VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 226 Date: 06.11.2017
skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com
Contents:
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 226 Date: 06.11.2017
skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com
Contents:
1. Demonetisation Was A Surgical Strike On The Indian People
2. '100' On The World Bank's Report On Ease of Doing Business
3. Limit Size Of Government, Emphasise On Efficient Working
4. The Betim-Panjim Ferry Incident & What Next
Demonetisation Was A Surgical Strike On The Indian People
Carrying on the euphoria after the surgical strike on Pak, Narendra Modi and his government turned their guns inward at the country and on Nov 8,2016 launched the Demonetisation surgical strike on the unsuspecting Indian population. The results of that are being felt to this day. If the Pak surgical strike as we are told resulted in some 22 deaths, the Demonetisation surgical strike killed some 109 directly and many others indirectly. The direct deaths were those who stood on the queues in front of banks and gave up their lives to exchange their own money that had been invalidated by an irresponsible government. The indirect deaths caused by Demonetisation were related to the fatalities that were caused of sick people who were unable to have the right currency to pay doctors and hospitals because of the non-availability and shortage of the proper currency and gave up their lives though they had the worthless old paper currency in their hands. There could be more cases of indirect deaths like this but it was found by the incumbent government that it was better to wipe these under the carpet.
The Pak surgical strike resulted in collateral damage as we are told and claimed by Pak of a few villagers in the area and damages to the Pak army and/or terrorist camps. While the Demonetisation surgical strike on the Indian population in terms of collateral damage resulted in massive job losses across the swathe of the small-scale and unorganised sector, huge amounts of perishable goods were wasted in the early days of Nov 2016 because there was no cash to pay for the goods and no alternate payment mechanisms set up. Many small businesses went under unable to figure out a way to do business without cash. The organised sector was also hit with a slump in demand which they continue to face even now.
Thus where a popularly elected government is expected to be caring and look after the welfare of its people, Narendra Modi and his government went the other way and tormented its people on the false premise that this was 'beneficial' for them. Not only that hardly any time had passed but obsessed with the idea of surgical strikes, this same government unleashed another 'brahmastra' on its people in the form of GST to add to the mess in people's lives. But then like they say, that is another story!
'100' On The World Bank's Report On Ease of Doing Business
Why is Narendra Modi and his A-team led by the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley getting rattled by the persistent criticism of their handling of the Indian economy post-Demonetisation and with the problems faced in implementing of the GST that they stoop to whatever comes their way in terms of talking good about India's economic scene and make a big thing of it. Like being listed at 100 on the World Bank's report on ranking of countries for Ease of Doing Business. A rank of 100 and you call it good and make such an amount of noise about it to put any event management activity to shame. There is a sense in being part of a Top 10 but Top 100 and that too just scraping through into it. Are we not thus promoting mediocrity? This shows the mindset that we have in our political leadership that runs this government today. Not only that Narendra Modi goes on TV making a big thing of why his press conference was timed for 7.30pm since the World Bank would make public the report - Ease of Doing Business - in Washington at the same time being their morning on that day. If you heard him then you would be constrained to believe that he thinks he is talking to a bunch of dummies, hilly-billies from the rural areas who will get suitably impressed with the Modi brand of histrionics. In another sense, we are toeing the line set by foreign institutions and persisting with the colonial regime that is embedded in our minds. Come on, what are we coming to these days?
Let us examine now who is releasing this report and its real relevance to India. The World Bank who with the entire world in a sorry mess for one reason or other and economic growth out there in the wilderness across all nations has some numbers to talk of only when it comes to India which is showing 5-6% growth. This by developed nation standards is pretty good but pretty bad by our own standards, as we all know since it is jobless growth and is a sign of stagflation. China had been doing pretty badly recently but then things are picking up with their economy and it may take a couple of quarters before the spotlight moves from India to China in the World Bank's scheme of things. Until then India is holding the stage at the World Bank and in a marketing perspective makes good sense for this 'august' institution to show that they are doing their job. Narendra Modi and his A-team have fallen for this ploy of the World Bank hook, line and sinker. There is another issue here and that is - Why is Narendra Modi and his A-team accepting the Washington based World Bank's report and going lah-di-da on it? Just about a couple of weeks back the Washington based International Food Policy Research Institute put India at 100th position in the World Hunger Index falling 45 places between 2014 to 2017. The reaction of our government was to go after the institution and the report with hammer and tongs attacking the credibility, methodology, etc. etc. until it literally tore this report to shreds. But now you are accepting another Washington based institution's report! Is this because in the government's opinion the report is talking good about it.
Now let us look at World Bank's report for Ease of Doing Business that places India at '100'. On indices where India has improved are those related to resolving insolvency, protecting shareholder's interests, paying taxes and getting credit (?). The last is a question mark since banks are funds flush and though they are offering credit, no one is willing to take it. In any case all these parameters are applicable to existing businesses in the country which is like a quid pro quo, that is whether you like if or not, you have to live with the prevailing conditions that are related to the four parameters. The four other criteria in contrast where India has slipped relates to starting a business, getting electricity, registering property and trading across barriers. Thus if you have to have the Ease of Doing Business, don't you have to Start A Business in which India has slipped along with the other three criteria that are also linked to getting a business started like getting property registered, getting electricity etc. Thus the report does not encourage anyone wanting to come in on the Make in India program to start a business in India. If so, then what was Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley gloating about in the report. Was it that they believed that their cheerleaders would start clapping on the basis of the summary results of the report and that nobody would read the fine print? Are they so dumb or have they got so rattled with the Indian Elephant economy refusing to budge inspite of their best efforts that they are looking at a glint and believing that they are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. This is in the manner of a drowning man clutching at hay to save himself. We have to realise that based on such reports no one makes an investment plan. These reports are only for reference and there should be intrinsic merit in the investment proposition to manufacture in India. This applies to both foreign as well as local investors.
The other thing that is completely not understandable in this matter was up until the Indo-US nuclear deal the US was not in the good books of the BJP. But post-2014 their US relationship has rapidly changed from a dalliance, an affair to courtship, engagement, wedding and then now to honeymoon collapsing the time scale through these various stages. India seems to be permanently in the orbit of the US these days, dancing to their tunes, in step and out of step sometimes, what with Donald Trump, that is kind of accepted. But the point is why are we accepting a foreign report as God's Own Truth. At times we do not accept foreign reports but when it suits the PM and his establishment, it is embraced with alacrity as the present one of the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business. The question is why should Modi & his team take the crutch of these reports to prop up their India economic story. Are they not able to assess the mess that they have created in the country themselves? In the evangelical zeal and misplaced exuberance of the present government to ostensibly eliminate black money and tax every economic activity in sight by the twin measures of Demonetisation and GST they have made the Indian people forsake economic activity. This is the only explanation since though the GDP figures showed a moderate improvement in the last quarter, the PMI figures released recently show stagnation. Now will Modi & his team go after the PMI report because it is not playing ball! Instead of that what this government should do is improve the credibility of its own figures and prove that they are legit on a sustained basis. In any case coming back to economic activity, people across the country are playing safe and indulging in economic activity at a low key to just keep body and soul together and waiting for the last of the storms in the form of GST to pass and/or settle down.
Concluding, Narendra Modi and his A-team led by the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley should realise that no amount of flag waving and bombastic claims will help revive the economy. Instead of that what they need to realise is that on the back of Demonetisation the timing of GST was wrong and the measure was also not thought through exhaustively which is why we are seeing the messes today which Secretary Adhia has admitted in the last week. But now that the two irresponsibly stupid measures have been launched against the Indian economy what we need is to put our heads together and repair the damage. Of paramount importance at this time is to generate jobs for youth since otherwise we will have more anarchy as we go ahead.
Let us examine now who is releasing this report and its real relevance to India. The World Bank who with the entire world in a sorry mess for one reason or other and economic growth out there in the wilderness across all nations has some numbers to talk of only when it comes to India which is showing 5-6% growth. This by developed nation standards is pretty good but pretty bad by our own standards, as we all know since it is jobless growth and is a sign of stagflation. China had been doing pretty badly recently but then things are picking up with their economy and it may take a couple of quarters before the spotlight moves from India to China in the World Bank's scheme of things. Until then India is holding the stage at the World Bank and in a marketing perspective makes good sense for this 'august' institution to show that they are doing their job. Narendra Modi and his A-team have fallen for this ploy of the World Bank hook, line and sinker. There is another issue here and that is - Why is Narendra Modi and his A-team accepting the Washington based World Bank's report and going lah-di-da on it? Just about a couple of weeks back the Washington based International Food Policy Research Institute put India at 100th position in the World Hunger Index falling 45 places between 2014 to 2017. The reaction of our government was to go after the institution and the report with hammer and tongs attacking the credibility, methodology, etc. etc. until it literally tore this report to shreds. But now you are accepting another Washington based institution's report! Is this because in the government's opinion the report is talking good about it.
Now let us look at World Bank's report for Ease of Doing Business that places India at '100'. On indices where India has improved are those related to resolving insolvency, protecting shareholder's interests, paying taxes and getting credit (?). The last is a question mark since banks are funds flush and though they are offering credit, no one is willing to take it. In any case all these parameters are applicable to existing businesses in the country which is like a quid pro quo, that is whether you like if or not, you have to live with the prevailing conditions that are related to the four parameters. The four other criteria in contrast where India has slipped relates to starting a business, getting electricity, registering property and trading across barriers. Thus if you have to have the Ease of Doing Business, don't you have to Start A Business in which India has slipped along with the other three criteria that are also linked to getting a business started like getting property registered, getting electricity etc. Thus the report does not encourage anyone wanting to come in on the Make in India program to start a business in India. If so, then what was Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley gloating about in the report. Was it that they believed that their cheerleaders would start clapping on the basis of the summary results of the report and that nobody would read the fine print? Are they so dumb or have they got so rattled with the Indian Elephant economy refusing to budge inspite of their best efforts that they are looking at a glint and believing that they are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. This is in the manner of a drowning man clutching at hay to save himself. We have to realise that based on such reports no one makes an investment plan. These reports are only for reference and there should be intrinsic merit in the investment proposition to manufacture in India. This applies to both foreign as well as local investors.
The other thing that is completely not understandable in this matter was up until the Indo-US nuclear deal the US was not in the good books of the BJP. But post-2014 their US relationship has rapidly changed from a dalliance, an affair to courtship, engagement, wedding and then now to honeymoon collapsing the time scale through these various stages. India seems to be permanently in the orbit of the US these days, dancing to their tunes, in step and out of step sometimes, what with Donald Trump, that is kind of accepted. But the point is why are we accepting a foreign report as God's Own Truth. At times we do not accept foreign reports but when it suits the PM and his establishment, it is embraced with alacrity as the present one of the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business. The question is why should Modi & his team take the crutch of these reports to prop up their India economic story. Are they not able to assess the mess that they have created in the country themselves? In the evangelical zeal and misplaced exuberance of the present government to ostensibly eliminate black money and tax every economic activity in sight by the twin measures of Demonetisation and GST they have made the Indian people forsake economic activity. This is the only explanation since though the GDP figures showed a moderate improvement in the last quarter, the PMI figures released recently show stagnation. Now will Modi & his team go after the PMI report because it is not playing ball! Instead of that what this government should do is improve the credibility of its own figures and prove that they are legit on a sustained basis. In any case coming back to economic activity, people across the country are playing safe and indulging in economic activity at a low key to just keep body and soul together and waiting for the last of the storms in the form of GST to pass and/or settle down.
Concluding, Narendra Modi and his A-team led by the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley should realise that no amount of flag waving and bombastic claims will help revive the economy. Instead of that what they need to realise is that on the back of Demonetisation the timing of GST was wrong and the measure was also not thought through exhaustively which is why we are seeing the messes today which Secretary Adhia has admitted in the last week. But now that the two irresponsibly stupid measures have been launched against the Indian economy what we need is to put our heads together and repair the damage. Of paramount importance at this time is to generate jobs for youth since otherwise we will have more anarchy as we go ahead.
Limit Size Of Government, Emphasise On Efficient Working
There is something confusing in the news coming out about government jobs. Last week's headlines if you scan you will find the CM advising his MLA's not to promise jobs or process job requests or fill up vacancies. Two days later there are headlines saying that the CM has promised to fill up as much as 5000 jobs in government, with Health Minister Rane jumping the gun saying that 1500 of these are in his Dept. Then y/day 31.10.2017 there are headlines saying that there are 10,000 vacancies in government that are required to be filled up. Going back in time there were statistics quoted that 1 out of every 15 Goans is in government service or almost one person per family, is the other estimate. We have also been told that the size of our government in Goa is large. We have also seen in our random visits to government offices that half of the employees are not at their desks, half of the remaining are not working but chit-chatting amongst themselves and the burden of running the office is left to a handful of sincere employees. If so what is the point in adding more people which is clearly a burden to the exchequer and indirectly to the citizens at large? Did Manohar Parrikar not promise us a government that works by reducing the size of the government? One thinks therefore that the government should down-size and re-deploy existing employees where they are in surplus to the under-staffed departments. There may be a need of some specialist workers like in the technical Depts. like Health, IT etc. where recruitment may be resorted to on a special basis. This way you will have a more functional and effective government, essentially - A Government That Works.
The Betim-Panjim Ferry Incident & What Next
Just like the Panjim bus stand fire incident, we are now becoming wiser after the event as in the case of the Betim-Panjim ferry drifting and going aground a couple of days ago. The same kind of incident had taken place a number of times in the past on the same route as also across Goa particularly on the ferries plying on the Zuari river. After these incidents we have become none the wiser nor put in place procedures or investments that will avoid such incidents in future. The same kind of promises as we had heard after the earlier incidents is what we are hearing again. There has been absolutely no action on the ground. Unique facilities like the river ferry service in Goa needs to be taken care of properly and measures taken to run it smoothly. Unfortunately this is not the case with the ferries maybe because they are free and with no revenue coming in, it is like nobody's baby. So maybe we should think of a nominal charge of Rs. 5/- be put for each passenger apart from the charges that are now levied for the vehicles that use the ferry service. There could also be monthly and annual passes which will bring down the tariff for the commuters. With money coming one would expect that the focus on proper maintenance of the service is put in place including safety of the commuters. Goa is a small place where managing things should be easier as long as the authorities take interest in their work. The particular Betim-Panjim ferry involved in the incident is reported to have hit a sandbar which brings to the fore the question is what are the River Navigation Dept. and the Captain of Ports doing. When was the last time they mapped the Mandovi and published data on the sandbars? The Kolkata port on the river Hooghly similarly is prone to heavy silting and changing sand bar formations. The Calcutta Port Trust and the River Navigation Dept. there maps the sand bars and puts out this information for the benefit of the river users on a daily basis. While here after the incident our Minister says that we will dredge the river now! This clearly shows a lack of focus on running a service that benefits the people. Lastly, the earlier ferry incident on the Mandovi had the ferry getting entangled in the anchoring ropes of the casino vessels. The same has again been reported in this incident and the CoP needs to take protective measures by removing the casino vessels 500 meters on either side of the ferry route across the river to avoid such problems in future. The best would be to have the casino vessels out of the Mandovi which the CM has promised by March 2018. Concluding, there are suggestions being made of a cable-stayed pedestrian bridge across the river to replace the Betim-Panjim ferry which may not be a sensible idea. The question apart from the safety and limited usage of the bridge and possible misuse of being used by 2-wheelers, is how many structures do we want across the Mandovi? A ropeway project is coming up nearby and as time goes by a regular bridge will be required at that location or a little further down because the 3rd Mandovi bridge will not be able to deal with the traffic to Panjim. In any case a pleasing and efficient river ferry service in Goa can be a big tourism earner is what our authorities should strive for in the years to come.
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