Sunday, 30 June 2013

Compassion Day

Human civilisation is based on fraternity and feelings of compassion for fellow beings. But that is often forgotten in India. Three days ago Compassion Day was celebrated by one of our dailies. On this day the modernised Indians brought their cooks, drivers, servants, guards to banks to open accounts, to clinics for medical check-ups, to government offices,to obtain social security cards. Others got insurance policies, and others made fixed deposits for their helpers. There was an open show of compassion and kindness as never before seen. Generally, we show our upper class status distinctly and we "mind the gap" or "keep the social distance" from the lower classes. This is because of our feudal past. And as per our cultural backgrounds we want to be seen as superior. Generally we want to maintain our higher status; we observe the hierarchy of humans at all times.The Compassion Day was different, it was very human. It was generally thought that 'egalitarianism' is a thought process which we have not invented yet. Due to our deeds of previous births, we have lower/higher classes(castes). That is wrong thinking, we are all born/created equal, nobody is inferior or superior. We had always thought of ourselves to be superior that others, it is urban living that has brought us into close contact with each other and perceive the social world differently. We wish that all those reading this blog also show compassion to our helpers every day..then future of India would be bright.

Floods and water scarcities

Vast climatic disturbances are causing a havoc in India. Landslides have destroyed highways and people are stranded in several holy towns like Kedarnath and Badrinath in the state of  Uttarakhand. While more rains are expected in the northern parts of India, and the flood situation in the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Assam is scaring us. For the rest of the country, water scarcity is equally frightening. The issue of providing drinking water for all citizens is under review. Economic condition of the country is largely determined by the availability of the precious resource--water. Pricing water which is used for commercial purposes is not possible as anyone can pump up as much ground water as one wants. Beverage companies had long started their factories at key points where there are water sources. These multi-million Rupee beverage firms should be charged for usage as they are using up India's precious water resource-water; now water is not freely available for all as ground water is running low. Poor people living in slum like conditions take ground water using pumps, and they should not be charged for the few litres of water they take .After all water is a free resource in India. This fact is taken advantage of by five star hotels which have lavish swimming pools and huge fountains. How to treat these commercial uses differently from others? How about you and me? Water is free for all citizens, the service charges of bringing it to our homes is costly. We must use this precious resource carefully as our very lives depend on this.Is water our fundamental right? No. But it is our legal right. It is an implied right; right to life is a fundamental right. And water is needed for life, so it is an implied right. As citizens of India, we should be provided with this life-giving resource. We can pay for the service of bringing it to our homes in pipes,as it is a privilege. And  50% of India gets this privilege of pipe water.Will we get water for ever? No. It is not sustainable as it was thought to be. Only when the clouds bring down the water as rain, it is available. If rain comes in small amounts, then the soil cannot soak it in to replenish the water table. In sufficient rain or only one downpour a in a season does not help replenish the water table. Due to global climate is change, some parts are not going to get enough rain water. Then what will happen? We may have to migrate to the place where there is water. As long as water is flowing in the ground below us, we can enjoy this flowing resource and live comfortably.  We must make sure that ground water is not completely depleted. Let us take care of it, and use it judiciously.

Saturday, 29 June 2013

Mining Minerals From Deep Sea

New solution tap mineral source has been discovered.There is a new "gold rush" as mining the sea bed can yield good results. In deep seas vents have naturally formed which gush out mineral rich water and heat from inner earth. Deposits of copper, cadmium, mercury and gold are found here in good concentrations. Many countries have already made submarines attached with drilling mechanism, ready to drill for natural resources. Keenly interested nations like America and Great Britain have made the machines which are ready to go. But licences have been granted to countries like China, Russian and Belgium, as they have paid for it. International Sea-bed Authority of the UN sells these licences. Deep sea engineering has grown very fast, as the race to get to the resources underneath the sea has begun. Is sea free for all? Its mineral resources are for those who have the equipment to get them(and buy licence to mine it)So if we do not design our deep sea subs, or develop drilling technology, we will lag behind. As it is we are lagging behind in industrialization. We are behind developed nations because we did not catch up with the latest developments.We should not do it again.We should not lag behind in this new quest to conquer the sea and its riches.

Friday, 28 June 2013

Hope in form of genetically modified crops

While we are trapped in spiralling whirlpool of economic down trends new hope comes from genetically modified crops. We may get good benefits from good results of scientifically developed crops. Super crops have come to feed the billions of people who need food to survive. Rice, wheat maize and caster oil are now approved genetically engineered crops as per Genetic Engineering Appraisal committee. Now the field trials of these crops are cleared as several states of the India have different policies. Bio-technology Regulatory Authority Bill is still pending approval in the Parliament. And Supreme Court has not passed any judgement on pending cases on powers of regulatory body for genetically modified species. More than that, there are 53 clearances for trials(for experiments for making genetically modified organisms) pending with Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee. But different state governments have given clearances for tests on genetically modified crops. This is like putting the horse before the cart. While bt brinjal or egg plant is held suspicious(banned), other genetically modified plant species will be on our table soon.  Individual companies doing research on the species have got approvals from the state governments. But Indian scientists and scientific organizations are going to start the race late. Can we give the people informed choices, whether to choose genetically modified or not to choose? Are the people aware that genetically engineered crops can affect their health adversely? Is not the government responsible for health hazards that genetically modified foods pose? 

Tuesday, 25 June 2013

Education –most important for us

Only 4% of GDP is spent on education, but it is held as central part of life by all Indians. All aspire to become professionals and earn as many degrees as possible to get good jobs. But with large part of population being students, expecting jobs for all seems impossible. So what will be future be like when all are educated but jobs are too few? People will work for small incomes, and there will be protests. Can we really give them all jobs? We cannot promise them the moon.  Proliferation of educational institutions and the deep desire by all Indians to educate their children has created the present situation. There are 33000 colleges and 650 large educational institutions in India. There is a problem in this, when we offer education for such large masses, the quality of education suffers. Many graduates have learnt their subjects by memorizing answers. If an answer required the student to think analytically, they cannot reply. At cognitive level they have really not learnt anything. Functional literacy is questioned now. So we spend more and more on education, larger percentage of the GDP. But input in money does not result in output in quality. Quality of the education is erased when quantity of graduates increase. The input should stress on quality of education, like improving qualifications of teachers, better teaching methods, and better testing methods. And most of all more moral commitment to impart skills is needed. If we do not address this problem now, we may have a demographic nightmare than a demographic dividend. When we cannot offer good jobs for good education, the purpose of imparting skills is defeated. When will we use these skills?When lawyers do not have cases, what good is their knowledge of laws? When architects do not have jobs how they can design buildings? When technicians cannot get employment what is the purpose of education? Providing jobs is the duty of a responsible government. When we do not have that, then what? Goddess of Wisdom must show us the way now.

Informal ways in Formal organizations

Favouritism in formal organisations is ever present in India. We do not know how to be formal in formal organisations.When we are performing roles in formal organisations, we tend to take decisions based which are not logical. Why? This is because we have really not learnt the prerequisites to our roles. Many use the capacities of their statuses to show favouritism, we manoeuvre situation in benefit of recruiting persons of our choice, with the result, we choose mediocre persons(our friends or relatives). Incompatible persons thus enter the organization.And these mediocre persons make the organisation dysfunctional, as they are not chosen as per they capacities. Even we get best proposals to alter our organisations,we would ultimately succumb to favouritism. This applies at the larger levels too, when the politics of decision making goes on. We use this kind of manoeuvring more diligently and adopt more hidden ways to bypass the rules of a formal organisation to bring in our favourite persons. With the result, we have a mediocre organization. Here rules are never meant to be applied, only by-passed. So we have mediocrity in our government, semi-government organisations. But in private organisations, favouritism is not adopted; only compatible persons are chosen for given roles. Thus private organizations do well while government organizations fail on the long run. We have private schools which turn out good students with good education. While government schools fail miserably. Private hospitals run well, while government hospitals spread diseases. But private organizations cater to the needs of the upper most class or the rich. The average citizen (who is poor) has no chance of getting good health benefits or good education. This is India.

Saturday, 22 June 2013

The free falling Rupee

Value of the Indian currency(Rupee) is spiraling downwards. It is 59.98 against the dollar. This has never happened before, it had never depreciated to  this low level before. Rupee has become this weak because of the current account deficit. Last year the current account deficit was 5% of GDP last year. Rupee will further get devalued when the foreign investors who are expected to pull out their funds from India. They believe that developed  economies can give good results while the emerging markets will be unsteady. Excess government spending on badly conceived policies has resulted in lesser development. Better development would have fuelled growth of the economy.Emerging markets have big problems of their own. Still there are foreign firms which do well in India like those selling mutual funds. Investment patterns of the affluent class is very attractive for foreign financial firms. Banking services for non-resident Indian is another great potential for foreign financial firms.Better technology of developed nations can give better results that manpower depended developing nations. And that is the emerging truth which we must learn from. Infrastructures must be made very fast.Manufacturing sector must be developed.Financial reforms can steer us out of this crisis.We must start exporting more and more.We will stop the free fall of the Rupee as early as possible.


Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Eco-disaster-Fury of flash floods

Eco-catastrophe here is caused by stone mining on river beds and 680 hydel projects which have unleashed vast fury of floods.Man-made disasters cause heavy loss of lives and property, this in one of the biggest in India's recent history.Disaster struck in the state of Uttrakhand as holy places were destroyed by fury of flood waters. Too many hydel projects in the upper part of the rivers had caused this. As many dams were constructed without environmental assessments, this was bound to happen. Nature has shown that it can destroy badly planned man-made infrastructures in a minute. Due to deforestation, soil had become very loose and landslides were highly probable. With a first heavy rainfall of the monsoon season, top soil on the hills were washed away and deposited in the valleys. These valleys had not experienced floods before. When rainwater was blocked passage by newer dams and hydel projects, it had to take another passage down the mountains, and it had flooded the valleys which had never had a river passing through them. Now there are a river ways have been charted by the floods. Over enthusiastic dam builders had needed advice of geologists.Soil mechanics was never considered while constructing dams. Tourism sprawl had led to construction of several multistory hotels on hill sides.People had made settlements in banks without giving the river the space to expand (rivers swell in monsoons) Riparian zones were never respected. Now they will be respected, as a lesson in geology has been taught.
It is very sad that holy places like Kedarnath had been badly affected. The tall holy temple is buried half way by mud and sediments. We worship the glaciers, 'Gangotri' and 'Yamunotri', from which our holy river, Ganges starts. We have built sacred temples here. We worship nature and the mountains (holy mountains which gives us these rivers) but we had forgotten to take care of our mountains. Deforestation has caused this eco-catastrophe. We will learn now, 40 landslides have destroyed the roadways here. Thousands of homes and hotels have been reduced to ruins.Thousands are stranded and hundreds have died..Himalayas- abode of Lord Shiva we pray will not show such fury again...

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Eating away like termites within

Today several parts of Norther India are experiencing flash floods, we need to rescue people whole have been stranded in remote areas. Our whole nation needs to be rescued from faulty bureaucracy, no body can rescue us.Structure of the government is made by a network of responsibilities of government's officers. When the officers only take pay salaries and do not carry out responsibilities, they are eating away our nation's wealth from within. The nation like the tree(infested with termites) will fall if it is hollow from within.While most of Indian population works very hard to keep themselves alive (as food items are very very costly) the Indian government's work force lives with ease. But this easy lifestyle is at the cost of the people, not increasing government's efficiency is causing economic downtrend. To add to this disease of decadent bureaucracy, we have incapable political class. Either they are quarrelling or finding faults with each other; splitting of  the loyalties has caused much astonishment. Do the average people have a way out? No.The reason for why educated professionals leave the country is this....no hope for improvement. Renewing the spirit of the nation cannot do anything for our betterment, it is only a dream. Nobody can save the falling tree infested with termites.

 

Monday, 17 June 2013

People can make informed choices

To make effective choices, people themselves be more aware and be educated. New acts are passed by the state government of Odisha to protect the rights of the tribal people. When the original PESA act does not ensure rights in an effective way, new additions have to be made.  ‘Odisha Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Rules 2013’ says that gram panchayat would function as an executive committee to ‘gram sabha’ With this new Act land acquisition officer would have to consult a panchayat while giving dimensions of a project planned. This would be the assessment of the impact on the area, the worth of the amount to be given as compensation, any job opportunities to be offered, and rehabilitation of displaced persons. So the Mining department has to consult the gram sabha for producing minerals to see if it has commercial feasibility after meeting their demands. Gram sabha would have power to supervise the new kind of agriculture offered to the tribal people, audit welfare schemes to see if they are helping the people economically, and see if public distribution schemes are run properly. Making more Acts will not change the fact that tribal population is unlettered and that they will not be able to understand what is good for them. Previous PESA Act had been made so that there is control of resources of the land by the people themselves. It had ensured control in granting licenses to mining companies. Efforts were made to control land acquisition and mining minerals. There were no strict rules on implementation of it. People are too poor and uneducated to make these informed choices, we must help these 'adi-vasis'.



Sunday, 16 June 2013

Kerala- paradise lost


Demographic transition in the state of Kerala has turned up new challenges which are yet to be solved. Culturally speaking people of Kerala are highly motivated workers. Once leaving their homeland, they find work in any part of the world and work very very hard to fulfill their dreams of earning large bank balances. The also send remittances home to their families, so that their brothers and sisters and their own children get education ; and soon as their education is complete, they leave their home state too. So who is left behind, the old people. The elderly are not cared for, and this is painful to see. As per 2011 census, 2280000 Keralites living outside Kerala state. There are millions of non-resident Keralites who have left their homeland. When they are old, they will return to their state. They have carved out solitary lifestyles for themselves with limited social contacts. Matrilineal tendencies has further altered their social life to minimum contacts. They are alienated from their own wider society in a different way.While men bond with only peer groups all their working lives, women are forced to take the responsibility of earning and bringing up children by themselves.
The number of aged has increased many fold in recent times. The state of Kerala has a rapidly ageing population. Fertility rate is very low as most parents hesitate to have more than one child. Working population is low as young persons from age 20 on wards leave the state to get employment elsewhere. Educated unemployment is high and the educated are forced to leave. No opportunities were provided for unemployed persons. The massive migration of young people in search of work has had second generation repercussions. No one is there to take care of the ageing generation. Because of population down fall, in future there won't be a high elderly population. From 2011 to 2021, population of elderly will be very high. After that it will decline because of lower growth rate of population. More than 400 old age homes have sprung up for those who were  needing a shelter. 550 Rupees is the paltry pension paid to the elderly who had been abandoned by their children. Medical costs or food cannot be paid for by this negligible amount. At a given time in an organization in a town, 5.34%  of the work force would be working, while 5.7% would be drawing pensions. For people who had taken 'work' very very seriously, and had worked all their lives, this is a terrible end--living in an old age home. It is so adverse to our cultural moorings,we live in three generational joint families. We are one day going to become part of this aged population. With so many many ancient temples, we wonder if God revisits his paradise on Earth--Kerala, what would he do for these people? Kerala is called "God's own country"; is it a fitting name? After the long difficult journey of travelling upstream, and making way for the next generation, the salmon fish dies in the pond of its birth...is this the just reward for the difficult struggles of the hard working Keralites? No they deserve better conditions.


Saturday, 15 June 2013

Inventive mind

An inventive mind is a balanced mind. Because of good value sets among Indians, they have emotional stability. Indians also experience a great sense of  security and moral confidence---that what they are doing is the right thing to do. So they perform their duties in the right spirit. The holy book, 'Gita" teaches them to perform their duty (work) and not think of the benefits. They do not experience pressure of work. A peaceful mind can think methodically. Their mind is free to invent and create new ideas. Indians have exceptionally creative minds; and there is beauty in what ever art they take up. They can new kinds of music with ease. If offered a new technology, they adapt very very fast. They have faith in one's cultural ethos that gives them immense mental energy. Vibrant Indian culture motivates its people in all fields and in all professions. They excel in what ever they do. For example they invent new kinds of electronic pen drives, and new utilitarian electronic circuits. They find new uses for technology too. The use of  mobile phones has become common with all. Internet is widely accessed. Audio-visual media is used as form of entertainment. And all Indians are politically conscious people, extremely concerned about the state of the nation. They will find a way to solve the problems faced by nation today. As corruption touches highest peaks, we can see that the political elite can get exposed because of modern methods of investigations. Political class engaged in corruption touch the lowest levels of conduct and this troubles the people. Leaders of mining Mafia are our political leaders themselves. And we know how to find out who did what--hidden cameras in mobiles can capture how bribe is taken; and mobile telephone calls can be tracked.. It is the way by which we find solutions to our problems that sets us apart from other citizens of the world. However big the problem may be, there will be a sure way out. We have great faith that Indians will solve their problems themselves as they have highest level of intelligence. Even without military might or sound economy, Indian people have inner strength and a beautiful mind. So will be successful always. These are the most admirable traits amongst people.


Friday, 14 June 2013

What keeps Indian culture alive

Our cultural lifestyles give us the power to live through hard times.Even in rough economic times, Indian families keep themselves going. Because, Indian family is structured by strong bonds like marriage; and with strong bonds between the parents-children we live through hard conditions. At good times also we keep our family bonds alive by celebrating festivals like 'karvachauth'(celebrates bond between husband and wife) like 'rakhi'(relationship between brother-sister is celebrated) As soon as we get up in the morning everyday, we touch the feet of our elders seeking their blessings. We keep these relationships alive and our culture is based on these everlasting bonds. We share the incomes we get from our jobs with our close knit families. Our cultural ethos is kept alive by our holy books like 'Ramayana' and 'Gita' which teach us the values of a good life or virtuous life.If we see a family suffering , we restore the earning capacity of a person of that family and guide them to the way to self-sufficiency. Thus we take care of ourselves. We share thoughts with our peers and act on the advice from our elders. Solidarity of our families and compassion for our kith and kin are the biggest assets or cultural wealth which we have.We keep our culture alive by our acts of kindness. The continuity of our civilization depends on how we keep our important relationships alive and well.Even with faulty political system and failing economy, our inner strength given to us by our elders keeps us going.

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Now terrorists attack a train


Within three weeks after the few elected persons and their guards were killed in an encounter with local terrorists, hundred terrorists had attacked a train with grenades killing at least three persons. The Dhanbad-Patna intercity express was attacked and passengers were hurt. This clearly shows the lack of security. How to give security to a moving train? The government cannot ensure security for the average Indian citizen. This is a warning of what revolting people can do. Lack of governance and increasing discontent due to the way the local tribal population is treated is the cause of such violent attacks. How are we going to provide security to the people? While the government is fidgeting over whether to change policies, go for NCTC or police reforms, things are turning very ugly. Killing is a way to protest for the local people. Persons who are resorting to terrorism might not know of the punishment which they would have to face. The lesson is that terrorism cannot be contained. Unless policies please the people, the nation cannot succeed. This the result of anguish of the people whose land is acquired (this makes them loose their way of living and identity).By cheating people, we cannot progress. Even if we improve police forces, people cannot be forced to comply but they can be persuaded by just policies and compassion. There is political high-handedness and this causes under development in several part of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. These are some of the richest lands owned by the poorest people--tribes of India. In the name of development, their rights are taken away. Forest Rights remain in paper. To force them to surrender their lands, their crops are burnt. Sometimes their homes are set on fire, homeless are molested. And they are put in jail for making protests against development. As we cannot protect the tracks of the train all the way, we have to come to terms with these people.

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

In the life of a baby frog--tadpole

When times are tough, raising families is most excruciating. When one has to raise the next generation, one must have excellent health, one must have immense strength and enough economic backing. But with economic conditions are so tough, it weighs down on your health. And this affects us in fulfilling our commitments towards the next generation. It is at these times that we see how the frogs survive. In the brief time of the monsoon rains, before the stagnant water dries up, the frogs must lay eggs and raise its young ones. When the sun is strong, the mud puddle dries up too quickly,and the tadpoles will not live to become adults. In the brief season of rains, they must grow fast and leap out into the bushes to survive. The childhood period is too long among humans; but here, the child must grow up very quickly to become an adult and jump out (of the mess that is India). And before the season of plenty is over,child must grow up. We experience tadpole lives, if are lucky enough,we get benefits, we become educated adults seeking jobs. If not, let us not think about that.Growing up period ends much too soon for us. our tadpoles lives are too brief. Survival of the fittest is the rule in this human world that we have created for ourselves.

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Research on creating cleansing plants

Research in biotechnology is banned as these trails or experiments is considered harmful. This precautionary principle is keeping us behind other nations. First we must develop a regulatory framework for developments  in related sciences. We must also make framework for projects which can be made; if  can create biotech products and if they can be marketed. Scientific methods will be within ethical framework. Restriction of ethical framework like "banning all trails" is affecting the scientific spirit .Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India must make it a priority to rethink its policies. Bio-ethics must be developed to review the technical, economic, legal, ethical and cautionary relevance. If we can create plant genes which will block effects of pesticides, it would be highly beneficial. Already we know a plant(parthenium) which converts chemicals in fertilisers and pesticides into beneficial biomass. If more plant genes are created to do this, we can plant them in riparian zones and restore groundwater purity. Policies should keep up with latest scientific developments.Scientific breakthrough for getting rid of harmful chemicals in soil would help us greatly.That is the only hope we have left for India's future .

Monday, 10 June 2013

Inadequate compensation for land

Already 154 amendments have been made to the "Land Bill" and it has not been passed in both the houses yet. There is clearly reasons to believe that it is anti farmer and anti people. Land Bill says that there is no need for consent of the residents of the land if land is acquired for mining. Even if issue of allocation of "mines" is not appearing in the news, land with highly rich mineral deposits are being taken away from the farmers and given to the mining industrialists. The definition of "land for pubic purpose" is too broad, and anything can be called public purpose; and the consent of the farmer is not needed for land acquisition for "public purpose" The farmer's well being is not considered at all. When mineral deposits are found on tribal lands, the consent of the local tribal people is required. Are the tribal people aware of the consequences of sacrificing their land?No they are not aware. Only if the tribal people are given a share in the industry which is developed in their land, the terms will not be "just". Tribal people do not know how to protest. Land has been acquired for Delhi-Mumbai corridor. And before the people know what happened to their land, it would be gone. And years and years of trials in courts may get them some compensation. This corridor will be used by urbanites for their own benefits. How will it benefit the farmer. Unless we make policies to benefit the farmer, we cannot truly progress. For the farmers feeds us all. Calcutta-Amritsar corridor has been flagged off. When will benefits for farmers start?Till then we will be paying higher and higher for cereals lentils, fruits and vegetables, not realizing that we have harmed the hand that feeds us. Inadequate compensation for land will lead to greater inequalities among our people. Do we know those consequences?Rural uprising.

Sunday, 9 June 2013

What will happen next?

The reason for poverty is our acceptance of inequality. In Europe revolutions(like the French Revolution) took place because people did not accept inequality. The rich have all resources and the poor had none, this was not acceptable for the people.So they wanted better government. They asked for it and they got it. But in India, we have accepted inequality. Our religion tells us that some have more wealth and others have less, and that is because of 'Karma' or merit our past lives. This has made us to tolerate inequality. But as India modernises, we will witness that workers are treated badly by their masters. This will not be tolerated forever. And a similar revolution will take place.We have to reinvent the concept of nation and government all over again. When will this take place or how will this take place is not predictable. As economy tightens its grip, we are going closer and closer to such a revolution of the masses.Livelihoods are being snatched away when land is acquired and handed to the industrialists.Industrialists also harm the workers in factories by  ignoring labour laws, even the right to form a labour union is taken away from them.Marginal farmers cannot compete with rich farmers and they become unskilled labourers. Educated unemployment is on the rise. The quality of education in India is being scrutinised by the people themselves(why poor students do not get good education). These are some of the rising inequalities which need to be addressed to immediately. With the media like TV and Internet, people can see audio-visually how the world has changed and how they have been kept out of it. A social revolution will take place soon in India.    

Saturday, 8 June 2013

True measure of growth-greater use of electicity



When there is greater and greater demand for electricity, we know that more and more progress has been made. Use of electricity is an indicator for progress. When there is bigger and bigger demand for electricity, our power generation has tries to keep up with it. Total generation of power during May 2013 has been 161.81 billion units and this is 104% more that last May. When higher targets re set, we are able to keep up with the rising demand. This is a sure indicator of progress. There are different ways by which we make power. Hydro generation by dams has increased by 97%, nuclear generation has increased by 90% and thermal generation has increased by 102%. Many went for wind power using huge turbines. We are also not counting the innumerable villages which went for solar power. When remote areas do not get power supply, how will they go on complaining, they choose the option of electricity from the sun. This is also a measure of progress. Independent innovative energy solutions  like solar power is the answer to our needs; by going for solar power, we need not wait for central or state government to make a facility for electric connection for us. But solar is not within the reach of the common people, only rich can afford it.

Friday, 7 June 2013

Real Estate Regulation Bill is made

This week, the union cabinet had approved the Real Estate bill as an initiative to protect the interests of the consumers(home buyers). It would be a boost to the residential sector. But, it would be meaningful only when the completed land records are available. The land records compilations are far from complete. Right now land sharks have prime estates firmly  in their clutches. The Bill proposes to give uniform regulatory environment to protect the consumer's interests and settle property disputes speedily. This will give advantage to the real estate sector or the builders a bigger chance to make residences in urban India. As it is, the economic liberalization has led to greater and greater profits for the real estate sector. Government thinks that it cannot provide housing for urbanites; so encouraging real-estate sector will mean that housing will be taken care of. But it is wrong. Property for the rich and upper middle class can be easily bought from the real-estate builders as costs are high. But the middle and lower middle(which is the majority of the population), there are no affordable homes constructed? The real-estate bill will lead to standardization of laws. Now it is defined what is an 'apartment home', what is a 'common area' and what is a 'carpet area'. Allied sectors like telephone lines, electricity , security, insurance are connected to the real-estate sector. There will penalties imposed if a promised property is not delivered at the right time. This give confidence to the upper middle class and upper class consumers/buyers. Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry initiated this bill for the upper class persons who are a small minority. The vast majority who are middle and lower middle are the people the poverty alleviation ministry should concentrate upon. What are the plans for them? If no plans are made, more slums would arise.

Achievements of Special Economic Zones

Big achievements of new projects in India are never shown only flopped projects are projected or exaggerated. In 2006-7 a value of 34787 crores of Rupees worth exports were made by Special Economic Zones. In 2012-13, 118321 crores worth exports were made by Special Economic Zones. And this is a very big achievement, at a time when world economy is not doing well. There are a total of 587 Special Economic Zones all over India. In some of the states, there are more than others. Like in Andhra Pradesh State there are 110 approved Special Economic Zones and Karnataka State has 61 Zones. While Gujarat state has only 47 Zones, it has highest amount of investments, as industrial production is highest here. In states like Tamil Nadu, there are largest number of factories; that is they are taking the greatest efforts to improve themselves. If these kinds of industrial growth takes place while giving the labour force its due share, then we would have a great future. But the labour problems which are faced in these zones would not be told to anyone........how many persons had worked with least pay..how many had become ill...and how many perished....there are no statistics on that.....

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Voiceless millions

What is wealth of  a nation? It is the people. Notion of wealth is explained by economists as GNP(Gross National Product) or GDP. We really cannot explain our economy in terms of GDP or compare it with other economies. There is a social input to our economy which we have always overlooked. People of India work extra hard and  we have no justice in distribution of our resources.Social wealth may be made of capital assets, human capital, or natural capital (like soil or ecosystem). But the muscle power which is input of hard working humans is never measured. In other words, people's hard work is not given the value it deserves.The poor people give in more and take very little as wages. No calculation of "minimum wages" or "real wages" can truly weigh the human content of our hard labour. When the human body is given insufficient nourishment but is extracted with more labour,it gives in quickly. Workers die early. This has genetic repercussions.... generations which live shorter lives.Human bodies cannot be made to work like machines. They give up early in life..middle age deaths. It is all gain gain for the employer(or government) for there is no need to pay old age pensions, when there is going to be no old age.It is this aspect of human resource which is fueling growth. How long can this go on? Sooner or later "free labour " will be absent. There won't be a population which can go on and on providing free exploitable labour.Before the next generation of labour is brought about, the first generation dies off. Then what? The poor have no say in political decisions or economic policies...they are voiceless victims....not living long enough to know the truths.......  

Saturday, 1 June 2013

Beehive and bees

May it be drivers or construction workers or mechanics or teachers or policemen, all workers live extraordinary lives. Each day had to be inspired by thought of how their activity will contribute to their own survival  while fulfilling the duties of their profession. the busy bee life of workers goes to show how men has come to cooperate with one another while dividing work and make civilisation possible.At the same time it has made life a routine business of repetitive work, sapping away energy. In other words, life if a worker is made to look negligible while the general good is the only visible reality. The beehive is visible while the activity or duty of each bee is not seen. While people are like worker bees,honey which is the product of the beehive is the profits which government makes from them. So the worker bees go on and on collecting honey from flowers, bringing them to the hive to store them carefully. The worker bees die off while doing their duty of collecting honey; and they never live to be old.....They never take rest...The human worker also works and dies before he lives to see the fruits of his labour. Is this it? We can be better than a bee society.One of our young elected leaders had used this comparison and had said that we must be workers like the bees; but this had created hatred among those who had heard it. He wants Indians to work like the bees; but it is a very mean comparison. Humans can create a better society with compassion and love. Our working lives are not like bee's lives.