ONE POLL ; ONE TIME ?

In a TV interview , 2 days back , Shri Narendra Modi  said :

" Frequent elections affect the functioning of bureaucracy and there should be simultaneous elections to  Panchayat  bodies, Assemblies and Parliament to save time and money .

 Country ‘unfortunately’ witnesses elections regularly, because of which everything is linked to polls.

Every decision is weighed in the balance of elections. It is time to de-link decisions taken from the elections. The early we do so, the better it is. When the elections come, there will be manifestos. It is the need of the hour to separate politics from work "

President , Shri Pranab Mukherjee , also supports this idea

In another TV debate on this subject, ex-CEC , Shri Naveen Chawala , welcomed such a move but expressed concern about adequate availability of EVM machines and para-military forces to protect some  930,000  polling booths on the same day

An editorial in Hindustan Times ( 07 Sept 2016 ) writes :

" The three reasons why some politicians want ( simultaneous ) elections is this : Frequent elections bring policy-making to a standstill ; the Cost ; and increases in vices such as communal-ism, caste-ism, corruption and crony capitalism "

I earnestly request the Policy Makers ( Ministers / MPs / MLAs / Secretaries / Party Presidents etc ) to debate my following suggestion ( sent to them earlier thru e-mails and being sent again , today  ) :

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

Thursday, 31 March 2016

One day Polling is Possible

DNA ( 31 March 2016 ) reports :

"  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mooted a proposal to hold simultaneous elections to Panchayats , State Assemblies and Parliament across the country

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel , Public Grievances , Law and Justice had in December , recommended holding simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections to reduce expenditure and frequent disruption of normal life  "

Not only it is possible to do this ( in ONE DAY ) but it has the potential to bring about Electoral Reforms of far reaching beneficial impact

Following is the suggestion that I sent to Shri Narendra Modiji on 06 Nov 2014 :

VotesApp

( from my blog dated  18 Dec 2012 )

*  An Android app which can be downloaded from Google Play / Android Zoom / GetJar and the official web site of Election Commission of India

*  It will be pre-loaded on 220 million Aakash tablets  which Govt of India plans to distribute to students

*  It will also be pre-loaded on those Smart phones ( to be called, “ Dharati “ ? ), which Govt of India plans to distribute free to 400 million “ poor “ Indians , before 2014 National elections

*  All tablet / smart phone manufacturers will be encouraged to pre-load VotesApp

*  Using this app , a voter can register at Election Commission web site, where he will enter the same data which he has submitted for his Aadhar card, including Aadhar card number (  Unique Identification No  )

*  All of these details will be verified by Aadhar database

*  Obviously , those who have not obtained their Aadhar card , will not be able to use VotesApp . They will need to visit nearest polling booth

*  Upon correct verification , Aadhar Database will permanently link the person’s Aadhar number with the mobile number from which  registration is done, and issue a Password

*  An under aged person will not be allowed to register

*  A person will be able to vote only from that mobile number

*  After login on first screen, user will be asked to select one option from,

    *   Panchayat  Election

    *   Municipal  Election

    *   State Assembly  Election

    *   Lok-Sabha  Election

*  Upon selection, user will be presented with the list of candidates contesting , from which , he can select only one by ticking a check-box. 

  

    There will be also a choice , labeled “ None “ ( NOTA )

*  A long press on a candidate’s name will display details of his declared assets as also his criminal record

*  After ticking / selecting a candidate, voter will click on  “ VOTE “ button, whereupon his vote gets registered and VotesApp gets de-activated

*  Once a voter registers on Election Commission web site , he cannot go to a polling booth and vote physically

*  In less than one year , Govt of India will recover the cost of 220 million Aakash tablets and 400 million” Dharati “ smart phones , through this customized / personalized / shrinking of EVMs ( Electronic Voting Machines ) to a hand-held device.

    And imagine the millions of man-hours saved !

*  And the beauty is , no one can capture this booth , or conduct exit polls !

   What will “ experts “ discuss on TV channels ?

*  What next ? Election Commission “licensing “ this App to other countries ?

HOW  WILL  IT  HELP  ?

*  No need for 930,000  Polling Booths / EVMs / Ink / Papers etc

    Every voter's own mobile becomes a miniature EVM  !

    Any registered Voter can vote from anywhere in the World  !

*  Nor any need to deploy  1,100,000  people to conduct the polls

*  No need for millions of Police / Military personnel

*  No need for months of advance preparations, across entire country

*  Voting can be completed in just ONE day - instead of over 6 weeks -
    and results can be declared next day  !

*  Voting could be 95 % or more  !

*  No worry for booth-capture

*  No  bogus voting ( Bio-metric ID from built-in camera )

*  No duplicate voting ( Self-destruct after single usage )

*  No worry for any terrorist attacks

*  Enormous saving of time for Voters

*  No need to declare a public holiday - costing thousands of crores
     worth of production

*  Central Government will save, at least , Rs 2,000 Crores .

*     For the Central Government , a potential  to earn Rs 20,000 crores , by

       enabling 15 million Indian businesses to advertise to 814 million voters

       thru this mobile VotesApp , sharply targeting by Gender / Age / Marital

       Status / City / Street / Education / Income Tax paid / Employed or

       Jobless ..etc

       

*   No need for Central Government to stop taking even routine decisions 

    ( due to Model Code of Conduct )

If a tiny country like Estonia ( population 1.6 million ) can elect its Members of Parliament thru a VotesApp type mobile App , why can't we  ?

Already 900+ million Indians have mobiles - all of which , will soon become Smart Phones

As far as designing / developing of  VotesApp  is concerned , it is NOT a Rocket Science

Any IT / E-Comm Start Up , should be able to develop  VotesApp  in 3 months

Can you think of a better way for " E-delivery of Service " ?

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

07  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

" NOT - SO - SMART " CITIES ?

Business Line ( 02 Sept ) carries a news report, titled :

"  Zero foreign Investment till date in Modi's smart city mission "

In part , it reads as follows :

" Almost two years ago, the Narendra Modi government announced the 100 Smart Cities Mission to transform urban India.

But, till date, not a single dollar has come in as foreign investment for the mission.

On an RTI query filed by BusinessLine on how much foreign funding Indian cities identified under this mission have garnered, the Ministry of Urban Development said that “no investment has been received ”.

Moreover, on the size of foreign investment, which the government expects to receive under this mission, the RTI reply stated, “ No study has been done by the Ministry of Urban Development in this regard. ”

The Cabinet has approved ₹48,000 crore, that is ₹100 crore per city per year for five years for the mission. States have to match this amount and gather funds via public-private-partnership and convergence from other schemes. "

There is no doubt that :

#    BusinessLine will , once again , file a similar RTI query , next Sept

#    The answer will be , more or less , similar

Unless ,

NDA government comes up with an  AMNESTY SCHEME  to attract  BLACK MONEY  into " XYZ / ABC , SMART CITY SPV  " ( Each city to have a separate SPV )

If my following suggestion is implemented , not only ALL the States will compete fiercely with one another to set up those Smart Cities , they will themselves go after the BLACK MONEY holders and motivate them to invest !

Friday, 1 July 2016

FDI : By any other name ?

Many years ago , Shakespeare wrote :

" A Rose by any other name , would smell as sweet "

English-speaking Americans have turned this around to say :

" FDI by any other means , would work as well "

They are calling their FDI , " Invest in US and get Green Card " scheme

Officially called , " The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program " , it invites foreigners to invest in USA , through following routes :

#   " Direct Investment Route " , which requires,

     *  Starting a new Business and creating at least 10 full time local jobs by bringing in $ 1 million

        But this process is very cumbersome

#   " Central Investment Program " , which requires,

     *  Bringing in and investing $ 500,000 in a Government approved EB - 5 project in America

     *  Get your full money back after 5 years

     *  If you are lucky , you may earn 0.5 % - 1 % return every year

In 2015 , 18,000 foreign citizens invested ( approx ) $ 9 Billion in US under these programs  - peanuts compared to a total of over $ 231 billion worth of FDI in USA in 2014 . Among these were 111 Indians

Now , I admit that no foreigner is dying to get a " Green Card " in India - and therefore unlikely to take advantage of a similar scheme , if we were to launch one !

But , we can come up with a scheme that will motivate 111,000 Indians to bring in and invest $ 500 billion within ONE YEAR !

( remember that amount siphoned out of India illegally and stashed abroad by Indians , between 2005-2015 ? )

MY  SUGGESTION :

#  NAME  OF  THE  SCHEME :

    EB-3 Scheme ( Earn by Bring Back Black )

#  WHO  CAN  INVEST  ?

    Any Indian citizen who has stashed away undisclosed / illegal assets abroad

#  WHERE  CAN  THEY  INVEST  ?

    Scheme A 

#  Repay those loans taken from Indian Banks forming Rs 7 lakh*crore of NPA

                        Willful Defaulters repaying bad loans will be spared prosecution

                        No need for Govt money ( er , Tax-Payer Money ) , to bail out those banks !

  

    Scheme B 

#  Invest in State-wise Infrastructure SPVs ( not Central SPVs ) , managed by Private Sector

                       These will be approved by each state for implementation of the following projects within the state:

    *  Roads / Bridges / Ports / Airports / Smart Cities / Dams / Lakes-Ponds for water conservation / Forestation

    *  Healthcare / Education / Skills Development / Swatchh Bharat / Methane from Garbage  / Digital India

    *  Renewable Energy / Manufacture of Electric Vehicles / Setting up of Electric Charging Stations etc 

   

    All such State SPVs will need to be approved by the Central Government , for which the State will need to agree

    for full cooperation in implementation of the Central River Interlinking Project

#  HOW  MUCH  MUST  THEY  INVEST  ?

    No upper limit but a minimum of Rs 10 crores

#  WHAT  PROTECTION FOR  INVESTORS  ?

    No questions asked as to the source of funds , whether brought in from abroad using official channels or

    deposits made in CASH from local lockers ! No penalty , nor any civil / criminal action against investors

#  WHAT  INCENTIVE  FOR  INVESTORS  ?

    All interest / dividends paid out by the SPV , will be tax-free for 10 years if re-invested in any other similarlyapproved SPV

#  HOW  LONG  CAN  THEY  AVAIL  OF  THIS  SCHEME  ?

    This scheme will open on 01 April 2017 and close on 31 March 2018

#  HOW  CAN  INDIA  BENEFIT  FROM  THIS  SCHEME  ?

   *  Inflow of $ 500 Billion ( Rs 34 lakh*crore ) within ONE YEAR

   *  Generate 50 million jobs by 2020

   *  State Governments will go all out to

        #   Motivate private sector to set-up Infrastructure SPVs within their State

        #   Vastly simplify government approval process

        #   Eliminate / Reduce , rules , procedures and permissions

        #   Introduce " State level Incentives " to attract those BLACK MONIES into SPVs

I believe , with introduction of EB-3 Scheme , there will be such fierce competition between the States that India's rank in " Ease of Doing Business " will jump from current 130 to within TOP FIVE !

And all of this without having to pass any law in the Parliament - and with least dependence on bureaucrats !

Dear Policy Makers :

With two years already gone without making much of a dent ,  I urge you to stop tinkering with  INCREEMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS

Promising freebies before State Elections , won't take you beyond 2019 !

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

06  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

.