VOX POPULI  

                                                                    by
                                                               S Kamat
                                                                     as
                                                              Aam Admi
                                           Issue: 229                Date: 27.11.2017
                     skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com   

Contents:   

1. Go Easy On Cashless Operation Until It Gains Acceptance With The Population

2. Follow Restraint With Regard To Ivan(k)a Trump's Visit To India 

3. 90% Cost Subsidy for Electronic Taxi Meters & Speed Governors In Goa

4. Non-Pensioned Senior Citizens Are As Much Deserving As Judges & The President For 
    Cost Of Living Compensation

    

            

                Go Easy On Cashless Operation Until It Gains Acceptance With The Population

The cashless dictum and the mobile payments drive is reaching alarming proportions with news coming out that the government may think of withdrawing cheque facility of bank customers to push them towards mobile payments. All this is tantamount to financial terrorism by the government on the hapless citizens. The  government in all this is going one step too far in its zeal to move towards a cashless society. Apart from the urban - rural divide which may make people not very comfortable in moving towards mobile payments, there is a discomfort in dealing with the payment process and also issues relating to network connectivity across the country. The basic reason is that in the payment process there is no reassuring and strong confirmation that the payment has gone through and received at the other end. There is always a level of uncertainty and a feeling that the receiver may come back at a later point in time claiming that the payment was not received. For people who have been used to a record through receipts of payments made which are enforceable in any forums, it is just not enough to get a cryptic 'payment made' message on your mobile or Internet device. These could be early fears since the cashless payment mode is new and over time with lesser problems seen and reassured with the fidelity of the payment process there could be greater acceptance. But for this the government needs to have patience and give people time and not try as is now to force cashless operations down the gullet of its citizens.

The other issue related to this is that in more and more interactions of the citizens with agencies both government as well as private mobile numbers are being asked for. This is being done without understanding that certain people may have problems with cellular phones both conceptually as well as in the usage methodology of these devices apart from reasons related to physical issues like hearing impairment etc. Some categories of our people be it because of age, lack of education or those that are physically or mentally challenged tend to get flustered and nervous when while using the mobile something goes amiss with the call and they are not able to recover the call or transaction. This leads to anxiety and distress. There is no consideration being given to such cases and those without mobiles are being considered today as pariahs and deprived of availment of certain services and facilities. This in a sense is isolating a part of our society from mainstream activity. This isolation will be accentuated and deepened by the present zeal of the incumbent government to move to cashless society which will as time passes have a part of our population completely debarred from mainstream societal activity. This kind of polarisation of our society is actively being pursued by our government which is rather regrettable.

The way to go forward on the reduction of usage of cash in the Indian economy is to let it evolve on its own which will form a more sustaining basis that will endure rather than rash and hasty steps that will result in more disruption and chaos than smooth implementation. It is also important for our government to study how cashless economies are evolving around the world and take lessons from that rather than trying to do everything from scratch and ending up more as a bull in a china shop in its implementation process. The Scandinavian countries  as reported in a leading international study considered to be leaders in cashless transactions use the debit  and credit card more compared to mobile payments. Between the debit card and the credit cards, the usage of the former is three times that of the latter which indicates an evolution or trend considering that the credit card came earlier to the debit card. Surprisingly countries in Africa like Kenya and Ghana lead the pack in the highest mobile payments. Thus India's place in terms of a cashless economy could be somewhere between Europe and Africa but that position has to be carved out from solid acceptance by our citizens. No amount of tom-toming figures of higher cashless transactions and threats of withdrawing ATM's and chequebooks will get the government anywhere since only time can give a solution.

                     Follow Restraint With Regard To Ivan(k)a Trump's Visit To India 

We are taking things a little too far with the US in terms of relationships between our two countries. It is reported that Ivan(k)a Trump, the daughter of the US President who does not hold any official position in the US government, will be hosted to a dinner at the Falaknuma Palace on the Nizam's dining table claimed to be the longest in the world by none other than the country's most eligible enforced bachelor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Why we need to go to such extents is beyond anyone's imagination? Why should India's Prime Minister rarely seen in social circles within the country except for the very formal occasions make such a concession for Ivana Trump? She has been invited by Chandrababu Naidu, who by right should take the responsibility of hosting her during the visit to Hyderabad. Not only that it was reported in the papers that there were going to be house-to-house searches of dwellings adjacent to the Falaknuma Palace just before her visit. We are as said earlier pandering to the dictates of the US Secret Service a bit too much. Lives of Indian citizens should not be disturbed or inconvenienced by a non-official US visitor. We have had similar irresponsible security strictures being put during past US President visits specifying that Indian security and police personnel should not be anywhere near the dignitary which is insulting and denigrating but our governments have swallowed such conditions. These measures are not reciprocal since even our dignitaries like Abdul Kalam, Pranab Mukherjee and others while holding official positions in the Indian government were frisked and searched by US agencies for which we again kept silent at the time the incidents occurred! It is only much later that these matters came to public light. So it is time one thinks that one needs to draw the line that our people, our agencies and our institutions should be equally dealt with proper respect by all foreign countries including the US. One wonders in this context whether Narendra Modi has conveniently forgotten that his visas to the US were refused by them many times in the past.

                         90% Cost Subsidy for Digital Taxi Meters & Speed Governors In Goa

                                                   

The digital fare meters and speed governors that are to be installed on Goa's taxis are leading up to a classic case of corruption. The government has said that they will give 90% subsidy for installation of these equipment. At the same time, there was news sometime back that digital fare meters are available at Rs. 3,000 in Belgaum while the cost for the same in Goa is Rs. 9,000. Thus with the 90% subsidy the excess recovery by way of inflated prices is funnelled to the supplier of the taxi fare meters, so that a large part of the money can come back to the politicians and/or government officials. Precisely the same thing was done sometime back in the case of the secure number plates that were to be installed on cars where Goans had to pay around Rs. 3,500 when the same plates around the country were being fitted at Rs. 1,000. Large subsidies in excess of 20-30% on anything attract the suspicion of corruption and naturally so at 90% being proposed for the digital fare meters and speed governors. What the Goa government should do is to first ensure a fair price is obtained for the items which are proven and reliable and that is comparable with the national price through the tender process and then have the payout of subsidy done directly to the taxi owners after inspection of fitment of the equipment. This will limit the chances of corrupt dealings in this whole exercise. 

                  Non-Pensioned Senior Citizens Are As Much Deserving As Judges & 

                                    The President For Cost Of Living Compensation                                            

There is news of the judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Courts likely to get substantial raises in salaries which will be in retrospective effect from Jan 2016. With the judges getting more money the President of  India is likely to be given a raise since currently his salary is lower than that of the Cabinet Secretary. The ostensible justification for all this is manifold. Like for the judges, it seems that they have not been given a raise for the last 21 years. But the common thread in the salary escalation is to compensate for cost of living increases an euphemism implying to combat rising prices. This is also the basis on which salary raises for legislators are being considered in Goa which will as is usual result in the hat being passed across the various States in the country who will follow suit and also in the Houses of Parliament. It is rather unfortunate when legislators and judges are being considered to be eligible for cost of living increases, there is a large population of senior citizens who are not covered by pensions considering that they were involved in businesses or employed in the private sector or were professionals like lawyers, doctors or chartered accountants. This category of people in their active working lives have contributed to the welfare of the nation but are now having to depend upon the interest income from their bank fixed deposits in the absence of support of pensions. While the government makes it sound like a virtue of having pensions revised by successive Pay Commissions to compensate for cost of living increases, the above category of people are finding firstly that interest on fixed deposits with the banks has been going down over the years from a 15% in the heydays to around 7% now. And secondly with the interest rates being at such low levels they are no longer a hedge to inflation. Thus those dependent on interest income from fixed deposits with banks are finding their purchasing power going down day by day. Though the Prime Minister  had announced a scheme for Senior Citizens that offers a guaranteed rate of interest of 8%, this is just not enough. When everyone across the country is being assisted to ward off cost of living increases, it is therefore suggested that Senior Citizens who do not qualify for payment of income tax be granted a 15% interest rate on their deposits upto a limit of Rs. 20 Lakhs. This will be a great service that the government will do for a category of population in the country that is not very large and deserving too considering that there are many assistance schemes that exist for varied sectors of our population.

Postscript: I had written on this issue to the PMO in early Nov 2016 which handled it under its complaint resolution process by first referring it to the Min of Finance, the Budget Divn. Which conveyed that since the interest of 15% on Fixed Deposits is a policy decision, it has been 'noted'. This was in Feb 2017, which meant that nothing would be decided in the upcoming Budget of 2017-18. My letter was also referred to the  National Savings Institute, New Delhi which responded in Sept 2017 to me stating that my suggestions have been 'noted' and a 'suitable view will be taken in due course of time'. In the meanwhile on the cusp of the New Year 2017 the PM announced the guaranteed 8% interest scheme which is being implemented through LIC. I have again written to all the above agencies, the PMO, the Budget Divn - Min of Finance and the National Savings Institute on the matter in early Nov 2017 to see whether we can get a decision on the issue. This is fyi.

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                                                              VOX POPULI
                                                         by  
                                                   S Kamat
                                                         as
                                                  Aam Admi
                             Issue: 228                    Date: 20.11.2017
              skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:   

1. How To Keep The Gears of Coalition Well Oiled

2. Vegetable Prices Shoot Up Too Often These Days

3. The Padmavati Imbroglio

4. Ratings, Reports Do Not Make An Economy Tick, Hard Decisions Do

                         How To Keep The Gears of Coalition Well Oiled

The compulsions of coalition politics is forcing Manohar Parrikar, the Goa Chief Minister, to chalk out alternate strategies to keep his present flock in the Assembly together. A couple of days ago he was waxing eloquently on how the salaries of the MLA's need be raised for reasons of their having to perform their duties on a 24/7 basis leading them to be unable to attend to their business interests. He also added that the raised salaries would result in lesser corruption not that it was a necessary condition. Then in today's papers we have news that each MLA would be given Rs. 25 crores for doing developmental work in his constituency. This 'spreading the moolah' strategy by dispersing the spending of government will surely help in keeping the MLA's happy and where we have the legislator with the good intentions of the people at heart we can also look forward to much needed development. 

                Vegetable Prices Shoot Up Too Often These Days

The cyclical variations in the availability of vegetables and their prices is moving away from the defined seasonality and the twice or thrice pattern that we see in a year because of weather extremes be it related to drought or floods. Nowadays at the drop of a hat you find the prices of vegetables shooting up more so that of onions. Clearly there is something wrong with no intervention on the part of the government to regulate prices through their buying agencies like NAFED or the APMC's that run the mandis where the produce arrives for distribution to the retail markets. The talk of introducing cold chains for perishable produce seems to be up in the air since we continue to waste more than 30% of our agricultural production by way of spoilage. If this was available then there would also be a 'cooling' effect on the prices of produce by way of improved availability. Concluding, one must say that most consumers would not mind paying higher prices for the produce as long as there is a commensurate increase in the quality and packaging of the items. Apart from the big departmental stores & malls where you see this consciousness to some extent, this is one area that is sadly lacking in our general produce markets today. 

                                                           The Padmavati Imbroglio

The Padmavati issue is being carried to comical proportions. The matter is not about history at all since legends as we all know that emerge from the hoary mists of ancient times are embellished for maximum impact, what we call TRP, in today's age. Thus artistic licence has been an accepted fact even to our lore more so because these were passed on through the verbal tradition which allowed enough leeway for a change in the content to appeal most to the target audience. Thus the Karni Sena need to first establish the authenticity of the Padmini or Padmavati story before they can claim offence. Just because the Karni Sena claim a derivative lineage from their ancestors that includes the legendary beautiful queen does not mean that all that they assume is God's own truth. The militant position that the Karni Sena has taken on this matter is rather unfortunate which was aptly highlighted by a cartoon in one of the national newspapers which said that the Sena to protect an imaginary figure of a woman in history who lived in the medieval age is willing to offer bounties to cut off Deepika Padukone's nose and on her life also. Thus a living woman who is but a tool in the making of the film and who did not deliberately slight Padmavati is targeted to be attacked. So where is the respect for women that the Karni Sena claim?

On the other hand we all need to realise that films are films and are quite removed from reality. They are made purely for entertainment and for someone to take offence from the content shown in films reflects the naïveté and immaturity of these people. One must however say that S L Bhansali courts controversy for most of  his films that have been released lately. Skirting controversy can be a strategy to get publicity for the films which will bring in viewers into the theatres to verify the 'truth' if one may call it. But this may boomerang as in the case of Padmavati where the issue reaches unanticipated proportions. This is not desirable which Bhansali should realise and factor in remedial measures.

Concluding the Padmavati controversy is nothing to do with freedom of speech or cultural fundamentalism but simply a matter of jousting being ween the film maker and the Karni Sena to see who blinks first. It is rather unfortunate that the government has been drawn into the controversy. To resolve the issue what needs to be done is that Bhansali and the Karni Sena need to sit down together and thrash out the matter through mutual discussion. 

                       Ratings, Reports Do Not Make An Economy Tick, Hard Decisions Do

Narendra Modi and his government has been cherry pickin' when it comes to international reports about India. One of the reports has been that Sulphur Oxide emissions from India over the last decade have increased by 50% while in the same period China has reduced these kind of emissions by 70% since 2007. With this China is on track to meet its global commitments while as usual India has failed. Why has the BJP government thought it wise not to comment on this report? If you now ask the government in Delhi about this you will get yet another convoluted explanation that defies all reason and logic. With the environmental pollution in Delhi and adjoining States of Punjab & Haryana hitting the headlines over the last week, should it not have been imperative for India to focus on meeting its environmental commitments. In that event maybe the situation in the Delhi skies would have been different. 

The World Bank after releasing its Ease of Doing Business Report commented that India by 2055 should become a leader of the 'higher middle income' countries. Now this is a new category indeed! It seems the World Bank is differentiating categories to death, so that each country is a leader in its very own category. And the question to ask is was not India supposed to achieve superpower status by 2020 that if one recalls was later revised to 2050. Now why has the World Bank degraded India further as a 'higher middle income' country! The same applies to the upgradation of India in the Moody's rating which is being made into a big thing where the change is from BAAA to BAAA+ or some such which actually makes no earthly difference. Continuing in a tone of levity, one thinks that Moody gets into the mood only once every decade for each country since India's rating revision came after some 13 years, it is said. In a down to earth perspective none of these ratings or reports matter since a country like India should know where it stands, where it is going and what it hopes to achieve. We need not be told by foreign agencies what is good or bad for us. This was the position that the BJP used to take at the turn of this century and it is unfortunate that they have now to be reminded about it. 

In any case, the IIP figures have come out confirming the trend line put out by the PMI in the previous week that India manufacturing is slowing down. The WPI also has shown an uncomfortable increase with vegetables and fuel prices leading the upsurge. Though the India statistical figures lack credibility, let us take them for what they are worth at face value and recognise that the economy is stuttering and serious measures to revive it are in order by this time. However, Narendra Modi and his government seem to be in denial mode when it comes to any negative news on the Indian economy. This is rather unfortunate since when you have a problem, the first thing to do is to recognise that you have a problem. Only then you can find a solution. Will someone explain this to our economic policy czars in Delhi.

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                                                                  VOX POPULI  
                                                          by
                                                      S Kamat
                                                           as
                                                    Aam Admi
                              Issue: 227                     Date: 13.11.2017

  skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com 

Contents:   

1. Are Our Schools Safe?

2. Goa Police Should Not Try To Pass The Buck

3. Saving Indian Democracy

4. The Pollution Crisis In Delhi Should Have Been Anticipated

5. Organised Crime Will Follow In The Wake Of Money Laundering, 
    Therefore Closing Down The Casinos Is The Best Option

                                           Are Our Schools Safe?

The Pradyuman killing and the arrest of the new suspect, a Cl. XI schoolboy from the same school, Ryan International at Bhondsi, makes chilling reading when you are made aware of the possible reason for the murder, to get a school holiday that would postpone a PTA meeting and an exam scheduled on that day. What is our society coming to? When children in their teens can think of measures as extreme as this to get away from regular events on school calendars. It speaks of a complete lack of upbringing of the suspect with no inculcation of proper moral values by his parents and other elders in his family. The school as far as the incident is concerned is less to blame apart from the regular security measures that it flouted. But at the same time one feels that the school should keep an eagle eye open on the students in the higher classes to look for possible offenders since murder is a rare occurrence but bullying, incorrect dealings with the other sex,  smoking, use of drugs etc. are quite possible the risk factors for our schoolchildren in a rapidly changing modern society. If the CBI is proved right in the arrest of the Cl. XI schoolboy for Pradyuman's murder, we need to take measures to sanitise our schools sufficiently since we would not want them to go the way of US schools where shootings, knifing, drug abuse etc. over the years have been quite rampant. This is being stated since in the last five years or so in the NCR we have had incidents of knifing and shootings reported in the media committed by schoolchildren but maybe not necessarily on school premises. Most of these are related to bravado, rivalry or girl related issues. We could also consider having psychological tests conducted annually by the schools for all children above 12 years to see the child's development and what kind of tendencies he/she are showing. The reports of these tests can be shared with the children and their parents/guardians.  If there is anything adverse then those responsible for the child get all the more time to address the issues and a chance to iron them out. But what makes the murder at the Ryan International school at Bhondsi diabolical, since maybe Pradyuman would have lived but then some other poor child would have died at the hands of the the killer. For the killer, it seems the act was more important than the identity of the victim.

                                              Goa Police Should Not Try To Pass The Buck

The Goan papers lately carried two news items on police matters. The first was that police personnel on duty will not be allowed to use cellphones and access Apps while on duty. The cellphone is a technology gadget that has simplified access to and from people anywhere and everywhere. As to matters related to police, cellphones have almost eliminated the dependence on wireless sets which used to be a specialised technical activity which the cellphones have simplified to an easy to use process. So why does the government want to limit the use of technology rather than embrace it and see how best it can be used to improve police services? Is it a fear of technology that is making the authorities to take this retrograde step? If police are stopped from using mobiles while on duty, will the government stop all other government employees to do the same? Since if you go to any government office you will find at least 60% of the employees on their mobile phones on personal calls or accessing Apps. If there is going to be a rule, then there should be a single rule across the board for all government employees.

The other news was that the police is keen on getting the public as whistleblowers to complain about traffic offences. Why are the police delegating their job to the public? Are they not competent to handle their jobs that they have to ask the public to assist them? Or are they plumb lazy and just want to sit around waiting for the complaints from the public to come in? A scheme of regular patrolling both by foot in city areas and by vehicles on major roads and highways, will get a better rate of catching offenders for all those reasons in which points are proposed to be given to the complainants from the public. Additionally the traffic police that are deployed in the city areas to manage parking can be given daily/weekly or monthly targets for catching offenders to improve the apprehending rate. What happens presently can be seen from an incident personally experienced by this writer last week in Panjim. We were driving into the one-way lane below the Panjim church adjoining the mosque on our way to A B Road nearing 5pm, when we saw 3-4 scooters, hired ones it seemed from their registration plates which were yellow, coming out of the lane and into the Panjim church square! This was clearly wrong side. And there was a police Gypsy vehicle parked in front of the bungalow that is on the right of the lane there with an officer and constable standing outside, next to the vehicle. And they did nothing to the 3 scooters and let them pass through without a murmur let alone a hail! This is our police in Goa today! And the police IGP instead of making the police work is trying to give them an easier time by delegating their work to the public. Mr IGP, put your head down and get on with the job that you are paid to do and get your personnel to deliver on their salaries that they receive every month.

The idea of passing on the task of reporting traffic offences to the public whistleblowers is also fraught with confusion. People who have enmity against others will use this opportunity to take revenge by filing false reports. The police will then be caught in the dilemma of trying to find what is the 'truth'. There is also every chance that the fines imposed through this process will be struck down by the courts since the public whistleblowers have no locus standii  as a traffic regulating or offence administration authority. Therefore it is best that the police work be best done by the police themselves. In a moral sense asking people to tell tales on other people is also wrong. We are setting a bad example for our society here by having people squeal on others. In times of crisis or emergency asking for public support by the police is all right like neighbourhood night patrols if you have a spate of robberies happening but in normal times passing the buck is just not the right thing to do.

                                                        Saving Indian Democracy

The way things are going on in the Indian political arena, we need to try and look at the likely happenings that may happen in the future. The Opposition parties led by the Congress and the various regional parties bringing up the tail are all in disarray. Thus the hope that they will be able to whip up the anti-incumbency factor against Modi & the BJP and dislodge them in 2019 is a rather forlorn thought. Therefore we need to look at how to keep Modi under check. For all his faults Modi in the face of election victories that are at stake keeps his ears open and responds to feedback. The example of this are the various revisions on the GST with more to come which would not have been done had the imminent Gujarat elections not been ahead of him. Though he may win Gujarat, it is important to give him a good fight and reduce the BJP margin of victory which will be a caution for Modi. Otherwise if he takes Gujarat with a huge majority and also wins the 2019 Lok Sabha elections since there is no feasible alternative from among other political parties as stated above, with a similar resounding majority like in the 2014 elections, we may be heading for Emergency like conditions imposed on the country from mid-2020 onwards. At least if the Opposition parties organise an improved showing in the number of seats won both in Gujarat and across the country in the general elections, it will put a speed governor on Modi's political juggernaut which is threatening to run astray. Clearly the Indian democracy is at stake in the next two years. Arun Jaitley's mishandling of the economy and fully instituting a terrorist Raj through his enforcement apparatus like the income tax, ED etc. will lose a lot of votes for the BJP. Jaitley's approach is somewhat similar to the India Shining platform that the BJP adopted in the past which was a disconnect with people's wants while the present approach is authoritarian which does not go very well with the Indian people. Indians like a little bit of authority but not too much. The Opposition needs to capitalise on such issues where people are hurt like for Demonetisation the major plank to be taken was loss of jobs and livelihood by closures of businesses while for GST it is that there is no 'ease of doing business'. And that the twin operations that were imposed on the Indian economy in the last one year of Demonetisation and GST though claimed to be 'successful' left the economy 'dead'. Only in the Opposition parties improved showing in the elections will we secure the safety of Indian democracy. 

                                   The Pollution Crisis In Delhi Should Have Been Anticipated

The pollution that is crippling Delhi and northern India with haze should have been tackled in proper time this year before it reached hazardous levels. As the harvest season was in swing the government's in Haryana & Punjab should have launched an awareness drive among farmers not to set fire to the stubble in their fields as also informed them of the Supreme Court verdict in the matter. Parallely some incentive could have been announced for enhanced fertiliser subsidies for those farmers that do not set fire to their fields. This would surely have motivated some of the farmers at least not to contribute to smoke pollution and the consequent haze in Delhi.

The other thing is that the AAP government had initiated immediately after coming to power the odd-even rule for cars in Delhi. Though the pros & cons of the measure was discussed to death, it remains the only visible measure to reduce vehicular particulate pollution in Delhi apart from closing down polluting industry, ban on construction activity etc. Why this was not launched when the likely haze from the smoke from Haryana & Punjab was being discussed is something that defies logic and common sense? It seems that the AAP government is no longer interested in the long term health of the people of Delhi or maybe because the odd-even rule was roundly vilified by many in different media forums. However, it is best that every year from Sept - Jan the odd-even rule is strictly implemented since not only will it reduce vehicular pollution but also facilitate to streamline traffic on Delhi roads.

                      

        Organised Crime Will Follow In The Wake Of Money Laundering, Therefore Closing Down 

                                                  The Casinos Is The Best Option

We have Manohar Parrikar talking last week of money laundering of about some Rs. 1000 crores by doctors and those owning restaurants and diagnostic labs where transactions are mainly in cash. Is this something new? Under-declaring of income is the time-honoured prerogative of all Indian professionals like doctors, lawyers etc. and of businesses that handle mostly cash like those referred above and everyone knows about this. The way the Income Tax officers handle it is, they mark up the income depending upon how much cut is offered to them and the issue is settled with everyone happy. These avoidances that require money laundering for the undeclared income are relatively small change compared to what is done through the casinos. Again in the last couple of weeks there was news of some Rs. 90 crores being laundered through a racket in which the Goan casinos were involved by some people based in Delhi.

Money laundering is as old as the oldest profession in the world and that is prostitution. In fact one begets the other. The motivation being easy money. Now that the Goan government has woken up to the fact that money laundering, both big and small, goes on in the State, it is time that we did something about it. Like it is known that the casinos in Goa act as the magnet who bring in the big-time money laundering activities into the State. These casinos are used for  money laundering opportunities that are availed by persons, businesses across India as also organised crime. This is not a good thing since in the wake of organised crime will come the rackets of prostitution and drugs. The mechanics and stratagems that those involved in such activities employ are devious and circumvental to say the least. The easiest thing for the Goan government to do is therefore to close down the casinos which will kill two birds with one stone, get rid of the gambling nuisance and also limit the avenue of large-scale money laundering. No longer can the government justify the presence of the casinos by the revenue that they bring in. The negatives of casinos far outweigh their positive aspects like generating employment and revenue. Thus money laundering is just the tip of the iceberg that is visible above the waterline since there are more major negatives under the water which businesses like casinos thrive upon compared to other business activity. 

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                                                  VOX POPULI  
                                                           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.  

                         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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