format, and there should
be a separate subject on Personal Health & Hygiene from class four onwards. I am sure that this one major step would reduce the burden of healthcare over the next 10 years, and will have a lasting impact on younger generation making healthier choices in daily life and reduce the burden of diseases.
Hoping for a positive response from a responsible government on the this one major step to improve child health in the country
We remain at your disposal for any help / assistance that you might need on this matter of great national interest
Yours Sincerely
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
CC:
H.E. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General, United Nations
H.E. Joseph Diess , President of the UN General Assembly
Hon’ble Deputy Secretary General of the UN General Assembly
Ms. Margaret Chan, Director General, WHO
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Hon’ble Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GOI
Dr.K. Srinath Reddy, President, PHFI
Dr.Syeda Hameed, Planning Commission, GOI
Sri Sudip Bandopadhyay, MOS- H&FW
Secretary, H&FW , GOI.
K.Desiraju, Additional Secretary, Government of India.
Dr.Sudhir Gupta , ADG, NCD’s. MOHFW.
Board Of Directors , Disease Management Association of India – DMAI , The Population Health Improvement Alliance .







