Speedy Grievance Redressal ?

In 2011 , the then UPA government had introduced a bill called :

"  Rights of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Redressal of Grievances  "

After 5 years , that  bill has lapsed ( - had they passed it then , they could have been in power today ! )

Earlier this year , a group of Central Govt secretaries proposed a new avatar called :

"  Central Public Service Delivery Act  "

That is about to morph into , what will be called :

"  Delivery of Services and Redressal of Public Grievances Scheme " (  no need for a bill  )

Economic Times ( 21 June 2016 ) quotes Shri Jitendra Singh , Minister of State in the PMO , as follows :

"  This Scheme is at a very early stage of preparation . It will make service delivery and grievance redressal more time-bound and make officers more accountable "

When asked whether monetary penalties or adverse ACR entries will feature in the Scheme , Shri Singh said :

"  This is all being worked out "

As part of the Scheme, the government may introduce a column in the Annual Confidential Report ( ACR ) , of officers to assess their promptness in dealing with public grievances and their performance in delivery of services

This could mean a red mark in the records of the non-performing officers

While welcoming this long overdue measure , I strongly urge Shri Singh to make the entire process ,

#   Online and Automatic ( Mobile App based )

#   Impartial  and Non-biased ( No human intervention or control )

#   Authentic and Easy - to - Understand ( Graphical )

#   Results accessible to all citizens ( Transparent )

All that Shri Singh has to do , is to implement my following suggestion sent to Shri Narendra Modiji ( with copies to Madam Nirmala Sitharaman / Shri Amitabh Kant / Shri Shailendra Singh ) on 06 Nov 2014 :

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 [  Source : www.hemenparekh.in > Blog dt : 29   Dec   2012 ] 

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I SIN><U SIN

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

To be developed by India’s Central Home Ministry for successful implementation of proposed,

“ Delivery  of  Services  Act “

The app will come pre-installed on those mobile phones which Government of India plans to distribute FREE , to some 400 million “ Poor People “ of India , before the 2014 National Election ( and on those 220 million Aakash Tablets )

Issuer will enter the Mobile No and that person’s Aadhar Card No, in a computerized central database , before issuing the phone

Hence , no need to login to the App , whose screen will read :

 I WISH TO SEND MY COMPLAINT  TO  THE  FOLLOWING  DEPARTMENT :

·                  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

·                  Email Id

·                  Complaint No

·                  Expected date of solving

BINGO  !

Then publish online , a tabulation of departments , arranged in the descending order of the no of complaints received / cleared / pending !

This frugal innovation will bring in Good Governance all over India

Request Nandan Nilekani / Sam Pitroda to help out , even though they may be busy implementing my earlier suggested app , 

“ VotesApp “

I have no doubt that the political party which promises , “ I SIN >< U SIN “ ,  will get voted to power in 2014

( May be this now ought to read : ..... will get voted to power in 2019  !  )

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24   June   2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

    

Intent to Marry ?

Department of Electronics and Information Technology ( DeitY ) has just issued following " Advisory " to matrimonial web sites :

#  Web sites will have to ask users to enter into a " User Agreement " in which there is a " confirmation of the

    user's intent to enter into a matrimonial alliance "

#  The user agreement will also be accompanied by the user having to furnish photo IDs to register online, for user

    verification (  I wonder , why Aadhar Card Number got left out  ! )

#  These portals are mandated to adhere to the provisions of the Information Technology Act 2000 and the Rules

    made there under including The Information Technology ( Intermediaries Guidelines ) Rules, 2011

#  These web sites should strive to achieve national and international standards

#  These web sites must display the name of the Grievance Officer as mandated by the Intermediaries Guidelines

WHY  ALL THESE  FUSS  ?

According to DeitY :

#  There have been instances where users of matrimonial web sites falsify their marital status , age , height , personality , health , social and economic status .

#  In most of  the cases , victims are women who fall prey to these fraudsters after getting introduced through fake profiles on matrimonial portals

HOW  ARE  OTHERS  COPING  ? 

#     Job  Portals

 Fake " Profiles ( Resumes ) " on Job Portals are more of a " Norm " than an exception  !

 Of course , most Appointment Letters carry a clause that the appointment will get cancelled if it is later found that a candidate has furnished wrong information / fudged data / hidden pertinent facts , in his profile

Such annulment of a contract is not so easy in case of a marriage , so , to an extent , DeitY is justified in its advisory

#    E Commerce  Platforms

 Wrong representations are also a major problem on most E Commerce Platforms , where Buyers and Sellers exchange information about themselves . A few web sites do carry out some sort of " Pre-Verification "

 Then there are web sites which have systems of " Online Reviews / Ratings " , of both , the buyers and the sellers / users of services , which act as some sort of " Credit Rating / Reputation Index " . 

Of course , even in these cases , occasionally , " Fake Reviews " get posted  !

#   Social Media  Web Sites  

There is practically no entry-barrier , nor any verification of the users

" Likes  /  Shares  / Comments / No of Connections / No of Followers " etc , decide the reputation of a user

#   Resource  Sharing  Web Sites

Some minimum verification is being carried out but " Reviews " and " User Ratings " decide the trustworthiness

WHAT  ABOUT  OFFLINE  MARRIAGE  FRAUDS  ?

I believe problem of our Society is far more with " OFFLINE " marriage frauds , rather than ONLINE frauds !

If you have any doubt , read following article from Wikipedia :

" India has by far the highest number of dowry related deaths in the world according to Indian National Crime Record Bureau.

In 2012, 18,233 dowry death cases were reported across India. This means a bride was burned every 90 minutes, or dowry issues cause 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India. "

Yesterday's  newspapers also gave following data :

*  No of court cases pending in India ............ 218  lakh

*  Of these , cases filed by women................  21 lakh ( I guess , only a handful for fraud on Matrimonial Portals  )

 I don't think , Matrimonial Portals can do anything beyond implementing  DeitY advisory , just as Mobile Service  Providers cannot control the usage of Mobile phone service ( including threat-calls  / sending of obscene MMS videos , etc ) , despite collecting KYC ( Know Your Customer ) document from its users

On other hand , MSPs do maintain - and make available to the Govt Authorities , Call Logs of any user , if demanded by the Authorities but I don't think Matrimonial Portals can maintain Logs of any such transactions between its users !

Who knows , that could well be the next ADVISORY from DeitY  !  

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19  June  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Draft GST Law

NDA government has just released , DRAFT  GST  LAW , for consultations among stake-holders

In the matter of  "  E-Commerce transactions  "  , the draft proposes :

"..... a tax collection at source for E-Commerce companies  "

MINT ( 15 June 2016 ) interprets this as follows :

"  This means that any payment made to a supplier by an E-Commerce company will be subject to tax collected at source  "

In the matter of  "  Intangible and Works Contract to be classified as Services " , it says :

"The law classifies intangibles such as software and works contract as Services "

MY  TAKE :

A Commerce by any other name ( including " E Commerce " ) , is still sale of " Goods / Services " by a Seller , in exchange of " Value " , ( usually money - when that exchange is not a Barter Deal ) , received from the Buyer

E - Commerce " is nothing more than " Commerce " , where such exchange of values , take place electronically , as opposed to physically . It still remains Commerce , even when perceptions differ

Hence , regulations / controls / taxation etc that govern E-Commerce should , essentially remain the same as in case of Commerce

Mere elimination of an intermediary ( Distributor / Wholesaler / Dealer / Agent / Stockist etc ) , from the " Supply Chain " , itself cannot be the determining criteria

Take a look at the various parameters of " Commerce " outlined in my following blog of 15 Sept 2015 :

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Not an easy task to define what is E Commerce ( and what is not ), considering all the possible permutations / combinations ( running into LAKHS of them ! ) , of the following elements :

#    NATURE

      *  A physical " Product " ( Capital Goods / FMCG / Consumables / Perishables )

      *  A virtual " Service "    ( Medical advice / Legal advice / Consultancy / Software etc )

#    GEOGRAPHIC   SPREAD

     *   Across National boundaries    ( International Trade )

     *   Across State boundaries        ( within India )

     *   Across Municipal boundaries   (within a State )

#    SUPPLY- CHAIN   /  INTERMEDIARIES

     *   Mfr  >  Distributor  >  Dealer  >  Retailer  >  Buyer

     *   Mfr  >  Buyer

     *   Any disintermediation in the above chain

#     ORDER  PLACEMENT  /  ACCEPTANCE

     *   In a physical location ( Shop / Store / Office / Factory / Home )

     *   In a virtual location   (Web site/Mobile App/SMS/ Email / Phone / Video Conference  )

#     DELIVERY

     *   Physically in a Shop / Store etc where Buyer collects / picks-up from shelf

     *   Delivered to Buyer's location, thru Delivery Boy

     *   Delivered to Buyer's location, using a Drone

     *   Delivered to Buyer on his home-based 3D Printing Machine  ( using internet )

#    PAYMENT

     *   Cash against delivery

     *   Pre-paid / Post-paid Cheque

     *   Credit / Debit Cards across counter

     *   Credit / Debit Cards thru online Payment Gateways

     *   Through Mobile Wallets

     *   Electronic Bank Transfer

     *   Using Virtual Currency like Bit-Coins

     *   Barter of Goods or Services

#    FOREIGN   INVESTMENTS

    *   FDI in Manufacturing / Supply Chain / Payment Gateways - Apps-  Mobile Wallets 

    *   FDI in Web sites like Amazon - Flipkart - Alibaba - Snapdeal etc ( What percentage ? )

Can you think of any other " Elements " that I have forgotten  ?

In any case , given the fact that there can be lakhs ( if not millions ) of permutations / combinations of the above-mentioned elements , one must not attempt to define what is E Commerce ( and what is not ) , by inclusion or exclusion of these elements in definition

Such a complex definition would lead to thousands of court cases involving Governments and each court interpreting the definition , differently  !

The only definition that would satisfy  ALL  of these permutations / combinations , is :

Any exchange of " Value " between any number of parties , involving ,

>  Goods or Services , on the part of one party

with,

>  Money or its equivalent consideration , on the part of a second party

with or without using,

>  Intermediary services , on the parts  of any other parties

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I hope the  " DRAFT GST LAW " refrains from defining " E Commerce " separately - and as distinct from plain vanilla commerce

GST Law must adopt a BROAD / ALL-ENCOMPASSING , definition of  " Commerce "

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17   June   2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

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Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :

    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   

CONVERT BLACK TO WHITE - SEBI WAY

Two days back , newspapers reported that ,

*  By selling off the properties of Subroto Roy ( Sahara ), SEBI has managed to recover some Rs 11727 Crores

*  But it could find only a FEW claimants and could refund only Rs 55 crore so far !

Altogether , SEBI is claiming some Rs 37,000 crore from Subroto ( considering interest on those Rs 24,000 cr due to SEBI , 2 years back !

To know how SEBI will succeed in converting this BLACK MONEY into WHITE MONEY , read my following blog :

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Thursday, 5 June 2014

Be-Sahara Shree ?

These days , Sahara-Shree Subroto Roy seems to be , Be-Sahara Shree  !

He is in jail for past 3 months or so

And Supreme Court won't let him out on bail , unless he deposits Rs 5,000 Crores in cash and furnish a surety bond of an equal amount

Then within a few weeks , Supreme Court wants him to hand over to SEBI , Rs 24,000 Crores that SEBI claims he raised illegally from " Public "

But Subroto says ,

" What public  ?

  I am ready to pay-off all of my depositors , if only , they would come forward to claim their deposits

I have raised , a few rupees each ( Rs 5 - Rs 10 ), from millions of small depositors , all of whom , gave their postal address as , " Delhi-Agra Road ", or  " Kanpur - Lucknow Road "

I just can't find them  "

Now , all of us ( Supreme Court and SEBI included ) , know that ,

>  Those Rs 24,000 Crores belong to politicians ( - most who got defeated in

     recent Lok Sabha elections ) , businessmen / bureaucrats / film stars etc

>  Each of them have given this in CASH to Sahara-Shree ( Range : Rs 10 -

    100 crores )

>   Sahara-Shree knows that they don't dare to publicly ask him to return

     their deposits . He managed to render them be-sahara  !

>   Neither Sahara , nor SEBI have true addresses of those fake depositors

So , what happens now  ?

>   Subroto will be forced to sell most of his properties to raise money

>   To ensure that there is no hanky-panky in sale of these properties ,

      Supreme Court may appoint some world-famous Real Estate

      Consultants to conduct e-Auctions for each of these assets

>    SEBI will have a windfall of Rs 24,000 Crores that no one wants  !

>    SEBI will deposit it with banks and earn a fat interest - for ever

I would say , a smart way to convert BLACK money into WHITE money  !

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16  June  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

How To Improve Work-Life Balance ?

Last week , TOYOTA company announced that it is planning to introduce a " tele commute " system , which will allow some 25,000 employees ( more than one - third of its work force ) , to do most of their work from home

This plan will cover employees working in following functional areas :

*     Human Resource  /  Accounts  /  Sales  /  Research & Development  /  Engineering

And will embrace :

*     Those who have been working for TOYOTA for over 5 years

*     Those working in Company's headquarters

Methodology being adopted :

*     TOYOTA is negotiating the plan with Trade Unions ( - negotiate  to make employees happy  ?  )

REASON  ?

*     TOYOTA management believes that tele-commuting will improve work-life balance of concerned employees

Coming from TOYOTA , this ( reasoning ) is  NOT  a surprise  !  It is totally believable  !

In support of my belief , I reproduce below , a part of a letter that I sent to 7500 employees of  L&T ( individual copies in English and in Marathi ) , on 21  Feb  1985  ( titled , " Instant Industrial Relations ? " ) :

"........what a sharp contrast to  know that two personnel managers of Toyota company

began a pilgrimage in 1952, to  talk with employees in small discussion-groups, at  their homes,  after work-hours,  in an attempt to re-establish mutual dialogue.

On an average,  they made three  visits a night,  coming home after nine o'clock,  six days a week  ...... The two managers had to  continue their itenerary  for ten years,  before they were convinced that their mission was finally completed

Ten years / 9000 families / one  hour with each family - all to re-establish mutual dialogue !

Is it any wonder that the country with the  least labour-laws has the most harmonious IR climate ?

In the enclosed article on              

"Industrial Relations in Japan" ,

you will come across  many examples of  the Japanese tenacity when it comes to  building trust between  groups of employees - by whatever name called.

A few  months back,  MR. MISU, one-time  director of  HITACHI, said,

"As individuals, Japanese people  are not very brilliant.  We have won only  4 Nobel-prizes in all  these years against 109 won  by  the   Americans. 

But   when  it  comes  to  working collectively as a team, we are almost unbeatable ! "

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At a point in time when Governments ( Central + States ) are crying hoarse about urgent need for " Labour Reforms " , it is time to sit back and ask :

" How urgently do we need some MANAGEMENT ATTITUDE REFORMS ?

Or , has WORKER  PARTICIPATION  IN  MANAGEMENT , become an obsolete concept  ?

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14  June  2016

www.hemenparekh.in > Letters to L&T Employees

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Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :

    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in