Bangalore is the most pedestrian unfriendly city in the world. Footpaths are badly laid in most of Bangalore. In residential areas they are used for car parking or a huge slope is created on the footpath to ensure smooth entry and exit of the vehicle. Commercial establishments treat footpath as extension of their business area. Builders use it to construct temporary structures. Two wheelers use footpaths to commute in case of traffic hold-up.
The High Court of Karnataka has ruled in the recent past that it is the duty of the concerned authorities to ensure that pedestrians have free access to the footpaths but nobody seems to be bothered. The traffic police and BBMP (Authority in charge of ensuring Bangalore’s municipal well being) shift the responsibility of clearing footpaths on one another. Unlike traders, pedestrians don’t have any lobbying power (read political influence) to ensure free access to footpaths.
Encroachment of footpath by shopkeepers poses the biggest danger to pedestrians. They encroach upon the footpath and their customers park vehicles on edges of the road. Thus, pedestrians are compelled to walk on middle of the road.
Email complaints to these authorities never get answered as is the age old practice of writing to the newspaper. Any personally written letters with your residential address only leads to pressure for withdrawing the complaint.
RTI Act, 2005 is the only way such authorities can be made accountable. However a single application may not be of avail. There should be a RTI deluge from across the country. Any Government Officer would prefer to solve the problem than sign a few lakh applications. Please remember that only a senior officer is appointed as the Central Public Information Officer and lies cannot be told under the Act.
The ground work for this campaign is as follows:
The nature of the problem has to be identified and atleast 25 related questions evolved on the subject.
If citizens from Bangalore have a problem with their municipal authorities, in addition to RTI applications from them, lakhs of applications from all parts of the country should flood to the concerned authority with atleast 5 questions from the Question Bank formulated above.
Each applicant should insist for an individual reply. If you require to protect your identity you can insist for a reply by email, since there is nothing in the RTI Act to the contrary.
This is just a test campaign. We can initiate many more such campaigns for every city based on suggestions from co-bloggers.
I will be posting the set of 25 questions and who to address the application to once I receive atleast 20 to 25 replies to this blog. Choice of which 5 questions you want to ask will be left to your discretion.
We can change the way this country is governed if we can use the RTI Act, 2005 in an innovative way. Quell them with quantity that is our motto. We the upper middle class don’t vote in elections atleast let us spend Rs.10 per month to try and ring in radical changes in the country. I look forward to your suggestions and cooperation in this regard.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Need to redefine audit of Corporate India
What would you say of an examination system which lets the student choose the evaluator of his answer script? What would you say of a judicial system which allows the plaintiff or defendant to choose the judge? The obvious answer is “ridiculous” in both the cases because such a system has a lot of scope for manipulation. This being the case, why is the concept of allowing Public Listed Companies to choose their Auditors under Section 224 of the Companies Act is not being questioned or reviewed?
This provision requires a definite review after the Satyam fiasco. Let us not assume that the erstwhile SATYAM was the last realm from the corporate dark underbelly. An auditor who depends on the company’s board for renewal of his contract every year cannot be said to be above suspicion. Everybody who has attended an AGM knows that appointment of auditor is the least discussed topic. More often than not, an auditor recommended by the company is accepted in an AGM. If Corporate Audit should be made more credible, a system has to be established where the auditor does not depend on the company for his business.
The Comptroller and Audit General of India throughout its existence have come out with scathing audit observations about holy cows of the Government. What happens to these observations is not a matter of debate in this blog? The important thing to note is that the CAG of India is able to do so because it is an independent authority under the Constitution of India. A similar system is required for Corporate Audit.
I am not suggesting that Corporate Audit should be handled by the CAG of India. Let the existing set of auditors continue to audit Corporate India but who should audit a public limited company should be decided by a transparent computer aided system of the Company Law Board or SBI. Let every public limited company contribute a part of its profits to an Audit Fund and proceeds from this fund should be used to pay the auditors based on the amount of work done by them. No auditor should be allowed to audit the same company for more than once in a time frame of five or seven years. The list of approved auditors should be updated on a half yearly basis.
Such a system will make company audit fair, transparent and free of bias. This is what Captains of Corporate India so eminently clamor for in various television channels when it comes to functioning of the Government. As they say “Charity and Clarity should begin at home”. The CIIs and FICCIs of the world should pressure on the Government for an independent audit system for corporates. After all Public Money (read Small Investor) money is involved in public limited companies also.
If an auditor fails in his duty in India, he faces a ridiculous penalty of Rs 10,000 (under 200 dollars) and maximum imprisonment of two years. In contrast the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed after the Enron and WorldCom scandals, awards imprisonment for 20 years. When we want to be on par with US of A in terms of economic reforms, we should also argue for equally stringent punishments for corporate audit misdemeanors.
This provision requires a definite review after the Satyam fiasco. Let us not assume that the erstwhile SATYAM was the last realm from the corporate dark underbelly. An auditor who depends on the company’s board for renewal of his contract every year cannot be said to be above suspicion. Everybody who has attended an AGM knows that appointment of auditor is the least discussed topic. More often than not, an auditor recommended by the company is accepted in an AGM. If Corporate Audit should be made more credible, a system has to be established where the auditor does not depend on the company for his business.
The Comptroller and Audit General of India throughout its existence have come out with scathing audit observations about holy cows of the Government. What happens to these observations is not a matter of debate in this blog? The important thing to note is that the CAG of India is able to do so because it is an independent authority under the Constitution of India. A similar system is required for Corporate Audit.
I am not suggesting that Corporate Audit should be handled by the CAG of India. Let the existing set of auditors continue to audit Corporate India but who should audit a public limited company should be decided by a transparent computer aided system of the Company Law Board or SBI. Let every public limited company contribute a part of its profits to an Audit Fund and proceeds from this fund should be used to pay the auditors based on the amount of work done by them. No auditor should be allowed to audit the same company for more than once in a time frame of five or seven years. The list of approved auditors should be updated on a half yearly basis.
Such a system will make company audit fair, transparent and free of bias. This is what Captains of Corporate India so eminently clamor for in various television channels when it comes to functioning of the Government. As they say “Charity and Clarity should begin at home”. The CIIs and FICCIs of the world should pressure on the Government for an independent audit system for corporates. After all Public Money (read Small Investor) money is involved in public limited companies also.
If an auditor fails in his duty in India, he faces a ridiculous penalty of Rs 10,000 (under 200 dollars) and maximum imprisonment of two years. In contrast the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed after the Enron and WorldCom scandals, awards imprisonment for 20 years. When we want to be on par with US of A in terms of economic reforms, we should also argue for equally stringent punishments for corporate audit misdemeanors.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Stop Wailing! It is the BCCI XI which lost
Dear Cricket fans wake up. The World T20 cup is over and Pakistan is the winner. This is the team which had not played much cricket in the recent past; none of its players were part of the so-called melting pool of talent called IPL 2009 (thankfully that is why all their top cricketers were injury free).
Pakis had a home grown coach yet they won. Just wondering, Lalchand Rajput was the coach for the victorious T20 team of BCCI during 2007 and this guy is an Indian, isn’t he? Maybe the sub-continent former players who believe that cricketers should play cricket and not basketball, rugby, gymnastics, etc maybe after all right!
First things first, it is not the Indian team which lost but only the BCCI XI which lost. Here are the reasons:
The Counsel of BCCI and senior advocate, Mr K.K. Venugopal, during 2005 in the BCCI vs Zee Telefilms case has remarked “If India plays England, it is a match played by the official team of BCCI and not the official team of India,". If that is true, why don’t they market their team as “BCCI XI” and not as “Team India” Even the score sheet should reflect “BCCI XI” and not “India”
The Government of India in any manner has not recognised the BCCI XI to be the Indian Cricket Team. I have obtained this information from the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs under the RTI Act, 2005.
If the BCCI truly represents the interests of Indian Cricket, it would have not banned certain players from representing the country just because they played in the ICL. Just imagine, if the Government denied you a passport because you worked for a private airline, how would you feel? To play for one’s country is everybody’s right and nobody can deny it for the simple reason because he played for a private league.
India did not deserve to win. MSD seems to have got an opinion that there will never be bad times for him. He also seems to believe that the team is winning because of him. His strength and reason for entering into the team was he could hit the ball like an ox. From nowhere, he found this concept of “controlling” an innings. What do you need to control in a Team with so many big names? 11 of 20 odd balls is not acceptable in a T20 match especially if you have batsman like Yuvraj and Yusuf waiting in the dug-out. MSD made his name as a hitter and should stick to that. It is just the fast bowlers in India, who start off as tearaway fast bowlers and later become medium pacers to prolong their careers. MSD as such is an over-hyped captain and this defeat hopefully would put him in his place.
A draining tournament like IPL before the T20 World Cup was a recipe for disaster given the killing distances that were traveled in South Africa. Neither the players nor the BCCI were willing to forsake the big bucks. Not even one player came ahead and told that they want to restrict their exposure to IPL.
Here are some suggestions to improve BCCI
More than the coaches and supporting staff, we need to have foreigners as Board Members. Maybe somebody like an Allan Border, Rodney Marsh, Steve Waugh, etc will be ideal to progress BCCI in the right direction!
The BCCI can afford a professional media manager and certainly they don’t deserve Mr. Chamundeshwar.
BCCI should stop believing that it is the sole custodian of cricket in India. It should stop trying to sabotage alternative cricket formations like the ICL. The Government should explicitly prevent the BCCI from using the “Team India” tag if it attempts to behave like the landlord of Indian Cricket.
Stop believing in flat track bullies like Suresh Raina as the future of Indian Cricket. Such players cannot play a bouncer from Malinga or Fidel Edwards even if they are bowling after a Kumba Karna slumber.
The BCCI should restrict the number of teams in the Ranji Trophy to 8 or 10. The state associations should be compelled to prepare fast, bouncy and hard tracks.
The BCCI has to be compelled to invest 30% of its profits in Olympic Sports.
Indians should stop being obsessed with Cricket. Mad amounts are being paid by the public just to watch matches. The facilities that they get inside the stadium are appalling. The BCCI is always shrouded in realms of mystery. Why does it not make public the Physio report which claimed that as many as five key members playing in the T2O World Cup were not fully fit? It feels it is not accountable to the public so be it, you can repay them back by treating it as another entertainment package and not a national passion or religion.
Balu
Pakis had a home grown coach yet they won. Just wondering, Lalchand Rajput was the coach for the victorious T20 team of BCCI during 2007 and this guy is an Indian, isn’t he? Maybe the sub-continent former players who believe that cricketers should play cricket and not basketball, rugby, gymnastics, etc maybe after all right!
First things first, it is not the Indian team which lost but only the BCCI XI which lost. Here are the reasons:
The Counsel of BCCI and senior advocate, Mr K.K. Venugopal, during 2005 in the BCCI vs Zee Telefilms case has remarked “If India plays England, it is a match played by the official team of BCCI and not the official team of India,". If that is true, why don’t they market their team as “BCCI XI” and not as “Team India” Even the score sheet should reflect “BCCI XI” and not “India”
The Government of India in any manner has not recognised the BCCI XI to be the Indian Cricket Team. I have obtained this information from the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs under the RTI Act, 2005.
If the BCCI truly represents the interests of Indian Cricket, it would have not banned certain players from representing the country just because they played in the ICL. Just imagine, if the Government denied you a passport because you worked for a private airline, how would you feel? To play for one’s country is everybody’s right and nobody can deny it for the simple reason because he played for a private league.
India did not deserve to win. MSD seems to have got an opinion that there will never be bad times for him. He also seems to believe that the team is winning because of him. His strength and reason for entering into the team was he could hit the ball like an ox. From nowhere, he found this concept of “controlling” an innings. What do you need to control in a Team with so many big names? 11 of 20 odd balls is not acceptable in a T20 match especially if you have batsman like Yuvraj and Yusuf waiting in the dug-out. MSD made his name as a hitter and should stick to that. It is just the fast bowlers in India, who start off as tearaway fast bowlers and later become medium pacers to prolong their careers. MSD as such is an over-hyped captain and this defeat hopefully would put him in his place.
A draining tournament like IPL before the T20 World Cup was a recipe for disaster given the killing distances that were traveled in South Africa. Neither the players nor the BCCI were willing to forsake the big bucks. Not even one player came ahead and told that they want to restrict their exposure to IPL.
Here are some suggestions to improve BCCI
More than the coaches and supporting staff, we need to have foreigners as Board Members. Maybe somebody like an Allan Border, Rodney Marsh, Steve Waugh, etc will be ideal to progress BCCI in the right direction!
The BCCI can afford a professional media manager and certainly they don’t deserve Mr. Chamundeshwar.
BCCI should stop believing that it is the sole custodian of cricket in India. It should stop trying to sabotage alternative cricket formations like the ICL. The Government should explicitly prevent the BCCI from using the “Team India” tag if it attempts to behave like the landlord of Indian Cricket.
Stop believing in flat track bullies like Suresh Raina as the future of Indian Cricket. Such players cannot play a bouncer from Malinga or Fidel Edwards even if they are bowling after a Kumba Karna slumber.
The BCCI should restrict the number of teams in the Ranji Trophy to 8 or 10. The state associations should be compelled to prepare fast, bouncy and hard tracks.
The BCCI has to be compelled to invest 30% of its profits in Olympic Sports.
Indians should stop being obsessed with Cricket. Mad amounts are being paid by the public just to watch matches. The facilities that they get inside the stadium are appalling. The BCCI is always shrouded in realms of mystery. Why does it not make public the Physio report which claimed that as many as five key members playing in the T2O World Cup were not fully fit? It feels it is not accountable to the public so be it, you can repay them back by treating it as another entertainment package and not a national passion or religion.
Balu
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Inefficient Government!! Efficient Corporates?? (Part II
Is Corporate Sector more efficient than the Government? On the face of it yes but then there is a lot of difference between a flat track bully and a batsman who can contribute on all type of tracks. The number of citizens that a corporate organisation serves is miniscule and mostly it is to a select audience. Here is an example of new life insurance policies issued in India during 2007-2008
LIC Rs.376,12,599 crores
Private operators Rs. 132,61,558
(These figures have been obtained from the IRDA website)
Deposits during 2007-2008 (RBI figures)
PSU Banks (combined) Rs.84000 crores
Foreign Banks Rs.6826 crores.
Other Scheduled Commercial Banks Rs.29351 crores
This is in a scenario where Government is no longer an employment provider and most of the jobs are created in the private sector. It implies that even employees of the corporate sector prefer the “inefficient” public sector.
It would be inappropriate to suggest that the inefficiency of a corporate does not affect the society at large; after all, they do have shareholders, customers and employees who are derived from the society at large. Inefficiency of a corporate does affect these people. Also the inefficiencies of a corporate can adversely affect a society at large just like it did in Bhopal thanks to Union Carbide.
Here are some of the specific instances of corporate inefficiencies which have been documented:
It was around last year, some miscreants had defamed Chatrapathi Shivaji on a popular networking site. Based on request from the authorities, Airtel provided the details of the concerned account. A software engineer in Bangalore was arrested and sent to jail. After the individual spent nearly 50 days in jail, it was admitted by the company that they had goofed up in providing ISP address to the authorities? Is this not an example of corporate inefficiency? Airtel being such a major advertiser, it is wrong on our parts to expect that the issue will be taken up by the media on a war footing.
Have we forgotten the IPO fiasco wherein a registrar did all sort of bumbling with the allotment of shares ONGC, Bank of Maharashtra and Power Trading Corporation in 2004? How many share holders had to suffer due to their mismanagement and yours truly was one among them?
What about worms and other delicacies being found in the products of a chocolate major? Certainly they were not sold under the tagline “Chocolate n far eastern mix”!
Despite their lofty ads mobile connections of private operators are more prone to signal drops than that of BSNLs. The amount deducted by BSNL even on your pre-paid account can be questioned under the RTI Act. Do you have such an option with the private mobile operators?
What about the auditors who were in charge of Global Trust Bank and Satyam? Do you put it down to inefficiency or something else?
What about pesticide contents being found in the products of soft drink majors and later the PR exercise that was undertaken to cover up the whole issue?
PSU Banks during 2007-2008 disbursed advances worth Rs.60189 cores whereas Other Scheduled Commercial Banks and Foreign Banks forwarded advances worth Rs.28294. PSU Banks Net NPA during 2007-2008 reduced to 0.77 from 0.92 during the previous year; in case of Other Scheduled Commercial Banks it increased 1.09 during 2007-2008 from 0.97 during the previous years and in case of Foreign Banks it increased to 0.78 during 2007-2008 from 0.73 during the previous year. Is it a fair argument to conclude that a banking system which increases its NPAs despite a lower credit base is not all that efficient?
Recently a software major shifted most of its bank deposits from a premier private sector bank to a public sector bank.
Here are some personal examples of how I was taken for a ride by The After Sales Service (ASS) of consumer durable companies:
During 2002 we purchased a two door refrigerator and one of the doors was not opening properly. The company in question advertises a lot and a top MNC. Despite numerous complaints to the ASS of this company this issue did not get resolved. I tried to obtain the email id of the top honchos of the company but there was no information about it because these persons feel that customer mails are a nuisance (as if they would get paid if there are no customers) and hence don’t make available their contact details on the company’s website. Finally, I read in a business newspaper about the name of the Head of ASS of this company and wrote a stinking letter to him about his company, their advertising campaigns and spoofed their ad slogans. Finally the refrigerator was replaced after a period of 9 months. If making a customer run around in circles and the top management not being reachable is efficiency, I don’t support this view?
My mobile number is from a private telecom operator and since the number is known to many people I cannot change it to BSNL until number portability comes into being . PLEASE BE REMINDED THAT IT IS THE PRIVATE TELECOM COMPANIES WHO ARE GETTING ALL THE JITTERS OF MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY. During June 2008, I was overcharged an amount of Rs.50/- for downloading a wallpaper. The supposed time when I have downloaded the wallpaper, I was flying to Delhi. I have sent n number of mails to the ASS of this company but of no avail. Even I sent many letters to the founder of this company who cries his throat hoarse about the need for privatization. Obviously he is not responsible for the ASS of his company and hence the issue is yet to be sorted out. One thing I should tell about the efficiency of this company, as soon as I send an email to the ASS department, I get an acknowledgement that the issue will be sorted out within 24 hours but never get a reply.
I am not trying to ridicule anybody here. What I am trying to say is the Government maybe inefficient but its spectrum is large. The Corporate Sector is not exactly the Eldorado of efficiency, there is large scale inefficiency there also and not every complaint against inefficiency gets addressed. Infact the Government has more channels to address inefficiency, if a citizen minds. It is wrong to say that inefficiency of a corporate does not affect the public at large. Also it is wrong to say that inefficient employees in a private company get instant justice. This concept does not work especially in Service departments of Consumer Durables.
How do you know an inefficient call centre employee has been removed from the job based on your complaint. Atleast in Government you get to know that the person is still there in his job. That is where the dichotomy of accountability in corporate sector lies.
THE REASON WHY CORPORATE IS ABLE TO MAINTAIN ITS EFFICIENCY IMAGE IS ONLY BECAUSE OF BETTER PR SKILLS. THE MEDIA WHICH DEPENDS ON ADVERTISEMENT FOR THEIR REVENUES WOULD ANTOGANISE THEM BY PUBLISHING ADVERSE DETAILS.
Next part I will focus on corruption in Government.
LIC Rs.376,12,599 crores
Private operators Rs. 132,61,558
(These figures have been obtained from the IRDA website)
Deposits during 2007-2008 (RBI figures)
PSU Banks (combined) Rs.84000 crores
Foreign Banks Rs.6826 crores.
Other Scheduled Commercial Banks Rs.29351 crores
This is in a scenario where Government is no longer an employment provider and most of the jobs are created in the private sector. It implies that even employees of the corporate sector prefer the “inefficient” public sector.
It would be inappropriate to suggest that the inefficiency of a corporate does not affect the society at large; after all, they do have shareholders, customers and employees who are derived from the society at large. Inefficiency of a corporate does affect these people. Also the inefficiencies of a corporate can adversely affect a society at large just like it did in Bhopal thanks to Union Carbide.
Here are some of the specific instances of corporate inefficiencies which have been documented:
It was around last year, some miscreants had defamed Chatrapathi Shivaji on a popular networking site. Based on request from the authorities, Airtel provided the details of the concerned account. A software engineer in Bangalore was arrested and sent to jail. After the individual spent nearly 50 days in jail, it was admitted by the company that they had goofed up in providing ISP address to the authorities? Is this not an example of corporate inefficiency? Airtel being such a major advertiser, it is wrong on our parts to expect that the issue will be taken up by the media on a war footing.
Have we forgotten the IPO fiasco wherein a registrar did all sort of bumbling with the allotment of shares ONGC, Bank of Maharashtra and Power Trading Corporation in 2004? How many share holders had to suffer due to their mismanagement and yours truly was one among them?
What about worms and other delicacies being found in the products of a chocolate major? Certainly they were not sold under the tagline “Chocolate n far eastern mix”!
Despite their lofty ads mobile connections of private operators are more prone to signal drops than that of BSNLs. The amount deducted by BSNL even on your pre-paid account can be questioned under the RTI Act. Do you have such an option with the private mobile operators?
What about the auditors who were in charge of Global Trust Bank and Satyam? Do you put it down to inefficiency or something else?
What about pesticide contents being found in the products of soft drink majors and later the PR exercise that was undertaken to cover up the whole issue?
PSU Banks during 2007-2008 disbursed advances worth Rs.60189 cores whereas Other Scheduled Commercial Banks and Foreign Banks forwarded advances worth Rs.28294. PSU Banks Net NPA during 2007-2008 reduced to 0.77 from 0.92 during the previous year; in case of Other Scheduled Commercial Banks it increased 1.09 during 2007-2008 from 0.97 during the previous years and in case of Foreign Banks it increased to 0.78 during 2007-2008 from 0.73 during the previous year. Is it a fair argument to conclude that a banking system which increases its NPAs despite a lower credit base is not all that efficient?
Recently a software major shifted most of its bank deposits from a premier private sector bank to a public sector bank.
Here are some personal examples of how I was taken for a ride by The After Sales Service (ASS) of consumer durable companies:
During 2002 we purchased a two door refrigerator and one of the doors was not opening properly. The company in question advertises a lot and a top MNC. Despite numerous complaints to the ASS of this company this issue did not get resolved. I tried to obtain the email id of the top honchos of the company but there was no information about it because these persons feel that customer mails are a nuisance (as if they would get paid if there are no customers) and hence don’t make available their contact details on the company’s website. Finally, I read in a business newspaper about the name of the Head of ASS of this company and wrote a stinking letter to him about his company, their advertising campaigns and spoofed their ad slogans. Finally the refrigerator was replaced after a period of 9 months. If making a customer run around in circles and the top management not being reachable is efficiency, I don’t support this view?
My mobile number is from a private telecom operator and since the number is known to many people I cannot change it to BSNL until number portability comes into being . PLEASE BE REMINDED THAT IT IS THE PRIVATE TELECOM COMPANIES WHO ARE GETTING ALL THE JITTERS OF MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY. During June 2008, I was overcharged an amount of Rs.50/- for downloading a wallpaper. The supposed time when I have downloaded the wallpaper, I was flying to Delhi. I have sent n number of mails to the ASS of this company but of no avail. Even I sent many letters to the founder of this company who cries his throat hoarse about the need for privatization. Obviously he is not responsible for the ASS of his company and hence the issue is yet to be sorted out. One thing I should tell about the efficiency of this company, as soon as I send an email to the ASS department, I get an acknowledgement that the issue will be sorted out within 24 hours but never get a reply.
I am not trying to ridicule anybody here. What I am trying to say is the Government maybe inefficient but its spectrum is large. The Corporate Sector is not exactly the Eldorado of efficiency, there is large scale inefficiency there also and not every complaint against inefficiency gets addressed. Infact the Government has more channels to address inefficiency, if a citizen minds. It is wrong to say that inefficiency of a corporate does not affect the public at large. Also it is wrong to say that inefficient employees in a private company get instant justice. This concept does not work especially in Service departments of Consumer Durables.
How do you know an inefficient call centre employee has been removed from the job based on your complaint. Atleast in Government you get to know that the person is still there in his job. That is where the dichotomy of accountability in corporate sector lies.
THE REASON WHY CORPORATE IS ABLE TO MAINTAIN ITS EFFICIENCY IMAGE IS ONLY BECAUSE OF BETTER PR SKILLS. THE MEDIA WHICH DEPENDS ON ADVERTISEMENT FOR THEIR REVENUES WOULD ANTOGANISE THEM BY PUBLISHING ADVERSE DETAILS.
Next part I will focus on corruption in Government.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Who wants to be a Cabinet Minister in India?
This blog is not about criticizing any particular political party. I have tried to maintain total impartiality in the views expressed herein.
Becoming a Cabinet Minister is no child play and should not be subject to any seat sharing formula. There is no harm with anybody becoming a Minister but to become a Cabinet Minister one has to have certain amount of administrative experience. A green horn should not be made a Cabinet Minister directly no matter what the political compulsions are. Just like a law was passed limiting the size of the ministries, it is time that a law has to be passed prescribing the minimum administrative experience an individual has to posses before being made a minister and most importantly a Cabinet Minister.
The Cabinet of this country is the highest decision making body. Any economic investment by the Government totaling more than Rs.150 crores has to be decided by the Cabinet. The Cabinet also decides on important matters of security, laws and economic affairs. A Cabinet Minister is the person in whose table the buck finally stops in a Ministry. He has to answer all the Starred and Unstarred Questions of his Ministry. In these days of televised Parliaments, handling a Starred Question without the required expertise and tact can be hugely embarrassing for the ruling party. It must be noted that not every Department is entitled to a Cabinet Minister. Only a select few get a Cabinet Minister to head them. Most of the ministries are managed by the Prime Minister either through Minister of States or Secretaries of the concerned Departments. This is the importance of a Cabinet Minister but given the eagerness to appoint anyone as Cabinet Minister (in the past decade or so) the same has been trivialized.
Ideally an individual has to serve as a Member of the Parliament and prove his credentials through the type of questions he asks; his debating skills; use of MPLAD money and if required be, by the quality of Private Members Bills that he brings forward. It is then a MP should be nominated to the various Standing Committees of the Parliament. The Standing Committees review on regular basis working of various Government Departments. There should be no serious objection if a MP is directly nominated to one of the Standing Committees. Based on a MP’s contribution in these Standing Committees, he is then nominated to the Public Accounts Committee. Any Government Servant worth his salt dreads the day when he has to face the Public Accounts Committee. This consists of elite Members of the Parliament (either in credibility or experience). A ruling party MP who serves with distinction on the PAC is to be considered for a Minister of State; later as Minister of State with Independent and finally a Cabinet Minister.
I am not against making exception to this rule provided the MP in question has handled Government work in a senior capacity or has been part of any international organisation or a corporate body or a renowned NGO. Such exceptions are welcome because they increase the credibility of the Government but to appoint a first time MP as a Cabinet Minister based on political considerations is not doing anybody proud. It is all the more shameful to see the so called “educated electronic media” clamoring for young MPs to be made as Cabinet Ministers. It is as good as “Child Marriage”.
Becoming a Cabinet Minister is no child play and should not be subject to any seat sharing formula. There is no harm with anybody becoming a Minister but to become a Cabinet Minister one has to have certain amount of administrative experience. A green horn should not be made a Cabinet Minister directly no matter what the political compulsions are. Just like a law was passed limiting the size of the ministries, it is time that a law has to be passed prescribing the minimum administrative experience an individual has to posses before being made a minister and most importantly a Cabinet Minister.
The Cabinet of this country is the highest decision making body. Any economic investment by the Government totaling more than Rs.150 crores has to be decided by the Cabinet. The Cabinet also decides on important matters of security, laws and economic affairs. A Cabinet Minister is the person in whose table the buck finally stops in a Ministry. He has to answer all the Starred and Unstarred Questions of his Ministry. In these days of televised Parliaments, handling a Starred Question without the required expertise and tact can be hugely embarrassing for the ruling party. It must be noted that not every Department is entitled to a Cabinet Minister. Only a select few get a Cabinet Minister to head them. Most of the ministries are managed by the Prime Minister either through Minister of States or Secretaries of the concerned Departments. This is the importance of a Cabinet Minister but given the eagerness to appoint anyone as Cabinet Minister (in the past decade or so) the same has been trivialized.
Ideally an individual has to serve as a Member of the Parliament and prove his credentials through the type of questions he asks; his debating skills; use of MPLAD money and if required be, by the quality of Private Members Bills that he brings forward. It is then a MP should be nominated to the various Standing Committees of the Parliament. The Standing Committees review on regular basis working of various Government Departments. There should be no serious objection if a MP is directly nominated to one of the Standing Committees. Based on a MP’s contribution in these Standing Committees, he is then nominated to the Public Accounts Committee. Any Government Servant worth his salt dreads the day when he has to face the Public Accounts Committee. This consists of elite Members of the Parliament (either in credibility or experience). A ruling party MP who serves with distinction on the PAC is to be considered for a Minister of State; later as Minister of State with Independent and finally a Cabinet Minister.
I am not against making exception to this rule provided the MP in question has handled Government work in a senior capacity or has been part of any international organisation or a corporate body or a renowned NGO. Such exceptions are welcome because they increase the credibility of the Government but to appoint a first time MP as a Cabinet Minister based on political considerations is not doing anybody proud. It is all the more shameful to see the so called “educated electronic media” clamoring for young MPs to be made as Cabinet Ministers. It is as good as “Child Marriage”.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Bollywood Shockers of the 70s
http://indiaregion.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/05/presenting-shockers-from-bollywood-of-the-70-s.htm
Monday, May 11, 2009
Reflecting the apathy of the Educated Indian Middle Class Voter
Click on the link below to read this interesting blog of mine on sulekha.com
http://indiaregion.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/05/i-am-the-educated-indian-middle-class-adult-my-entry.htm
http://indiaregion.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/05/i-am-the-educated-indian-middle-class-adult-my-entry.htm
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
IPL is not above General Elections 2009
There is no need to hold IPL during general elections. IPL is not about national pride. It is just a money making venture by entertaining public whereas general elections decide the future of a country.
IPL is owned by BCCI. BCCI has banned ICL players from representing India. How can players of Indian origin be banned from representing “India” just because they play for a private league? No Government authority has authorized BCCI to use the “Team India” tag. I am making this statement based on the information I have obtained under the RTI Act, 2005 from Minister of Youth and Sports Affair, Government of India. That being the case why should the whole of India put itself at a security risk just for an exclusive organisation.
In some places of India, loss in a cricket match leads to rioting and IPL with its strong regional affinities is exposed to this risk. Thus, IPL matches should not be held on the previous day as well as on day of the polling.
Most of the BCCI bosses are active politicians. Thus, the chances of spectators of IPL getting influenced by a politician’s contribution to IPL cannot be ruled out.
The issues raised by political parties would be lost in the din of IPL craze. Further, the audience for political rallies is likely to suffer because most of them would be busy seeing IPL.
Various non-governmental organisations are running numerous campaigns to increase the percentage of voting. Their publicity budget can never match that of IPL and hence would go unnoticed.
IPL has promised to increase its security budget by 10 times. Despite their assurance, the Government is obliged as per protocol to provide state security as and when foreign dignitaries visit our country. The foreign players in IPL are no less than Ambassadors of their country. Hence, the state is obliged to provide security and that is likely to reduce security for the voters as well as the leaders. This situation is not applicable and any untoward incident will put the entire country in an embarrassing situation.
It is elections which make or mar a country and the need is to encourage participation. Anything which has scope of reducing participation/interest in it should be put on hold. It does not matter if a few cash rich franchisees lose a few crores of Rupees. In the days of economic downturn wherein thousands of jobs read livelihood are lost in a day, the loss would be small change for the cash rich franchisees.
IPL is owned by BCCI. BCCI has banned ICL players from representing India. How can players of Indian origin be banned from representing “India” just because they play for a private league? No Government authority has authorized BCCI to use the “Team India” tag. I am making this statement based on the information I have obtained under the RTI Act, 2005 from Minister of Youth and Sports Affair, Government of India. That being the case why should the whole of India put itself at a security risk just for an exclusive organisation.
In some places of India, loss in a cricket match leads to rioting and IPL with its strong regional affinities is exposed to this risk. Thus, IPL matches should not be held on the previous day as well as on day of the polling.
Most of the BCCI bosses are active politicians. Thus, the chances of spectators of IPL getting influenced by a politician’s contribution to IPL cannot be ruled out.
The issues raised by political parties would be lost in the din of IPL craze. Further, the audience for political rallies is likely to suffer because most of them would be busy seeing IPL.
Various non-governmental organisations are running numerous campaigns to increase the percentage of voting. Their publicity budget can never match that of IPL and hence would go unnoticed.
IPL has promised to increase its security budget by 10 times. Despite their assurance, the Government is obliged as per protocol to provide state security as and when foreign dignitaries visit our country. The foreign players in IPL are no less than Ambassadors of their country. Hence, the state is obliged to provide security and that is likely to reduce security for the voters as well as the leaders. This situation is not applicable and any untoward incident will put the entire country in an embarrassing situation.
It is elections which make or mar a country and the need is to encourage participation. Anything which has scope of reducing participation/interest in it should be put on hold. It does not matter if a few cash rich franchisees lose a few crores of Rupees. In the days of economic downturn wherein thousands of jobs read livelihood are lost in a day, the loss would be small change for the cash rich franchisees.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Why India is safer than Pakistan
After the ignominious Lahore attack on the Sri Lankan team, the popular notion is that India and Pakistan have become unsafe countries. Here are a few reasons why India is safer than Pakistan:
1.India does not belong to any religion.
2.India assimilates other cultures and does not decimate them.
3.Desire for progress always wins over conflicts eg: Punjab and Kashmir.
4.Development is the issue in our country not religious practices.
5.Our education system is based on needs of the modern world.
6.We want to emulate progress of other countries not destruct them.
7.We build IT Parks not Opium Farms.
8.The Civilian Government is the supreme authority.
9.The Judiciary is active in India
10.We have had uninterrupted dose of democracy for the past 60 plus years save for 3 years during emergency.
11.Our citizens and leaders atleast become united in adverse times.
12.We have Mahatama Gandhi, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Sachin Tendulkar as our role models.
13.We have campus recruitments not terrorist recruitment fairs.
14.Most citizens consider it a sacrilege to be jailed.
15.There are more number of mobile phone owners than the ones who posses a gun.
16.Our children are not taught to hate a country
17.Citizens from various religions have held important positions in various spheres of life.
18.Last but not least, Visiting dignitaries are given maximum security no matter how much inconvenience the public at large is put to.
Balu
1.India does not belong to any religion.
2.India assimilates other cultures and does not decimate them.
3.Desire for progress always wins over conflicts eg: Punjab and Kashmir.
4.Development is the issue in our country not religious practices.
5.Our education system is based on needs of the modern world.
6.We want to emulate progress of other countries not destruct them.
7.We build IT Parks not Opium Farms.
8.The Civilian Government is the supreme authority.
9.The Judiciary is active in India
10.We have had uninterrupted dose of democracy for the past 60 plus years save for 3 years during emergency.
11.Our citizens and leaders atleast become united in adverse times.
12.We have Mahatama Gandhi, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Sachin Tendulkar as our role models.
13.We have campus recruitments not terrorist recruitment fairs.
14.Most citizens consider it a sacrilege to be jailed.
15.There are more number of mobile phone owners than the ones who posses a gun.
16.Our children are not taught to hate a country
17.Citizens from various religions have held important positions in various spheres of life.
18.Last but not least, Visiting dignitaries are given maximum security no matter how much inconvenience the public at large is put to.
Balu
Friday, February 6, 2009
Mending the Moral Police
Moral Police are becoming omnipotent in India. They are deciding on everything right from what citizens should wear; what they should celebrate; how they should move with the opposite sex, behavior in a discotheque, etc. This is barbarianism institutionalised. What one wears and celebrates should not create a sore feeling in anybody’s bum?
Is sexual assault against women an event consequent to westernization of our society? No, since ages, women unfortunately have been treated as objects of desire. Ravana did not abduct Sitaji under western influence nor did Kauravas disrobe Draupadi after watching FTV. Devadasi system; Sati; Child Marriage; Varnas are all part of our culture. Do we continue with them just because they are part of our culture?
A woman’s modesty never gets outraged because of her dress. If that was the reason, do all those females in rural areas who get raped wearing a jean? Why was that Nun in Kandhamal, Orissa gang raped? Was she wearing short skirts or tight jeans? No, it all boils down to the mindset and upbringing of the guy involved in the incident. A Jean or a skirt can be worn demurely and at the same time a saree can be worn provocatively. It is purely an individual choice and nobody should have any objection as long as that individual does not come out on the road NUDE.
A few years back, a BPO executive (a married lady) in Bangalore was raped and murdered by her cab driver. She was not vulgarly dressed on that dreaded night. The driver was later arrested and till date he has not been punished. Is it part of our culture to rape married ladies betraying their trust? Is it a part of our culture to take ages to punish guys who outrage the modesty of a lady? Why don’t the moral police protest against this long delay as well as scores of rape cases where justice has been delayed or denied?
Prostitution is widely spread in our country. Many of the ladies are being forced/ tricked into it. Is prostitution a part of our culture? Why does not the moral police get into the various brothels, liberate the ladies and close such “body shops”?
What is the problem of moral police, if somebody gets intimate inside a discotheque? Couples after downing a few pegs are expected to get intimate in a pub/discotheque but are the elected representatives expected to throw mikes at each other and disrupt proceedings in a legislature. Is such behavior a part of our culture? Is horse trading a part of our culture? Is accepting bribe a part of our culture?
If I give a Valentine card/gift to a lady, it is left upto her to decide whether it is appropriate or not. Who are the moral police to object? Are these self appointed guardians not aware of the saying “Jab Miya Biwi Razi, Kya Karega Qazi”.
These mucks should get their facts right. The society is changing fast and it is happening at a neck breaking pace. When most of the high paid jobs are western, how can the behaviors be different? Change has to be accepted irrespective of whether it is good or bad. You can moderate its impact by persuasive methods and not by barbaric means.
If you want to wean the youth away from western culture, don’t use force. Remember the Valentine celebrations became more popular amongst the youth after Shiva Sena objected to it in Mumbai. Be a Vivekananda to talk to the youth. Don’t be hollow inside and ethical outside.
I am not celebrating Valentine’s Day because I don’t believe that love requires a day to say. My advice to those who want to celebrate Valentine’s Day is don’t be cowed down by the moral police and abandon your celebrations. Please remember to carry bouquet in one hand and a hockey stick in another. Learn to use your feet on the dance floor as well as kick ass these self appointed guardians. In case the law enforcing agencies don’t discharge their duties of protecting you, be prepared to talk to the moral police in the language which they understand. Pack them off with a black eye.
Any intemperate language on my part in this blog may kindly be excused, it is more vent of anguish by a citizen who believes in “live and let live”.
Is sexual assault against women an event consequent to westernization of our society? No, since ages, women unfortunately have been treated as objects of desire. Ravana did not abduct Sitaji under western influence nor did Kauravas disrobe Draupadi after watching FTV. Devadasi system; Sati; Child Marriage; Varnas are all part of our culture. Do we continue with them just because they are part of our culture?
A woman’s modesty never gets outraged because of her dress. If that was the reason, do all those females in rural areas who get raped wearing a jean? Why was that Nun in Kandhamal, Orissa gang raped? Was she wearing short skirts or tight jeans? No, it all boils down to the mindset and upbringing of the guy involved in the incident. A Jean or a skirt can be worn demurely and at the same time a saree can be worn provocatively. It is purely an individual choice and nobody should have any objection as long as that individual does not come out on the road NUDE.
A few years back, a BPO executive (a married lady) in Bangalore was raped and murdered by her cab driver. She was not vulgarly dressed on that dreaded night. The driver was later arrested and till date he has not been punished. Is it part of our culture to rape married ladies betraying their trust? Is it a part of our culture to take ages to punish guys who outrage the modesty of a lady? Why don’t the moral police protest against this long delay as well as scores of rape cases where justice has been delayed or denied?
Prostitution is widely spread in our country. Many of the ladies are being forced/ tricked into it. Is prostitution a part of our culture? Why does not the moral police get into the various brothels, liberate the ladies and close such “body shops”?
What is the problem of moral police, if somebody gets intimate inside a discotheque? Couples after downing a few pegs are expected to get intimate in a pub/discotheque but are the elected representatives expected to throw mikes at each other and disrupt proceedings in a legislature. Is such behavior a part of our culture? Is horse trading a part of our culture? Is accepting bribe a part of our culture?
If I give a Valentine card/gift to a lady, it is left upto her to decide whether it is appropriate or not. Who are the moral police to object? Are these self appointed guardians not aware of the saying “Jab Miya Biwi Razi, Kya Karega Qazi”.
These mucks should get their facts right. The society is changing fast and it is happening at a neck breaking pace. When most of the high paid jobs are western, how can the behaviors be different? Change has to be accepted irrespective of whether it is good or bad. You can moderate its impact by persuasive methods and not by barbaric means.
If you want to wean the youth away from western culture, don’t use force. Remember the Valentine celebrations became more popular amongst the youth after Shiva Sena objected to it in Mumbai. Be a Vivekananda to talk to the youth. Don’t be hollow inside and ethical outside.
I am not celebrating Valentine’s Day because I don’t believe that love requires a day to say. My advice to those who want to celebrate Valentine’s Day is don’t be cowed down by the moral police and abandon your celebrations. Please remember to carry bouquet in one hand and a hockey stick in another. Learn to use your feet on the dance floor as well as kick ass these self appointed guardians. In case the law enforcing agencies don’t discharge their duties of protecting you, be prepared to talk to the moral police in the language which they understand. Pack them off with a black eye.
Any intemperate language on my part in this blog may kindly be excused, it is more vent of anguish by a citizen who believes in “live and let live”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
