1.
Talking of ethics and values – I consider
that all the ills prevailing in the society, be it corruption, lack of work
culture, in-sensitivity to fellow citizens, etc. etc. are the result of lack of
the right education with no regard to ethics and values. Only becoming a
graduate or a post-graduate is not enough. The leaders should practice and preach on ethics and values in life.
2.
Tackling
price rise – everyone is hit hard and the people are looking for immediate
southern dive of the prices of eatables in particular. News is that the price
of petroleum products is set to immediately increase after the elections which
will lead to increase in the prices of everything that we consume. While I do
not say that subsidy should be provided but surely one can look at the
administrative/operative expenses in the industry and go far massive cost cuts.
For salaried class an increase in salary cannot be the only solution – if the
living cost declines s/he will be more than happy.
3.
Bijli, Pani, Sadak – nothing new but it
is the Bijli, Pani and Sadak which, if taken care of, can immediately be viewed
by all as to something which the government has done.
4.
Becoming healthy – if India has to become
healthy its citizens have to become healthy. And this can happen if they are
provided with a clean environment, stress-free living, affordable good health
care facilities.
a.
Waste disposal : In urban and semi-urban
area the biggest problem being faced is to dispose off the garbage being
collected daily. Add to this the construction waste. We do not have enough
land-fill sites where this could be collected. Each passing day the garbage
collected has to be emptied a little further away from the city/town and this
creates a lot of transportation problem and a lot of money has to be spent on
this. Experts should be called in and find a solution to this before it gets
out of control.
b.
Stress-free living : The day to day
problems being faced makes a person so stressed that it effects his health and
productivity. Be it for education, transportation, living conditions etc. etc.
Only better administration at all fronts can improve the situation.
c.
Affordable health care : The metros are
crowded amongst other reasons also for getting better medical facilities. If we
can provide quality service in smaller places people will not crowd the metros.
This will do away with many a problems including the rush in our trains. Visit
the AIIMS and one can realize that many of the patients are from East, which is
lacking in good medical facilities.
5.
Police Reforms : Recently a survey was
done in rural India trying to find out as to who is the most important person
with whom you have to interact the most. And the choices given were, a teacher,
a preacher, a postman, a politician and a policeman. And the result was in
favour of our policeman. Unfortunately the police have earned such a bad
reputation over time that whatever extremes one talks about them it is
believed. And it is this perception that has to be changed if the society wants
a safe future which will be good both for the policeman and the people at
large. On the other hand have we ever gone a little inside and tried to find
out as to why, if true, all this is happening. There are no duty-hours for
these people, there are no good housing provisions and their family life is so
disturbed because of all this. Their behavior and attitude may be because of
the stressful working conditions – for which no remedial measures are taken.
And political interference in the police work is order of the day.
6.
Agriculture : We have had bumper crops
but we still lag far behind in the storage facilities for our produce. And by
not having these we loose tons and tons of our produce. Building of ware
houses, cold storages in areas where there is need has to be done on war
footing. Use of more and more organic fertilizer to ensure better health for
the citizen is a must. (Growth of cancer patients in the country has been
attributed to the use of insecticides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers to a
great extent.) Rapid urbanization has distanced the fields – thereby increasing
the cost of reaching the produce to the market and making the farmer
inoperative. Use of modern technology is the need of the day.
7.
Land Records : Today most of the frauds,
violence, offences, court cases, family disputes are because of property. And
the reason is not having proper records of property. Even the Government does
not know, or does not want to take the trouble of knowing, if what is its own.
I am informed that the data of land records of India are even worst than some
of the most poor countries. There are cases of public land being encroached all
over. There are cases of the same plot being sold to more than one person.
There are cases of false sale of land which is not owned by the seller and so
on. And in this, all, rich and poor are being affected.
8.
Judicial Reforms : Courts are one place
where everyone, poor or rich, has to go a number of times in his life time.
Improving and simplifying legal framework is a must. A news says that it will
take 485 years to clear up the cases in our Courts if the speed at which we are
doing this is what it is today. If justice delayed is justice denied then we
have to find ways to improve the present situation. We should ensure that the
rule of law will be equal for all. It would be only strict implementation of
laws that the country can see development and its citizens live in peace and
harmony. It should not be different for the rich, politically/administratively
high profile people and the common man. In fact we would need less and less of
new laws if the implementation is just.
9.
Electoral Reforms : The idea of simultaneous
Lok Sabha and Assembly polls should be promoted more. And with this we should
talk of economic savings which can be utilized for poor and needy. This would
also not disturb the general business activity twice making better economic
sense. Keeping out known people against whom criminal cases or corruption cases
are there should be ensured.
10.
Illegal construction & National wastage
: The infamous ‘Coco-cola’ housing society case of Mumbai or the recent
‘untiech multi-storey’ case of Noida has seen hundreds of investors loose
crores. Every day we hear news of illegal building razed by authorities. It is
time that we take strict action against
the officials too who allowed all this to happen on whatever consideration.
This was not black money stashed in foreign banks or lockers. Even if the
demolition has been done the nation has lost precious raw material in the form
of steel, cement etc, labour and so on. Add to this the cost involved in
demolition, transportation and treatment of the rubble. All this could have
been better utilized in making of much needed hospitals and schools. Strict and
practical rules must be framed and implemented.
11.
Railways : This is a service used by most
people – poor and rich. Much has been done and still much more can be done to
provide more facilities, to garner economic progress etc. Better utilization of
present facilities, speeding up trains, improving the share of goods
transportation, reducing pilferage, etc. should be immediately attended to.
Reclaiming and better utilization of railway property can give the required
funding for improvisation. Making of underpasses at all railway stations for
passenger movement will go a long way in service enhancement. Safety of
passengers should be a priority with more and better work force. May be making
the management under a corporation directly under the Parliament would work
better.
12.
Labour laws : Time has come that the
labour laws have to be simplified. Not necessarily that any reform will go in
favour of the employer. Still all should be made accountable. And ways have to
be devised to provide help to the un-organised sector too. The cumbersome forms
of ESI and PF have to be simplified. A simple methodology of giving Social
Security Tax can be devised where for every rupee paid as salary a certain
percentage goes for Social Security of the individual. And that’s it. No ESI,
no PF, no wrong expenses being shown as labour expenses. Even if a person comes
and does work for 1 day s/he gets the salary for that day and a certain
percentage goes in the Social Security. This percentage can be 20 or 25%. This
can be linked with ‘aadhar’ card no. Accordingly a methodology can be worked
out for the benefits the person gets from this Social Security fund. The system
can be studied from other countries, which may be adopting similar systems.
13.
Environment Issues : Today it is this
department which is talked of as the most corrupt where gratification is a must
if you want any clearances. Practical rules should be framed. If we do not have
sand and bricks no construction work would happen. However, restrictions on
sand lifting and not being allowed to cut in the mud to make bricks has raised
the price of these two items jump as you can have it only at the premium cost.
Similarly we talk of not being allowed to cut trees or burn leaves or excessive
use of alternate energy – have we ever tried to find out as to how much fuel is
lost because of increase in transportation costs and the bad effects of use of
lead in batteries for storage of even solar power. No one talks of pollution in
the air because of construction work all around – specially in urban areas. The
ill-effects of this, on all of us are incalculable. WHO has even classified
Delhi as the most polluted city in the world recently.
Misc.
·
Tourism & Education Hubs : Most of
our states can be developed in great tourism and education hubs. Enormous
employment opportunities are generated with these two activities and it is very
environment-friendly.
·
Innovation : Emphasis should be given for
innovation. It must be realized that in this age when energy sources are drying
up new inventions will have to come. And this is true in all areas. Incentives should be given and proper
remuneration to people involved in this have to be ensured. It should also be
ensured that once a team approves the innovation serious efforts should be made
to see that use of this starts.
·
Transport System : Improvements of bus
depots, railway stations, airports and the area around will create a good and
congenial atmosphere. The approach road to the bus depot or the railway station
at most places is in pathetic conditions. It is these places which are used by
lacs every day in the state and it has to be improved.
·
On Road Safety – more people die every
day on roads then by terrorism. Overloading, bad conditions of the public
transport system, untrained drivers, bad roads, etc have to be tackled.
Provision for more buses/ easing the rules for this can be a few of the ideas.
Strict following of rules has to be ensured. We should not fear the backlash of
the owners (not many) but should think of the common person who uses them.
·
Conservation and reducing consumption is
the only solution to save this planet and India should show to the world that
we are concerned and capable of handling the situation. Reducing consumption,
reusing and recycling has to be promoted. Justifiable use of precious raw
material has to be ensured.
·
Pilgrimage Places : We must take a
proactive approach in improving the religious places with good administration
to keep it clean, to improve its law and order situation, to make the visit to
temples easy etc. We hear of accidents so often in religious congregations.
This should be avoided with good administration. These places are visited by
lacs every day. It is only if we provide good clean environment that we can
take the next generation to temples.
·
Aadhar : The much-hyped ‘aadhar’ project,
under the leadership of Nandan Nilenkeni has more or less been made
inconsequential. Crores have been spent. And it was such an important project
but not taking proper care on the security and privacy issue even Courts have expressed
their strictures. However, the country needs a national data base of its
citizens. This would help in implementing programmes, in planning programmes
for welfare, in eliminating siphoning of funds etc. etc. Today we don’t even
know if one staying here is an Indian or not for sure.
·
Protection Money : The poor who are
trying to earn their bread with small time work are the worst affected by goons
collecting ‘protection money’. This can be seen a)in the slums for their
dwellings; b)auto, rickshaw or other stands; c) railway stations/ bus stands;
d) parking lots; e)even from beggars etc. etc. If it is illegal let us not
allow this but if it is to be allowed let us ensure that the goons do not
harass the poor.
