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 24 March 2020

A Rose by Any Other Name ?




In his nation-wide address last evening , PM Modiji did not declare ,

National Health Emergency  [  - as urged by me in my email yesterday ],


Instead he announced ,

Nation-wide 24 hour LOCKDOWN for 21 days { presumably under National Disaster Management Act }


For details of how Lockdown will affect our lives, read :




PM also announced a budgetary provision of Rs 15,000 crore to fight the pandemic – mostly to be spent on augmenting HEALTH SERVICES [ Hospitals - Ventilator supply etc  ]


There was only a passing reference to ECONOMY – that too , a warning that economy is bound to suffer and jobs may be lost , causing hardship to people – especially, to poor people


He spoke of the fact that developed countries , despite their substantial Healthcare Resources , have failed to control the pandemic . He stopped there without terming the efforts of these developed countries to “REVIVE the ECONOMY “ by spending $ 500 billion - $ 800 billion - $ 1,000 billion , as totally MIS-GUIDED !


How come “ misguided “ ?

Developed countries want to pump in those billions of dollars , to “ Keep economy running normally – as before “ – presumably to save job-losses


That means enabling / encouraging , factories and offices to stay open and keep working


In turn , that would require all transport ( whether Public or Private / whether Passenger or Freight ), to operate “ as usual


In short , no restriction on people congregating / mixing / bumping into one another , as before


Essentially allowing everyone to shout ,


 “ Welcome to Community Transmission ( Stage 4 ) “



If in doubt, look at this data as of yesterday :

================================================================================
Country
Deaths
Confirmed Cases
% age Death to Conf.
Italy
6,820
69,176
9.8
Spain
2,991
42,058
7.1
Iran
1,934
24,811
7.8
USA
   797
55,233
1.4
India
        9
      562
1.6


Now you will understand the wisdom of Shri Modiji , when he said :


Ø  Jaan hai to Jahaan hai

Ø  को  =  कोई 
Ø  रो   =   रोड पर 
Ø  ना   =   ना आवे 

He could have added :

Ø  सिर सलामत तो पग़डिया बहोत 


As of now , no country has :

Ø   a  Vaccine to Prevent Corona
Ø   a  Drug to Cure  Corona

It may take weeks / months to develop these , by which time , Corona would have infected MILLIONS of persons in those Developed Countries


By which time , thousands would have died in those countries


Let no one have any doubt that our only salvation lies in SOCIAL DISTANCING through LOCKDOWN


Of course , there will be disruption in supply of our daily necessities, but for a few days before things settle down . Government Agencies will get overwhelmed. We need to “ grin and bear it “ !


I have only one request to Shri Modiji , viz :


Even as jobs get lost as Economy slides ( possibly for next 1 year ) , and may take another 1 year to return to 5 % GDP, let some officers ( by name ) – and not departments / sections / Ministries , silently / quietly work to implement :

How to convert Temporary into Permanent ? 



The only thing that Task Forces / Committees / Empowered Groups etc manage to “ achieve “ is giving all the members, a “ Sense of Enlarged Participation “

  .
Diffused / Shared Responsibilities ( where you cannot hold a SINGLE person as “ Accountable / Answerable “ ) , cannot get things done


Hold a person by his collar and tell him :  Get this job done by XYZ date . Period


And , if you must have a Task Force / Committee , just pose the problem and tell each member :


  We don’t need suggestions from you as to who should do what


   Please , stand up and say :


  This is WHAT I will do by XYZ date 


=========================================================

25  March 2020 (  First Day of Lockdown )

hcp@RecruitGuru.com



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