Category: Politics & Recession

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 :

  1. Allegiance to the Gandhi clan and not to the nation
  2. 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 )
  3. Double digit Inflation ( You even failed as a astrologer here )
  4. Common Wealth Games fiasco
  5. Kashmir violence ( Worst thing to imagine is that house wives are on the streets pelting stones & Omar & you are on the same boat !! )
  6. Naxalites
  7. Relations with China ( Visa row clearly indicates that relations are at an all time low )
  8. 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
  9. Relations with Pakistan , Nepal & Sri Lanka have gone at an all time low during your regime
  10. Farmers suicides are a blot to this nation
  11. Andhra Violence
  12. 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

President@countryfirst.org

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

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

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

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

  1. 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.
  2. In every airport , the process is the same .
  3. 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 ?
  4. 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

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

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

  1. 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 !
  2. ‘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 !!
  3. 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  )
  4. 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

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

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

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