Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Tuesday 27 February 2018

Fugitives don’t care !



   

Economic Times ( 27 Feb ) carries following news :


“ Nirav Fraud Impact : Fugitive Bill Likely in Budget Session “



Highlights :


·         It provides for confiscation of assets of fugitive economic offender


·         Assets to be free of encumbrance for the government


·         This will allow quick disposal of assets


·         Its provisions will override other laws where relevant


·         Most economic offenders covered under the law


·         Minimum threshold of Rs 100 cr


·         Special Courts to try fugitive offenders



Within 12 hours of this news report , TV channels last evening said that Nirav Modi has filed for a bankruptcy in USA , before CBI-ED can submit a “ Letter Rogatory “ to the US Authorities !



Meaning ?   India cannot touch Nirav’s  US assets  !



Now you know why economic offenders don’t care about “ Fugitive Economic Offender Bill “




Dear Shri Jaitleyji ,



It is still not too late to incorporate into the draft of that bill , following suggestions which I emailed to you TWO  YEARS  ago




LongTerm or Short Term ?  [  31  March  2016  ]



Extracts from my email :


I can understand why RBI does not want Supreme Court to reveal the names of companies in default , who have loan outstanding of over Rs 500 Cr . RBI feels that this may have " adverse impact " for business


But what about " adverse impact " for the public , using whose tax money , 29 Public Sector Banks , quietly wrote-off , Rs 1.14 lakh*crore  of bad debt between 2013 and 2015 ?


And the " adverse impact " on Central exchequer by re-capitalizing of these banks , using taxes paid by you and me ?


Shri Arun Jaitley says :


Amount of re-capitalization will be linked to the speed with which these banks manage to recover their NPAs


I hope , he has also told all banks , in unmistakable words :


" You will neither restructure these existing loans to the defaulters nor make any further advances to


 #    these defaulting companies,  or


 #   its associate companies , or


 #   directors of these companies ( personal loans )


 #   relatives of these directors ( personal loans )


 #   persons who are sureties for these defaulters


You will launch court cases against such defaulters for repossessing their properties and wherever there are cases of " cheque bounces " , you will obtain from the courts , " Non Bail-able Warrants " against such directors


You will share with the public at large , full details of the defaulters online


You ( bank directors ) will not be paid any salary till you recover these loans


If you fail to recover in 24 months , you will get a sack ! "



Dear Shri Jaitleyji :


If anything that I have said above sounds too harsh to you , just hang on the wall across your table , a photo of any of those thousands of farmers who are committing suicides , every year because rains failed and they could not repay their bank loans !


Right below that photo , dynamically display statistics of :


Number of farmers who committed suicide in past 24 hours .............


Cumulative no of Farmer suicides , so far , this year.........................


28  Feb  2018


PERT for Digital Dashboard





DNA ( 22 Feb ) carries following news report :



 



Very soon, the Chief Minister will be able to monitor the status of all development projects in the state, in real-time, on his mobile, laptop and other digital platforms via a digital dashboard.

The State Directorate of Information Technology has been working on an electronic interface that aggregates and visualizes data from multiple sources.

The dashboard will be ready for use in four months, and with it, Devendra Fadnavis will be able to access information about the monorail, metro rail corridors, sea-links, bridges and flyovers, and other social sector initiatives.

The CM will also be able to monitor information regarding investment intentions worth Rs 8 lakh crore received during Make In India week, and Rs 16 lakh crore proposed in the recently concluded Magnetic Maharashtra summit.

"The idea is also to put in place an efficient decision support system which will substantially reduce dependency on government officers, work contractors and various agencies. It will be an independent monitoring mechanism where in CM can categorize and prioritize projects," said State information secretary SVR Srinivas.

In the second phase, members of the public can access a portion of the live dashboard, giving the workings of the projects transparency.

The digital dashboard will also help the CM fix loopholes, curb scams and anticipate and lift roadblocks.


If this “ digital dashboard “ has to become an instrument for fixing accountability of officers / agencies responsible for project delays , then I urge Shri Fadnavisji to employ project planning and review technique described in my following blog


Friday, 4 December 2015




Nothing prettier than PERT !




Economic Times ( 12 Oct 2015 ) carries a report titled :

" Panel set up for Innovation in Govt Projects "

As per this report, the Prime Minister has put together a team that will decide,

-  how government projects can be executed using cutting edge technologies and practices


The empowered committee for Innovative Collaborations was set up to incorporate the very latest solutions that science and technology has to offer


My suggestions  :


*    When any Ministry submits any Project Proposal for Cabinet approval , it must be accompanied by a PERT ( Program Evaluation and Review Technique ) chart , clearly showing all the " Activities " lying along the CRITICAL PATH

 ( earlier known as the CRITICAL PATH METHOD )


 That PERT Chart must accompany a tabulation showing , for each " Activity ",

     #    Pessimistic Time

     #    Optimistic  Time , and the

     #    Most likely Time


     Since Admiral Rickover , introduced this mandatory requirement for awarding tender to build the first nuclear submarine, some 50 years ago , all US government departments follow this procedure for all govt contracts
   

*    Insist that all the government departments / contractors, responsible for execution of any of these "activities", update the PERT chart status online on the web site of the Project Monitoring Group
     
    

*   PERT charts for all the projects should be made visible to the general public


*   If there is any " slippage " in any activity lying on the CRITICAL PATH , the name of the department or contractor responsible , must appear in bold RED letters , against that activity
     

This is the only INNOVATION that we need , to ensure that the projects get completed in time and within budget

28  Feb  2018



Monday 26 February 2018

World record in Nepotism ?




Here is dictionary definition of Nepotism :



the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs


Context :

Business Line ( 26 Feb ) carries following news :


  Recruitment world record  ?  Rlys begins hiring of 90K staff “


In what is being touted as the world’s biggest recruitment exercise, the railways has kick-started the process to hire 89,500 employees, including assistant loco pilots, technicians, gang men, switchmen, trackmen, cabin men, welders and porters.


The state-run transporter’s move to provide jobs to around one lakh youth, from high school pass students to engineers, seems to be aimed at blunting the opposition’s criticism that enough jobs were not being created under the NDA government.


The railways has issued notifications for hiring of 63,000 jobs in the Group D category that includes gang men, trackmen, and another for hiring 26,500 personnel as loco pilots and assistant loco pilots.




Why  this  could create a World Record in Nepotism  ?



Simple !



Going by NDA government’s announcement , starting Jan 2016 , there can be NO INTERVIEWS for jobs in Group D category ! ( see my blog below ) .



Two days ago, during his address at the Global Business Summit , Shri Modiji referred to this decision as one more example of REFORM



And going by the recent past experience, it is also reasonable to assume that for each of those 63,000 vacancies , there will be 1,000 applications




A total of 63 million applications  !



Leaving aside the herculean task of having to receive – sort – arrange – file ( vacancy wise ) , these unreadable “ paper applications  “ , the unanswered question is :



“ In absence of any interview , WHO will select WHOM and on WHAT basis  ? “



 

Sunday, 25 October 2015



NO  INTERVIEWS  FOR  B  /  C  /  D  ?

 




Hon PM , Shri Modiji has announced that , starting 01 Jan 2016 , there will be no interviews for recruitment in B / C / D categories of employees in Central Government



You may like to call this :


A / B / C / D of Interviewing  !  or , Non-Interviewing  ?



Henceforth , recruitment would be made  only on the basis of marks scored  by candidates in written exams , conducted by ,


STAFF SELECTION COMMISSION  (  SSC  )



Believe me , there will be 2589  applicants scoring  94 %  mark !



In which case , who gets that job ?



·           Candidates with surnames starting with  " A / B / C " ?


·           Candidates belonging to OBC / SC / ST quota ?


·           State-wise / Population-wise Quota ?


·           Candidates having Ph D / Master degree ?



Last year , SSC recruited about 55,000 employees from 17 million applicants ( 309 applicants for each vacancy )



Now take a look at the following news ( DNA / 11 Sept 2015 ) :



Against 368 vacancies of " Peons " advertized by UP Govt , applications received were as follows :




*  Total Number of applicants.............. 20 lakh


    {  5,435 applicants for each post  ! }





*  No of PhDs....................................  201



*  No of Master Degree holders............ 20,056



*  No of Bachelor Degree holders.......... 1,23,000



*  No of 12th Standard pass................. 6,00,000



*  No of 10th Standard pass................. 8,20,000




   { Minimum prescribed Edu Qualification = 10th Standard }



I suppose the Edu Profile ( and Min Edu Quali ) of those applying for Central Govt jobs in B / C / D categories , is no different




If so , those applicants holding Ph D / MA , qualifications , can be expected to" Top the lists "with high marks  !   And corner all jobs ?




Will that lead to ,



·           Getting higher Educational Qualifications ?


·         Getting higher marks in 10th / 12th Std for admissions to Colleges  ?


·           Bribing college examiners ?

 
·         Huge amount of frustration/resentment among those Ph Ds for taking up a job below their skills ?



   

    
   

What is the rationale behind the decision to do away with the interviewing ?



 HT ( 26 Oct 2015 ) quotes  Shri Modiji :


  “  I have never heard of a psychologist who can evaluate a person during an interview of one to two minutes



* Shri Shekhar Singh

Interview did not serve a purpose for junior posts, particularly when the government had never defined the attributes of a civil servant for a particular job




No doubt , these are very valid points , which " No Interview " decision seems to answer in short term



But the long term answer is :



 Preliminary elimination based on 10th / 12th  Std marks


 Define those " attributes " for each job


 Design  ONLINE " Psychometric Tests " around those
     attributes


Cut-off percentile based on these  ONLINE  tests


*  Distributing Successful candidates for personal ONLINE Interviewing by hiring
   Government Departments , using a portal called,





     www.OnlineGovInterview.com



     This  ONLINE  interviewing can also be Out-Sourced to reputable private sector
     Recruitment Companies  ( Public / Private Collaboration ? )


     
     
  
 *  Skype based  ONLINE  Video Interviewing , thru


         www.OnlineGovInterview.com


*  An exhaustive/objective " ASSESSMENT SHEET " ( with 5 point
    weighted average scale on 10 attributes ) , to be filled up
    ONLINE , in the portal by the interviewers, with final
    recommendations on the suitability of interviewed candidates



    This will be transparently available for viewing by ALL citizens
    No need for RTI application !



When implemented , this would become , one of the finest example of e-Governance thru DIGITAL INDIA



And , not at all difficult for India - the Software Superpower , if there is a Political Will



TCS / INFOSYS / WIPRO would do this in 3 months  !



27  Feb  2018