What exactly / precisely , will you do ?

Expected has come to pass

Narendrabhai Modi has been declared as the PM candidate of BJP

On TV channels , experts are offering advice to BJP / NaMo , on how they should conduct themselves  PRIOR  to 2014 national elections

For the voters , what matters is :

“ If BJP were to be voted to power , how will it conduct itself ,  AFTER  the elections ? After NaMo becomes PM ? “

All that we have been hearing from NaMo and other BJP leaders , over the last one year is :

Ø  Congress is corrupt

Ø  UPA 2 is incompetent

Ø  All of their policies are wrong , leading to price-rise , inflation , economic downturn etc

Ø  They failed to do THIS and THAT

But not a word so far of what exactly / precisely , BJP / NaMo would do , if voted to power !

I certainly don’t mean distribution of free laptops , tablets , mobiles , cycles ! Forget the manifesto !

As a citizen , I would like them to declare  NOW , their unambiguous stand on :

Ø  Dis-allowing “ convicted “ persons from contesting elections

Ø  Bringing political parties within the ambit of RTI

Ø  Appointment of a Lok Ayukt in Gujarat and passing of Jan Lok Pal Bill within 100 days of coming to power

Ø  Make CBI independent of Government

Ø  Passing Women’s Equal Representation Bill, pending for 40 years

Ø  Electoral Reforms incorporating , “ Negative Voting / Right to Recall “

Ø  Passing of Delivery of Services Act

Ø  Bringing out Black Money ( both , foreign and local ) for investment in Infrastructure / Health Services / Education / Housing for the poor  etc , thru suitable “ No Questions Asked “ Amnesty Schemes

Ø  Above all , creating 15 million jobs every year

These are , just a few of the people’s expections

Are BJP / NaMo willing to treat these as voters’  “  Charter of Demands “ ?

We have had enough of rhetoric oratory

People are asking :

“ Forget what UPA failed to do . We know that.

  What will YOU do , and WHEN ?

·          hemen  parekh [ 14 Sept 2013 ]

UPA 3 or NDA 2 ? What is your Choice ?

Our country is facing a long list of Economic and Social problems

Many of these require enacting new legislation

Equal number require strict implementation of existing laws

Solutions of quite a few problems , need bold / innovative and often , unpopular steps demanding deep sacrifices from different sections of our society

All of these need,

Ø    A heightened  sense of co-operation ( National interest comes first )

Ø    Willingness to reach compromises ( win some  / lose some )

Ø    An acute sense of urgency ( get going now / improve along the way )

Unfortunately , during the past few years , hardly any progress could be made towards Political / Social / Economic reforms , since no single political party got an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha

And , unless the Indian voters understand the shortcomings of the Coalition Government and decide to give one party ( it does not matter  which ) , an absolute majority in the forthcoming 2014 national elections , we can expect repetition of the history !

No Government which has to hopelessly depend upon its coalition partners , can carry out the desired reforms

I believe , any major national party ( only Congress and BJP ? ) , which gets less than 275 seats in Lok Sabha , will continue to be blackmailed by its coalition partners

And it would make absolutely no difference whether Rahul Gandhi or Narendra Modi heads UPA 3 or NDA 2 , as the Prime Minister !

Either would be an impotent puppet of “ Coalition Dharma “ where corrupt partners dictate the shape of reforms !

It is simple

Either we give 300 seats to a single party or we continue to suffer for another 5 years !

Remember , an imperfect decision is any day better than No Decision !

·         hemen  parekh

Let the Sleeping Dogs lie !

I think it was Oliver Cromwell who said these famous words – may be in a different context , at a different time , in a different country

But right now , in our beloved India , our very own ( not so beloved ? ) political leaders seem to be telling the Supreme Court , the same thing !

Yesterday , Supreme Court dismissed a Central Government appeal to review its earlier ruling , which held ;

“ An elected representative stands disqualified from the date of his conviction in a criminal offence . The mere fact that the convicted politician has appealed against his conviction does not imply that he would continue to hold office  “

So , what will the Government do now ?

With solid , unanimous backing from ALL political parties , it will amend the Representation of People Act , to nullify the Court verdict !

Of Course , retrospectively from 15 Aug 1947 !

I am not surprised , given the following statistics compiled by Association for Democratic Reforms :----

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

Party ………% age of MPs/MLAs with criminal charges

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

BJP………………………. 31

Congress…………….. 22

NCP……………………….30

Shiv Sena……………. 75

RJD…………………………46

JD(U)…………………..  44

SP……………………….   43

Rest …………………….. 32-36

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

Not having voted for past 30 years , I have a satisfaction of not having chosen myself , which party will torment / torture / murder me for next 5 years !

But of course , I will vote when I am allowed to cast “ Negative Votes “ !

When will India’s youth rise in revolt ?

·         hemen  parekh

Rejoice You Jobless !

In Aug 2013 , India’s Finance Minister announced a scheme called ,

“ National Skills Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme “

Here are the highlights of the schame :

Ø   To impart skills to 500 million youth by 2022 ( i.e. 50 million / year )

Ø  Of these,

·         Private Sector to train 150 million

·         18 Central Ministries to train 350 million

Ø  Scheme will provide employment as well as post-placement hand-holding for 1-2 years

Ø  A youth trained by an accredited institution will be required to appear for a national skill test before getting a certificate and reward of Rs 10,000 from the Government . Towards this , Govt has set aside Rs 1,000 Crores / year for 1 million trainees

Now , could the Minister be ignorant of the following ?

Ø  For some 62 years , we have a Apprentice Act ( 1951 )

Ø  Under this Act , private / public sector companies are required to train apprentices in different trades / crafts , for periods of 1 /2 / 3 years

Ø  At the end of such training , trainees are required to appear for their NCTVT exams and pass , to get certificates

Ø  Already thousands of Central / State Govt Industrial Training Institutions ( ITI ) are also imparting such skills training to youths who may or may not have passed 10^th standard

Ø  Most companies are using this Act/Scheme to engage such “ Trainees “ in place of permanent workers , to reduce labor costs

But the Minister does admit that , notwithstanding past efforts on such a massive scale , country as a whole , created only 20 million jobs in 5 years ( 2004-2009 ) !  A meager 4 million / year !

May be the Minister hopes that this time around , the Magic Wand of a reward of Rs 10,000 , will create  a miracle  !

Only his arithmetic does not seem to add-up !

Every year , 50 million trainees will add-up to a reward of Rs 50,000 Crores !

Hopefully , the arithmetic will get corrected in time for 2014 National Elections !

   hemen  parekh

Boosting Economy : Reducing CAD

Times of India ( 25 Aug 2013 ) presented following facts about USA prisons :


>    In 2010 , USA prison cost (  $ 80 billion as per Bureau of Justice Statistics )

>    Total Prisoners ...............  1.57 million

>    Average Cost / taxpayer ......................................    $  31,286

>    Ave Cost / prisoner ( in New York / 2010 )................$  60,000

>    Ave Cost / prisoner ( in New York / 2012 )............... $   167,731 ( Rs 115 lakhs / year )

>    Prisoner to Guard Ratio ..............................................2  :  1

>    No of prisoners in NY jails  .......................................12,287

>    Waiting time for case disposal  ...................................95  days


With these kinds of costs , our Commerce Minister should be able to persuade US of A , to " Outsource " their prison system to India , for an annual fee  of $ 40 billion and save 50 % of the cost ! Obama Administration will simply love this idea of cutting back on Government spending !

Here are a few benefits to India :

>   Construction of 10,00 prisons will give a huge boost to construction industry and generate employment for 10 million MNREGA beneficiaries ( creation of permanent capital assets )

>   1.57 million retired Jawans will get employment as prison guards ( personalized service ! )

>   CCTV / Electronic Surveilance industry will get a boost

>   Employment of millions of cooks / clerks / sweepers etc

>   A boom to " Prison-Supplies " industry

>   A huge foreign-exchange earning

>   If FDI in " Prison Industry " is allowed upto 100 % , that would make Foreign Institutional Investors to rush to India !

Clearly a win - win situation for both the countries !     



----  hemen 

Time for " Out of Box " thinking ?

Of late , there has been a lot of debate on TV / Newspapers etc , on ,


>    What has caused current economic crisis

>    What needs to be done

>    Who is to blame


The crisis manifests itself thru ,

>    Falling Stock Index

>    Weakening Rupee

>    Increasing Imports

>    Decreasing Exports

>    Widening  CAD / Fiscal Deficit

>    Sliding Industrial Production

>    Falling GDP

>    Rising Unemployment  ......  etc 


Economists ( experts and otherwise ) are offering all kinds of solutions - often contradictory 

Only thing , they all seem to agree upon is that , current Central Government , is largely to be blamed for the current mess !

I am not an economist and unable to offer " Expert Solution " 

But I do have following simple , non-expert solution :

" Through  " No Questions Asked " , appropriate Amnesty Schemes , enable trillions of Black Money rupees to come out in the open , to fund the Infrastructure projects "

Our Government estimates that we need to pump in , every year , $ 100 Billions , for the next 10 years , into infrastructure development , ie , $ 1,000 billions

Our Commerce Minister , Anand Sharma , estimates that the Indians are hoarding 31,000 tons of Gold ( equivalent of $ 1,400 billions )

Given our current economic climate , I dont expect any foreign individuals / companies / financial institutions etc to come forward to invest such funds into India

What is worse , I expect , once again in 2014 , a " Coalition Government " to rule the Centre - fully paralysed by its Coalition Dharma and incapable of taking tough decisions !

Apart from that $ 1,400 billion worth of gold , it would be safe to assume that another $ 14,000 billion worth of cash Black Money is also lying locked up in Safe Deposit Vaults of Businessmen / Politicians and Government Officers !

Grant them amnesty and a 10 %  ( non - taxable ) return on such Infrastructure investments for a period of 10 years , and we won't need any foreign exchange inflow !

Some will argue :

You will be punishing honest tax-payers and rewarding the cheats !

True 

But , in my opinion , this is the only practical / viable solution , in short term 

And , if incorporated in the Feb 2014 budget , it will get approved unanimously !

If those " Cheats " can help create 100 million jobs in 10 years , forgive them for their dis-honesty !

It is high time we did some " Out - of - the - Box " thinking !

Morality of creating jobs today , far outweighs the immorality of tax-evason in the past !


--  hemen




   

Going Up in Smoke ?

Yesterday , Times of India reported :

India's tobacco industry supports 38 million people ( 380 lakhs )

Every year , some 6 million ( 60 lakh )people die in India thru use of tobacco ( mostly cigarettes )

Of these , some 6 lakh die by inhaling smoke of other cigarette smokers

So what can we do to save these 60 lakh ?

Immediately close down entire tobacco industry ?

And jeopardize the lives of 380 lakh  ?

Obviously , we cannot adopt a mutually exclusive solution !

We must find a solution that , not only saves those 60 lakh but also continue to provide livelihood to 380 lakhs

That cannot be done in one - or even five - years , but it is entirely possible to solve this problem over , 20 years , as follows :

>   Thru appropriate legislation , phase out tobacco industry by 2033
>   Immediately stop expansion of existing units
>   Do not allow new units to come up
>   Place a recruitment freeze in tobacco industry - no fresh hiring at any level
>   No replacement for retiring employees , after 2018
>   Provide incentives to industry to redeploy capital / manpower in alternate industries - especially those industries with large scope for creation of new jobs
>   Give generous tax-breaks to industry to remain profitable , even as they wind-up operations
>   Provide incentives to put up new-industry projects in less industrialized regions
>   Provide incentives for re-training existing workers in new skills in demand by others
>   Subsidize Voluntary Retirement Schemes of industry

This is just a partial list . I am sure , if there is political will , experts will come up with many more viable suggestions

Question :

With national elections looming on the horizon , which political party would want to alienate , a lucrative source of election funding ? 

BACKGROUND SCREENING TRENDS INDIA

[DNA  Money  /  Feb. 02. 2011]

First Advantage is a background screening company. For the resumes that got referred to them for background screening during July – Sept 2010, their findings are as follows :

·     10.8 % of these resumes contained some or other discrepancy

·     39 % of these provided false info re: company name / employment status / reasons for leaving

·     35% gave incorrect tenure

·     13 % inflated their designations

·     11 % received negative HR / Supervisor feedback

·     2 % inflated their compensation

If the idea is to impress the recruiters, why don’t jobseekers

simply customize their resumes instead of faking the data?  

• 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/

• Final Manifesto ( based on the feedback ) must be published , latest by June 2013 

• Criteria for the selection of the Core Committee members as also for the selection of party candidates MUST be made public , latest by Oct 2012 

• Since no individual can be expected to fulfill all the laid down criteria 100 % , once selected , those criteria where he / she failed , must be made public 

• In selection of members of Core Committees ( both Central and State ), as well as party candidates for election , 50 % reservation must be made for women 

• As far as possible , members of Core Committee ( Central and State ) , as also the party candidates , should be under 40 years of age

  

I hope others will come forward with similar suggestions and write to Anna Team

One last piece of “ Caution “ to Team Anna / Baba Ramdev :

You will fail miserably to bring about any change thru our Parliamentary system , unless your party gets an absolute majority and has to depend upon the Mulayams / Lalus / Mamtas etc ! Don’t even attempt !

And that will apply equally to Narendra Modi , should he become next PM

Coalition – Dharma is the worst kind of dharma!

Hemen  Parekh

Birth Rights ?

In Bihar , even ghosts can vote !

( Although I suspect that it is not much different in other states )

Election authorities have detected 7.6 million " Ghost " voters on the electoral roles of 243 assembly constituencies in Bihar

These are fake entries on the rolls - persons who dont exist but who have been enlisted as voters

I expect some Bihar politicians to say  :

" Are Bhai , jaane bhi do !

  What is a mere 7.6 million in Bihar's population of 104 million ?

  And how are ghost voters any different than those ghost accounts in Swiss Banks ?

  Both are the birth-rights of existing and would-be , MPs and MLAs ! "


The argument is unbeatable !

Learning from Anywhere / Everywhere

Writing in Hindustan Times ( 05 , Aug 2013 ) , Dhirendra Kumar makes some very interesting observations as follows :

>   In March , the Pakistan Government promulgated an ordinance under which , investors who buy stocks from April 1 ,2013 to March 31, 2014 will not have to declare the source of the funds , provided they hold the stock for more than 120 days.

>   On an average , stocks on Karachi Stock Exchange gained more than 30 % over the last 3 months


No doubt , this step has helped divert black money into productive investments in the economy

But , why restrict this very innovative measure to only stocks ?

Over the years , I have recommended similar " No Questions Asked " type of incentives for funnelling black money into ,

>   Building Educational Institutions

>   Building Infrastructure Projects

>   Health and Sanitation Projects

>   Eco-friendly Green Energy Projects


If done properly , such incentives will bring out , at least , Rs 50 lakh Crores and change the face of this country , without any need for direct or indirect foreign investment

A State of Mind ?

It is only reported ( HT / 7 Aug 2013 ) :


It is reported that Rahul Gandhi said that poverty is a state of mind and has nothing to do with the shortage of food , money or material things !

Obviously , a " Misquote " - something for which , our journalists are notorious !

An inside , reliable source tells me that once , when Rahul Gandhi undertook an overnight " fast " , he actually suffered " hunger pain " the next morning , despite many scientists saying that , pain is a state of mind !

Who knows better than him , that shortage of food , even overnight , is a real pain !

Give the guy a break !

How to colonize a Distant Star

An Anti Corruption Bureau Court sentenced a peon with one year of rigorous imprisonment for taking a bribe of Rs 1,000 / -

What would happen if the punishments were to be " Linear and without an upper limit " ?

Then any Government servant taking a bribe of Rs 1 lakh , would ( if caught ), go behind the bars for 100 years !

Now today's newspaper also talks about a Delhi Municipal Corporation officer accepting a bribe of Rs 30 lakhs , from a leading manufacturer , for allowing construction of a banquet hall

That would mean being behind bars for 3,000 years !

And a bribe of Rs 1 Crore would take you to 10,000 years !

At this rate , India can supply enough people to colonize a distant star , 10,000 light-years away !

And , we would save all the money to build so many jails !

That reminds me of a petty thief who got lynched recently, by an angry mob, for stealing Rs 75 , 000 /-

Poor fellow !

Had he stolen Rs 75 Crores , he would be out on bail , enjoying summer vacation in Switzerland !

Inscrutable are the ways of Justice

--  hemen

Awaiting a Messiah

Just read in newspapers :

With one voice , all political parties ( except Aam Aadmi Party ) , have requested the Central Government to amend relevant laws , in order to negate / nullify the Supreme Court orders , which will prevent persons locked up in jails to contest elections or those MLAs / MPs to contest elections who have been found guilty and awarded a jail term of 2 years or more .

Political parties also want Central Government to amend Right to Information Act , to nullify the order of the CIC , which would make the parties " answerable " to queries of the public

What surprises me is how come no political party has asked for amendment of laws that require them to file Income Tax return under Representation of People Act !

Could it be that this is because they need not provide any details ( or , keep any records ) of donations of less than Rs 20,000  ?

And , Lo and Behold !

None have received any donation of Rs 20,000 or more !

Do not ask how Congress has managed to build up a war chest of Rs 2,000 Crores and BJP , a fund of Rs 1,000 Crores !

Despite all my admiration for the achievements of Narendra Modi , I fail to see any difference between BJP and Congress !

Since I was old enough  ( around 10 years of age - in 1943 ) , I have not felt more cynical about our so called " Democracy " , ever being able to lift our 600 million , malnourished poor people out of their abject poverty

In the remaining years of my life , I await the arrival of a Benevolent Dictator like Netaji Shubhash Chandra Bose or Ironman Sardar Patel

Hemen

The Shape of Womb to Come ?

HTcafe newspaper ( 21 July 2013 ) , carries following headline :

“ Surrogacy shouldn’t become a money making racket – Kiran Rao talks… “

I assure Kiran that I will never launch a web site , to be called, Babies.com or Surrogacy.com ( - may be already existing ! )

But , in not too distant a future , I can imagine some clever Indian youngsters to launch just such a web site

It will have following databases :

Ø  Sperm Database ( with Ethnicity / Age / Health / Location etc )

Ø  Egg Database     ( also add , “ Beauty Index “ )

Ø  Surrogate Mothers Database ( also add , “ Past Performance “ )

Ø  Nearest Clinic Database ( giving details of supervising Doctors )

> Delivery Service ( UPS / FedEx / Drop Box / Hand Delivery etc ) 

Obviously , the web site will list prices / tariffs for thousands of possible permutations / combinations , and enable online payments - in advance of course !

After making a “ Purchase “ , the Buyers ( want – to – be – parents ) would be able to monitor the progress of their “ Order “ online ( Reports / Sono-graphs / DNA / Genetic Aberrations etc )

And since there are bound to be several such web sites within a short period , some more clever Indian youngsters are bound to come up with a “ Baby Price Comparison Shopping Site “ !

Kiran ;

Future is already here – in the form of “ Mass – Customization “ !

With regards,

hemen  parekh

www.hemenparekh.in

Oh Detroit

Oh  Detroit

Morning papers say
You have gone bust
Bankrupt
Though not altogether abrupt ;

Even as I walked those endless miles
Of Grand River Avenue
Past the used car marts
And many noisy bars,

I thought about my own
Future bleak
Sitting on the edge of your waterfront,

But you gave me friends
Who gave me hope
And found KU
To begin a life anew

That was 1956
And though my memories
Are fading and few
I will never give up on you

Oh Detroit

Why Do We need Drama ?

I am all for Preventive Action , when catastrophy strikes and suddenly kills a few people

Eg:

>   Uttarakhand Floods / Landslides

>   Food-poisioning of kids in Chapara ( Bihar )

>   Building Collapses in Mumbai


But many many more people get " killed " everyday  all around us , through ;

>   Malnutrition ( 4383 children every day ! )

>   Breathing polluted gases emanating from Coal-fired Power plants ( 1 Lakh / Year )

>   Car accidents due to bad roads ( 50 , 000 / year )

>   Lack of Health care during pregnancy  (  30,000 /  year )

>   Farmer Suicide due lack of Rain water  (  20,000 /  year )

>   Run over by local trains in Mumbai  (  4,000 /  year  )


But there is hardly a murmur amongst people

Therefore , no preventive action amongst politicians / bureaucrats !

Shall we act only where there is high drama ?


hemen

Is Lokpal Overdue ?

Sunday Times ( 14  July  2013 ) reports following findings of latest Transperency International Survey for India :

>  Who  takes  bribes and  how  often ( Bribe  Quotient )

*    Political  parties  ...........................  86 %
*    Police  .........................................  75 %
*    Legislature  .................................   65 %
*    Education  .....................................61 %
*    Health  Systems  ..........................  56 %
*    Business   ....................................   50 %
*    Judiciary  ...................................    45 %
*    Religious  Bodies  ......................    44 %
*    Media  ......................................... 41 %
*    NGO  ........................................   30 %
*    Military  ....................................... 20 %

And 68 % of the people surveyed say , Government actions to fight corruption have been ineffective

Obvious, isn't it , considering that the Central Government is so busy fighting Lokpal Bill !

hemen

Believe it or Not !

As per Economic Times ( 14 July 2013 ), none of the MLAs of the Manipur 2012 Assembly face criminal charges !

Now compare this with the following :

>    MPs/MLAs who have voluntarily declared criminal cases against them.................  1460

>    MPs who face criminal cases ..............................................................................    162

>    MLAs who face criminal cases ...............................................................................1258

>    BJP  MPs / MLAs who face criminal cases  ...........................................................    31 %

>   Congress   MPs / MLAs who face criminal cases  .......................................................21 %

Believe me , you will see most of them back in their respective legislatures , after the next set of National / State Elections , since , very few have been convicted with a prison term of 2 years or more

Venturesome amongst you might want to place bets with bookies !

Hemen Parekh

A Drop in the Ocean ?

As per Hindustan Times ( 14 July, 2013 ) report, Food Corporation of India [ FCI ] lost rice and wheat worth Rs 2050 Crores in transit and storage , during last 3 years

That was a mere 1.1 Million tons

What is a mere 1.1 million tons , compared to 50 million tons of grains planned to be distributed to 800 million poor Indians , every year , under Food Security Bill ?

( Ans : It is a mere Rs 1,25,000 Crores )

If you go by Mr Tariq Anwar - Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing -,  30 % of food grains supplied thru the Public Distribution System ( PDS ) , is lost every year !

How about replacing the Public Distribution System ( thru elimination of all middlemen ) , with a Poor Distribution System , under which , poor can simply queue up before the FCI godowns / silos and collect those grains for FREE , before they rot ?

hemen

Murder Most Foul

After being served pesticide-infected food , 22 kids died in Bihar two days back

Many more are fighting for their lives

As usual ,

>   Chief Minister promptly announced an inquiry and a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs each , for the families of the victims

>   If ever , culpability gets established after decades of court-case , the culprits will be let off with a prison term of a few months

But then other Chief Ministers have also offered " Blood Money " ( aka, " Compensation " ), when culprits have got away with murders of hundreds in ,

>   Collapse of poorly constructed buildings

>   Sinking of unfit and overladen boats

>   Fires in theatres / pandals due to poor wiring

>   Home made hooch mixed with petrol / spirit

The frequencies with which such incidences have been occuring  is such that one can statistically " predict " these events , weeks and months in advance !

Nothing ever changes in this " Ageless / Timeless " country !

Not for the poor in any case

hemen

Judicial Activism ?

Yesterday , Supreme Court announced :


MPs / MLAs , who have been handed out a sentence of 2 years or more , will immediately lose their membership of the Parliament / Assembly.

Will this order also prevent persons with criminal records from " contesting " elections ? 

I don't know

I am only happy that we have a Judiciary that is finally getting " Active " !

Sure , some will argue that the Courts are stepping into the domain of the legislative wings of our Democracy

But when the Lawmakers of the land become corrupt and even criminal , the Courts become the last resort for the poor people !

If lawmakers cannot - or will not - decide , then someone else has to !

Of Course , from the vested interests , there will be cries of " Judicial Activism " and of " Supremacy of the Parliament " !

The only interest of people in power , is to perpetuate the " Status Quo "

If they have their way , they will even pass a law which will prescribe following eligibility criteria for being able to contest an election ( Panchayat / State / National ) :

" A contestant must be a son / daughter / son-in-law / daughter-in-law / nephew / niece / spouse or any distant relative of a sitting or past MP / MLA - preferably with a criminal record "



--  hemen

Do not bribe the Voters

Do not make promises !

Do not bribe the voters !

That is what the Supreme Court is telling the political parties

" Henceforth , do not promise in your Election Manifestos :


>   Laptops / Tablets
>   Domestic Appliances
>   Gold Ornaments
>   Cows
>   Unemployment Allowance
>   Free food  .................................etc   "

Patently unfair !

Now what else can a political party promise ?

Already , they have been promising , for the past 65 years :


>   Elimination of Poverty
>   Jobs for  All
>   Water for Farmers ( Rains or no rains )
>   Own houses for  City-dwellers
>   College Education for Villagers  ...........etc


How about a political party promising :


>   No new legislation for next 5 years (- hence no stalled Parliament ! )
>   Strict implementation of all existing Laws of the Land

I am sure Supreme Court would welcome that !

hemen

When will they see Food ?

DNA [ 03 July 2013 ] reports findings of a survey :



How many kids are on Mumbai's streets ?

16,059

Why are they on streets ?

Poverty ..........................  38.4  %
Family on streets ............  17.9  %
To support family ..............08.5  % 


Means of Earning  ?

Begging  ...........................22.0  %
Rag Picking  ......................27.4  %


Spending Behavior  ?

Food  ...............................38.3  %
Contribute to family ...........21.1  %


Saving  Behavior  ? ( a cruel question , no doubt ! )

No ...................................89.1  %


Place  of  Living  ?

Slum  ..............................39.6  %
Street  ............................30.0  % 
Railway Platform  .............18.9   %


Age  ?

12-15  years  ....................56.6  %
18-18  years  ....................23.0  %


Not covered by Rapid Survey........approx  84,000 !
( Working in sweat-shops ? )


When will benefit of Food Security Ordinance reach them ?


hemen