Be Intelligent about Intelligence!

The country is debating on a very key issue of whether to bring CBI under the purview of Lokpal or sorry is it Jan Lokpal? Time will tell. As I write on this topic, more as an after thought or a pre-thought , I feel no one is serious about Jan Lok Pal. Of course not the Government and neither the “team Anna”. Had they been, by now we would have seen some result, a creation of a middle path acceptable to all stake holders. But in reality it has become opposite, the stakes of different representative groups are just going up not to merge anywhere.

Anyways, this battle is going to continue for some more time but it is indeed important to look into this demand to include CBI under Lokpal. Is it warranted? Is it a healthy trend for democratic system?

What is CBI? CBI is a Government of India agency with the primary function of intelligence gathering, criminal investigation & ensuring national security especially financial security. It is a serious role and profile and has been done over the years by CBI.

Before we go any further, let us look at the key functions of CBI. This is because it is very important to understand that CBI as an intelligence agency is more involved in overall maintenance of system, saving it from corruption & crime. This is DIFFERENT from other agencies like RAW, IB, NIA which is more direct;ly responsible for the foreign & internal intelligence to safe guard our security again from external & internal threats.

The basic role of CBI can be summarized as follows :

·        Cases which are essentially against Central Govt. employees or concerning affairs of the Central Govt. and the employees of the Central Public Sector Undertakings and Public Sector Banks.

·        Cases in which the financial interests of the Central Government are involved.

·        Cases relating to the breaches of Central Laws with the enforcement of which the Government of India is mainly concerned.

·        Big cases of fraud, cheating, embezzlement and the like relating to companies in which large funds are involved and similar other cases when committed by organised gangs or professional criminals having ramifications in several States.

·        Cases having interstate and international ramifications and involving several official agencies where, from all angles, it is considered necessary that a single investigating agency should be incharge of the investigation.

The pointers above indicate that CBI is entrusted with a very important responsibility. To keep the system  free of any anamoly deemed to be because of any impertinent act of Central / State Government. Also, the role warrants a strong monitoring of financial regulations and ensure that the same are not breached.  Has CBI been able to fulfill it’s role?

But there has always been a big question mark over the INTENT of CBI. It has been alleged that CBI has always been more of a political intelligence wing of the government in power. This allegation took on a major shape during the current UPA-II rule. There has been such allegation in the past as well but the enormity of the recent allegations has surpassed them all. A few of them are -

• In the recent 2G scam, enough voice has been raised on CBI allegedly trying to protect the mail perpetrators and also been trying to shield the present Union Home Minister
• It allowed Quattrocchi to go scot free despite a major allegation against him in Bofors scandal
• In ISRO spying scandal, again CBI was not upto mark and it covered facts
• It had been a virtual lameduck in allowing the Congress government to let Warren Anderson to leave the country after Bhopal gas Tragedy
• Another instance of CBI being politically motivated is its more than required pro active approach on Sohrabuddin encounter case. It was alleged to have played into the hands of Central govt to implicate Mr. Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujrat

There are enough and more such allegations. With so many allegations, it can not evade our attention that indeed there is some fair amount of conviction in them. Moreover, CBI through it’s own actions have not done much to repeal these allegations. Much has been desired in its actions.

There is no point in further going into the merits of such allegations but fact remains that CBI has indeed often played into the hands of the government or has been forced to play into its hands. The results, in essence, was the same.

Having said so, let us look into the demand to include CBI in the Lok Pal as demanded by “Team Anna”. Is it credible? Moreover, there has been demand from many people that CBI should be independent.

Yes, there are allegations but as a whole CBI has been involved in many cases not always politically motivated. Not all the people, in this agency, are politically motivated. it is doing work and as witnessed, if under severe public scrutiny, it has delivered results, even if it not to its own liking or liking of political masters.

Now if it is part of Lokpal, what difference will it make? What is the guarantee of its fair functioning? Presently, CBI is reporting to the Home Minister , now it will report to Lokpal. An individual! At the end of the day, it does not get completely filtered, does it? What is the guarantee that Lokpal tomorrow does not use CBI to his/her advantage?

Besides, Lokpal is not bigger than the government of India, it can not be and it should not be. For a machinery like CBI to work smoothly, it needs the support of the government. Ultimately, all the executive decisions come from the GoI. Suddenly, this change in the system will definitely effect the functioning of CBI.

Also, CBI has to be discretionary. There are ceratin fund wise decisions which can be ad-hoc ( I mean unaccounted for). It is no one’s business to  ponder over the same. we must respect the basic intent of this department. Wheteher it is implementing or not is another question!

For those, who are saying that CBI should be independent of the GoI, ia sk them about accountability. Who will be accountable in that case? Somewhere the chain of command has to end and as I see it, it ends and should end with the GoI. A global example for a quick rejoinder, Mi-5 (the internal intelligence division of british secret service) report to the Home secretary who is the contemporary of our Union Home Minister. This is how it should be. And I am sure, if we delve deep in to MI-6, we might see examples of politically motivated actions there as well.

So what is the solution?

• I feel CBI can not be a part of Lokpal. No new system, especially concerned with the internal financial security, is highly unwarranted. Besides, there is nothing to prove that Lokpal willl be insulated from any corruption. Just a word of Annna Hazare or Arvind Kejriwal is not enough.

• The government interference in the appointment of the director of CBI has to be stopped. Let him be selected by a special board comprising of members of other agencies. This creates better co-ordination too.

• The Home Secretary should be the last point of contact for the CBI Director. In this case, the politician Minister does not get the right to interact and thus influence the CBI representative on face to face basis. The selection of Home Secretary should again be basis the experience and years spent in the department.

• Besides, as a mandate CBI should be asked to submit the report on any case to the Home Secretary. The copy of the same should be shared with Union Home Minister, Leader of Opposition and a representative of the Supreme Court. This insulates any kind of ill feeling and ensures that all the stake holders are aware of the developments.

• The thin line of government control has to be maintained for the fund sanctions. The usage of the same can be monitored of CAG. Moreover, a special budget  can be sanctioned by GoI for ‘undisclosed expenses’ under the special sanction of CBI Director & Home  Secretary

I feel it is good to draw a line between genuine and farcical demands. The current demand of Anna Hazare to include CBI is bereft of any merit & logic. It has become more of an egotistical call. At the same time, CBI has to pull up its socks and start delivering to the expectations of the stake holders.

The past errors can be learning for all of us and especially the GoI to create a better future. The business of managing Intelligence is no child play and we need to be fairly intelligent enough to have a say in the running of this business.

Reserved about RESERVATION!

I am, by birth and unfortunately so, from upper caste. A Brahmin to be precise and I dislike and oppose caste based reservation system. I dislike this caste system and reservation because it is fragmenting and it is violation of human rights. Rest assured, this dislike does not emanate from the fact that I am a Brahmin. For the records, I don't wear the sacred thread, not because I am a rebel but because I can not follow some rules which come along with the sacred thread. And I feel guilty about it.

Having said so, it is time to understand the entire basis of job reservation and for doing the same, we have to rewind to our past to two specific periods of history. But it is going to be little tough.

Period 1 - We need to rewind centuries back when the ‘present system of caste’ was introduced i.e caste by birth. As we all know, earlier it was vocation based divide and the son of a shudra could become a Brahmin also but that was further long time back.

Anyways, so the caste system, basis the birth, got introduced centuries back and of course people belonging to the higher caste (or all the caste except the shudras) naturally enjoyed some privileges and did not want to give it up. The privileges was kind of reservation.

Now let us rewind to period 2. This is more recent. I am talking  about early 90s when under the sudden political pressure presented by a massive rally of Chaudhray Devil Lal, the then PM Mr. V P Singh, under the influence of Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan & Mr Sharad Yadav, suddenly introduced Mandal Commission. I am sure we are all aware that mandal commission report is very old (in fact if I am not wrong, it was presented to Nehru) but it was closeted. So in the 90s a political crisis resulted in what we can see an eternal social crisis.

What happened after that? Of course the lower caste or rather the new beneficiaries got privileges and naturally were in no mood to give it up…

Herein I would like to raise, in my view is very pertinent, some questions.

• What is the difference between the rulers centuries ago and the ones ruling now?
• Haven’t both in essence continues to divide the society rather than uniting it?
• Was the intent or rather does the intent of modern rulers continue to be guided by social upliftment?

At least we can give a benefit of doubts to those so called high caste people in the early centuries who introduced this divide. At least they were all illiterate, uneducated & were living in a dark age. Can we apply the same logic to the modern day rulers. At least my answer is big NO.

Moreover, the modern rulers took their “concern for social equality” one step further by bringing in other religions namely the socalled minority religions. So social upliftment became “socio-religio upliftment”.

So was the objective of the modern rulers achieved? What is the result of this reservation in the last two decades? Has the reservation reached out to the needy?

The answer again, though unfortunately, is a big NO.  The desired results of reservation has not reached out to the actually who are in need for it.  Moreover, in today’s times a poor Brahmin boy is as needy as a poor SC ST boy but both have not benefited.

A recent example is that fact that Central Govt has ordered states to fill up SC,ST & OBC vacancies amounting to over 50000 by March 2012. Again two questions-

A) Why did not the vacancies get filled up? Answer is because none of the people from the quota were perhaps able to qualify

B) Now by 2012, will we get deserving candidates? Answer is when we did not get candidates for so long, then what is the guarantee that we will get now in a span of three months

The reservation bill loses its essence when it’s benefits doesn’t reach out to the needy people. And this is because the needy, the real poor people from the backward caste are NOT YET prepared for any exams? So what is the point? Where and how has the bill created social equality?

Now there is another angle of religious quota within the quota or over and above the quota. Though liberals have attached the cause of inequality in this demand too but what is important is to notice what caused the inequality.

Muslims are being promised quota & soon Christians too would be getting reservation at least some political party will take upon itself the task of providing them reservation.

Talking of muslims, Sachar committee gave a very dismal picture on the poor representation of muslims in jobs etc. True, they are misrepresented but who is responsible? The muslims themselves? Few personal observations-

• Why do they go to Madrasa? What kind of education will they get there? Will education at Madrasa prepare them for an enterance test for medical/ engineering course or for government jobs?
• Does study of Arabic help in any way in their development
• Can the entire ethos of muslims, being governed and influenced by religion , develops more holistic view on the current affairs
• In today’s time with high cost & low income model of common life, can a family having 5-6 kids afford their education?
• Has any government or any community or any political party stopped poor Muslims from sending their children to government school? Surely, it would have created a better level playing field for them

Above are the points that need to be considered before the intellectuals and Mr Sachar(s) of the world start blaming the government and society of inaction.

The same theory applies for the back ward class amongst the Hindus. What needs to be seen is that whether any pro active action been taken to bring them to level playing grounds. I guess, not.

The first and the only step in this direction is to enable the poor people, across caste & religion, to get free education, free scholarship.

• This should be supported by a change in the basic education system. Only one board should be introduced. This will be a step in the right direction and will be well meaning for the poor students too

Rest assured, if this caste based reservation continues, then I feel there is no difference between society that persisted centuries ago and our modern one. We go in for more fragmentation. The initiative has to come from social thinkers, intellectuals and politicians. A common ground has to be arrived at and very fast.

I have had feeling of animosity, during my college days, when I saw an undeserving student getting a prestigious seat because of reservation rather than talent but then I accepted it. But the feeling of animosity completely go away, may be but yet a feeling of resentment persists within me. This feeling has to be eroded for building a stronger society.

Some years ago I remember a backward class quota student getting only 2 marks in his medical enterance test in MP and getting admission. I, for one, would not like to be treated by this student when he becomes a doctor, if he sodes. But I , the so-called upper caste, will not have any problem in getting treated by a Sc/St /OBC quota doctor as long as he is deserving.

on the question of deserving candidates, i will always reiterate that in our country, only the family members of defence forces (those who have martyred/ vaterans/injured) should get reservation in both colleges and jobs. this is because, unlike any other class & caste, the defence people have earned it

This call to set the undeserving apart from the deserving has to be taken by all of us.

Ten Years of Shame & still on...

This ongoing winter session of our parliament has witnessed uproar and a common tendency for all the parties to agree to disagree. In midst of all this, today the entire parliament came together for a common cause. I wish it was something positive but in essence the members of parliament came together to jointly condemn the Tenth Anniversary of Terror Attack on Parliament and remember the policemen who martyred

Personally, I disdain the usage of the word ‘anniversary’ when it is used in context of any terror attacks. This is because every such attack is an attack on the nation and its sovereignty.  The choice of the ‘venue’ (please pardon my language) might differ but the fact that we have been having so many attacks is worrisome.

Against such a background, the terror attack on the Parliament is perhaps the most questioning act- questioning the intent, morale & willingness of this nation. Our parliament is the utmost symbol of our democracy, so in other words, it is not far fetched to claim that 13^th December 2001 witnessed an attack on our democracy.

Surely we all hate many of our politicians and perhaps in a sarcastic way many might have said that ho jaata toh achcha tha but the fact remains that just like 26^th November 2008, India was attacked on 13^th December 2001 as well. And between these two dates, India has been attacked many times.

This particular attack happened under NDA rule. 5 brave Indian policemen gave their life on that eventful day. The next day, Dy. PM Mr. Lal Krishna Advani suggested the role of a neighbouring nation- all of us know which nation is being discussed. Moreover, the Pakistan High Commissioner to India Me. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi was asked to hand over the active Let & JeM members. It never happened.

Thankfully, NDA’s vision cautioned it to have, in place, some strong  anti terror acts. The parliament attack immediately resulted in POTA (prevention of Terrorist Activities) Act, 2002. results were there to be seen by everyone. Post the parliament attack, india thankfully did not have any other terror attack during the rest of NDA tenure. This Act was cynosure of all the eyes – the eyes of media , Human rights Champions & UPA. So much so that people demanded the revocation of this Act but fact remains that an inherently weak nation needs strong acts like POTA.

Anyways, NDA rule was followed by UPA which very quickly repealed POTA and results are there to be seen. We have had a series of terror attacks since 2004. the saddest part though is the fact that every time such attack happens, media & UPA gets into an over drive asking opposition not to politicize such attacks. I often wonder why? If opposition does not question such terror acts, why have one, in the first place?

For those who might have forgotten, the year 2010 saw a similar attack happening in Chechnya and the attack was well timed as there was a Russian delegation visiting Chechen parliament on the day of the attack. But that attack, unlike the one on our parliament, was different in the result. All the terrorists, involved in Chechen attacks, were dead. They were all killed.

This is the differentiating element. The main perpetrator of Parliament attack continues to live, rather happily, in our jail. Though he has been sentenced to death but there have been many mercy petitions to the tune of asking the Indian Government to change the death punishment. Last heard it was under the consideration.

And this is why I call it 10 years of Shame. In a country, where brave policemen gave their life to save parliamentarians from a terror attack, some people & religious groups have sought mercy for Afzal Guru. He has continued to live a healthy life for the last ten years. There are people like Digvijay Singh willing to jump to their rescue.

Isn’t it shameful? Isn’t it asking of Intent? Families of the policemen, if I am not wrong, returned the gallantry medals but the main villain continues to smile because he knows that some people of our country will be there for him, to protect him.

As long as such people are allowed to live, we will remain a soft nation. It is time for the Congress, UPA & certain religion to start believing & respecting the nation over religion & cheap politics. It is time for every member of media to stop being a monitor & rather act as a judge and demand the death of Afzal Guru.

 For us to survive and being considered a super power, a strong signal needs to be sent to whoever is listening. Immediate death fo Afzal Guru will be the first step in that direction

M/s. Goebbels, Stalin & Company - When Social Networking became Anti Social

Long before India got Kapil Sibal, history has seen persecution of voice opposing or rather trying to oppose autocratic and unpopular rule. There have been kings who have crushed any voice against their reign but then that was a different time and kings were considered or made to be considered as representative of Gods.

A flashback to the contemporary history brings names of Joseph Goebbels or Joseph Stalin to our mind. While the former was the Reich Minister of Propaganda during the Nazi rule in Germany, the latter was the premier of erstwhile Soviet Union from 1941 to 1953. Apart from having the common first name, they were known for manipulating the news or rather influencing news to their advantage. Both were masters of censorship of media. While Goebbels used tools of propaganda to further the claims of his master, Stalin created something called Iron curtain which effectively closed USSR from ‘to & fro’ flow of news with the rest of the world.

With our Union Minister for Telecom, Mr. Kapil Sibal asking for partial censorship or in his words ‘monitoring the content’ flowing on social networking sites like twitter, Facebook etc, is India too going to see a perpetual clampdown on exchange of news and views. Are we again seeing an avatar of M/s. Goebbels, Stalin & Company?

May be I am getting too imaginative and my fear is far fetched but definitely we need to have a closer look at this diktat or ‘view’ presented by the Govt. of India.

Let’s have a look

The genesis of this ‘view’ can be traced back to a meeting Sibal had with legal representatives of popular social networking sites after he saw a FB page carrying, what he calls highly objectionable, content on Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.

Post that he said that he saw some internet sites carrying content and images which are highly objectionable for some religious community. And he signed off by saying that his views doe not tantamount to censorship of these sites but in essence calls for screening of content.

Fine, but Mr. Sibal does not elaborate on the highly objectionable content that was published by someone about Mrs. Gandhi. He also fails to let us know which religious community he is talking about. It’s like a half baked cake which he expects the site owners and us the site users to eat. Will we eat?

My answer is NO, we will not. The same feeling of anguish has come out from across the society and groups with different and diverse political & ideological leanings. But, why will we not accept this view of Sibal. There has to be a reason.

According to me, the reason can be found in the way this Congress led government has been functioning for last seven years and the second reason can be traced to the feeling of disappointment many people have developed towards the mainstream news mainly the electronic media. And, in my opinion both are closely inter-linked

Why am I stressing on Congress. This is simply because, as I wrote, the genesis of this current issue emanates, from a so called, offensive content on Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. Congress due to whatever reasons have not been able to free itself from its ‘family owned party’ mentality. All their concerns & acts starts and ends at 10 Janpath. They have successfully followed their ideology of keeping this family over and above the party and in some cases even the nation. So naturally any attack on the president of Congress is deemed as an attack on the party and perhaps Congress is not liking it.

Since the second term of UPA started its rule, we have seen a plethora of issues and scams which has eroded our confidence and ability to trust the political class of this country. Not a single day passed without getting to know some new scams of this government. Coupled with that, there was age old rhetoric of Congress about BJP, Narendra Modi & questioning their secular leaning.

This situation got even worse as many and more people felt that , if not all, but certain sections of media , especially electronic media, were not up to mark in giving a proper ethical & unbiased coverage of all these issues. Much was left to be desired. The debates , every night, were not all inclusive in terms of opinions & views. Many times debates on less relevant issues came up. In such a scenario, the social networking sites namely Facebook & twitter provided a platform for the anguished people to share their woes & worry over the functioning of the country. Is there any thing OFFENSIVE about it? Is it not democratic to share their views?

Moreover, it is not that only common population came on such platforms but it has been used by representatives of media and also politicians ranging from Narendra Modi to Digvijay Singh. Why? Because they too saw the potency of this platform.

I ask certain basic questions

• If the senior most member of Congress & chairperson of ruling UPA, suddenly goes to New York for a health trip or surgery, shouldn’t the media investigate it, cover it? Did it? No. so it was left to people to discuss this very important issue on these networking sites.

• If suddenly the same person, accompanied by her son who is tipped to become future PM, suddenly dart off to the chill of Alps in Switzerland and its city called Zug, shouldn’t people be concerned. Was there any coverage on it especially since this visit happened in wake of a mass protest started by Baba Ramdev demanding disclosure on the illegal Swiss accounts. Again the general public were crestfallen with the response of the main stream media and took matter upon its own hands. They questioned the visit of Sonia Gandhi. There  is nothing wrong in questioning a public leader’s sudden moves.

• In a recent rally of Mr. Rahul Gandhi, public saw the horrendous retort by senor Congress leaders who kicked innocent protestors. Twiteratti (as people on twitter r known) responded and raised its questions on it.

• A virtual rape of democracy happened at Ram Lila Maidan, Delhi when the government authorized a severe lathi charge in the midnight upon a mass of protestors who were sleeping. It was bound to get reactions and it did. What is so undemocratic about comments on a sure shot undemocratic move of Govt.

• When the CM of Karnataka was arrested, enough and more people supported it, welcomed it. I am sure mr. Sibal did not find anything undemocratic or offensive then.

• When a Ishrat Jehan is heralded as a martyr despite a senior most government official claiming that she was a representative of LeT, discussions and exchange of views are bound to happen as it did. What is so offensive about it?

• When this government , out of the blue, decides to introduce a highly contentious bill allowing FDI in MBRT, shouldn’t we the people, who selected this government, debate this bill, its merits & demerits. What is so offensive about it?

The fact of the matter is that this present Government is too concerned about this powerful medium’s prowess in enabling an exchange of views, which basically question its own existence.  But what can people do? This government, due to its own acts, has given all the reasons to the public to share their angst. The choice of media was more because of its ease, reach and benefits.

Yes, there are cases of people using unparliamentary or unsolicited language/views about leaders or religion. But then there are few of such cases. For every Hindu trying to share an ill-conceived theory on other religion, there are ten Hindus who are ready to correct him. So few cases in isolation should not be a reason for such panic as exhibited by Sibal!

He should know that every human mind is blessed with an in-house ‘edit machine’ which does not accept any opinion and theory on its face value. The mind reacts and answers. All the expressions on either Twitter or Facebook have been REACTIVE to what has been seen as a lacking act of government. This should not upset Sibal so much.

Moreover, who has stopped him from creating his own twitter handle or a FB page to counter such views or share his views. For sure, he will get thousands of followers within no time

The exchange of information on such sites is healthy for the mind with people sharing news and diverse views. It creates a platform to understand and respect each other as individuals, communities and religion. What is so wrong in it? Don’t we see people exchanging news and views on strategic matters w.r.t India’s internal & external security

Mr Sibal should know that majority of 25Milllion users of FB & over 100 million users of google products are educated people. It is a sign of a healthy and conscious nation when its educated class gets active, reactive and pro active on diverse socio, economic & political issues. If our government is indeed serious about creating healthy minds and educated nation, it simply can not take away a means for further enrichment of our mind.

This censorship of networking sites smacks of a strong political intent and will not do our nation any good in near & distant future. 

FDI in MBRT: a Gateway to progress or digress?

Last week the Union Government of India, suddenly out of the blue, came out with an announcement which had all the potency to have a deep impact on our economy. We are talking about the government’s efforts to open up Multi Brand Retail Trade sector (herein referred to as MBRT) to FDI. Finance Minister Mr. Pranav Mukherjee surely under the auspices of our economist Prime Minister Sh. Manmohan Singh told the whole world (literally) that FDI to the tune of 51% will be hence forth allowed.

As expected, this bill or the announcement, as of now, ran into rough weather with hues & cries raised by almost all the political parties. It augmented those rare scenarios within parliament when all the opposition parties rallied together against the bill and suitably supported by some UPA Allies too namely Smt. Mayawati & Smt. Mamta Banerjee clearly voicing their strong opposition to the bill. In fact reportedly, there was a major exchange of words between some Senior Congress Ministers.

So basically a Pandora’s box was opened by the UPA and it is time we have a look at it. Before we go ahead, let us understand the key provisions of the bill

·         The policy rollout will cover only cities with a population of more than one million (as per 2011 census). There are only 53 such cities; there are 7935 towns and cities in India overall.

• Fresh agricultural produce, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains, pulses, fresh poultry, fishery and meat products, may be unbranded. 

• Minimum amount to be brought in, as FDI, by the foreign investor, would be US $ 100 million
• At least 50% of total FDI brought in shall be invested in `backend infrastructure
• At least 30% of the procurement of manufactured/ processed products shall be sourced from `small industries` which have a total investment in plant & machinery not exceeding US $ 1.00 million. The units can be Across d world
• It may also cover an area of 10 kms around the municipal/urban agglomeration limits of such cities; retail locations will be restricted to conforming areas as per the Master/Zonal Plans of the concerned cities and provision will be made for requisite facilities such as transport connectivity and parking.
• Government will have the first right to procurement of agricultural products;

• Experts feel that it will generate employment of 1.5 million people in front-line in and another approx 10% required for the back end, the total jobs to be generated will be around 1.7 million next 5 years whereas mr. Anand Sharma of Congress promised 10Million jobs! In next 3 years.

To permit 100% FDI in single brand retail trading, subject to the following conditions:

• FDI in single brand retail trading may be permitted up to 100% with Government approval;

• Products to be sold should be of a ‘Single Brand’ only.

• Products should be sold under the same brand internationally i.e. products should be sold under the same brand in one or more countries other than India.

• ‘Single Brand’ product-retailing would cover only products which are branded during manufacturing.

Rationale for enhancing FDI ceiling to 100% in single brand retail trading.

Govt says that In the last 5 years, under the current regime of 51% FDI in single brand retail, foreign direct investment of only US$ 44.45 million have been received, constituting barely 0.03% of total FDI inflows.  Globally, single brand retail follow a business model of 100% ownership and global majors have been reluctant to establish their presence in a restrictive policy environment.  

Another critical argument promoted by the government

Govt & supporters say that a visible lack of lack of investment in the logistics of retail chain creating inefficiencies in the food supply chain. Even if we are the world’s second largest producer of fruits & vegetables, our cold chain storage infrastructure is very weak. We have only 5386 stand alone storages. Moreover, the total capacity of these storages is 23.6million MT but 80% of these are used only for potatoes.

So naturally farmers too suffer as lack of storage leads to wastage. It has been estimated that the loss of produce esp Fruits &Vegetables is close to Rs.1 Trillion per annum! 57 per cent of this is due to avoidable wastage and the rest due to avoidable costs of storage and commissions.

Again as per some industry estimates, 35-40% of fruits and vegetables and nearly 10% of food grains in India are wasted. Presently, we allow 100% FDI in cold storage industry but the participation has been minimal as potential investors were not enthused by absence of FDI in front retail.

So basically govt says that if FDI in NMRT is allowed, it will set of a chain of good FDI in cold chain and thus leading to less wastage of Fruits&Vegetables and thus farmers are happy.  VOW, we have such a visionary government.

Another argument passed on by the advocates of 51% FDI in MBRT is that it has been successfully implemented by other countries.

In all fairness, there have been other countries like China, Thailand, Russia & Indonesia which have benefited by their own policy of FDI in MBRT and they all allowed 100%. I am not sure about what all their policy guidelines entailed but feel that socio-economic fabric of our country is much different than that of these four especially Indonesia & Thailand. Both these countries are dependent on Foreign economy for everything.

Same was the case with Russia which was literally bankrupt and literally it was one of the easiest ways to earn quick foreign exchange.

China is a different case study all together. They have  a huge size and a huge highly nationalistic population who will adopt a MBRT but perhaps not completely give up on their own indigeneous retails.

So perhaps the promoters of this policy who give examples of other countries need to look at the overall scenario with a broader perspective.

Here goes my contention on the FDI in MBRT

A) 51% -  the first question is why did the government start with 51% and why not 49% or 40%. I am sure even then the possible investors would have remained enthused. BJP, in its vision book 2004, had thought of FDI but only 26%. By doing 51%, we are literally giving away the control of the business.

B) 30% of the procurement of processed/manufactured products to come in from small sector industries with upto 1million USD investment and can be from any country. 1 million USD means roughly Rs.4.50 crores. How many Indian ‘small sector’ are there which have invested upto Rs.4.5crores . so what happens, the Investors question the ‘quality’ of the raw material supplied by these Indian small units and start looking worldwide (it is provisioned in the bill!) and which country answers their demands. Any Guesses!  And by the way what about the 70%? Where does it come from. From the choice  AGAIN of the investor.

C) How does it really help if fresh agricultural produce, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains, pulses, fresh poultry, fishery and meat products, remain unbranded

D) Now the question about the jobs -10 Million in 3 years or 1 crore in 3 years. We all visit Big Bazars, Croma, reliance Fresh etc , how many people do we see working there? Assuming a very safe average of say 400 employees per outlet, there wuld be 25000 such FDI units in 53 cities!!! And 471 outlets in each of the 53 city??? You really think it will not effect the small kirana shops. Because, we also like to seek convenience, more choice and a feel good factor which unfortunately the local kirana outlets do not provide…

E) Today it is 53 cities, what is the guarantee that tomorrow it will not become 153 cities. Of course it won’t take too long for the FDI to see the scope & potential of the tier II cities and it will be lapped up by the people staying there. Do you indeed think that if tomorrow Wal mart opens an outlet say in Jodhpur, it will not do good business, I don’t think so.

F) What did the government do to create a level playing field before announcing this bill. But, why the urgency to implement it so fast? Why can’t government offer some friendly loans, under proper monitoring, to the willing retailers to do up their out lets. After all, the government offer so many packages to farmers (of course bang before any state or union elections) and I guess that why there will be no such relief for the trader community as there is no union election in near future.

G) Moreover, what did the government do to help the back end logistics and infrastructure-namely cold storage facility? Going by their rationale on this core issue (mentioned above), it will not be very late before we see foreigners gaining 100% control on our cold storages. Why, are our ‘native’ businessmen so ineffective. Did the government offer any olive branch to our native cold storage owners? it did not.

H) what is the guarantee that FDI will indeed change the lives of the farmers. What is the guarantee that FDI will offer them a very high rate for their produce. Govt says it will have the first right on procurement of farm produce. What if it doesn’t? at least the very apathetic way of how FCI works, I don’t see a very positive picture emerging.

I) Marginal consumers – here I mean those daily wage labourers who work incities and buy their daily requirements on CREDIT and they resort to kirana outlets. No Reliance Fresh will ever offer credit, forget assuming about the FDIs. Tomorrow, when WalMart opens its outlets, will they offer credit. Forget it, then will even the local kirana outlets be keen on offering them credit because there is a feeling of fear on their minds and would like to manage their cash flow. So what will happen to these marginal consumers.

When I see people like Mr. Kishore Biyani supporting FDI, I really wonder what happened to their self confidence. Why are they inviting foreigners when they have themselves taken major steps in this industry. Rather than supporting FDI, shouldn’t they be asking governmenfor more support to create more such names from within the country??? And if it is 51% FDI, how can the likes of Biyani say that they own the business.

Yes the FDI will result in perhaps 10billion revenue in nect 7-8 years but aren’t we paying a high cost. Isn’t 51% ownership self detrimental to our interests. There is nothing wrong in Foreign Investment but we could have done it at say 40%, even then investment would have come in. may be, we would not have earned 10 billion but still we would have earned enough to maintain the balance in the sector.

This is going to be a very long war between the Desi Kirana Walas ( i would rather love to call them Swadesi stores) and Wal Marts of the world. We will all see if there is any clear winner in the war or both happily coexist. But in this war, we as the consumers, will have a very big role to play. And better, if we play it sensibly…

Slap Gate - is our democracy secured

Expression of anger and the result i.e assault of political leaders in public is not something to be looked forward to but then some cases need to be looked at in isolation.

What i mean here is that i am not a congress supporter but it doesn't mean that i will go around beating every cong leader. that is wrong, it sets a wrong chain reaction.

Having said this let me explain the cases in isolation, as i mentioned above. in essence, it refers to the assault on Mr. Sharad Pawar & Mr. Prashant Bhushan.

Why these two cases are in isolation-

A) Prashant Bhushan - he made a statement on a topic which is very emotional for majority of the Indians. for years people have given their lives to defend the pride & solidarity of kashmir. in wake of such emotions, there was no business of Mr. Bhushan to make a completely unsolicited remark on kashmir virtually tentamounting to its sedition or rather support the process of sedition. shud Mr. Bhushan have made such a remark? shud there be a limit on the freedom of expression. 

isn't the statement too derogatory enough to provoke, a kashmiri pandit who lost all his valuables or a family member of a soldier who died while fighting a kashmiri terrorist, go and assault mr. bhushan. in his case, i feel it was well justified.

2) Mr. Sharad Pawar - Why Mr. Sharad Pawar. For years his name has always been used as synonym for corruption in Indian politics. this man has made fun of democracy before by changing his stance (nothing wrong in this & it is done by every party) . the immediate reason for provoking the slap gate 9as i like to call it) is that he is a man who handled a ministry which was directly responsible for the daily lives of millions of common Indians. there has been price rise, there has been food stock rotting in FCI godowns while food grains was imported. there was no logic. for last few years, the cases of Vidarbha farmers committing suicide, perhaps daily, has been hitting the headlines. in view of this situation directly linked to our daily life, the anger and frustration against Pawar was on the highest ebb. Harvinder is just a name, it cud have been any one else.aren't his mis governance again very provocative for a family member of a farmer who committed suicide to come and slap him.

I repeat that public assault is bad but then some cases need to be looked at with the broader perspective.

If tomorrow, a family member of those SP protesters who were kicked by congress leaders & say got seriously injured, come and hurl a shoe at jitin Prasad, how would we look at it. that too would be , no doubts wrong, but then in some cases it is a reactionary process.


We are not a country of barbarians. We are a civilized, responsible, intelligent & conscious nation. our democratic fabric doesn't entail such acts or expression of aggression. It doesn't set a right precedent. the fact that post every such incident, there are many and more who condemn such acts and have their faith in democracy intact. even political parties cutting across lines condemn such acts. So i feel our democracy is & will remain intact...


I sign off by saying that we should also look & ponder at the reasons of such incidents...may be there is a lesson for us all. 

My Request to NDA If They Come To Power In 2014

Respected NDA members, being a true nationalist & a patriotic Indian, I wish to see you coming back to power with an overwhelming mandate in 2014. Respected leaders, we are tired of this tyrannical undemocratic and corrupt UPA which has not left any stone unturned in resuming the drain of wealth that our country had seen in the colonial raj. It is time we heal the wounds our motherland has been suffering since 2004.

I am sure, if you come to power, you will continue with the great work that you had done for the country when you ruled from 1999 to 2004. Despite the best efforts of congress & certain elements of media, the effort on your part, to create a true ‘Ram Rajya’, has not been obliterated from our memory. Of course UPA I & UPA II, under the aegis of a weak Prime Minister and rather ruled by 10 Janpath than 7RCR, tried to bask in the glory of all the projects which you had stared during your reign. Needless to mention UPA failed in even following you.

I am sure, you will have a clear agenda for the development of the nation but as a common citizen, I have certain requests or if I am permitted, a list of demands. Knowing your tenacity (all positive meanings attached to this word) for development, I hope you will heed to my demands.

The list (it is not in order of priority and every demand is equally important) goes as follows:

1)      China policy - Our country lives in an eminent threat of aggression from our neighbours. Though we deem Pakistan as our threat No.1, I disagree with this view. Rather I agree with the view your Defense Minister Sh. George Fernandes expounded that China is our biggest threat. Please start a very strong infrastructure development for our armed forces in border. Even today Sikkim has only one road connecting it to the rest of the nation. There are many such examples. 

2)      Black money – the demand of Baba Ramdev was the demand of the whole country and in my opinion more realistic than Jan Lokpal movement. Of course UPA got scared and did what it did, is known to all of us. What is important is the initiative that you take in bringing back the black money. That should not be difficult considering the willingness of Swiss banks to co-operate.

3)      Defense budget – Sir considering the friendly neighbours, we need to increase our present defence budget. Our defense personnel deserve to get the best. Country deserves to get the best technology. In 2011, India's official military budget stood at Rs.164,425.19 , the 10th largest in the world. But we can not afford to be 10th largest spender. Keeping the overall economy in mind, pls increase the budget.

4)      Kashmir -  the NDA resolve on Kashmir should be what was propounded by late Sh. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. In short, article 370 should be revoked. No elections should be held. And most importantly. We must resettle kashmiri pandits back in their land under utmost security. In this I have to mention the great work done by Sh. Jagmohan (from your member party BJP) in controlling separatist groups but alas the appeasement policy of congress brought him back.

5)      UCC – Sir, this country is known for “unity in diversity” and let’s implement that to the T. the Uniform Civil Code is a deterrent towards this objective. Please implement UCC. Also, few sub points

Ø      Remove Communal Violence Bill completely

Ø      No haj subsidy and if Haj subsidy continues, the same should be introduced for Hindu pilgrims who visit Amarnath & mansarovar

Ø      Abolish Article 30 which is a blot on the concept of unity by blemishing the field of education.

6)      North East – Sir as on date there is only one institute of reckon in entire Ne which has 7 states. Not to mention poor health care, lack of employment opportunities there. This has been the legacy of the congress which ruled NE. this has alienated the populace of NE from the rest of the country. It is time to end this discrimination. I hope you will take steps in this direction. I am sure right steps will help end separatist tendencies

7)      Afghanistan -  Sir look at china. They have military presence in SL, Bangladesh, Pakistan , Myanmar and maybe Nepal soon. What about us? Afghanistan is going thru a metamorphosis, we should make our presence felt their and install our military personnel (already there and many not be withdrawn) but we need to increase the presence. This will help us in case of any war with Pakistan in future.

8)      Rs. 32 - recently UPA II played a joke with us. They announced that anyone with a daily income of above rs.32 is a rich man. Please have a relook and arrive at a realistic figure. This will help the genuinely poor.

9)      Foreign policy – A strong foreign policy is required. We have to take a stance. We should prefer Israel over Palestine (a small example). The right message has to go to US, Russia & Europe. Even if we don’t get UNSC permanent membership it is ok but a strong no nonsense approach is required. Also please instruct your EAM not to give anyone a valentine’s day card by mistake.

10)  Jan Lokpal – Anna Hazare movement gained unprecedented momentum and I am proud to note that only BJP & few other NDA members supported Hazare. Though I am not a follower or supporter of hazare (owing to his recent rhetorics or very fair questions posed on the integrity of his so called team). But, since entire country joined hands in the fight, I request you to have a session and adopt a machinery to implement the fair demands raised by Jan Lokpal movement. I am okay if you take the view of Ms. Aruna Roy also.

11)  Revival of POTA – Sir, we are suffering endlessly from the disease called terrorism and rather curbing it, UPA helped it, owing to its appeasement policy, by revoking POTA. This is not acceptable. Please reintroduce POTA & implement it. Terrorists do not deserve any sympathy.

Ø      Likewise, I want the interference of politicos in the workings of intel agency to be minimized.

12)  Economy -  Sir, the economy is not in a good shape. There is unprecedented inflation. The GDP growth has been less than desired in last 7 years. We need to re work it and the push has to come from the rural sector, health sector & IT sector. I want you to introduce friendly measures for these sectors primarily and of course for all the industries. Investor friendly measures should be there but also the interests of our native business should be safeguarded (I am not for a moment a supporter of communism). Our export scenario has to be developed. We need to get into a meaningful dialogue countries that stop us from exporting our products.

13)  Healthcare – Sir the health of our healthcare sector is in a very poor condition and needs immediate addressal. The basic healthcare system in the country need to be worked upon diligently. A network of hospitals & PHC should run down covering he last mile. Still there are areas where people have to travel 100 miles to get a decent health care. This has to stop. And yes, you can introduce a rule that all medical students have to, as a rule, work in government healthcare service for at least 3 years.

14)  Education – Sir, education system needs a change. I have, for the time being, only one demand.

Ø      Please introduce one common board across the country. This would be fair for all students.

Ø      Also, please make English compulsory from class I in all schools.

Ø      Mandatory free education for girls

15)  RTI on Netaji, SPM & LBS – Sir, I want you to release all the archived classified material especially on the death of Netaji, Sh. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee , Sh. Rajeev Dixit & Sh. Lal Bahadur Shashtri. Trust me sir, if information comes out, the nationalist population of this country will never bring Congress back to power.

16)  Infiltration – states have seen infiltration and especially states in NE like Assam which saw infiltrators from Bangladesh. That was owing to again appeasement vote bank politics of UPA. This can not be allowed. Please do a special census in the NE states and those who are not found to be from India should not be allowed to stay here. If these infiltrators could smuggle themselves in this country, I am sure they can smuggles themselves out too. Besides, our border monitoring need to be very adept.

17)  Vedas – sir our Vedas, our most revered manuscript is in London museum. Apparently, some of it is in Germany. These manuscripts are not important from only religious point of view but also from knowledge point of view. Please get them back to our country.

18)  The New President-  Sir, we have been disappointed by Smt. Pratibha Patil’s tenure as the President of India. We need a strong person. During your regime, you had introduced Sh. Abdul Kalam, by far, one of the best President we ever had. I am not sure if he would be interested for the coveted post. In this case, I want Sh. Narayan Murthy to become the president.

Sir, this is the first list for your kind consideration. Very soon, I am going to add some more demands.

Thanking you

A common concerned Indian

Battisi Khazana

I remember my grandmother telling me that during her “times” people with salary of Rs. 50 per month were considered as arrived, social big wigs. How things used to cost few annas. This government has again given us the same choice, the choice and opportunity of telling our grandchildren that in our times a person with daily income of Rs.32 and more was considered Rich, considered by none other than the government itself. Sounds great no?

But much water has flown below the bridge between my Grandmother’s times and our times. The cost has spiraled, sky rocketed, economy grew and as a result inflation also grew. The toor daal which cost a meager Rs.20 per kg ‘as late’ as early 1990’s has become a rich man’s symbol today (god bless the poor labourers, farmers in South India where toor daal is an integral part of their food everyday).

I, just like many others, studied in an yearly fess of not more than rs.1200 or so. Today my nephew, a toddler’s fees is Rs.5000 per month. Forget the fees of management institutes or other higher education courses.

How is the rich & poor defined?

Internationally, an income of less than $1.25 per day per head of purchasing power parity is defined as extreme poverty.

The ‘New’ Indian definition -

• Urban (For a family of five members)-  Rs. 4800 per month@ Rs.32 per head per day
• Rural (For a family of five members)-  Rs. 3750 per month@ Rs. 25 per head per day

So how does the new “definition’ impact the commoners? 

In my view we the so called middle class had survived, are surviving and will continue to survive. There might be very little, if any, impact on our standards of living. We lived when toor daal was Rs.20 per kg and we are living, pretty well if I can safely assume, when toor daal is Rs.100 per kg.

For the upper class, I don’t think I should waste words here. They are not , for all it matters, even aware of the existence of any definition classifying people rich or poor.

What about the lower class

The very fact that BPL families were identified was in essence to give them certain special benefits. I will very quickly talk three

A) Aadhar yojna wherein the government will move towards the direct transfer of cash subsidy to people living below poverty line (BPL) in phased manner and the system for the same will be in place by March 2012. Sh. Nandan Nilekani is heading the project.

B) Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY)  - Over 60 lakh below poverty line (BPL) families of Bihar (I am giving example of one state) being covered by the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) would now get the benefits of the scheme even during their treatment in government hospitals.

C) Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)

PDS as it stood earlier, had been widely criticized for its failure to serve the population Below the Poverty Line (BPL), its urban bias, limited coverage in the States with high concentration of the rural poor and lack of transparent and accountable arrangements for delivery. Therefore, in June 1997, the Government of India launched the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) with focus on the poor. Under the TPDS, States are required to formulate and implement fool proof arrangements for identification of the poor for delivery of foodgrains

There are some more -

·        Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)

·        Indira Awaas Yojana

·        Rashtriya Suraksha Bima Yojana 

Here, I have some questions.

Q1) The rich & poor have already been defined as per the latest census. So isn’t it a humongous task to again set out and find out the new set of rich & poor?

Q2) Those who were perhaps poor in last census may become the rich in the  next census, so don’t they stop getting the benefits of the yojanas?

And most pertinent

Q3) With the price increasing, how will the nouve rich (that is those who will earn great monthly income of Rs.4800 /month & Rs.3750/month in urban &  rural respectively face the after effects of the inflation. What kind of change they will witness in the quality of their life. Will they be able to send their children to public schools or they will continue to study in government schools ( I have nothing aganst Government schools & they have produced good students but definitely the quality of education will  be at a lower level)

So, isn’t it better if the nouve rich continued to remain poor? At least they would have got the so called benefits of the Yojanas (few named after Gandhi family-the mascot of ‘development’) though the actual benefits being availed out of the yojanas is another story.

Mr. Ahluwalia, please wake up? Go and live in a farmers house or better send your children to stay in the house of a labourer for just a day, let them go to government school and I am sure you will need to seriously rethink your planning acumen. 


People say having 32 teeth was a symbol of prosperity, did our Planning Commission take this saying little too seriously sorry literally