In this timely and comprehensive book, a professional with rare experience in policy making reminds us that merely casting our votes is never sufficient, we must be constantly involved with the decisions which affect us in our daily lives, and the country.
Click here to pre-order your copy: https://www.speakingtigerbooks.com/shop/non-fiction/22251/
Follow the author on Facebook /Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/rajendragupta
http://www.twitter.com/rajendragupta
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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.
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:
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
A Common Man's View Point (Blog) 