VOX POPULI
by
Aam Admi
Issue: 152 Date: 23.05.2016
Contents:
1. There Is Nothing For The BJP To Gloat About The Recent Assembly
Elections
2. Subramaniam Swamy's Criticism Of RBI Governor Unwarranted
3. Sri Sri Ravishankar's Scant Respect For The Law
4. Stop Surge Pricing & Regulate Rates In All
Transportation Sectors
There Is Nothing For
The BJP To Gloat About The Recent Assembly Elections
The broad
perspective of the results of the Assembly elections in the 5 States is that
the BJP lost 4 States out of the 5. And apart from Assam in the other
States they were not able to move beyond the low single digit
numbers. Even in Assam the anti-incumbency factor of the 3-term
Congress government led by Tarun Gogoi was the reason for the BJP victory and
not due to any great electoral platform that the party formulated. What
the BJP has to take from these elections is the fact that the regional
parties are increasingly consolidating their position across
India. Earlier it was J&K, Delhi, Bihar and Telangana which went the
regional way and now both Mamata Banerji and Jayalalithaa have got a second
term largely because of their governance measures. Where the BJP adopted a
strident campaign in West Bengal, they had just 3 seats to show for
it, indicating that against Mamata Banerjee & the TMC it is difficult to
make headway. As for the increase in the BJP vote percentages
across the 5 states for which results were announced, it has to be accepted
that some people will cast a vote for the party at the Centre expecting a
larger amount of sympathy and support for the State problems. What the BJP
needs to do from here on is to concentrate on governance and avoid getting into
needless controversial non-issues where precious time is lost from dealing with
urgent and pressing matters and also loss of face with the electorate. The
major lesson from the recent Assembly elections results is for the Congress
which is struggling to maintain its positions as a relevant national party. In
fact the death knell for the Congress has tolled across India and it’s a matter
of time before it is cast on the sidelines of the political map of India.
Subramaniam
Swamy's Criticism Of RBI Governor Unwarranted
The
criticism expressed by Subramaniam Swamy about the RBI Governor, Raghuram Rajan
is unwarranted. The RBI Governor has been doing his job satisfactorily given
the prevailing circumstances and has been plainly speaking his mind on economic
issues. Some of his utterances may have rubbed the government the wrong way.
But one cannot find much fault with the way he has been going about his job in
emphasising that containing inflation is more important than other matters
affecting the Indian economy. If Subramaniam Swamy has to find fault then
it should be with Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister whose lacklustre performance
and inability to grasp economic issues has stifled the launch of reforms
essential for steady growth.
Sri
Sri Ravishankar's Scant Respect For The Law
We
have Sri Sri Ravishankar getting needlessly into issues which are more akin to
public-relations disasters which clearly shows his lack of perspective on
worldly matters as well as the lack of control that he has on his
followers. The latest has been the
trolling in social media by his followers of Twinkle Khanna who was critical of
what the self-styled religious leader had said about Malala’s Nobel Prize and about
her being chosen by the Nobel Prize foundation for the award. A case of sour
grapes, one would say for common people but not surely fitting the persona of
Sri Sri Ravishankar when he makes such comments. Again in the recent post when
the Art of Living (AoL) organization was celebrating its anniversary on the
banks of the Yamuna river, controversy had erupted on the damage to the
environment. The NGT had upon assessing the matter levied a Rs. 5 crore fine on
the AoL. Sri Sri Ravishankar first refused to pay the fine, then with better
sense prevailing agreed to pay a reduced amount of Rs. 25 Lakhs as
an installment before holding of the event. He also disputed calling
the amount a fine. Once the event was over we find him proposing to the NGT
that the balance of the fine amounting to Rs. 5 crores would be paid in
the form of a Bank Guarantee. Here again is Sri Sri Ravishankar not behaving
more like a businessman akin to a Subrata Roy or a Vijay Mallya by negotiating on payment of the balance once his function is
over? This precisely is what Subrata Roy of Sahara did and consequent
of that he has found himself in jail for the last two years now, lately
out on conditional bail to attend his mother’s funeral. One would therefore
presume there is no difference between Sri Sri Ravishankar
and Subrata Roy for all the former's saintly posturing. Where people like
him should set examples to society on respecting the law and following its
strictures in the event they are imposed, he is showing no respect for them. It
is time that Sri Sri Ravishankar introspects on these matters and revises his
approach to worldly things.
Stop
Surge Pricing & Regulate Rates In All Transportation Sectors
Surge pricing
came to the fore again during the second phase of the odd-even traffic rule
recently completed at Delhi when taxicab operators like Ola & Uber came
under the AAP government’s microscope for charging exorbitantly at peak times
and taking advantage of customers who had no option of alternate means of
transportation. Airline and bus pricing to holiday destinations across the
country like Goa during vacation times has for long been a pain for travelers
with common means. The issue of surge or dynamic pricing of airline
tickets hit the headlines recently during the Jat quota agitation
with the fare between Delhi and Chandigarh touching record levels of nearly Rs. 1 Lakh from the normal Rs.
3000. Taking advantage of passengers at the drop of a hat during peak travel
times and particularly during public agitations in which passengers have
no role speaks of the irresponsibility of the airlines and their tendency to
exploit the travelling public. Is there no need to regulate this? On the plea
of economics of running their transportation services, the airlines and other
transport operators are fleecing the travelling public in a calculated manner. In
earlier times we had a pejorative term for this and it was called simply –
black-marketing. It was also considered illegal and attracted penal provisions
of the law. Nowadays times have changed and it is considered ‘smart’ to be able
to do surge pricing. The operators have various kinds of logic, which
reasonable people cannot fathom, like surge pricing brings more taxis into
operation thus increasing availability. As for airlines under the guise of
offering cut rates for a small percentage of their tickets, they insist that
surge pricing is critical for their profitability. It is time
therefore that pricing is bench-marked to the distance traveled
so that some modicum of rationalization of fares is established. While there is
no harm in charging passengers extra for facilities provided by the air carriers
like business or first class travel, food and drinks on board and extra
baggage, the basic economy class fare should remain fixed. This can of course
change on an annual basis or take into account sudden surges in fuel prices.
This methodology sets an expectation of the cost of air travel between
destinations and helps passengers to better plan for their travel. The current
pricing mechanism suffers from the malaise that most people feel being cheated
since the value for money criteria is completely given the go-by. The luxury
buses plying particularly to Goa follow the same practices and charge fares
during peak season just below the airfares to destinations like
Bombay though providing for sleeper berths at this rate. The Indian Railways is
also reported to be toying with dynamic pricing for fares and has introduced
this already for the tickets booked under the ‘tatkal’ category.
This is actually against the charter to
provide for safe and economic travel across the country to Indian
citizens for which the Railways was established. To curb the dynamic
or surge pricing, two State governments, that of Delhi and Karnataka, have
taken the initiative. This has to be lauded.
For taxi cabs while Delhi banned surge pricing at peak hours, Karnataka
set a rate per km. which the taxi operators cannot exceed. These initiatives have to be lauded and these
practices implemented on a pan-India basis across all transportation
sectors.
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