Aditya Thackerayji : How to revive Tourism Industry

 

 

Dear Shri Aditya Thackerayji

(  Tourism Minster – Maharashtra / adityathackeray@me.com / @AUThackeray ) :

 

To enable economic revival, each Ministry ( at Centre and States ) is coming up with out-of-the-box ideas

No doubt, you too are on constant look-out for such ideas to revive Tourism in Maharashtra

Being a young / tech-savvy / forward-thinking Minister, you refuse to bind yourself with the RED TAPE

You have neither time, nor patience to unravel the GORDIAN KNOT. You must cut it !

On this “ Rejuvenation Day “ of Holi, I urge you to consider my following suggestion to revive TOURISM in Maharashtra

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  29 March 2021 

  

CC :

Shri Prahlad Patel ( Tourism Minister – Central / prahladp@sansad.nic.in )

Shri Rakesh Kumar Verma ( Jt Sec , Tourism Ministry-Central / js.tourism@gov.in )

Shri Ritesh Agarwal ( CEO & Founder, OYO Rooms / ritesh@Oyorooms.com )

 

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Tourism Industry consists of,

Ø  Travel Industry……….. ( Train-Buses-Taxis-Planes etc )

Ø  Staying Industry……… ( Hotels / Paying Guests etc )

Ø  Food Industry ………….( Restaurants )

Each of these have suffered massively during past one year . With arrival of the second wave of COVID, any hope of early revival is dashed

Hence, industry players are experimenting with new / different BUSINESS MODELS to lower their costs and attract more customers

Following is one example :

Now, you can ask for sleeping pods at CSMT, LTT stations  /  Mumbai Mirror  /  28 March 2021

 

And another example :

 

OYO takes Rs 299 rooms pan-India   /  Business Line   /  27 March 2021

 

Extract :

 

Back in 2013, Ritesh Agarwal-founded OYO Hotels & Homes disrupted the branded segment by launching A/C rooms with free Wi-Fi and breakfast at ₹999. OYO has done it again, with another price disruption in a bid to fill up rooms post-Covid.

 

The hospitality venture has launched rooms from Rs 299 to Rs 699 all inclusive, across the country

…. OYO Discover was rolled out as a pilot in Delhi-NCR in October 2020 with 24 MERCHANT PARTNERS willing to offer rooms to customers to experience their FIRST OYO STAY at minimal price points

Subsequently, this plan was rolled out pan-India with over 1,700 MERCHANT PARTNERS

Since its roll out, more than 3 LAKH customers have tried out their first OYO with OYO Discover and they have booked over ONE LAKH NIGHTS after their first stay

OYO Discover was also introduced in the international market starting November 2020 and is now available across Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the UK

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MY SUGGESTION  :

Ø  In order to revive Tourism Industry, can business model of “ Low Priced “ hotel rooms be enlarged to rope in owner-builders of 1,10,000 unsold flats in Mumbai region ( idling / unutilized assets worth Rs 2.6 LAKH*CRORE / $ 36 Billion ) ?

[ Unsold flats abound in Mumbai, will take 5.5 years to sell / 24 Feb 2020  / TOI ]

Ø  I suggest that Maharashtra Government, pass appropriate LAW or government resolution ( GR ) to enable these 1.1 lakh vacant flat owners to become MERCHANT PARTNERS of  OYO ( or any such aggregator company )

 

Ø  Such  “ Merchant Partners “ must not be treated as HOTELS or taxed as HOTELS

 

Ø  I am sure that in such arrangement, the Aggregator Company will take care of all the “ Bare Minimum / Essential Needs “ of the traveler ( Electricity – Water – Clean Bed and Toilet – Security etc )

 

Ø  If such a TOURISM REVIVAL REFORM is introduced , it will encourage dozens of Aggregator Companies to introduce further BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATIONS by offering to the travelling public, an UMBRELLA PACKAGE, which would include,

 

#  Low Cost inter-city travel arrangement ( Merchant Partners who want to

    utilize their idling cars ?

    Remember that, on an average, a PRIVATELY=OWNED car is running for

    only 2 hours / day and remains parked for 22 hours – a colossal idling /

     under-utilization of costly asset , which can be monetized by sharing /

     renting on hourly basis )

    

    

#  Low Cost Food suppliers ( Self-employed women- Merchant Partners –

     supplying home food )

 

If Maharashtra were to introduce such a reform, there is no doubt other States will follow

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RELATED READINGS :

Ø  Future of Tourism ? ………………………………[ 22 July 2020 ]

    Ø  Future Home is Here ! …………………………[ 02 Mar 2017 ]

Ø  Miracle of Self Employment ………………..[ 06 Jan 2018 ]

 

       Extract :

Ø  Listed on Airbnb, one of the biggest aggregators of bed-and breakfast

    facilities globally, Gauriben's thatched roof house has three small rooms

    While her family earns Rs 45,000 a year harvesting two crops, she alone

     earned Rs 55,000 in December.

 

Ø  That was her highest earning; on an average, she has been making Rs 30,000 per month ever since she listed her house on Airbnb in June.

 

Ø  Gauriben persuaded her sister Shanti to list her house and helped her earn Rs 45,000 last month.

 

 

Ø  In Mehsana, Mayaben, 40, who has studied till class 7, is ecstatic that she earned Rs 80,000 last month.

 

Ø  Obviously , Gauriben got helped by SEWA / Airbnb , to put to productive / gainful use , her 3 room house ( - an underutilized asset ? )

 

Ø  To know how many entrepreneurs can we create by encouraging owners of 4 lakh vacant flats ( in Mumbai Region ) to convert these unutilized assets to productive / profitable ones, read :

 

          Ready to be Ridiculed  [  23  Aug  2017  ]

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Indian Tourism Industry Statistics :

 

Tourism in India is important for the country's economy and is growing rapidly.

 The World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism, 

> generated ₹16.91 lakh crore (US$240 billion) or 9.2% of India's GDP in 2018

   and 

> supported 42.673 million jobs, 8.1% of its total employment.

 

 

    

Nitinbhai - Vehicle Manufacturers cannot ignore your advice

 

 

 

Here are some estimates of the number of  old vehicles that would need to be scrapped :

UP has over 20% of India’s old vehicles   /  HR / 20 March 2021

Extract :

“In UP alone, there are more than 21 lakh such vehicles which is around 20% of the total 1 crore such vehicles identified in the entire country even as more than 50 lakh more such vehicles in UP will become eligible for the policy after five years,” a senior transport department official said.

The transport department’s latest report, accessed by HT, shows that there are more than 21.23 lakh non-transport (personal/private) and transport (commercial vehicles) that are older than 20 years and 15 years respectively.

Of them, around 19.20 lakh are personal/private vehicles alone. Commercial vehicles in this category constitute only a little more than 2.35 lakh.

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

40 lakh two-wheelers, 11 lakh cars in Karnataka are over 15 years old   /  TOI  / 08 Feb 2021

Extract :

Around 63 lakh vehicles in Karnataka, including nearly 22 lakh in Bengaluru, are more than 15 years old, data with transport department reveals.

According to the records (till March 2020), the 63 lakh vehicles include 40.2 lakh two-wheelers, 11 lakh cars, 2.2 lakh trucks/lorries and 2.6 lakh autorickshaws. In Bengaluru alone, 12.5 lakh two-wheelers are over 15 years old, followed by cars (5.3 lakh) and autos (1.2 lakh). As per statistics, Karnataka has a total of 2.4 crore registered vehicles, including 85.6 lakh in the city(till May 2020).

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At 70 L K’taka has most old vehicles in India   /  Times Nation  /  27 March 2021

Extract :

Ø  Karnataka…………………………. 70.0  lakhs

Ø  Uttar Pradesh………………………56.5 lakhs

Ø  Delhi…………………………………….49.9 lakhs

Ø  Kerala………………………………….34.6 lakhs

Ø  Tamil Nadu………………………….33.4 lakhs

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

Total………………………………… 244.4  lakhs ( 24.4 Million )

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

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari shared the information with the Lok Sabha on Friday

Details of the aging vehicles, not provided in the Parliament , have been compiled from the digitized vehicle records from centralized “ Vahan-4 “

Karnataka additional commissioner of transport ( e-governance and environment ), Shivraj Patil said that one reason for more aged vehicles in Karnataka, is due to the duplication of database

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The above-mentioned statistics ( of old vehicles that must be scrapped by 2023 ), should be read in conjunction with :

Blessing in Disguise ? ………………………[ 21 March 2021 ]

 

Extract :

While announcing the Vehicle Scrappage Policy in Lok Sabha , a few days ago, the figures mentioned by Shri Gadkariji were :

Light Motor Vehicles

#   Older than 20 years…………………………………………. ……51  lakhs

#  Older than 15 years( but less than 20 years ).………34  lakhs 

     Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles

#  Older than 15 years without any valid FITNESS certificate…17  lakhs

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

TOTAL…………………………………………………………………………102 lakh [ 10.2 million ]

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Within a week of that announcement, the figure seems to have DOUBLED !

Quite likely, even this latest figure ( 24.4 million ) , may not be the last word on the subject !

If true, scrapping 24 million vehicles in next 24 months will mean, scrapping 1 million vehicles PER MONTH !

 

Dear Nitinbhai,

You have “ advised “ Vehicle Manufacturers that they give a 5 % DISCOUNT ( on the  sale price of a new vehicle ) to any buyer, who goes to the dealer with a “ SCRAP CERTIFICATE “

Now, vehicle manufacturers cannot afford to ignore your “ advice “ – which they would need to implement by April 2022

So , they have done ( or in the process of doing ) what any industrialist would do under such circumstances, viz :

Raise the sale price NOW ( or in the next few months ) by 10 % - 15 % - claiming that costs are rising rapidly !

That would enable them to give that 5 % DISCOUNT and claim to be “ Co-operating “ with the government by following your “ advice “ !

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 28 March 2021

 

 

Thanks Supreme Court for hearing my PIL

 

 

Context :

5L cases pending in HCs, SC set to recall retired judges     /   TNN  -  26 March

 

Extract :

 

The Supreme Court on Thursday in principle decided to resort  to the never used constitutional provision for engaging retired High Court judges to tackle the huge pendency in High Courts…

 

Article 224A provides, “ The Chief Justice of an HC for any state may at any time, with the previous consent of the President, request any person, who has held the office of the judge of that court or of any other high court to sit and act as a judge of the high court of that state “

The CJI-led bench said since the retired judges would be given a specific tenure to adjudicate old cases and as they would be regarded as the junior-most in the hierarchy of the HC, it would not cause any heartburn among serving judges

 

“ It is not that regular appointment of judges would be stalled, slowed down or substituted by resorting to Article 224A to tackle the pendency, which has gone beyond manageable limits. There are cases pending for 25 to 30 years in some HCs and causing all kinds of problems in justice dispensation. Judges who have retired after spending 15-20 years in HCs would be eminently suitable to adjudicate old cases. Once the pendency is dealt with, their tenure can come to an end “, the CJI said

 

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

 

MY TAKE :

 

Ø  Thank you, CJI for this is very welcome decision

Ø  As against 5 lakh cases pending in High Courts, the total number pending, exceeds 300 lakhs ( 3 crore )

Ø  The decision to re-appoint “ retired “ judges for OLD cases ( on specific TENURE basis ), needs to be coupled with starting of HUNDREDS of VIRTUAL COURTS ( e-Courts )

Ø  I urge the Supreme Court – and the Governments , Central and States – to consider suggestion made in my following e-mail :

 

          
Justice delayed is Justice Denied …………………………….[ 12 Sept 2018 ]

 

Extract from this e-mail :

 

Ø  And as far as finding 10,000  Judges to conduct “ Online Trials “ from the comfort of  their homes, ( and without imposing any “ Infrastructure Burden “ on the State – except providing them with a fast broadband connection )

 

 I suggest that, 

 we rope in retired judges on a “ Per Case Retainer “ basis ( paid into their Jan

 Dhan accounts )

       

 

 Ø  There must be a “ Bonus cum Penalty “ formula to govern the payments to the

     Judges ,depending upon the “ Actual Time “ taken to dispose off a given case

     as against the “Target Time “ ( to be computed by Artificial

    Intelligent Software , based on historical data being continuously compiled for

    all the cases , once the portal gets launched )

 

             

 

          

 

 

 

Ø  I urge Chief Justice Hon Deepak Misraji to treat this email as a PIL and “ direct “ the  NDA government to initiate action on this suggestion ( I cannot afford a lawyer ! )

 

         

 

 

Ø  Your " Activism " in this matter will go a long way to restore the faith of the ordinary citizens in the judiciary  !

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

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RcruitGuru.com  /  27 March 2021

NITI or NETI ? That is the question

 

 

NITI    =   National Institute for Transforming India

NETI   =   National Enterprise for Transforming India

 

Context :

Government reviews Niti Aayog functioning   /  Time of India  /  25  March 2021

 

Extract :

 

The government has tasked a panel of external experts to review the functioning of Niti Aayog, the think-tank that was set up six years ago and replaced the Planning Commission.

The Niti Evolutionary Committee, as it is called, is headed by Quality Council of India chairman Adil Zainulbhai, with Bain Capital MD Amit Chandra, Avaana Capital founder Anjali Bansal, former telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan, founder of Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship Ravi Venkatesan and environment secretary R P Gupta as members.

Given the five major tasks that Niti was asked to work on, the Committee will see ,

 

Ø  if there is a need to change its mandate and

 

Ø  if there are activities that it should be barred from undertaking.

 

It will also suggest three or four steps to help the Institution’s evolution

 

The panel has also been tasked with,

 

Ø  examining if the think-tank is delivering on engaging with States and

 

Ø  if additional capabilities are required to be developed.

 

But the government has reiterated that the agency will not be given financial powers, something that the Planning Commission enjoyed

 

Besides, the panel will examine,

 

Ø  if Niti is engaging with external experts and

 

Ø  has emerged as a repository of knowledge across sectors

 

Some of the panel members that TOI reached out to did not comment but sources said that the issue is being pursued by the PMO which is keeping close tabs on the deliberations

 

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

Dear Panel Members :

 

 

Adil Zainulbhai ( Chairman, Quality Council of India ………………adil_zainulbhai@qcin.org ]

Amit Chandra   (MD, Bain Capital )…………………  ……………………  achandra@baincapital.com ]

Anjali Bansal    ( Founder, Avaana Capital ) ………………………….  anjalibansal21@gmail.com 

Aruna Sundararajan  (  Former Telecom Secretary )…….. ………..Aruna@Lti.com

Ravi Venkatesan ( Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship )… ravi_venkatesan@hotmail.com

R P Gupta  (  Environment Secretary )……… …………………………………secy-moef@nic.in

 

I urge you to consider suggestions made in my following e-mail to Cabinet Ministers / NITI Aayog etc

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  26 March 2021

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

Past Trigger :

 NITI Aayog may unveil a makeover post polls, scripts robust role for itself   / 23 April 2019

Extract :

The NITI Aayog has begun brainstorming on a version 2.0 of itself that could be unveiled after the ongoing general election. The Aayog held an internal meeting, a first for the central government’s think tank, to introspect on the tasks it has performed since it was formed on January 1, 2015, and on what needs to be done to make it stronger and its policy recommendations more effective.

 

My Response :

NITI V 2.0 : a Concept Note …………………………[ 09 June 2019 ]

 

Extract :

 

My suggestions re the revised role of NITI :

 

 

#    Continue with framing of POLICIES for transforming India

 

#    Circulate these among the citizens and invite their comments / suggestions [

      may be online surveys ? ]

 

#    Policy-drafts should center around each item of BJP’s Sankalp Patra

 

#    Drafts must contain clearly defined concrete STEPS / ACTIONS for achieving

      measurable end-targets

 

#    For each STEP / ACTION , an individual or a department , must be made

      responsible and clearly listed

 

#    For each such plan , a third party independent agency must be identified for

      monitoring actual achievements

 

#    Such Agencies must be granted free access to all necessary government

      records for its assessment

 

#    These ACTION PLANS must be made integral parts of each Ministry’s OUTPUT

       BUDGET as per beginning made

 

#    Agencies shall publish their findings ( of TARGET vs ACTUAL ACHIEVEMENTS

       ), without awaiting govt  approval

     

#    NITI Aayog must not , itself get involved in any IMPLEMENTATION of any

      Ministry’s ACTION PLAN

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