Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Tuesday 31 December 2013

Congressmen are Confused !







AAP made a few poll promises - prominent being ,


>   700 Liters of free water per month


>   50 % subsidy in power bills


And people of Delhi elected them to power


Then within 48 hours of forming government , AAP fulfilled these promises


Total cost  ?


Less than Rs 40 Crores / month


Congressmen are asking themselves ,


"   We promised Rs 200 Cr / month of freebies - and got thrown out of Rajasthan / MP / Chhattisgarh

   

    What went wrong  ?


    The more we promise , the more we lose  !


    And , to win 2014 elections , we have promised 600 million poor people
    a monthly subsidy of Rs 8,000 Crores by way of Food Security Bill


    At this rate , what will happen to us  ?


    It seems , the more freebies you promise , the greater your chance of being thrown out of power 
    

    And look at what Rahul Gandhi has promised the people of Amethi  :


   >   A railway coach factory

   >   A University

   >   A paper mill

   >   40 food processing units

   >   Indian Institute of Information Technology

   >   Footwear Design and Development Institute

   >   IT hub in Tikarmafi

   >   A railway line  ..................etc



  But Kumar Vishwas (  AAP  candidate for Amethi ) is promising only ,


  >    A clean / corruption-free / pro-poor government


No more  !


With just 5 months before the 2014 elections , how can our would-be Prime Minister , withdraw those promises  ?


And , since the logic of " Less is More " seems to work , does that mean Kumar Vishwas will defeat Rahul Gandhi  ?   "



And Rahul Gandhi is asking Sheila Dikshit :


>  Why , in 15 years , you did not implement what Arvind Kejriwal did  ?


>  Why you did not ask CAG to conduct an audit of Discoms  ?


>  Why you did not hold Mohalla - Sabhas  to connect with Aam Aadmi  ?


>  Why you failed to figure out that people wanted toilets, not highways  ?


Now , all of you , repeat after me , and loudly please


>    Less is More


>    Simple is Elegant


>    Adarsh is not Ideal


>    Aam is not Ordinary


>    CAG is credible


>    Jhadu will sweep


>    Congress will weep



     


Sheila Dikshit , Chidambaram , Kapil Sibal , Salman Khurshid , Jairam Ramesh , Manish Tewari , Kamal Nath , Digvijay - and sundry other Netas , are utterly confused !




*   hemen   parekh   (  01  Jan  2014  /  Mumbai  )     



Monday 30 December 2013

Overwhelming Demands ?



You bet  !


Looking at the crowds shouting their demands outside Arvind Kejriwal's residence , you would think , people of Delhi have unlimited arrears of problems


Individuals and groups are trooping in from far and wide , demanding :


>  Better physical services ( Power / Water / Homes / Transport )


>  Jobs ( Permanency / Removal of Contract System / New jobs )


>  Reservations / Abolitions / Implementations / Resignations


>  Admissions / Legalizations / Transfers


>  Roll back of CNG Prices / Reduction of Vegetable prices


>  Security / Loans / Pensions



The list goes on and on


Only problem


Whereas demands are " Unlimited " ,  resources ( Manpower + Money + Systems ) are " Limited "  !


Hence Arvind will need to evolve a simple method to evaluate the " IMPORTANCE " and the " URGENCY " of these demands


He may want to devise an online form  or , like last time , print and distribute 50 lakh forms , which only need to be ticked , as in a multiple choice questionnaire


Then , on a scale of 1- 5 , invite people of Delhi to score each demand on the following criteria :


How does this problem affect  ?


>  Economic Status ( Rich / Middle Class / Poor )


>  Geographic Coverage ( Posh Area / Middle class locality / Slums )


>  Gender ( Male / Female / Both )


>  Age  ( Old people / Middle Age  /  Children )


>  Coverage  ( Entire population / Majority / One Community only )


>  Nature  (  Political / Social / Economic )


>  Character  ( Establish Equity / Reduce Disparity / Speed up Justice )


>  Scope  ( Job Creation / Health / Education / Corruption Removal )


>  Time Frame  ( Crisis Situation / Urgent / Can wait  )



Then display the demands in the descending order of " PERCENTILE  SCORES  " - so people get to know what will get attended to and when


For AAP , with its inclination for seeking people's opinion through " STRUCTURED STATISTICAL SURVEYS " , devising such a transparent and easily understood " PROCESS  " , cannot be a big deal


Incidentally , no individual problem / demand should be included in the survey


Carrying out such a pilot ,  " SOCIO - ECONOMIC - POLITICAL " experiment can take our democracy to the grass-root level and give the people a sense of participation in solving their own problems


At the same time , people will be made aware that ,


>    Resources are limited


>    All demands cannot be attended simultaneously


>    Injustice of past 15 years cannot be undone in the next 15 days




*    hemen   parekh   (   31  Dec  2013  /  Mumbai  )

Sunday 29 December 2013

A System - based Solution



DEAR  PEOPLE  OF  DELHI  :


Of course , you have a right to complain to your government and seek solutions to your problems


But then , 150 lakh people could each have a problem which , he / she wants solved " yesterday "  !


That would inundate your government , leading to a chaos , instead of satisfactory solutions  !


That is why Arvind said ,


"  Give us 10 days time to put in place , a system "


You could help him devise / implement  such a system


To begin with , submit your complaints in the following " Structured " manner ( - should be NEATLY handwritten ) :



-------------------------------------


COMPLAINT  FORM




>   Complainant Name


>   Age


>   Gender


>   Mobile No


>   Landline No


>   Email Id ( Optional )


>   Address


>   Nature of Complaint


>   To be attended by Dept ( your best guess )


>   Max no of days in which to attend ( be generous )


>   Date submitted ( date / month / year )



--------------------------------------------------------------


You may handover your complaint to ,



>    Government Secretariat


>    Arvind's Residence (  deposit in box kept outside
  )


>    Nearest  AAP  office




You gave previous Congress Government , 15 years for solutions of your problems - with no solutions


Now give , at least 15 days to AAP government  !


Be reasonable  !   Be patient  !




DEAR  ARVIND  :



Here are a few suggestions for you,


>   Within 10 days , print and distribute such a Complaint Form , widely
      all over Delhi . Keep it simple  ! Hindi as well


>    Make it downloadable from Delhi Government web site


>    Within 15 days , enable online submission of complaints on Govt web


      site . For each complaint , give comprehensive feedback . Make entire
      database searchable to any visitor , in a transparent manner


>   Within 30 days , start a Call - Center , where people can register their
      complaints over phone (  IVRS  ?  )


>   Within 45 days , launch Mobile App , "  Magic  Wand " , suggested by
      me , 2 days back 





*   hemen   parekh   (  30  Dec  2013  /  Mumbai  )

Saturday 28 December 2013

A Frog in Well ?




In Sanskrit , it is called , "  Koop  Mandook  "


A frog which cannot see the Sun rise ( - in Sanskrit , Arvind stands for Sun )


There is no other explanation for Nitin Gadkari to allege that a leading industrialist brokered a deal between AAP and Congress


There is no other explanation for Dr Harshvardhan to say ,


"   AAP will fail to deliver on its promises "


The leader of the opposition in Delhi Assembly ( who , in his post-swearing in speech , Arvind described as a " good man " ) , could not have dreamed that Arvind will motivate 50,000 Delhi-ites to chant ,


"  I will neither offer bribe , nor take bribe "


The good Doctor could not have realized that , after this slogan , Arvind need not worry about fulfilling AAP's poll promises


With this slogan , people of Delhi will themselves fulfill their own dreams  !


Even as experts ( - and some eminent non-experts ) , were debating till late in the night , how AAP will fail ,


>  Red beacons disappeared from official cars ( Magic Wand  ? )


>  Powerful bureaucrats were , unceremoniously shunted out


Do the feudal lords of Congress / BJP realize that , if AAP manages to cleanse the Delhi Administration of corruption , then people don't care if AAP fails to deliver on all of its other poll promises  ?


Most dangerous / unnerving thought  !


Most calamitous prophesy  !


Most certain obliteration  !


Nitinji ,


Remember that 26 year old dalit girl Rakhi Birla defeating a veteran Congress Minister in Delhi  ?


You would do well not to contest your 2014 Lok Sabha seat against Anjani Damania from Gadh Chiroli or Mumbai's Worli  !


People without homes , electricity , water , schools , toilets , hospitals etc , have sounded the death-knell of the corrupts  !


Can you hear it  ?


A new Sun has risen


The sooner you come out of your Koop and see it , the better  !


Sonia / Rahul have seen it


That is why they want Adarsh Scam Report " re-considered "  !





*   hemen  parekh  (  29  Dec  2013  /  Mumbai  )    

Friday 27 December 2013

Great Expectations



People of Delhi have " Great Expectations " from AAP government


And people of India will be watching how well AAP delivers on those expectations before 2014 general elections


Will AAP manage to deliver on its promises  ?


Here is when great expectations turn into " Unreasonable Expectations "  !


TV anchors are asking this question to every single AAP leader - all the time


And , they are also asking this question to sundry BJP / Congress leaders as well


Asking persons who are taking vicarious pleasure in predicting that AAP will fail miserably


Other than a random AAP leader ( notably , Arvind Kejriwal himself ), no one is saying ,


"   Of course , AAP will fail to deliver on some of those promises - especially
    those promises which require a YES nod from Central Government


    Of course , AAP may have made some miscalculations


    Of course , AAP has no experience in running a government


    Of course , AAP will make some mistakes


    Of course , AAP has no solutions to ALL the problems of Delhi


    So what  ?


    In 2009 , didn't Congress promise to ,


    >  abolish poverty ( as it has been promising for past 66 years )  ?


    >  bring inflation under control within 100 days of coming to power ?

        -  and then repeating that promise , every 100 days ?

       -  and even forcing Planning Commission and the RBI governor to say
       the same thing at every quarterly review  ?  "



Obviously , the vanquished are in a tearing hurry to write an epitaph on AAP's tombstone  !


I am reminded of the vultures circling in the sky when they see an animal dying on the ground  !


Are you surprised that the political vultures are waiting for AAP government to die / fail  ?


Are TV anchors allowing these vultures to use their powerful media to bring about , a " Self - fulfilling Prophesy "  ?


Have we become an ant crawling on a M F Hussein painting , which cannot step back and see it in perspective , in all its glory ?


On midnight of 15th August 1947 , I walked with the crowds of people ( all of them Aam Aadmi ) , from Shivaji Park to Gateway of India , in Mumbai


It took me 12 hours to walk that distance


But I was lucky to have witnessed history in the making


And now , after a lapse of 66 years , I am lucky once again , to be witnessing , another glorious moment of history !


Let us celebrate the arrival of our second freedom - the Surajya


Let us celebrate the beginning of the end of Cancer of Corruption


Let us celebrate the re-birth of the Common Man - the Aam Aadmi



*   hemen   parekh   (  28   Dec   2013  /  Mumbai  )  

   

Thursday 26 December 2013

Magic Wand ?




Yesterday , Arvind Kejriwal said ,


"  We don't have a Magic Wand with which to cure the problems of the people "


DEAR  ARVIND ,


You don't have to search very far for such a wand  !

That could be the name of an Android app ( I Seek It Now > < U Solve It Now )


To be developed by Home Ministry of Delhi Government , for successful implementation of


DELIVERY  OF  SERVICES  ACT


Make the app freely downloadable from Google Play or from official web site of Delhi government


To activate , a citizen will log into the App , by entering :


>      Aadhar  Identification  Number


>      Delhi Electoral Roll Number


As soon as he does , his name will appear on the first screen of the App , which will read ,


“  I wish to send my complaint to the following department ( For Example ) :
   


  * National Commission for Women

  • Garbage Clearance

  • Water Supply

  • Electricity Supply

  • Roads Repair

  • Rationing ( Food Distribution )

  • Police

  • Bus Transport

  • Railways

  • Post

  • Employment

  • Education

  • Irrigation

  • Building Permits

  • Revenue / Land Records

  • Anti Corruption

  • Other ……………………………………….etc

       (  List should not exceed 50  )


Touching name of any department name will open a SMS message box where the user will type out his complaint ( in a language of his choice )


There will be option to speak-out and record voice message , for illiterate users


Touching  SEND  button will transmit the complaint and within minutes, user will receive SMS reply giving,


  • Name of Officer responsible

  • Office Landline No

  • Mobile No of Officer

  • Email Id of Officer

  • Complaint No with date

  • Expected date of solving the complaint


Bingo  !


The Delhi Government official web site ( integrated with mobile App ) , will carry a tabulation of departments , arranged in the descending order of the no of complaints received / cleared / pending !


The Tabulation will also show , several performance matrices such as,


>  Max time / Ave time / Min time , for solving problem

>  Percentage Performance

>  Binomial Distribution Curve

>  Credit Points earned by the Department .........etc


This frugal innovation will bring in Good Governance to AAP government in Delhi


Arvind Kejriwal may want to request Nandan Nilekani / Sam Pitroda to help out . If they are too busy, his own Alma Mater , IIT-Kanpur would be glad to develop such an App within 15 days !



If AAP manages to successfully implement this in Delhi , it will succeed in convincing 760 million voters of India that ,


"  Where there is a Will , there is a Way

   Give AAP a chance to replicate this at All India level " 



*    hemen  parekh  (  27  Dec  2013 / Mumbai )