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

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

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

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

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

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

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 .

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 , 8^th 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 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 27^th 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

Create wealth , increase employment – Shape up Dr.Manmohan Singh

14^th 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 2/3^rd 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 (2/3^rd of the population ) cannot be handling cricket and agriculture and also a political party (NCP is headed by Sharad ). He is dedicating just 1/3^rd 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 17^th 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 1/6^th 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 https://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 : https://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

Office.rajendra@gmail.com

Cell : +91 9 22 33 44 542

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