Reality of Govt Lokpal Bill

Writing a blog after almost a year and writing for a cause. Support for the Lokpal bill proposed by team Anna, Arving Kejariwal, Kiran Bedi.

Today after drama of having joint lokpal committee UPA govt finally tabled the bill in parliament. I said drama of having joint drafting committee because even without that committee we would have got the same lokpal bill. Govt has done what it wanted to do. A poor, toothless lokpal bill and make a joke of the democracy and public. So tempted to call this bill as jokpal bill.

Let us understand why we need the bill and how can we have control on corruption after the strong lokpal.

1. We all agree that our Incredible India has actually Corrupt India. A farmer wants to get 7/12 property extract he has to pay bribe to get it, need a bed in govt hospital pay for it, pay to file FIR, pay to get driving licence, pay to get cast certificate, pay more that the price to get ration on your ration card, even pay to get death certificate. Corruption has become a painful reality for common man if India. From PM to peon in Gram Panchayat office every one is corrupt.

2. Why no action against anyone, the reason is very simple; we do not have Independent inquiry and prosecution agency. All agencies that we have like CBI, Police, CID or even Special investigation teams all are puppets in the hand of govt. So everyone knows nothing is going to happen. All corrupt people have got natural immunity.

3. If we want to really make India incorruptible and thereby Incredible we need a very strong independent agency to look into all level of corruption cases from village to Delhi. Lokpal is a solution to the problem

4. Lokpal is not one person but it is panel of 11 members selected by independent panel every eminent personalities of India which includes all sections of society.

5. Today we have CBI's anti corruption wing, after lokpal that wing should come in under lokpal so that instead of two agencies it will be just one agency to deal with corruption cases. So that the common man knows whom to complaint for corruption cases.

6. As mentioned earlier from PM to peon in Gram Panchayat office everyone will come under scanner of Lokpal which includes judiciary also. Any complaint files against anyone PM, Ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, Govt officiasl, judges; in short anyone will be investigated and prosecuted by Lokpal.

7. Person who files complaint will get security cover so that more and more people come forward and dare to fight against corruption.

8. Lokpal should have powers to dismiss govt officials and also recover loses from the guilty ones if proven guity. Imagine 1.76L cr can be recovered from A Raja, 70000 Cr can be recovered from Kamadi and many more.

Instead making all that mentioned above possible what Govt has proposed is a weak advisory nature Lokpal bill who is not independent. Let me explain it point by point

1. Prime ministers (only after demetting the office), CM's, Judges of any level, Low cadre govt officials do not come under lokpal. Only Group A Govt officials come under lokpal. So common mans worries are still unaswered. He still has to pay for ration card, cast certificate, death certificate. Who will benefit? The answer is no one.

2. As per govt bill Lokpal is elected by majority of people seating in Government. So naturally it will be puppet in the hands of Govt. as that of CBI today. How can it be independent agency?

3. CBI's anti corruption wing will continue working as it is it will not be under Lokpal. So technically you have two agencies for the same purpose. How will decide which case or scam will be investigated by whom? Answer not known in present lokpal bill.

4. Lokpal is just investigation agency can not prosecute the accuse as per Govt. draft that means it is just advisory in nature can not take action against the corrupt. What the use of such Lokpal?

5. Person filling complaint if found false complaint will be jailed for two years on the other hand the corrupt person will get three changes prove himself guilty. Whom are they trying to save?

6. Lokpal can only investigate and not prosecute. In this case how is it different from the existing agencies dealing such cases.

Now the youth of the country must decided who they want to support to. Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejariwal, Kiran Bedi and many more are there to guide us let us take the advantage and make our nation

Incorruptible India... Incredible India

Jay Hind ...........!!!!!!!!

Oil Price Deregulation and Common Man

Oil prices have gone up second time in last six month. Government wants to deregulate the oil prices and let the market decide retail oil price. A good move but do no think a good one for a country like India with 2/3rd of its population living under a dollar a day. Especially hike in kerosene and LPG will further create huge worries for common man, already suffering from food inflection.

57% percentage of retail petrol price is a tax component. If a price is raised by Rs. 1, there will be raise of 57 paise in taxes. The total cumulative effect will result into raise of Rs. 1.57 in retail petrol price. More the rise in oil prices in international market more will be tax component and higher will be resultant retail price.

For the sake of the common man, Government should think of possibility of a fix tax component to avoid cascading effect and some relief to country men. e.g. a tax component of Rs. 10 per litre of petrol, so even if the oil prices in international market move up or down, the raise or fall in retail price will be in proportion to that and will avoid cascading effect of tax component.

Possibilities are immense but there should be political will for implementation. Let us hope that the 'Govt. for Aam Aadami' really works for 'Aam Aadami" and not for Private Oil Companies.

Jugaad Management

'Jugaad', very commonly and regularly used term in India. In fact it is said that most of the things happen in India is the result of 'Jugaad'. Governments survive on 'Jugaad'. Commonwealth Games will be hosted by India later this year. The success of the games will depend on 'Jugaad'. 'Jugaad' is basically a quick fix especially in bad situations. Interestingly many companies today consider 'Jugaad' as new management style. I came across the new offer by Tata Docomo, one can pay Rs. 20 for a day and he/she gets 200 sms free. Whenever customer wants to avail the sms service he/she has to pay Rs 20 and get 200 sms pack for a day. Again 'Jugaad'.

Few examples of Juggad Management

1. A Dhaba (road side restaurant) in Punjab uses a washing machine to make lassi.

2. A Scooter is modified and converted into Floor Mill.

3. A bicycle is used as sprinkler in a farm

Many more of these little tricks or Innovations are very common in India. Companies may find solution in 'Juggad Management' to beat competition, reduce the costs or even manage resources more effectively.

Jugaad Management may finally get the deserved attention and due credit.

'Go Beyond' MBA

If I have to ask a question to my dearest students, why would they take up professional education (MBA, Engineering, Medicine etc)? I am sure most of them would tell me that they can expect a good job. Jobs are plenty and candidates seeking the jobs are also plenty yet we find students wondering for a job and companies trying hard to get the suitable candidates. This clearly shows that there is a huge gap between what is expected and what is available.

Students must realize that they may not get a job of their choice only because they have a degree from a govt. recognized and university approved college. They must possess the right skills required for the job, application of the concepts that they learn and anticipation for the futuristic technologies.

Students must choose the school, university or college based not only on affiliation and govt. recognition but need to look at the curriculum, faculty and right exposure. Indian School of Business (ISB, Hyderabad) is the best example of such B school. Everyone can not enter ISB but there are other colleges and B schools who will equip you to be future leaders. There are courses with industry support e.g. TV18 group supports post graduate program in Media and Entertainment, Indian Institute of Banking and Finance supports PG program in Banking and Finance. One must 'Go Beyond' the conventional courses and acquire new skills.

All the best.

Responsible Bad Shah?

Mr. Shahrukh Khan was interrogated at Airport in USA in a closed chamber for about an hour and a half, breaking news of all the news channels in India.  A same thing appears in the next day news papers on front page.  Independence Day celebration, Hon. Prime Minister’s speech is on page 2.  The Badshah gives it a communal color by quoting: “ they detained me because of  my name is Khan”. This I think is ridiculous and very impulsive reaction from a responsible individual who calls himself the king of bollywood.  There were similar events in the past and people like Hon.  Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Mr. George Fernandis, Mr. Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mr. Amir Khan and many more were questioned in USA.  People having surname Patel do not get USA visa easily. But I do not remember any body in the above mentioned list has ever given such an impulsive reaction and made it a sensitive communal issue even if it is one.  I do condemn the interrogation but on the other side we also need to understand that the irresponsible comments and blowing the issue out of proportion could make the matter worst and toxic for the secular fabric of our great nation. We already have it too many problems to solve.

We also can not forget that after 9/11 America did not even have a single incident of terror attack whereas we celebrate when do not have such major incident for 100 days. The difference is the security checks that are in place there and lapses in India. There no one is VIP and we have too many to handle.  We need be more rational rather than just making it an emotional issue and branding everything communal.  As a nation we must protest such act by USA or any other nation. No one has a right to insult our respected citizens but just associating these things with communalism should be stopped. We will only suffer from this.

Few days before Mr. Mahesh Bhat and Mr. Imran Hasmi had made allegation about an apartment in Mumbai and branded it as communal. Two days later, the members of the same apartment filed complaints about these two, after that no news from these celebrities and self proclaimed victims.

One needs to be very careful and responsible before making any public statements. We definitely have freedom of expression but while exercising these rights we also need to remember out duties and responsibilities. The news channels seem to be forgetting basics of journalism and after TRP’s and catching eyeballs. Controversies have become new mantra of publicity.

Sensationalizing the Information

Since last four days all the news channels are behind a breaking news that is of Mr. Shiney Ahuja alleged raped his maid. For next few days they will show all the drama unfolding, creating breaking news every now and then and one fine day will forget and will be behind something else. The journalist on national channels debating the laws related to rape cases, asking experts in the field of law about fate of Mr. Ahuja. This is all beyond imagination. Few days before one idiot from bollywood created a scene on ramp (same person gets Padmashree Award) that became a breaking news and we found people defending the ugly act on national news channels. Lot of things happening around deserve simple condemnation are made complicated, discussed, debated and sometimes supported. I wonder: is this meaning of journalism? Not a single media is unbiased and just restricts itself as a medium of information. Last week I read a news in one of the highest selling local news paper about the owner of rival news paper alleged threatening someone without naming him, but they made it so obvious that everyone understands it and finally passed expert comments about the persons character. While doing that somehow I felt they also forgot the ethics their profession. The same media few months back had declared Arushi’s father, Dr. Rajesh Talwar (if you remember the case of honor killing according to the news channels) a killer even before the investigation was over by police. Same thing is happening in all the cases, the media has become a judge and passing a judgment about all that is happening around.

The media today has not remained only a medium of information but they have become moral police (forgetting their own morality). They do not have independent opinion about the issues but full of bias. Of course this bias is understandable as they all are revenue models and doing it for profit.

We had years of state owned television channel telling us pro government news and information and now we have 100 odd independent news channel (it has become oxymoron now a days) sensationalizing the information to market their channel.

Can Indian ever get the matured and truly independent version of the news? This is the question that remains unanswered.

Ethics and Politics

“The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions gives beauty and dignity to life” (Albert Einstein).

The question is raised time and time again, whether morality should not be the life-artery of good organization. Nevertheless, world-wide crime and white collar crime in particular seem to be at the order of the day. It would appear that morality is considered in theory only.

When we look at the political outfits in our country I doubt whether these people even are familiar with the terms like morality or ethics.  The party manifestoes have becomes just one more documents. I think we do not need the manifestoes we need report cards. No alliance is based on ideologies. Mr. Amar Singh talking about some sting operations carried out by Mr. Sanjay Dutta on one of the union minister. He does not make it public so that he can bargain with Congress for criminal cases against his party chief. On the top of that he also admits the same on national TV. Mr. Varun alleged made provocative statements, he is put behind the bars and booked under (IPC 307) attempt to murder case and NSA is used against him. May be this was right thing to do in given situation. But when Mr. Lalu talks about running a roller on Varun, Mr. Vaiko threatens bloodshed if anything happens to LTTE chief, Mr. D. Shriniwas says same thing what Varun has alleged said, no action is taken against these three gentlemen. The question is : If the law is same for all then why is this discrimination? That means something is wrong somewhere. Like this and many incidents are happing every day. That is why the question whether morality is considered only in theory.

This could be very pessimistic view of Indian political scenario but the solution does not lie in not voting. The real solution is voting responsibly.