Contract workers in NRHM & Exclusion of Wine under FSSAI

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

President & Member

Board of Directors

March 11, 2012.

Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad

Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare

Government of India.

Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi – 110108.

Reference : Contract Employees under NRHM & Exclusion of Wine from FSSAI

Dear Shri Azad ji,

In the above quoted reference , I wish to draw your attention to the above mentioned two important issues .

Firstly, the status of contract employees under the NRHM: Over the last few months, I have got thousands of emails on my blog about the future of employees working under NRHM. People have been asking me about their future after putting in 10-15 years under NRHM? The people fear that if their services are terminated after March 2017 (when the 12^th five year plan ends), people would have become over aged for the government jobs and their careers would be ruined!

It is expected that the government will either regularize these workers in the 12^th five-year plan or work out the proportionate payments as pensions for the number of years put in service of 15 years and above. Also, it would be great if the services of these contract workers are regularized with deliverables fixed for each worker / cadre

FSSAI (Food Safety & Standards Authority of India). It is learned from the FSSAI workshops that, ‘Wine’ has been included under FSSAI. It is an unexpected and an unfortunate step for India. We are not sure what kind of ‘message’ is the government giving to 100’s of million youths of this country by putting ‘Wine’ under Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI )? Does it imply that consumption of wine is now being considered safe and recommended for consumption by the Indian population ? or is it the handiwork of some foreign lobby groups? Hoping that the corrective steps would be taken immediately.

Appropriate actions should be initiated post the discussion with the stake holders

Yours truly,

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

CC:

Dr.Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, GOI

Mr.Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, GOI

Mr.P.Chidambaram, Home Minister, GOI

Mr.Sharad Pawar, Union Minister for Agriculture, GOI.

Shri Ajay Maken, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, GOI

Chairperson, UPA

Shri Nitin Gadkari, President, BJP

Mr. Sitaram Yechury, CPI.

Dr.Syeda Hameed , Member , Planning Commission , GOI

Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi, Chairman , Parliamentary Accounts Committee , GOI.

12th Five Year Plan – DMAI

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

President & Member

Board of Directors

March 09, 2012

Via e-mail / Speed-Post

Dr. Manmohan Singh,

Prime Minister

Government of India

Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad,

Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare

Government of India.

Subject: Strategic Considerations for Healthcare in the 12^th five year plan

Dear Dr. Singh & Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad ji,

I am writing this note on behalf of DMAI – Disease Management Association of India.

Disease Management Association of India (DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance) is formed by leaders from the Global Healthcare fraternity, to bring all the stake- holders of healthcare on one platform (Both the public & the Private sector). DMAI has been successful in establishing an intellectual pool of top healthcare leaders to become an enabler in building a robust healthcare system in India. India is on the verge of building its healthcare system, and it has a long way to go. DMAI is building the resource – knowledge pool to contribute & convert ‘Ideas’ into ‘Reality’ for healthcare in India. DMAI is the only not-for-profit organization focused on population health improvement in India.

Earlier in 2009, I have authored the comprehensive healthcare reforms agenda for India, and this has been appreciated by political and policy-making leadership at the highest level. Further, the healthcare reforms agenda (detailed agenda is available at the DMAI website http://www.dmai.org.in/Healthcare_Reforms_Agenda.pdf) has been incorporated in the healthcare planning in the state of Chhattisgarh.

Further, DMAI has given inputs to various government bodies, as sought from time to time on:

Re-structuring of ICDS

NCD Policy

Re-structuring the 12^th Five year plan for healthcare

Formation of NCHRH

Inputs in the high level UN summit for NCD’s (DMAI was an official invitee to the UN)

DMAI has raised important issues w.r.t. The Mental Health Act 2010, banning of Junk food in schools, reservations in airlines and railways for critically ill and in times of medical emergencies, radical changes in Jan Aushadhi scheme, healthcare reforms in J & K, Protocols and treatment guidelines for all major acute and chronic illnesses; besides other issues. Details available on www.dmai.org.in

12^th five year plan is being talked of as the ‘Plan for Health’, and through this note, DMAI wishes to bring a few important issues before the policy makers for debate and appropriate action:

Quality of Healthcare: Last year, I was nominated to the five member Healthcare committee of the Quality Council of India. Since then, I have been discussing with all the stakeholders in healthcare, including the patient groups, about how to improve the quality of healthcare in India.

Action: It must be made mandatory for all healthcare providers (Care Givers), to submit the Patient / treatment outcomes data e.g. for hospitals (including admissions, no. Of night stays, re-admissions, infection rates, deaths, referrals, etc.) to the government every year without fail. Also, getting similar data for doctors, clinicians etc. should also be looked at. This data could be maintained under the Quality Council of India (QCI) or an entity under QCI, funded jointly by the government and private players or, as an independent organization. This organization must analyze the data and post it on the website, so as to enable the patients to make an informed choice when it comes to choosing the doctors / hospitals or the caregivers. This will be the first step in bringing transparency in healthcare and a major boost to improving quality in healthcare. A hospital stay costs an average of $236 per day in India, $655 per day in France and an average of $3,949 per day in the US, according to a report — 2011 Comparative Price Report Medical and Hospital Fees by Country – released by the International Federation of Health Plans. After paying USD 236 (Approximately Rs. 11328.00 / day (USD 1= INR 48), what does the patient get in return? . We believe that by implementing this reporting by caregivers, the caregivers would work harder to improve their performance in terms of outcomes for treatment and, in a way, it will lead to ‘Pay for Performance’. Patient would be able to make choices based on whosoever provides the best care!

Also, all the hospitals / care givers must ensure appropriate patient follow-up and feed back mechanism, and the government must devise an institutional mechanism to collect the data on success rate of treatments and examine the reasons for failure so that the quality of healthcare delivered can be improved.

This must be done by setting up the National Institute for Research in Healthcare Quality Improvement.

This institute must focus on coming out with annual reports on improving the quality of healthcare in all the states, as the healthcare issues vary from state to state. We have seen that recently, West Bengal has been home to dozens of child deaths in major government hospitals.

But as of now, there is no investigating body for healthcare to look into these issues, and the crime investigating agencies (Police) lack the necessary qualifications & skills to carry out any meaningful investigation and suggest remedial steps for such incidents. It is the time to correct this by setting a dedicated national body for such incidents.

USA has moved towards ACO’s (Accountable Care Organizations); and it is high time that India sets up the guidelines for all healthcare delivery organizations to become self-regulated ACO’s

Recently, DMAI was actively involved in doing the biggest Healthcare camp in Ajmer (the constituency of Shri Sachin Pilot), and examined over 50,000 (according to some media estimates, approximately 71,000 people). The people were given free diagnostic tests & medicines only due to active participation & support from the private sector. It is high time that the government acknowledges that the private sector has a pivotal role to play if the ‘Healthcare for all- Universal Healthcare’, has to move beyond ‘mike & paper’! Private sector has always shown commitment by providing resources for ‘pilots’ and ‘Free camps’, but we must not forget that, ‘Charity is as deep as the pocket’! It would be a win-win, if the government starts with launching the mass screening program with the private sector, re-launching the ‘Jan Aushadhi’ scheme with the private sector & implementing mass scale telemedicine / mHealth projects with the private sector

I was an invitee to the meeting called by the Hon’ble Health Minister /WHO on 23/ 24^th August 2011 at Delhi, and was also involved in the writing of the document called ‘Delhi call to action’. I recall, that the Hon’ble Minister made an announcement to screen 200 million people for diabetes and hypertension by March 2012. I have learned through reliable sources that this mass screening plan, that was to start with 100 districts was reduced to 10 districts and finally to slums of two districts, and the results were not encouraging! In a way, even 10 % of the target of 200 million (2 crores) has not been achieved. This reminds me of the Sir Joseph Bhore Committee report in 1946, which talked about Universal Healthcare.

Also of the National Health Policy (NHP) 1983, which talked about ‘Health for All’ by 2000 AD’.

Both these committees failed to deliver Universal Healthcare. So, essentially, even after 65 years, ‘Healthcare for all’ has just remained a ‘concept’ & a mere ‘talking point’.

In the current plan – 2012, we are again talking about the same thing ‘Healthcare for all’. This time, we have a high level committee and the wordings have changed to ‘Universal Healthcare’. Doubling of budgets for healthcare will not be able to address the healthcare problems facing the nation, till we ‘double our understanding’ of the real issues and the solutions and give up the parochial approach to remedy the ills in our system!

It is clear that the government lacks an execution plan, and also that; ‘execution’ has never been the forte of the government. It is high time that government puts “PPPr”- Private Public Performance based rewards partnership in place like the NHAI and then only releases the budget for the 12^th five-year plan.

It is time to learn from what you did in UID! A person from the private sector has already issued 30 million Aadhaar cards, and this has already become the biggest biometric program in the world. Can we not learn from UID and implement in MOHFW ?

We need a ‘Professional’ CIIO (Chief Innovation & Information Officer) in the Ministry of Health, who will bring the necessary capabilities in the ministry to make a difference in the ‘Health for All’.

Free insurance & Free medicines: This scheme is a ‘Killer Combination’. ‘Social healthcare’ has failed miserably in the western world, and we seem to have not picked up the lessons but are hell bent on ‘Importing failures’ of the west into the Indian healthcare system. As I mentioned in the 2009- ‘Healthcare reforms agenda’, I will re-iterate that we need a ‘Co-pay’ model for healthcare delivery. Except the BPL families, all others must have’Co-Pay’ component in the healthcare services even if it is a token of 5-10 % of the total healthcare cost borne by the government. Co-Pay must go up with the income slabs!

Rajiv Aarogyashree scheme (highly publicized scheme of Andhra Pradesh), is now widely talked of as a ‘failure’, and the government is not in a position to pay the empanelled facilities for the ‘free treatment’ that has been a part of the popular scheme

It is time to re-look at ‘Free universal healthcare schemes’. If the government examines the free healthcare schemes currently offered all over the world, it would think twice about free healthcare!.

Free medicines scheme: During my visits to Rajasthan (medicines are given free in Rajasthan government hospitals), I was made to re-think about this scheme

This scheme has created a peculiar situation for doctors. Doctors are told that the family member is suffering from cold, cough or backache, and s/he is asked to give the medicine!

When the doctors request to examine the patient as to check if it is dry cough, TB induced cough etc., the response that the family members give is, ‘ When the medicines are provided free by the government, then why do you ask so many questions?

If the doctor refuses to give medicines, political pressure is applied and the doctors are harassed! Doctors have been reduced to ‘compounders’, and are just dispensing medicines rather than treating patients, because of the ‘free medicine scheme’! Even in the USA, we have seen scams where ‘dummy patients’ were created under Medicaid, and reimbursements taken from the government in the name of ‘diabetic patients’. India will witness large-scale organized frauds if such a scheme is rolled out without adequate checks and controls.

When it comes to medicines, I must request the government to monitor the pharma industry closely, as the customer is not getting the benefit of ‘low prices’ (read as- schemes that are offered by the industry to the distributors). Just for the sake of information, I am quoting two examples:

Panegra is available at an MRP of Rs. 124.00 and the scheme offered by the manufacturing company is- seven strips free on purchase of one strip! Still the end consumer buys the medicine on MRP! The manufacturer distributor – retailer nexus swallows the entire margin.

Another example is that of Cifran, priced at Rs.58.80 and the scheme offered by the manufacturing company is – one strip free on buying two strips. But, such benefits are never passed on to the ignorant end customer- patient. Similarly, 1000’s of products are available with such ‘deals’ but the patient does not get the benefit.

Government must take decisive action against such pharma companies. The two companies quoted here are just for reference and most of the companies are indulging in these practices

Also, the government must give a big push for mobile healthcare (mHealth & Telemedicine). CDAC Mohali (a government body) has developed a great application for telemedicine, and DMAI used that service during the mega healthcare camp at Ajmer, in collaboration with PGI, Chandigarh. It is time to promote such institutes and organizations.

May be, it would be worth having a joint working group between the ‘Ministry of Communications & IT’ and ‘Ministry of Health & Family Welfare’, to explore the commercially deployable models of telemedicine & mHealth

It is the right time to train all our nurses & pharmacists in healthcare counseling through online training modules and create a special cadre of healthcare counselors for chronic diseases.

It is the right time to set the Patient Charter for Healthcare, which includes the patient’s rights and responsibilities. DMAI is driving an initiative to come out with a ‘Patient Charter’ under the leadership of Dr.Aniruddha Malpani.

These changes are required if we wish to make an impact on the healthcare delivery system.

Currently, there is a big gap between ground realities, policy formulation & execution framework. We need radical changes in our thinking to create an ‘Inclusive Healthcare Ecosystem’. It is better that immediate steps are taken to correct the loopholes so that Healthcare for all can become a reality without compromising on the quality of care.

DMAI would be willing to volunteer with its knowledge pool and resources should the policy makers need the same

Yours in good health

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

CC:

Mrs.Sonia Gandhi

Shri Nitin Gadkari

Dr.Manmohan Singh,

Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi, Chairman, Parliamentary Accounts Committee

Minister for Communication & IT, GOI

Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Dr.Syeda Hameed.

Shri L.K.Advani

Smt. Sushma Swaraj

Shri Sudip Bandyopadhyay

Sam Pitroda

Rahul Gandhi

Sitaram Yechury

Secy, Health & Family Welfare, GOI

DGHS, MOHFW,GOI.

Dr. K. Srinath Reddy

Dr.Girdhar Gyani, QCI.

Dr.V.K. Singh, QCI

Board of Directors – DMAI

Can Gandhi’s actually work for development ?

I was in Lucknow at the BJP headquarters for a meeting with the committee that is drafting the Election Manifesto , and i quoted this data to show that Gandhi’s don’t have the credentials to take UP ahead in Development :

Source : January 11, 2012 , TOI. HUNgaMA Report ( Hunger and Malnutrition report ). Rae Barielly , the bastion of Gandhi’s for generations according to this report has :

Nearly 20 % of the children aged 0-59 months severely under weight .

40 % are moderately under weight .

One in two children in the same age group are severely stunted , while 70 % of the rest are moderately stunted (shorter than they should be at a certain age) .

Nearly 10 % children are wasted- when a child is too light for its height .

As far as mothers are concerned , 55 % never went to school while 84 % never heard of Malnutrition .

About 10 % of the households have a toilet while over 60 % people have a mobile phone

Firstly , Rahul & Sonia must look at their back yard, and then talk of development ! Their constituencies are the worst in terms of development , taking into account that the most powerful family has been elected from this constituency for decades . Shame , shame Rahul , Sonia and Priyanka !

Potato Politics and Commercial Airport in Rae Barielly !

Dear Rahul,

Last week you made a statement that , ‘ 50 grams of potato chip are sold for Rs. 10 , and that this is made from just half potato’ ! Correct ! But again , Rahul don’t forget that the foreign companies no lesser than Wal-Mart ( likes of Pepsico ) are selling these expensive potato chips made from half a potato . So, does it not make more sense to check the growth of MNC retail chains / companies in India, who are buying cheap potato but ‘profiteering’ by selling chips at Rs. 10 per packet and the poor farmer is losing his produce at a throw away price ?

Also, I wish to draw your attention towards the fact that currently the farmers are paid Rs. 1 per KG. I cannot understand why will ‘Profit & balance sheet obsessed’ Retail chains pay more to these poor farmers !

Simply stating that the middlemen would be removed and so farmers will get more, is a fallacious statement and conveys a lack of your ignorance about the realities. I think your party and Maya ji are fighting in the ‘aerial warfare’ with no touch of realities on the ground

I can clearly see the trick in getting the farmer leader Ajit Singh into Congress. Clearly , he will help you pitch farmers in favor of FDI and also convert a few of them as voters . But these tactics might not work in the long run , hopefully there are millions like myself who know the reality of these old tricks of congress for vote bank politics !

I read another news that Rae Bareilly will get a commercial airport

Let me enlighten you about the Awadh region where your dad , mom & yourself have fought & won elections for decades

The Awadh region once ruled by nawabs and taluqdars and known as granary of India because of its fertile Gangetic plain. The area has given prime ministers to the country – Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But most districts are still backward.

Population | 3.654 Cr

Per Capita Income | Rs 13,150.81

Faizabad division | Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Sultanpur, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar, Barabanki

Devipatan division | Gonda, Balrampur, Shravasti, Bahraich

Kanpur division | Kanpur, Ramabai Nagar, Auraiya, Farrukkhabad, Kannauj, Etawah

Lucknow division | Lakhimpur, Lucknow, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli

Now here is an interesting fact : Purulia is better off than Rae Bareli and Amethi and this was quoted in this article of Business Standard & Mid-Day. http://www.mid-day.com/poll2009/2009/apr/270409-Purulia-is-better-than-Amethi-Left-tells-Rahul.htm

Let me walk you through a planning commission report on the per capita domestic product , and the NDP per capita in your family’s constituency.

Net domestic product (total and per capita) 2006-7 as per planning commission, Government of India

	At Current Prices		At Constant Prices 1999-2000
	Domestic Product (Total) Rs. in CR.	Per Capita Domestic Product (Rs.)	Domestic Product (Total) (Rs. in Cr.)	Per Capita Domestic Product (Rs.)
Rae Barielly	3288	10361	2489	7844
Sultanpur	3955	11168	3077	8687

Source:http://planning.up.nic.in/Annual%20Plan%202010-11%20for%20website/Volume%20-%20I%20(%20Part-II)/Chapter-6.prn.pdf

So clearly, getting an airport in Rae Barielly is a stupidity of the highest order, and that too, when it is clear that the region is back ward and people can barely survive a year without good rains leave alone travelling by air ! Please read the per capita income and check out if the poor people of that district can even afford the air port taxes leave along the airfare !

I have visited Amethi and met up with dozens of self-help groups that you have formed in Amethi, and let me tell you that, you are just ‘Using’ the emotions of these poor people for becoming a member of Lok Sabha from Amethi

While I was travelling to Amethi, none else than your own people (close associates) have informed me that the worst road in India is between Rae Bareilly and Sultanpur. Do I write more!

Learn from Mr. Vajpayee , who started the Golden Quadrilateral project for the Aam Aaadmi and your government is more interested in airports, so that you can fly directly to Amethi rather than taking the 2 hour road drive to Amethi via Lucknow . You are wasting the hard earned money of common men like myself , who earn by hard work and pay 1/3^rd of our income as taxes to the government , and people like you go and throw it for things like building an airport at Rae Barielly !

By the way i could not understand that in the same week you talked about potato being sold at Rs.1 per KG and the other side an Airport in Rae Barielly ?

Gandhi Dynasty has taken India back ward by at least 30 years , and we need to stop it soon.

I also don’t understand what is your intent for the so-called ‘Food Security Bill’ and ‘Job Guarantee Bill’. You will give fixed income to people so that they do not have to work and then you guarantee them food ? So it means that people will not have to work and earn the food , and will get it free ? Where will the Rs. 5 lac crore come from for these schemes ? Will these things take India forward or your party men who will get the ration shops to distribute ( read divert ) grains and sell them to the open market, and finally , the poor Aam Aadmi will be left stranded on the road !

Wake up Rahul ! Time will never forgive your people, and the elections will decide your fate not this ‘aerial warfare’ .

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

Healthcare I Retail I Rural Economy I Public Policy

www.commonmansblog.com

Big Question- Who wrote the FDI in Retail Policy ?

Quote in The Times of India today:

‘Sources also expressed surprise at the fact that the minister’s statement to both Houses of Parliament did not mention that 30% of sourcing from micro and small enterprises could be from anywhere in the world and not India specific’.

Clearly , it is not something that the Government Officials can author ? The billion dollar question is ‘ Did Wal-Mart Executives write this FDI in retail document ?

Earlier , we all learned that Niira Radia decided the telecom minister port folio, and led the biggest scan in India’s history. Now is Wal-Mart scripting this biggest sell-off of India through FDI in retail ? We all fought the war of independence to stop the economic exploitation from the British Raj, are we not going back to pre-1947 days by privatizing the 350 billion dollar retail industry ? 10’s of billions of dollars would leave Indian economy for foreign shores once retail giants step in . Finally , we will have less money chasing more goods – Simple economics definition means ‘High Inflation’.

Congress leadership needs to answer this question ?

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

Healthcare I Retail I Rural Economy I Public Policy

http://www.commonmansblog.com

FDI in retail – This is a harsh reality – Is FDI really a boon for India at this time ?

Government’s arguments for FDI in retail are a proof of the fact, that this government does not understand India, and looks at Indians from USA’s businessmen’s perspective. Congress government has become the biggest lobbyist for pursuing the business interest of nuclear & retail corporations from USA & Europe at the cost of India’s middle class

Today’s Economic Times (26th November 2011) headline ‘ Govt Sells Multi-Brand FDI with best bargains’ gives a list of reasons why the government is supporting, (rather pushing FDI ) in retail. Let me put the Common Man’s view and take on each of these arguments

1. It will create 10 million jobs in the next 3 years

A) According to the CII report in 2007, ‘India will need 10 to 12 million skilled workers every year for the next five years to meet the growing demand from the support services and there is a need for strong intervention to ensure the availability of the workforce’. So is the government trying to say that it is only the retail chains that will create 10 million jobs in the next three years?

B) Let us examine how many jobs Wal-Mart created in America & how many jobs did Wal-Mart create in India for the past 3 years of operations both as a wholesaler and as a retailer ? How many jobs our Indian retailers like Future group, Aditya Birla retail and Reliance retail created in the past 3 years? We will clearly see that they did not even create a million jobs!

C) Also, government does not talk how many Kirana stores will shut down in the next 5 years and how many homes will be denied of a source of income ?

D) Wal-Mart or for that matter any retailer works on the least number of workers per square feet (lean management structures ) ,and so it will kill the 50 Kirana stores thereby get at least 250 people out of jobs and then create 50 jobs per super market. Is this factored in the statement? I am willing to prove this in the current retail scenario leave alone the scenario when the foreign retailers come in?

2. Several billion dollars of investment in retail

A) If retail is a great business, the government banks should give loans from domestic financial institutions and let the homegrown retailers grow and build scale and size and let the profits remain in India. Why should we give 51 % of the ownership to foreign players, as these people will sell to Indians and take the profits out of our country. USA / Europe will solve their income and earnings problems and India will get into problems of high inflation and more volatile stock market. Also, Indian retailer being less than 50 % of their share in the retail will become servants to these MNC chains under the current 51 % FDI norms.

B) Why did the government not start with 26 % FDI in multi brand retail for the first five years? Why suddenly start with 51 %. Please justify?

C) Often it has been quoted that the foreign retailers will bring technical know how to Indian retail market and boost the economies of scale and productivity? Which technical know how is the government talking, it needs to explain? I have been a COO / Board member of a major fortune 20 company’s retail operations in India, and I can tell you that these foreign retailers only bring money and no other expertise! They work on high profits, highly automated environment and lean man power structures. So government’s reason of the technical know how is fallacious and is showing that we Indians do not understand retail. Let us look inward and see our home-grown retailers like Future group and Aditya Birla retail .They are certainly growing . Government must bring out a detailed white paper on the so-called ‘Technical Know how’ these foreign retailers bring to Indian retail market?

D) With these billions of dollars coming in India, India’s real estate will become expensive thereby, contributing to keep the inflations levels high for the medium class not just for real estate but for all the sectors

E) Also, these billions of dollars are not charities to India or Indians . These are investments by retailers which follow a ROI ( return on investment concept ) for every dollar spent. So for sure , they people will invest in retail one dollar and take out 10 dollars from India over the next couple of years . Retail is mostly done on inventory management which is on credit from vendors . These retailers follow a credit cycle which ranges from 15 days to over month . So with a double-digit profit margin , these retailers will only be investing one time into infrastructure and then make money without investing at all ,as all the inventory is on a credit cycle . ‘Sell and pay’ is the mantra for these FMCG retailers ! Even the space which is rented by these retailers is leased to product companies for hefty display charges. These retailers charge a heavy fee for listing products in its store before selling .Our policy makers , wake up and understand the real dangerous game of FDI in retail and don’t get carried away by the billions of dollars of investment . It is not true . One time investment by these retailers will be a life long profit for their parent company’s home country

3) Farmers will get more than 12-15 % of the consumer price they get for fruits and vegetables

A) In reality, farmers will never get a higher price but will be exploited by these MNC Chains .In fact, these MNC retailers will push in for stringent quality checks and other prohibitively expensive conditions for these farmers thereby, forcing the poor Indian farmer out of his livelihood. Most of the retailers will take to contract farming, and thus the farmers will be reduced to being laborers in the hands of these MNC chains.

B) The History of these MNC chains has shown the these chains are out to squeeze blood out of their vendors and farmers will certainly be vendors for these MNC chains and nothing else . Wal-Mart and other retailers are facing dozens of cases of exploitation and gender bias in developed country where the legal system is strong . Imagine what will happen in our country ?

4) Consumers will get producers at Cheaper Prices, as competition will bring down the prices

A) Even without competition the prices will come down by a few paisas or may be a few rupees, but, all these chains will increase the MRP (Maximum retail prices) of the products, and so the consumer will end up paying more than what s/he pays today. Take an example of the MNC pharma companies. Since there is a ceiling of price increase by 10 %, so every year the pharma companies increase the prices by 9-9.5 % and thereby, circumventing the price increase regulations.

B) It is clear that the consumer is not a winner, no one pay’s from its pocket OR profits to the consumer. If there is a price increase on the input costs, the same is passed on to the as an increased MRP or the quantity is reduced for the same price. So the consumer’s pocket is always ripped apart by these retailers

5) 30 % mandatory sourcing from small-scale sector will help small industry

A) This has not been a convincing argument, so we are trying to tell that a small company out of Varanasi will compete with HUL and win? Come on Dr.Manmohan Singh, are you trying to fool Indians? I understand that you studied at Oxford, doesn’t mean that rest of the Indians are going to get carried away with these statements

B) Also, these MNC chains will put conditions that are either too stringent to be complied to or prohibitively expensive to be implemented by these SME’s, and so finally, these chains will find a reason to evade buying from these SME’s. Also, that the SME’s are not just limited to India, but across the world, so probably, Chinese SME’s would benefit more than Indian SME’s

C) These retailers charge a heavy fee for listing products in its store before selling. How will SME’s afford that ? The fee currently for Indian retailers varies from few thousand to over a lac for products for companies . SME’s will never be able to benefit from these chains even if they are able sell to them, as they will pay for listing and then cry for the payment – which will depend on the vendor payment cycle varying for weeks to months and small vendors (SME’s ) cannot survive this big box retail game

6) 70 % of retail is in food items and these are mostly sourced locally

A) If 70 % of the retail is in food items and this is sourced locally, why allow 51 % of the profits to go out of India? So FDI should not have crossed more than 30 %!

B) Local Indian retailers (existing Kirana stores ) must be trained to deal in these food items and deliver better value for the country and its economy.

C) This argument of the government goes against its own policy. So whereas, 70 % of the products would be food items, 51 % profits from these categories would go out of our country, thereby, clearing pushing the inflation higher perpetually for the next couple of decades. As there will be less money in our country chasing more goods ( as money would have found its way to parent MNC) – Simple economics Mr. Kaushik Basu!

7) Ikea already sourcing 30 % of inputs from India

A) So if Ikea is already sourcing 30 % inputs from India, let other chains also do the same before starting their shop in India.

B) If these MNC chains buy from India and sell in India and take 51% of the profits abroad, what is India’s gain? The government must come out clean on this?

8) Approval only after investors meet all conditions, including 50 % investment in back end

A) This statement of investment in backend is a foolish statement. Already 100 % FDI is allowed in wholesale, why justify it for retail and link it up? Let these retailers first invest in back-end for the first five years and next five years invest in front end

B) Government has FCI (Food corporation of India) godowns and what is the government doing for enhancing the efficiency of this biggest warehousing corporation – Can this FCI not become the Cash and Carry for small retailers ? A drastic improvement in supply chain of FCI godowns can bring down the wastage of food grains by hundreds of tons if not thousands of tons. Please pursue the project of Mr.Atal Behari Vajpayee of Golden Quadrilateral and link up all the FCI godowns, and start a national Agriculture produce transport corporation to start weekly transport during the harvesting season from the farms to FCI and nearest towns. The farmers co-operative and IFFCO should manage this. With this, farmers will not only get good prices but the wastage will be reduced substantially. Why are you looking at FDI to solve this simple problem of inflation . This can not only solve the inflation problem but also improve productivity at all levels , create more jobs ( may be , millions of low & middle-income but high productivity jobs ) and reduce inflation .

C) Learn from ‘operation flood’ by AMUL and how it solved the shortage of milk problem of our country and created a world-class brand. See what M.S.Swaminathan did with ‘Green Revolution’ to increase the production of grains in our country. Please do not justify that foreign retailers will help you bring down inflation. Remember that ‘Inflation is reversible but FDI is not’ and do not sell our country to foreigners for a short-term gain of a few billion dollars to our economy. This is anyway not the dollars to our economy, but the investment of dollars to take back dollars. I am sure that all these MNC chains a ROI (return of investment) method of calculating the investment returns. So I wish to ask our government that what does the ‘retail FDI dollar’ bring to India, which Indian government cannot do with its own money?

9) Government will have the first right over procurement of farm produce

A) This statement has no value. Government has shown no concern for farmers except considering them as voters and leaving them at the mercy of rain gods.

Questions that the government must answer

What has the government spent to train local Kirana stores in the past five years? When yesterday only the government asked for Rs.56000 crore of the tax payers money despite a huge budget deficit, why did it not ask for even a Rs. 1000 crore for retailers training and up gradation?
Why did the government not start with FDI in retail at 26 %? Why suddenly at 51 %? Has the government become a lobbyist for MNC chains?
Has the government done its own independent studies for the impact of retail chains on Kirana stores?
The biggest plank of allowing the FDI is that inflation will come down. So despite allowing FDI, if the inflation does not come down, will the government revoke FDI in retail? Does that rider appear in the CP (Condition Precedents) for allowing FDI in retail?
Government needs to prove that FDI in retail can create million jobs every year. How and why, and which retailer will do that. All this must be put in the business case for allowing FDI? Why is government becoming the spokesperson for these MNC retail chains? What is the deal?
Where and how much wills the retailers invest in back-end? This has not been specified?
Why has the government not capped the retail margins of foreign retailers in India?
See point 5 B, why have women self-help groups / handicrafts been excluded from being the beneficiaries of the retail entry
Why are retailers not mandated to invest in retail training ?
More questions to follow

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

Healthcare I Retail I Public Policy

Email: office@rajendragupta.in , office.rajendra@gmail.com

Making Personal Health & Hygiene an essential part of the school Curriculum

September 3, 2011.

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

President

Shri Kapil Sibal

Minister for HRD

Government of India

New Delhi 110001

Subject: Making Personal Health & Hygiene an essential part of the school Curriculum

Hon’ble Minister,

Greetings from the Disease Management Association of India – DMAI, The Population Health Improvement Alliance.

DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance is a not-for-profit organization, formed by global healthcare leaders. It is the only NGO in India dedicated to chronic disease management in the country, with an objective of overall population health improvement. In the past three years, DMAI has worked at both, International level and within India, to address the issue of India’s healthcare challenges, with the support of patient groups, Industry & policy makers, and wishes to put on record the continuous support DMAI has received from policy makers and the industry.

We are strongly advocating that Child health become the focus area for our policy makers, so that our demographic dividend does not become demographic disaster! This calls for putting child health at the forefront of the health agenda. The starting point for the same, calls for taking healthcare from medical school to primary school i.e. start sensitizing students about healthcare.

During 2009, DMAI conducted the Health Risk Assessment Index (HRAI), and founds that obesity amongst children was alarmingly high, and so was hypertension, which stood at 7 % amongst students. This calls for immediate steps to create awareness and take action right at the school level.

I suggest that the ministry of HRD makes it mandatory to start imparting education on oral health & hygiene from class 2 onwards in pictorial format, and there should

be a separate subject on Personal Health & Hygiene from class four onwards. I am sure that this one major step would reduce the burden of healthcare over the next 10 years, and will have a lasting impact on younger generation making healthier choices in daily life and reduce the burden of diseases.

Hoping for a positive response from a responsible government on the this one major step to improve child health in the country

We remain at your disposal for any help / assistance that you might need on this matter of great national interest

Yours Sincerely

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

CC:

H.E. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General, United Nations

H.E. Joseph Diess , President of the UN General Assembly

Hon’ble Deputy Secretary General of the UN General Assembly

Ms. Margaret Chan, Director General, WHO

Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Hon’ble Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GOI

Dr.K. Srinath Reddy, President, PHFI

Dr.Syeda Hameed, Planning Commission, GOI

Sri Sudip Bandopadhyay, MOS- H&FW

Secretary, H&FW , GOI.

K.Desiraju, Additional Secretary, Government of India.

Dr.Sudhir Gupta , ADG, NCD’s. MOHFW.

Board Of Directors , Disease Management Association of India – DMAI , The Population Health Improvement Alliance .

Morally weak PM needs a character certificate from the Leader of the Opposition !!

Dear Dr.Singh ,

This has reference to your statement that you are not corrupt . I respectfully disagree . You might have integrity ( in a literal sense ) but definitely , you are not honest ! You must know that integrity is restricted to an individual , but honestly is a relative term. How do you justify that, as head of the government , people appointed by you looted the nation, and firstly , you were the one who denied any loot & defended them and gave them a clean chit , and now, when they are in jail , how can you wash off your hands from the misdeeds of the government & proclaim to be a holy cow !! You are challenging the constitution . Government is a collective responsibility of the PM & his team, and you cannot absolve yourself from what has happened in the last 7 years under your misrule as PM for the government, leading the cabinet that was chosen by no one else than yourself !

You have asked the leader of the opposition to scrutinize your wealth accumulated over the last 41 years to prove that, you personally did not make money , and so it should be concluded that you are honest and have not been a part of the criminal conspiracy to make money ! Mr.Singh , you have been a teacher for many years . If in a class , a student loots , rapes and murders a fellow student , will the teacher continue to lecture or would he act immediately ? What matters is the outcome and not the intent Mr.Singh . A teacher like you would let the loot , rape and murder happen and say that, i was looking at the black board and i did not notice what happened in the class and i am not responsible for what happened !!

In your heart you know it well Mr.Singh, that to keep the PM’s chair, you have severely compromised with Sonia Gandhi & many others on what level to fall to run the government for Congress, and you failed to run the government for this nation and the common man !! That’s why congress became richer and a common man was driven to poverty and humiliation !!

Choosing your cabinet is totally your constitutional prerogative , and when your own cabinet colleagues & senior political leaders were writing to you to not to appoint Kalmadi and prosecute Raja , why were you standing behind them ? When the leader of the opposition asked you not to appoint P.J Thomas as CVC , why did you not listen to her ? And now, you want the same leader of the opposition to give you a character certificate of being an honest PM ? Being an honest person and an honest PM are not one and the same !! You are a dishonest PM who let the fellow cabinet colleagues loot the nation and you kept sanctioning them as the PM . In common man’s language , you are an equal partner in crime ( may not be a beneficiary ) , and no wonder Kani , Kalmadi and Raja want you as a witness for all the sanctions you gave them for making money !!

You knew about the misdeeds and still ignored the written evidence given by your cabinet ministers , leader of the opposition and Dr.Subramaniam Swamy . The ordinary person , a common man like myself believes that either you are not fit to be a PM or you have a mental disorder or you are part of a deeply planned criminal conspiracy from 10 Janpath to dislodge you to make room for Rahul ………

You have accepted that mistakes might have happened but they not intentional . Can an astronaut say the same while he is on a mission to moon ? If ever he did falter , he would not have the chance to defend ! Remember that running a government is like commanding the mission that has no option to falter or fail !!

This government has lost the right to be in power and must go ……i am very sure that with so many sins in your back , your government and the NAC would be looking at a major social scheme for people , so that you could entice them to vote you back in 2014. You have figured out a novel channel to siphon public money in the name of poor . For the first 60 years , congress created poverty , and now for the next 60 years , congress wants to make money in the name of eradicating poverty ….. shame shame !

I am not involved in Lokpal or Jan Lokpal , but i request you to consider one request . If in any department , company or government , there is a serious charge about corruption or criminal activity , the top man must face the same fate as the one who committed it . So today Anil Ambani must be in Jail and not Gautam Doshi and like wise , Sonia Gandhi and yourself must be in the same jail as your other erstwhile cabinet colleagues are …. with this one rule , both crime & corruption will certainly end faster & totally !!

Whatever it may be , we will throw your government like we did in Tamilnadu …….…i am sure that you will be at least honest in writing your memoirs !

Lastly, It is time to announce Bharat Ratan for Anna Hazare for his fight against corruption !!

A Common Man

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

www.wordpress.com

Tihar Cabinet & the Race Course PM

Dear Dr.Singh,

Over the last few weeks , we have seen the high voltage drama of frustrated and directionless government, working overtime to figure out what to do ? All these things have ceased to surprise me now . Be it failure of foreign policy , economy or agriculture prices or fight against corruption !!

You promised one thing and delivered just the opposite ! Rather , you were not capable of even promising , leave alone delivery .

You got all the advisors and top government functionaries from abroad ( may be , you still carry the baggage of Oxford !! )..believing that importing these foreign degree holders would impress investors and set the country to growth …. You actually imported failures !!

Kaushik Sen, Montek , Sam ………and the list is endless ………..The net result …. a lot of jargon on economics, development and poor , but the results on ground just the opposite . Kaushik, the mail is marked to you. You seem to be headless when it comes to economy and how it works ( leave alone economic growth !! ) ….. Your policies are ruining the nation and high inflation has put millions back to poverty . Please go back to Cornell . …. they may like your teaching , India has paid a heavy price by having you as the Chief Economic Advisor to the PM

Dr.Singh , you promised us that because of your reforms in 1990’s , you knew it well what could take the nation to the path of double-digit GDP growth , and in reality ‘inflation grew double digit’ & not the GDP !! Common Man got killed every day . We are angry with you… It is clear now that you took credit for what Narasimha Rao did, you have misled the nation !!

Based on your first 100 day promise, India was made to believe that , since you were clean you would not get seduced by anyone . On the contrary , the nation got repeatedly raped by none else then your cabinet ministers !! Today , you are the only PM in Indian history , who has the negative distinction of having cabinet colleagues in Tihar jail, and few of them outside also deserve to be there – You are running a ‘Tihar Cabinet’ …..

In August 2011, Pune’s infamous Stud farm owner, Hasan Ali got bail for stashing black money in Swiss Banks , and the same day, you arrested Anna Hazare for raising voice against corruption !! Still you expect me to address you respectfully !! Nation believes that congress and you as PM were a part of a major criminal conspiracy to loot the nation . Today Kani , Raja and Kalmadi are asking you and your Shiela ( Delhi CM ) to be summoned in court in relation to the scams ………lesser i write, the better for you !!

Rahul says that he is worried about Anna’s health and so do you . So Anna is fasting just a few minutes away from where you stay , if you are genuinely worried , why don’t you and Rahul go and personally see him rather than proving to the people that, you and Rahul are just ‘Drawing room’ leaders, who read prepared statements and reach places to give media interviews after the tragedy has happened !! Yesterday , you wrote to Anna that ‘you had high regard for his idealism’ ; If it is so, why did you send him Tihar Jail in the first place !!

Dr.Singh, in my view , you have caused immense loss to this nation in terms of money & reputation . We put our heads to shame for having you as our PM. It is time that you raise your hand and go to the nearest judge and surrender ……The right place for the head of ‘Tihar Cabinet’ is Tihar Jail and not 7, Race course road !!

You all are so frustrated with Anna that your official spokespersons have gone wild and mad stating everyone’s ( except congress ) hand in this movement against corruption , right from RSS, BJP and even the USA………..i am wondering why you missed Pakistan’s name ? I am proud of anyone associated with such a movement , but i do understand your frustration for saying , “either you are with congress or against corruption” . If you not with us , all enforcement agencies will chase you ……you have set the example by taking Jagan heads on after he left congress . Till his father was alive and with congress , YSR was tallest leader in congress !! Don’t fool around Mr.Singh …time is up ….

When Murli Manohar Joshi indicted the PM for his complicity in 3G scam , you cried foul and said he was playing politics …….earlier , you well running around all media houses and roaring , that Since a person like Joshi is at PAC , why do you need a JPC ? The moment he put the truth in PAC , you cried foul…..

Also, Sonia’s repeated absence is circumstantial , and also coincidental ( though i empathize with anyone who is ill ). Even if she would be around , congress would be no different . When the dust settles down , she will re-appear and cry foul at mis-treating Anna and reprimand Manish Tiwari et. al for the ‘Head – toe corrupt ‘ remark against Anna Hazare . It would be made to believe that for Congress , It is only Sonia who can run the show effectively …………and without her , congress flounders and is headless …… Some credit would be given to her half Indian son Rahul ( i am just quoting Katrina Kaif on Rahul ).

BJP must ask PM to resign and put an all party caretaker government till the next elections.

It is often said , you can fool some people all the time , all people some time , but not all people all the time !!

Time is up Dr. Singh …….please retire at Tihar Jail and face the system you have abused all these years in the name of Ignorance

Rajendra Pratap Guptar

A Common Man

www.rajendragupta.wordpress.com

Why Jan Lokpal bill will not end corruption !!

The Greater the number of statues , the greater the number of thieves and brigands . With one more bill , we will have more people finding out ways to circumvent the system or make more money, with even the hardest of Lokpal bill in existence .

Our current system is already good, but it becomes ineffective due to few people using it and more abusing it ! So what we need is, more people using the current system then thinking, that the Jan Lokpal bill would be the ultimate solution . Just see that, we have a highly educated and a perceivably honest PM , but the most corrupt & inefficient government in history of the nation

Let us understand that corruption will not be controlled by Lokpal bill though it is a good step . India needs to have good role models, and understand the laws of nature more than the laws of the land … those who understand the laws of nature would never worry for the laws of the land !! Ex- CVC chief had said that , 30 % of Indians are totally corrupt and 50 % borderline . Which means that about 850 million people are corrupt …. and i assume that remaining are victims of the 850 million !!

I have fought the system in the past single-handedly ,and won every time ,without any support from an institution !! I will never accept that our system is bad . We have a fantastic system …. my advice . Use it ….

Pass Lokpal bill , but not too sure if someone like P.J. Thomas or Manmohan Singh becomes its chief , and then, we have to go for another fast unto death !!

Morality cannot be enforced externally through laws in the current system, it has to be inculcated as an intrinsic quality !!

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

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