BACK TO THE FUTURE -2050 AD?

Times of India [21 May, 2012 ] reports about the existence of an Indian village which you would not expect to come across till 2050

Here are the details:

• Name of village / State

Punsari (Himmatnagar/Gujarat)

  

• Recognition

Voted best Gram Panchayat ( out of 240,000 ) by Govt of India

  

• What does it have ( that is futuristic ) ?

  

• WiFi to cover village

• Optical Fibre Broadband Network

• Air conditioned Schools

• CCTV cameras in class-rooms to watch over teachers

• Schools with zero drop out rates

• 25+ CCTV at street junctions to catch litterbugs

• Mini-bus transport system

• Rs 1 lakh insurance cover for each of the 6000 villagers

• Rs 25,000 Med claim policy for each villager

• Reverse Osmosis plant to supply 20 liter clean water to each house for Rs 4 /- ( Dean Kamen, take heart ! )

• How did Panchayat ( Village Council ) manage this miracle ?

• By managing its own funds well

• By better management of funds received from State / Central Governments

• By selling part of village grazing land as plotted schemes to various communities

• Village Panchayat ( Council ) capital has gone up from Rs 25,000 five years ago to Rs 75 lakhs today

• By villagers agreeing on a co-operative approach to development

• What “ obvious “ factor did Times of India leave unstated  ?

  

• There are no corrupt people in the village panchayat

  

• My suggestions to Punsari Village Panchayat

• Invite Management Institutes to prepare case-study

• Request Peter / Steven ( Authors ) to write a sequel to their excellent book,” Abundance: Future is better than you think “

• Build a 3 star hotel in village – then invite Panchayats from all over India to send delegations on Study Tours . One more source of income . The Panchayat has a name for it :

                      “ Development  Tourism “ !

For additional info , visit : http://deshgujarat.com/2012/04/28/gujarats-punsri-village-wins-best-gram-panchayat-award-nationally/

• 
  

Hemen  Parekh 

NOTHING TO CELEBRATE THIS MOTHERS DAY

Times of India ( 9 May,2012 ) reports following findings from “ State of the World’s Mothers “ report , with reference to Indian women :

Findings  

[ 2011 Report / 2012 Report ]

• No of women running the risk of death during child-birth

[ 1 in 140  /  1 in 140  ]

• %age of women using some form of contraceptives

  

[  49 %  /  49 %  ]

  

• %age of women helped by trained health worker during child-birth

  

[  53 %  /  53  %  ]

  

• India’s rank as a “ Place to be a Mother “

  

[ 75^th out of 79 Countries / 76^th out of 80 Countries ]

 How long will Mother India continue to suffer ?

It seems a small consolation that our Speaker as well as President , are women !

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

A NEW UNIT OF CURRENCY ?

India desperately needs some new units of its currency ( Rupee)

Here is why :

·     2G Scam  ………………………. Rs  1.76 [Lakh  Crores]

·     Fodder Scam  ……………….. Rs   1[Thousand  Crores]

·     Stamp Paper Scam  ……… Rs 3 [Ten Thousand  Crores]

·     Wakf Land Scam  …………   Rs  2    [Lakh  Crores]

·     Maharashtra Loan Scam ..Rs   6    [Lakh  Crores]

·     Coal Scam  …………………….. Rs   10  [Lakh  Crores]

·     CWG  Scam  …………………. Rs 3.5 [Ten Thousand  Crores]

·     NHRM  Scam  ……………… Rs  1[Ten Thousand  Crores]

·     Iron Ore Scam  …………….....  Rs   5   [Lakh  Crores]

Here are my suggestions for these new units of currency :

·     Rs  [One  Crore] ……………    =    One  [Forget]

·     Rs  [Ten  Crore]…………………. =   One [Kala]

·     Rs  [Hundred  Crore]……………=   One  [Lala]

·     Rs  [Thousand  Crore]…………..=  One [Raja]

·     Rs  [Ten Thousand  Crore]……...=   One  [Jaya]

·     Rs  [Lakh  Crore]…………………… =  One [Maya]

·     Rs  [Crore  Crore]………………….=.  One [Jaga]

Acceptance of my suggestion will simplify the lives of Editors / TV Anchors and make it easy to prioritize CAG / CVC / CBI reports.

There is a business opportunity to start,

·     A TV channel called …………… Scams  Now

·     A Newspaper called …………….Scams of India

With  regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

BUT I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP

Akhilesh yadav – Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh ( India ), must be ruing the day he promised to dole out Rs 1000 / month ( $ 20 ) to each unemployed person, above the age of 35 and having passed 12th standard
Within 10 days of his announcement, some 2.5 million ( 25 lakhs )persons registered at various Employment Exchanges , to claim the largesse
And those included
 15 years to 65 years old
 Those who have not passed even 10th standard
 Those who are currently employed
 Even those who do not belong to UP
Contrast this scenario with the fact that only 15 million persons had registered with various employment exchanges in UP , during the past 40 years !
But really not surprising considering that Employment Exchanges manage to find a job for only 1 person for every 1000 registered !
This is nothing !
Just wait for the fulfillment of the next promise, viz: handing out free tablets ( computers ) to every student who has passed 10th standard in 2011
From school registrations , Government officials have estimated 2.5 million students to qualify
I would not be surprised if 25 million students register ! Of Course,” fake” schools will make millions , issuing “ fake “ 10th standard pass certificates ! Please , don’t call this “ Mother of all Scams “ !
May be UP Government should consider employing a few millions of those “ fake unemployed “ to check the correctness of
 Fake school certificates
 Fake domicile certificates
 Fake Birth-date certificates
 Fake affidavits of being unemployed
 Even fake “ Employment Exchanges “ !
After all , what are a few fakes here and there , when your grand scheme is to replace a “ fake Prime Minister “ in the next general election !
With regards
hemen parekh

Jobless in EU

Economic Times ( 09 Jan. 2012 ) reports following figures for unemployment rates in Nov 2011 :
 Austria ……………………………. 4.0 %
 Germany …………………………. 5.5 %
 Czech Rep. ……………………… 6.7 %
 Sweden ……………………………..7.4 %
 Finland ………………………………7.4 %
 UK ……………………………………….8.3 %
 Italy …………………………………. 8.6 %
 France ……………………………… 9.8 %
 Poland …………………………………10.0 %
 Hungary ………………………………10.7 %
 Ireland ………………………………..14.6 %
 Greece ………………………………. 18.8 %
 Spain …………………………………..22.9 %
For citizens of these countries , it would be a small consolation to know that the developing countries in Asia and Africa have been living with 30 % – 40 % unemployment rates for decades
Their “ Unemployment Flu “ has now reached EU !
And there is no vaccine in sight !
With regards
hemen parekh

TIME TO CELEBRATE ?

Citing a survey conducted by market research firm IMRB , Times of India ( 26 July,2011 ) reports following findings :

• Urban woman’s average income rose from Rs 4,492/month in 2001 to Rs 9,457 in 2010

• Average monthly household income of urban India rose from Rs 8,242 to Rs 16,509 in the same period

• No of women doing household work dropped from 91 % to 71 %

• According to official data , India’s per capita income was,

• Rs 16,688 in 2000-2001

• Rs  54,835 in 2010 -2011 ( + 228 % )

It is another matter that over 400 million Indians ( 33 % of the population ) live on $ 1.25 per day ( UN’s poverty line )

Whereas in China , only 17 % of the population is below UN poverty line

However, the Government of India wants us to believe that only 345 million Indians are really “ Poor “ – who live on Rs 28 / - ( ie: approx $ 0.45 per day )

So much for performance of our democracy vs China’s dictatorship !

Do starving Indians care for freedom of speech ?

With  regards

HEMEN PAREKH

SOCIAL SECURITY IN INDIA ?

In its very first cabinet meeting , the Uttar Pradesh government announced following dole-outs :

·     Rs  300  Crores / year

For Muslim girls passing 10^th Standard @ Rs 30,000 per girl to 100,000  girls

·     Rs  1100  Crores / year

     

For 900,000 unemployed youth ( 35 years old or above ! ) @ Rs 1,000 per month per person ( - leaving out another 90 lakh unemployed between the age of 18 to 35 is bound to lead to riots )

      

·     Rs  3,000  Crores  / year

Tablet Computers ( @ Rs 3000 each ) to 25 lakh students passing 10^th std

Laptop Computers ( @ Rs 9,000 each ) to 25 lakh students passing 12^th std

In 2 years , millions of youth in UP will sport both , a tablet as well as a laptop !

A combined  recurring expenditure of Rs 4,400 Crores / year !

Will this colossal expenditure make UP youth employable ?

Or will it create a debilitating – and socially explosive – dependency on “ Sarkar Mai-Bap “ to look after you for lifetime ?

Could not this money be spent on imparting “ Skills “ to youth which would make them “ Employable “ ?

Is Akhilesh Yadav listening ?

With  regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

Declining Productivity

That is how MINT ( Nov. 30, 2011 ) describes the working of the 15^th Lok Sabha ( Parliament of India )

PRS Legislative Research defined productivity of Lok Sabha as :

“ Actual duration of sitting “ as a percentage of “ hours available “

They found following percentages :

Ø  8^th  Lok Sabha ……………………… 111  %

Ø  9^th                  ……………………… 115  %

Ø  10^th               ………………………. 100  %

Ø  11^th               …………………………108  %

Ø  12^th              ………………………… 109  %

Ø  13^th              …………………………  91   %

Ø  14^th             ……………………………..87  %

Ø  15^th              …………………………….72  %

When our law-makers themselves refuse to “ work “ , whom can we blame for our country’s declining “ work-ethics “ ?

And then by passing laws ( of course , unanimously and without slightest opposition ! ), to increase their own salaries , they are sending out a loud message to the entire nation that, “The less you work , the more you get paid “ !

With regards

hemen  parekh

Justice at Warp Speed ?

With 30 million cases pending in various courts of India , here is good news , as reported in DNA ( 06 Mar, 2012 ) :

Under Alternate Dispute Resolution ( ADR ) forum , guided by Bombay High Court ,

Ø No of cases disposed in last 14 months…………  700,000

Ø No of cases disposed on 04 Mar 2012  ………….  240,179

Ø In Nagpur…(in a single day )   ………………………..   84,599

Ø In Pune……(   “           )…………………………………….   43,592

Ø In Mumbai (   “           )…………………………………      30,145

Why did people choose Lok Adalats instead of courts ?

No of judges per million population :

Ø In USA …………………… 107

Ø In UK………………………. 51

Ø In India …………………..13.5

Apparently, Nagpur court pronounced 3 verdicts per second ! I wonder if the court had invited Guiness Book of Records !

With regards

Hemen  Parekh