Evolution of Multi Dynasty Democracy of India

Evolution of Multi Dynasty Democracy of India


Assembly elections in Maharashtra State have been announced to be held on October 13, 2009 and the nominations are being filed. As the clamor for seat allocations in different parties reaches a crescendo, one thing that stands out distinctly is the criteria for giving party tickets for contesting elections. Single most important criterion for candidates seems to be the family relationships- sons, daughters, in-laws, nephews etc of who’s who of Indian politics. Sons & daughters of veterans of independence struggle did join politics but they were generally low profile entrants and yet very capable.

Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty:

When Indira Gandhi inherited the mantle from Jawahar Lal Nehru and subsequently Rajiv Gandhi carried the baton, the political establishment as well as educated massed started wondering aloud about the dynastic rule being perpetrated by the Nehru-Gandhi family. It was the charisma of Indira and Rajiv which let them have their way. Sonia was stopped in the track but got more than what she could ask for- power without accountability with a captive prime minister. Priyanka & Rahul have been the most written about heirs apparent to the throne which is being kept warm for appropriate point in time.

Proliferation of Dynasties:

This gradually had impact on political scene in states led by Laloo & Rabri Devi combine with their extended family members much to the chagrin of the people by & large. But we had to accept haplessly. And then following the cue from congress culture, there was flood all over, with every top politician having his son or daughter in the fray. Congress has just managed to stop Jaganmohan Reddy from taking over chief minister ship of Andhra Pradesh and spared the agony of having a first time young MP as CM of a large state. Punjab and Tamil Nadu had unique distinction of having a father son duo Chief Minister & Dy. Chief Minister in the same cabinets of Badal & Karunanidhi.

Today in Maharsahtra, Pratibha Patil, Sharad Pawar, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Shivraj Patil, Gopinath Munde, Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane have their sons, daughters, relatives in the list of top contenders. This second generation just does not have any political experience and have displaced many a successful and good sitting MLAs with parties losing good candidates and getting poor administrators of future with no experience. It is to be noted that once elected they will occupy Mantralaya directly.

Devolution of Power:

But we are not to stop at this second generation of the top first generation politicians of 21st century. A look at news papers shows that today even for large number of contestants nominated by any party there are several connected relatives in party or political establishments. Even a village sarpanch is related to political who’s who of the area. The village level committees, zilla parishad etc. are packed with relatives of the powerful. Uneducated wives of even political micro weights are holding positions in public institutions. It was shocking to see a girl in her early twenties as “Dy. Sarpanch” on the dais in a public function in Pune. Same is the case with the cooperative societies which are packed with political lightweights who migrate to city corporations and other power structures of state assembly in due course. So the dynastic rule has proliferated and permeated down to village level in political as well as economic spheres. This devolution of power was fastest empowering of the weaker sections without a bill or an Act. It was also perhaps the most significant social re-engineering in the political space without design.

Fast Track for Financial Security:

The main reason for this proliferation and perpetuation of family rule at all levels is the ease with which one can grow from rags to riches without even formal education. A large number of the new political contenders have connections with land or construction activities to get quick rich. All you require is right qualifications of caste certificate to be able to ride the band wagon. It was amazing to read that Kalawati, about whom Rahul Gandhi tried hard to speak in parliament during no confidence motion, wanted to contest elections! One may not have means to make two ends meet for a square meal but political rope seems to be the best hope to quick prosperity.

Political space also provides a white wash for all the crimes and sins committed and almost guaranteed protection with money and muscle power. It provides long term economic life line through contracts, agencies, and allocation of quotas created only for this purpose. A municipal corporator in jail for months and now on bail is in the fray for assembly elections. Thus they participate in true “Bharat Nirman” whether constructive development takes place or not. Who says that Indian democracy is not inclusive?

Education & Politics:

What I am worried about is that our democracy is getting lesser & lesser “inclusive” of the educated lot. If one looks at the candidates (if at all they have any published profile), one would have to think several times if to cast vote at all or not. Are these the kind of representatives we want to elect to state legislatures? I could not get any statistics on number of graduates in current state assembly of Maharashtra or other states. The connection of education and politics is reflected in Lok Sabha statistics with about 45% members being graduates. May be in the states it is much lower and it is time the data is published. It is time to consider minimum level of educational qualifications for the law makers. I know the degrees will be available for a price! We have stooped down to such levels that we can break any rule before it is even passed.

Right To Free Education:

With “Right To Free Education Bill” passed by Rajya Sabha, there is provision of 25% reservation of seats for weaker sections. With this free education facility, it would now be appropriate to insist on minimum qualifications for different levels of political institutions. For example, at Panchayat levels it may be twelfth standard up to which free education is being made available. For state assemblies and parliament it should be minimum graduation, for which also the reservations are available for admission to colleges. We must endeavor to make a reservation of at least 75% for the educated (graduates) in the political system. These could be enforced over a period of five years so that there is adequate time for preparation and change over.

Since the multi-dynastic proliferation has come to stay and embedded deeply now in our political system, the next best thing to do is to ensure adequate education for the future law makers. After all the current generation of educated MPs like Milind Deora, Sachin Pilot, Jitin Prasad, Jyotiradiyta Scindia or Chief Minister Omar Adbullah would agree that it is important to have educated dynastic successors. And multi-dynasty is better than single autocratic dynastic rule isn’t it?

Vijay M. Deshpande
Corporate Advisor,
Strategic Management Initiative,
Pune

September 25, 2009


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Revisiting Corruption Laws- Yeh Dil Maange More...

Revisiting Corruption Laws
Yeh Dil Maange More…..

Corruption is nature’s way of restoring our faith in democracy- Peter Ustinov

Chief Justice of India, Shri K.G.Balakrishnan, spoke about the need to have a new law to permit seizure of the illegal properties & assets of the government officials convicted for corruption charges. Mr.Veerappa Moily, the Union Minister for Law, joined the debate & expressed the need to revisit the laws pertaining to Article 309, 310, & 311 of the Constitution. I am no legal expert but this sounds like music to ears what could otherwise have been termed as sound bites for the media. Coming as it does from CJI himself, one can take it on the face value. Chief Vigilance Commissioner has also released a list of 123 corrupt officers on their website for necessary action. But who will bell the cat?

As the reports say there are enough labyrinthine provisions (protections?) in the law to complicate prosecution and delay the proceedings beyond tolerable frustration. The UPA government in second term is now in reforms mode and, therefore, at least a revisit to the temple of Constitution is guaranteed. Whatever be the intentions of this revisit, we have become skeptical about any tangible result of such a move. It may become an item only for 200 days report of UPA government. It is only because of initiative of the CJI that we need to be cautiously pessimist! I am not saying ‘optimist’ simply because the IAS lobby is strong enough to protect its own turf.

Ocean of Corruption:

One simple bouncer is enough to torpedo the whole issue. Why target only corrupt officials? Why not corrupt politicians also who have seemed to have immunity from everything from FIR to prosecution? In fact the politicians are the insurance cover for the corrupt officers. It is a fact that what ever the CEO does becomes the culture of any organization. It is only because the political masters are corrupt that officers replicate their values & conduct. Invariably the officers themselves are only insignificant beneficiaries of overall booty. They are only the down stream participants in the river joining the ocean of corruption. So targeting the officers and leaving the politicians is unjust, discriminatory and undemocratic.

Lok Pal Bill:

It was in 1969 that the Lok Pal Bill was first introduced in parliament to bring elected representatives under the scope of investigation for corruption and approved by Lok Sabha but rejected by Rajya Sabha. The bill has been “revisiting” parliament eight times and every time it was successfully killed including in May 2008 under the UPA-I government. Mr.Veerapa Moily would do well to remove the dust over the 2008 bill and revisit the objections of Rajya Sabha. It is only after the Lok Pal bill is passed by both the houses of parliament that the elected representatives would have moral right to “revisit” the laws to book corrupt officials.

In May 2008, Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh himself had agreed to bring the office of PM in the ambit of the Lok Pal Bill. Since the work in progress is in the same factory of UPA with same PM, the political masters would do well first to pass the Lok Pall bill before they can have the moral and ethical right to revisit the laws to bring corrupt officials to the justice. Even if they do manage to amend the articles 309, 310, & 311 to claim their seriousness, it would only remain in the statute and would never pass the moral portals of the judiciary. The cases would be buried before that stage itself as has been the practice and the CBI would be blamed by the courts for not doing the job properly.

Swiss Bank Accounts:

Talking of corruption the issue of Swiss bank accounts can not be left out. Swiss Banks Association has stated that figures of Rs. Seven lakh crores of Indian citizens in Swiss accounts are fabricated and there are no statistics. They would require specific evidences to cooperate with the government of India. Don’t we have law prohibiting resident Indian citizens to have an overseas bank account? That simply translates into need to cooperate with government if any resident Indian passport holder has an account with Swiss bank or in the first place not to open an account for any Indian passport holder unless backed by necessary work permit etc. But the fact is that we are not serious enough because all the tainted funds of politicians, the government officers and therefore of the businessmen also are the main constituents of the Swiss accounts. Politicians can offer only what they know best- the lip sympathy and promises to act.

Judge sets Example:

It was indeed a very bright spark of ethical conduct when the judge of Haryana High Court declared his assets in spite of the declared position of the Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India. His conduct forced the Supreme Court bench to “revisit” their decision and recommend that the judges may declare assets on voluntary basis. That set the process in motion with judges forced to declare their assets. Hats off to the Haryana Judge for his conviction and conduct. Now that the judiciary has set the example, the CJI himself has earned the right to suggest as he did that corrupt officers should be booked and brought to justice. I am sure he means even corrupt judges, going by reports of corruption charges against Justice P.D.Dinakaran, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court & a candidate for elevation to the Supreme Court.

Never Too Late:

If the government is serious about upholding values from declining and improving the global image of corruption in India as reflected by the index of Transparency International, we must set the stage for successful follow through. It is not enough to hide behind “technical issues, looking in to intricacies of law, revisiting the laws etc”. 40 years of flogging the Lok Pal Bill, 123 corrupt officers on website of CVC, a chief justice accused of corruption charges proposed for elevation to Supreme Court and the Swiss accounts worth a trillion dollars make me say, “Yeh Dil Maange More”. More of action and not revisits. More of not flogging the Lok Pal bill, but passing the same. The nation suffers from acute Value Management Deficiency Syndrome. It is never too late, but the government is never too serious on corruption issue. So “Politician, heal thyself”.

Vijay M.Deshpande
Corporate Advisor,
Strategic Management Initiative,
Pune

September 18, 2009

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Role of Automobile & Insurance Companies in Road Discipline

Role of Automobile & Insurance Companies in Road Discipline

At the outset, it may sound strange as to what role the automobile & insurance companies can have in ensuring traffic discipline on the road. But let us just figure out who are the stakeholders on the road who may have interest in reducing accidents? The general public, drivers, police, insurance and automobile companies are immediate stake holders. The errant drivers and missing police action on the road are equally responsible for chaos. Police is not seen except on few traffic signals. Dr.Satya Pal Singh, Police Commissioner, Pune, has initiated a number of projects to stream line traffic and may be he can take cognizance of these suggestions to initiate actions. (Pune city corporation and traffic police are struggling to make two major roads one way in heart of the city.)
There were around 460,000 road accidents in the country in 2006, killing 105,749 people and injuring nearly 500,000. The estimated losses due to road accidents were Rs.550 billion (nearly $14 billion) a year, which amounted to 3% of India's GDP, according to the ministry of surface transport.
(A) Automobile Industry:
The automotive industry is definitely concerned about the accidents on the road and is continuously redesigning braking systems, signal systems and other safety equipments on vehicles. But they can do much more with Corporate Social Responsibility. They should firm up a list of driving rules, along with automobile associations, RTO, traffic police etc., which need to be publicized to bring up compliance levels.
1. Communication: Every advertisement for promotion of automobile related products either by company or by dealers should reserve a mandatory 20% space at the bottom to carry one message on driving rules in bold at a time. This should apply for print media, electronic media as well as hoarding on the roads. This is just like cigarette packets carrying statutory warning on the packets and in advertisements.
2. Quality of Driving Schools: Pune has 139 driving schools out of which only 7 are ‘A’ category, 25 are ‘B’ category, 100 are ‘C’ category and 7 are ‘D’ category. For Maharashtra state the same figures are 93, 508, 492, and 148 respectively. Why should we have four categories of driving schools as if they are imparting training for nursery, primary, middle or high schools? There can not be two ways to drive on the roads. One can at best understand the difference of rural and city driving. So in any case the license holders from rural schools must again go to the city schools for fresh driving lessons & get fresh licenses for driving in cities if they wish to drive in cities.
3. Auto Industry Driving Schools: Automobile companies like Maruti have started their own motor driving schools. That is a good beginning. But are the instructors and learners observing all the rules on the road? All the automobile manufacturers must come out with driving schools and or existing driving schools must be upgraded and franchised by the manufacturers for strict compliance. There should be no driving school without accreditation of one automobile manufacturer. RTO must have list of such accredited driving schools from each manufacturer. The chances of corruption in such a system are least, if not negligible, since reputation of the automobile companies is at stake.
4. High Standards of Teaching & Compliance: What is expected out of automotive companies is a strict code of teaching and compliance for accreditation to driving schools. They need not invest huge sums in running such schools. Periodic reviews and supervision for teaching systems is all that is necessary to maintain high standards. The accreditation should be renewed every year by the school. In effect the automotive industry will be doing mentoring of driving schools to keep their vehicles safely plying on the roads.
5. Phased Implementation: The project can be first taken up in metros and mini metros. There should be distinct color and identity of licenses issued by new system and over a period of say one or two years all licenses other than these should be invalid for driving in the select cities. They may remain valid for other towns and villages till coverage extends to other places. After all other towns must get the markings on the roads also for successful implementation.
6. Outsource Compliance: The RTO & police department have not been successful in enforcing compliance with rules & regulations and that is the reason for the present mess. One need not comment on how the driving licenses are issued and how the traffic violators get away. If government of India can outsource processing of passports to TCS, why issue of mentoring driving schools can not be outsourced to automobile manufacturing companies? RTO should not issue licenses unless these driving schools approve the candidates. The licenses must have mention of the driving school for tracing the quality.
(B) Insurance Companies:
The biggest stake in road safety is that of insurance companies who lose substantially every year in settling claims. While specific figures of claims settled in respect of automobile accidents in India are not available, the figure given above by ministry speaks a lot about what the insurance companies would have forked out. So it is in their interest to improve their profits through lesser claims and lesser number of accidents. So what can they do?
1. Hefty Penal Premium for Accidents: Once an insurance claim is settled, the erring party must pay higher premium for their insurance renewal, when due, irrespective of the company providing insurance cover. The premium should have an additional component of hefty penal premium of say 25% for having been responsible for accident in previous period of the policy. After an accident caused by a party, the insurance company of the affected party must endorse the policy of errant party with comments and damages settled and communicate to the insurance company issuing the policy, so that when policy comes up for renewal, the insurance company would collect additional premium for one year. Obviously no insurance policy should be issued by any company without reference to previous policy. Even RC Books are now smart cards and the accident info should be loaded on these cards for verification by any insurance company issuing a policy. If there is no accident in next year, the penal component should stand withdrawn thereafter. This will make the drivers aware of the costs for causing accidents. Next time they will watch out.
2. Communication: All the advertisements of the insurance companies targeted towards automotive vehicles should carry 20% space for a message on traffic rules to create awareness. Along with policy documents, they should issue do’s and don’ts of driving well illustrated with pictures and in local languages, not in fine print but as add on document.
(C) Other Industries, Businesses, & Individuals:
Communication: All the advertisements for any products or services on hoardings targeted at people passing on the roads must have mandatory 20% space reserved for a message giving traffic rule out of above list. Even birthday hoardings of politicians, cinema hoarding, and religious hoardings must fall in line. This would create mass awareness in shorter time. “If you want to attract (rather distract) people on the road to your message, better spare some space for making road safer”. This should be the fundamental approach to accountability. The code should be enforced by the advertising industry associations, chambers of commerce and industry, Rotary, Lions, city corporations, NGOs etc. This should be made statutory just like cigarette. Perhaps more people die on road than by smoking!!
(D) Educational Institutions:
For every Indian bicycle is the first vehicle on the road where all he needs to do is balance himself and apply brake to stop. He does not have to observe any discipline on the road. It is free for all. The same culture is carried forward when he graduates to a powered two wheeler. By then he is expert in flouting all the rules with ease to beat the traffic. ‘Just do as you please’ is the mantra on the road. And precisely the same story carries on when he is a proud owner of a four wheeler or may be a driver of a Mercedes car.
No big deal to write a blog on how to get a driving license. So the bottom line is ‘start the road sense development initiative’ at primary school level so that even when one drops out of the school, there is a fair chance that a formal exposure to road sense would have been inculcated. The students of high schools and colleges should also get higher level of inputs to make them more sensitized and responsible. Today the most educated, qualified engineers and professionals driving two wheelers are the ones in hurry on the road and are seldom bothered about discipline on the roads.
(E) RTO & Police Force:
Let us assume that the traffic police personnel (& drivers of all the government vehicles) manning the roads would be given the updates on the traffic regulations and sensitize them to new expectations. While traffic personnel on the roads should look out for erring drivers, there should be high visibility mobile squads on motorbikes roaming in the city to spot and stop the rule breakers. Unfortunately, police have earned themselves not a very clean public image on management of traffic on the roads. They are the best judge to decide what they should do to change for better.
RTO & police can claim that we have all the regulations in place. Question then is why no implementation?
(F) NGOs:
Why some NGOs can not file a PIL in Supreme Court seeking effective implementation of the rules & regulations on the roads? Deaths of about one lakh people in accidents every year is not a good enough reason for the government bodies to perform? (Swine flu has so far claimed about 135 Deaths and whole nation is on high alert on war footing). Public will respond positively only when confronted with strict implementation. When public can comply with advice on swine flu why not traffic which kill more people on the roads? We need political will to act.
(G) Growth with safety:
All the stakeholders should come together to evolve “Drive Safe Code” and enforce. Let automotive companies not make plans for doubling production in five years without addressing the safety issues not just in the vehicles but also on the road. And as long as vehicles are made insurance companies do not have to struggle to grow. It is derived growth. Can they do something to manage their businesses better by constructive strategic actions to bring down losses due to accidents?
In above communication strategy no industry or individuals spend extra money from their pockets. All they have to do is shrink their space by 20% for their advertisements to carry a message on proper usage of the product. This is justified by the use of roads for advertising.
If automobile & insurance companies do not hear the wake up call, let them sleep and dream the chaos on the roads 5 years from now. May be they see a Jaguar being carried on the back of a Nano! Sweet Dreams!

Vijay M. Deshpande
Corporate Advisor,
Strategic Management Initiative,
Pune
September 11, 2009

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Road Sense & Traffic Management in India

Road Sense & Traffic Management in India

It was in 1977 that I got my first car driving license at Nairobi, Kenya. In India I had a license for two-wheeler, which was nothing but recognition of the fact that I could ride a bicycle. In Nairobi, I joined the driving school run by Automotive Association (AA) of Kenya. With extremely methodic and stringent application of driving rules the teaching was no less than the one they would have in UK at that time. The foremost concerns while teaching driving were safety of others on the road, the strict adherence to “Right of Way”, and ensure that you do not cause inconvenience to others on the road. If you go to any African country you are likely to see this being followed more than anywhere in India. While we may be somewhat concerned about safety on the road we just do not have the sense of “Right of Way” and inconvenience to others is certainly not on our agenda at all. “Me first” is the motto on the road.

I am reminded of a lady inspector of RTO of Nairobi who made a caustic remark to me while taking the driving test. After seeing a truck coming from a long distance, I thought it was safe enough by Indian standards to join the road. I failed the test first time with a comment “You Asians, you do not allow anybody to go ahead of you. You should have let the truck pass.” I can never forget that.

I was fortunate to have learnt car driving in Nairobi. Everyone can not be. We have all the rules of British era on paper as in case of the British ruled African countries. But we do not observe any of them virtually. Forget the citizens; even our traffic police are likely to be unaware of some of the rules. Police and municipal corporation vehicles coming head on going in wrong direction on the road is very common sight in Pune. We have utter chaos on the roads and if one has to start changing any of that it is difficult to pick the starting point. But here is an attempt to suggest the top priority actions which may reduce indiscipline on the road and take care of most flagrant violations on the road.

Ten Commandments on the Road:

1. Define Major Roads: We have no definition of a major road and cross or side road. Fundamentals dictate that while joining the main road from side road, one has to give way to traffic coming from right and enter the road only when it is clear and safe. At such joints there is a solid white line across left half of the road till the centre line and clearly written “STOP”. In Africa also this is followed religiously. This enables the traffic on main road move speedily without unexpected hindrances from left side. It is for traffic & roads department to identify and draw such lines and educate people about it. This is to be done everywhere in the city and not just a few main roads. Bangalore has well laid out colonies with main roads and cross roads very well defined every where. It will be very easy to implement this in Bangalore.
2. Right of Way: We have hardly any definitions of “Right of Way” as seen on the road. The traffic on the main road, vehicles in the round about, vehicles going up the hill, vehicles on junction box, pedestrians at designated places, any one ahead of you and lots of other situations are clearly stipulated to have right of way in the rules and regulations which are either unknown or unpublicized for educating public. In Pune, suddenly so many junction boxes have been painted with crossed yellow strips at huge costs. But no body has bothered to tell public what is the purpose. In some places whole “chowk” is full of yellow crossed strips making a mockery of purpose. As per my little knowledge, these junction boxes signify that do not enter the box if there is already a vehicle in the box, or enter the box only if it is clear. This avoids any accidents. This is impossible to follow in huge sections of the roads, and junctions with high traffic density like in Pune. It should be made more meaningful and feasible to follow.
3. Road Markings: Educate public about single solid line, double solid line, left line broken and right line solid, right line broken and left line solid running though the center along the road. Confused? Theses line define the right of way and when followed would avoid head on collisions during overtaking. Even with a solid line running through the middle of the road, we take right turns crossing the line!
4. We Encourage Indiscipline: In four lane roads, extreme left and right lanes are always fully occupied by the road side vendors, haphazardly parked tempos and hand carts, buses, auto rickshaws etc. In the absence of adequate number of openings for U-turns, these extreme lanes are also used for driving in wrong directions to reach destination faster. So the extreme left and the extreme right lanes have two-way traffic in each of them. This leaves effectively only two central lanes for two-way traffic. Even cars are driven in wrong directions in these extreme lanes. There is nobody to challenge them. We take pride in jumping rules & signals! In Pune, there have been cases of assault on policemen who caught people flouting rules.
5. Pedestrians Only: Pedestrian crossings are also used by cars and two wheelers to drive across the road posing danger to the people. Two wheelers and cars also cut across the road at unauthorized places posing danger to the main stream traffic violating their right of way.
6. Clear the Views: The solid yellow line on the curb indicates no parking along that portion. However, at signals and turning points vehicles are parked at such places blocking the view for taking turns.
7. Signal Culture: Car driver’s signals to turn left or right are simply ignored by two wheelers who simply zip past without caring for themselves and others on the road. Some give a signal without looking at traffic from rear and go ahead without any consideration for traffic coming from behind which just can’t stop or slow down as they have right of way.
8. Hazardous Drivers: Cars as well as two wheelers take a sudden U-turn on the road unmindful of the traffic on the road. Overtaking from left is very normal. Two wheelers push through narrow passage between cars and the median on the road making car drivers & themselves very vulnerable.
9. Parking Systems: In high density traffic, it is better to have flush parking instead of angular parking which occupies more lane space. People comfortably park angularly even in areas designated as flush parking. There is no education in this aspect.
10.No Entry in Reverse: One should not drive a car in reverse from a side road into the main road. This is neither understood nor followed in India.

Some of the above are of mandatory nature but we do not recognize or follow in practice. There are many other rules & regulations in fine print. International tourists, therefore, are not very fond of traveling within India by road, as they do in developed countries and yes in Africa too. “This happens only in India”….
There may be many more situations worth the mention here. But if we can take care of these important regulations we would be better off on the roads which are pathetic in any case. Want to make a Shanghai of Mumbai or Bremen of Pune? Aha!!!
Watch out for this space on what can we do about this.

Vijay M. Deshpande
Corporate Advisor,
Strategic Management Initiative,
Pune
September 04, 2009

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