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Saturday 25 April 2015

INDUCT PROFESSIONAL EXPERTS INTO GOVERNMENT

 ACTION NECESSARY FOR UNION/STATE GOVERNMENTS 

        It is almost an year for the National Democratic Alliance's Government at the helm of affairs.  The pace of performance and output is wanting compared to the hype and promises made to the electorate.  People's expectations were and are very high, because of the pre-electoral and post-electoral promises by Mr. Modi and his Team. The younger generation especially between the  age group of 20-35 years are more demanding and want quick and immediate resolution of their grievances.
  
         Luckily, a number of factors have helped the Union Government till now:-

(a)  During the year 2015, the international prices of crude,  metals and minerals have drastically fallen giving substantial benefits by way of total value of imports, thereby, resulting in saving of precious foreign exchange,
(b)  With the change in Government at the Centre, the naxal and other internal disturbances  in the country are under control,
(c)   Even the external disturbances on the western, eastern and northern front of the country are again under relative control as the neighbours are under passive state and reassessing their strategies.  A year before, even small island nations like Sri Lanka and Maldives have behaved inappropriately, if we recall,
(d)  The US Fed is yet to revise their Treasury Policy on interest rate which has resulted in more flow of FII funds into the Indian stock market and last but not the least, 
(e)   The overall economic performance of the BRIC nations including China is not very encouraging due to global and internal problems of those countries.

         The present Government led by Mr. Modi has taken some extra-ordinary looking good actions during the past one year.  To mention a few of them, are:-
(a)   The e-Auction of coal blocks which has fetched the Union and State Governments about 2 lac crores, till now and more is expected from the remaining e-auctions from the cancelled coal blocks. 
(b)   It is seen that about one lac crore rupees were committed for spectrum auctions of the Ministry of Telecommunications.
(c)    About 12.50 crore Jan Dhan Yojana accounts have been opened as on 31.01.2015 yielding an account balance  of Rs. 10500 crores from both urban and rural areas,
(d)    A trillion watts of energy has been produced in India, as per the latest reports of the Ministry of Energy, which is a record performance. 
(e)    The over-all performance of the Ministry of External Affairs is relatively praise-worthy compared to the past performance on many fronts during the past one year.

         It is clearly seen that out of 60-65 Ministries in the Government of India, except for the performance output of 6-8 Ministries, the rest are lagging behind and more or less on par with the past performance of the earlier Governments.  Below par performance relatively.  A lot needs to be done.  But for the performance of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, Reserve Bank of India, SEBI, ISRO, etc., the whatever shine of the Government would get diluted.   Here lies a very good opportunity for India to take some concrete actions on top priority basis.  The Government should think out-of-the-box and should take some drastic steps.  
Induct Professional Experts
         It has been seen during the past two-three decades that the output performance of 'Professional Experts' inducted into the Government like S/Shri  Dr. Verghese Kurien, Dr. E. Sreedharan, T.N. Seshan and Nandan Nilekani to name a few and others had been laudable.  The age old and decadent Indian bureaucracy is not up to the mark with the challenges facing the Nation vis-a-vis the expectations of the young, vibrant and expectorant population of India.  It is high time that the Hon'ble Prime Minister himself with the assistance of the Minister of Personnel and Administrative Reforms should chalk-out a Panel of "Professional Experts" to be inducted into various Ministries and Organisations of the Government with suitable status, pay and perks, with utmost autonomy, clear cut objectives and time lines to be given assigned for period not less than 3-5 years.  It is seen that the old coterie of bureaucracy puts in lot of spokes whenever "professional experts" are appointed in their places.  Prime Minister himself should review this aspect.  

        If we want to take the Nation forward, this is one of the prescriptions, which was not carried out by weak governments earlier.  Likewise, the State and Union Territory Governments should follow the pattern.  I hope, Mr. Kejrival of Delhi and Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh should take a lead which should ignite and encourage KCR Government of Telangana to out-show his competitive rivals.  The objective is that appropriate measures and means should yield better results for the common man.  

       Let us hope the Governments act on the+ Right Track.#




  

Friday 24 April 2015

Caste and Communal Riots in India

 Caste and Communal Riots in India - How to tackle 


      It is a common knowledge that prior to independence, the British have practically used the existence of different castes and communities in Indian Sub-Continent to their advantage by creating friction between these groups.  These frictions have later grown as caste clashes and communal riots.  To prolong their rule over the natives, the British has along been using this dirty weapon quite often.  You can glance through the post independence scenario of the common wealth countries, like India, the Middle East, the Palestinian, the Iran-Iraq, the African continent, etc. etc, which endorses the British Policy of Divide and Rule, the Natives.  This has cost the World Community dearly.  The cancer has spread all over the world and the poor post independence Governments of the Common Wealth are still struggling to deal with it.  Sooner to over come this menace, the better it will be, for the common good of the humanity. www,irihcd.blogspot.com
Communal and Caste Riots


        After the Independence, post  mega communal riots of partition, the then Government of India took an excellent action to integrate different princely states numbering about thousand five hundred headed mini & mega nawabs, rajas and maharajas into the Union of India.  On different occasions, the Government had to take various army actions, police actions in Hyderabad, Kashmir and Goa, etc. Eventually, all these actions have resulted in the present form of the Indian State.  Well done, the GoI.



       Surprisingly, during the past 65 years of the post independence era, India has witnessed, tens of thousands of communal and caste riots, spread over across India - be it from UP to AP or from Kashmir to Kerala.  More or less, every Indian is aware of the innumerable reasons on which communal and caste  (comcaste) riots occur, flare up and extinguish, leaving thereby deep scars which take long time to heal.  Many a times, it is also seen that the Government both at the Union and the State level has failed to prevent, control or rehabilitate the affected post riots.



        The Ministry of Home Affairs both at the Central and State levels have failed, time and again, despite the availability of the services of specialised intelligence gathering agencies, the CRPF, the Rapid Action Force, the State Armed Police Battalions, the general Law and Order Police Forces in controlling these comcaste riots.  May be, the MHA is too vast a Ministry to handle issues from Disaster Management to Official Language.  Even, at the level of the State Governments, the Chief Ministers or the State Home Ministers including their Chief Secretaries and the DGPs have failed to tackle these comcaste riots.



Therefore, it is time to ponder.  We should take strong measures, some of which are suggested below to handle this recurrent problem; if India has to become a Super Power in the near future:-

a)  Immediately, create a separate Ministry for National Integration and Communal Harmony.  The least, can be to create a Separate Department under the MHA, directly under the charge of a junior MoS who should either report to Home Minister or the Prime Minister.  It is necessary to mention here, the concept of National Integration Council, etc. (ad-hoc and limited measures have failed, till now).

b)   Like, the National Disaster Response Force, a separate National Communal Harmony Force should be created by integrating some battalions from the CRPF and RAF, etc.
c)   The political parties/organisations should be given a Code of Conduct by the Election Commission to desist from patronising the comcaste elements/organisations
d)  Special Fast Track Courts be established for Comcaste Riots.
e)  Aadhar Cards should be used for post-riot Rehabilitation Packages and Schemes for the affected persons
f)   The Commissions of  Enquiry/Judicial Commissions should given a time-bound reports, say, within 90 days and not later than 100 days of the occurrence of the incident.  The follow-up Action Taken Report should invariably put up on the Table of the Legislative Assembly or Parliament, as the case may be, within a time bound period of say-60 days.
g)   The Unit Level Action/Monitoring is of prime importance in the case of comcaste riots.  The Station House Officer (SHO) and the S.P. along with the District Magistrate/District Collection should be made responsible and accountable.  If good work done, these officers should be incentivised and honoured.
h)   Least but not the last, the Hon.ble Prime Minister and the Chief Minister should review the situation every month devoting at least an Hour on the date of the Review. Suggestions have been deliberately limited to avoid a lengthy Blog.



       The above are some of the suggestions to handle the comcaste riots.  India can save billions of rupees of  losses, per annum.  It can surely rise to be the Super Power in the first half of the 21st Century.

Tuesday 14 April 2015

WHY DIVIDE THE SOCIETY - BETTER STABILISE IT

      The Great Nature is Supreme.  Its involves the principles of multiplication/division and subtraction/addition which the Nature is rendering for billions of years with perfection.  This involves lots of data gathering, processing, analysis and applications based on mathematical, geometrical and geological, etc. calculations.  The evolution of the Nature has resulted in multiple gifts of the nature  for the sake of humanity, on account of various colours, fruits, vegetables, hills, lakes, fountains, rivers and so on.  Thanks Almighty I love it, cherish and enjoy.
       The Humans have been one of the best creations of the Almighty and as per Islam - they are called "Ashraful Makhlook", the best of the living organisms, the God has created. From the dawn of civilisations, the humans have also started following and practicing the Great Nature and its principles of multiplication/division and subtraction/addition resulting  in better creations/products.  The evolution process had resulted into groups, tribes, villages, towns, cities, countries and continents and as well from chieftains, gang-leaders, cult leaders, kings yielding place to authoritarian dictatorships, democratic republics and so on and so forth.  It has also resulted into a side-effect resulting into 'Division of the Society' on account of:-
(a)  religion
(b)  genetic features like negro (africanese), mongoloid, european, aryan, dravidian,etc
(c)  colour and creed - white, black and brown
(d)  castes, sub-castes, dalits and maha-dalits...
(e)  languages and dialects
(f)   continents, sub-continents, group of regions (latin,north n south americas,etc), countries and in the country - north/south, east/west and middle.....
(g)  And one more on Food Habits (vegetarian, non-vegetarian and everytarian) etc.


            The concept of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" - the world is a one family has been broken into pieces.  May be you need one more UN organ to handle this disease of the Nations.  Let us examine and diagnose some top five points of all these Food Habit believers:
Vegetarians:
i)       should eat only vegetables and plants
ii)      unhuman to kill the animals/birds for their flesh/bones/blood etc
iii)     vegetables are good for health
iv)     drink and eat milk, natural fruits and juices
v)      killing is animalistic, cruel and inhuman
Non-Vegetarians: 
i)       God and Supreme Nature has provided the animals/birds/sea-food for the survival of the human beings along with other species of the earth
ii)       Plants and vegetables are also living beings.  Veggies should not kill them to eat
iii)      The Veggies should not drink the milk of cow, goat, camel, donkey (given to infants as good for fighting diseases in the rural parts of Telangana, Andhra and Uttara Karnataka)  instead should drink 'Soya Milk, Maize Milk, Jowar Milk, etc)
iv)      Veggies are also killing billions of good bacteria, uni-n-multi cellular organisms while eating their food,
v)       Animal/bird/seafood has many nutrients/minerals/proteins for the sustenance of the humans - a Gift of God.

Everytarians: 
  • theirs is wholesome food  
  • no division-no sectarianism
  • nature followers
  • no religion/caste or cult beliefs
  • follow whatever they like            
          Now that we have diagnosed the problem.  It is seen that various State Governments are fast-tracking legislations banning the slaughter of cows and calfs, buffaloes, bulls, etc.  Mere possession, eating, storage, etc is a crime with a heavy punishment.  Tomorrow, the muslims may ask for banning the 'pork', jains may ask banning mulberry cocoons, buddhists may ask total ban on plant and animal life.  There is no end to it.  Its OK to ban the slaughter of cow and calf, as a matter of respect to the "Astha" of the Hindus.  Not the "Astha of the Vedics" as they used to cherish the animal all by-products.  Hereagain, there is no end to protect the Asthas but as a matter of respect-there is no harm to agree to the non-slaughter of the cow-and-the-calf. Even the Holy Quran prescribes restrictions on the slaughter of milk yielding animals and their calves. The Hindu Pantheon loves lot of animals, monkeys, rats, bulls, horses - fruits and other vegetables.  How about banning them.  There is no end to it.  Somewhere the commas and full stops have to be applied.  
          A number of elements, circumstances and factors are required to be taken before bringing out a Bill for Legislation for Passing by the stake-holders like legislators, political parties, Government including the Hon'ble President of India before according his assent for introduction and implementation of the Bills of such nature.  A large number of socio-economic, national, international, religious, caste and belief issues are involved.  The present bills passed by the Government of Maharashtra and Haryana have substantially affected the following communities:
a)  Dalits, Backwards, Scheduled Tribes involved in the field of tanning, leather and footwear industry (mochis, etc), minorities (kasabs and qureshis), christians, north-east India
b)  Effect on the trade and industry, exports and imports, storage, whole-sale and retail, transport and tourism including the hotel industry of the economy 
c)   Socio-economic costs to the Nation
d)  Alternate provisions for the caring of banned animals in their old age, gowshalas and pashushalas, final burials and cremations have to be properly taken care of.
e)  Last but not the least -  the misuse of the Law by the police and unwanted and undesirable entanglement of the innocents.  
          Ponder a little.  Think positively and in the overall interest of the Nation.  Revise provisions of the Legislations passed except the Ban on Cow and Calf Slaughter.  This is the Prescription.  Mera Desh Mahan - it is a Gul and Gulisthan of various sects, castes, tribes, beliefs, asthas, a conglomerate of people on the pattern of  Supreme Nature.

Thursday 9 April 2015

11-Month Performance of Modi Sarkar (Diagnosis and Prescriptions)

 
   As a Doctor you examine and diagnose the performance of the Modi Sarkar.  The take-off was excellant and the air-journey is little better than Air India.  India's common janta was assured repeatedly in almost every election rally by Mr. Modi that the Indians are going to take off in a 'Rocket' journey once the NDA is voted to power.  The cruise will be swift, speedy and enjoying. The social media has nick named this gentleman in a slang as a big 'pheku'.  A friend of mine jokingly describes about 'phekus' that "itna bada bhi na pheko jo rafu na kar sake" means we should not promise something big which is not feasible for implementation. Even after the LS elections, the big promises were repeated in the State Assembly elections, too.

     Mr. Modi is not a 'Selfie'.  He is not a single-man Army but is a Captain of a Ship, called India. His crew comprises of Union Council of Ministers, bureaucrats, partymen and dedicated stealth force of RSS.  The promises made are big and the expectations of the public are still bigger.  Almost, it will be one year of performance of the present Government and the promises fulfilled are not even in double digit (jhan dhan, insurance, defence, etc).  We know you have some compulsions of majority in the Rajya Sabha but that does not mean that there is no scope of 'parliamentary conciliations/management' which is lacking in your present set up.  Except for five or six Ministries( Finance, Defence, Power, External Affairs, etc) the deliverance of performance of other forty odd Ministries is quite deplorable.  Captain there is something wrong with either your selection of the Ministers or else there lies of fault of performance monitoring.  Just meeting with Secretaries to the GOI over a cup of tea is no serious review of performance.  This meeting should include the Minister in-charge  as well as the Secretary  with a proper Agenda for the particular Ministry.

      As the time-tested Five Year Plans have been discarded but still the Niti Ayog is yet to take-off.  The Niti Ayog has lot to do and it seems it not yet ready to take the  baby steps.  Time-lines and proper objectives should be defined for the Niti Ayog.  It is a very important organ and a tool of the governance - the nation cannot watch and wait for months and years.

       The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has almost failed in its objective.  Monitoring and Implementation is key to success.  The process of evaluation and monitoring has just became routine and even the Monthly Note to the Cabinet Secretary has become cyclical and routine. These routine performance appraisal of  the Ministry of Statistics and Prog. Implementation, Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission (Niti Ayog) and the monthly report for Cab. Secretary have become redundant.  Hence, calls for something Urgent and out of the box treatment.Therefore, the Prime Minister should head a Panel for Evaluation and Performance Appraisal of the different Ministries where the Vice Chairman, Niti Ayog and the Cabinet Secretary should be associated as per assignment.

       This PEPA (Panel for Evaluation & Performance Appraisal) under the PMO should plan a Real Time Agenda for the development of India, as a whole.  Sub-Plans should be earmarked for each Ministry, Niti Ayog, UPSC and other constitutional bodies.  Expert Bodies (chambers of commerce, eminent economists, institutions of repute) may also be associated, if need be and as per requirement. The PEPA should meet every month either on the last Saturday or Sunday of the Month.  The Minutes of the Meeting should be displayed on the website of the PMO and NITI AYOG except the agenda items that are sensitive and top confidential pertaining to defence, external affairs and internal security.  

        The Nation has a right to know about the visible gains and measure losses owing to improper implementation of the schemes/plans under the GoI.  The quantification of presumable losses caused due to time-lags, delays and non-coordinated actions of various department resulting non-achievement of physical infrastructure, financial and revenue losses, non-generation of employment, etc.  These losses are not visible.  Therefore the MoM of the PEPA Meetings should be displayed on the Website of the Niti Ayog and the PMO.  Mr. Prime Minister, some senior bureaucrats may not agree with this prescription but get this suggestion evaluated by some competent professionals.  All the best to the Prime Minister in the days to come-by for fulfilling his promises.