Growth Story

FDIs (foreign direct investments)have grown as per the expectation. Liberalisation in ceiling-caps in sectoral investments too has been ensured. Subsidies have been properly estimated in terms of requirements in different fields of economic and social activities and accordingly regulated for delivery mechanism through Aadhaar cards. GST has been attempted and implemented with Herculean efforts. 

But ease of doing business is still a far cry in the scheme of things obtaining at the moment in the country. As a former civil servant who had closely watched and participated in the delivery mechanism at the state level and the levels below than that I can vouchsafe for the fact that things are still not smooth and satisfactory for the people to get anything from the state authorities. There is a lot of leakage of revenue and expenditure during implementation of schemes and projects by the government machinery. 

Ease of doing business is as tough or tortuous in Indian states as one could imagine. This experience of mine is being duly endorsed by an expert called Richard Rossow,  a senior fellow in U.S. India Policy Studies Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) (Times of India, September 7, 2016).

++++++++

IITs lose ground in global ranking

The World University rankings confirmed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in U.S. as the best for the fifth consecutive year . Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, remained india's highest-ranked institution. Of all the IITs in India the IIT Delhi stood at 185.

Is there no individual from top to bottom in the Government of India to take a vow and improve the status by 2019 before the next General Elections?

++++++++

China bags fastest supercomputer title

Not once but 7th time in a row!! And for the first time the winner uses only Chinese designed processors instead of US technology . The announcement on Monday June 20, 2016 is a new milestone for Chinese supercomputer development and a further erosion of of past US dominance of the field.

China is on the way to become the super power of 21st century!

STA (TOI) STICS.   (Times of India, Saturday 29, 2016)

China's journey from being poorer than India to 5 times richer

China's economic reforms have worked much better than india's. That is perhaps because before starting its reforms China ensured three things : land reforms, better access to education and slower population growth.

1978 when China started reforms, average Chinese was 26 percent poorer than an average Indian.

GDP per capita (current U.S. Dollar)

India : 210

China: 155

1991 when India started reforms 

India: 309

China: 331

2015 Chinese five times richer than Indian

India: 1582

China: 7925

In the running race for development India has failed miserably. Any particular reason for such a poor performance?

The reasons quoted by TOI group are relevant for discussion. Had India followed the same in 2-3 decades soon after independence, the situation would have been totally different. Our so called five year plans had not paid any serious attention to these issues despite the first prime minister of India following the soviet pattern of centralised planning. The politicians, the babus (including the entire government machinery) and the business community (including the industrialists) have been responsible for such a sorry state affairs even after 69 years of independence. We the Indians seem to be good at talking but found to be bad in execution of plans and projects.

Let us reverse this trend and show our strength in the days to come!

+++++++++++

Bad loans and Rajan's exit

Bankers are feeling shy of relief with the news that Rajan's exit From RBI is certain on September 4, 2016. Banana Republic is decisively on the saddle at the moment ensuring safe retirement to the leaders in banking industry for whatever sin they committed in the recent past. Depositors are the grand losers in the process. Big players and big money are always safe in our country at the end of the day. 

++++++++

Rajan in RBI

(Written in August, 2016)

Raghuram Rajan, an engineer-cum-banking manager has served well as the Governor of RBI for nearly three years and likely to get back to academia in the University of Chicago and be there for a while or longer till he gets his next assignment. Comparatively young and competent in his job he has indeed created a little more heat on Indian soil and Indian banking system during his brief tenure of three years. With a few reforms at the central bank level he had focused more on inflation control and currency stabilisation. Inflation the hydra-headed monster hasn't been totally controlled the way the common man in the street would have wanted although from the bankers' point of view he has saved the economy from it's  going out of control totally. Money supply in the economy - both legally accounted for and illegally stashed both within and outside the shores in the form of black money would need much more pragmatic and bold initiatives in the days to come.

One would certainly remember Rajan for having been in the limelight and headlines for his speeches and statements and actions like T.N.Seshan in the Election Commission of India two decades ago.

Wish him good luck for future contributions.

"Studying agriculture was an idealistic pursuit" - the title of an interview with Dr M. S Swaminathan, an eminent agro-scientist by Sashi Nair on the occasion of World Food Day ( October 21, 2016)

The crux of the interview was on 'sustainable agriculture / development' vis-a-vis 'environmental degradation'. It is a million dollar question for which a ready-made and foolproof remedy is as elusive and excruciating as possible. The scientist's personal concern on the dichotomy between surplus grains and the chronic hunger in certain sections of india's population is well placed although the scientists are not to be blamed for it. The ball is in the court of policy makers and the executives in charge of implementation of such policies. The Food Security Act is a good move in such a direction with its own merits and demerits in execution.

++++++++++

My heroes in government service:

Shri K.D Saksena, the collector of Durg (1972)
He was a man of utmost simplicity and straightforward in personal behaviour and dead honest in official dealings and transactions. As an Assistant Collector under training (a probationer in I.A.S) he kept me in his residence as a member of his family and allowed me to undergo training as per the schedule given by the Mussouri National Academy of Administration, General Administration Department of Government of Madhya Pradesh and the Collector's Calendar of Training. Very rarely collectors used to follow this example in those days. I was lucky to enjoy the hospitality of my mentor, trainer and boss in the district training. I imbibed his good qualities in a good measure. Minute examination of the files and documents that are put up before the collector for taking a fair and bold decision and the habit of hardworking in office assignments were the precious gifts handed out to me as a trainee. To a great extent my daily interaction with the collector and his family enabled me to pick up Hindi-speaking in a few months time,

The lady of the house, Mrs Saksena, with a smile on her face all the time gave me a motherly treatment throughout my stay in the bungalow. She and her husband, the collector looked after me very well when I was down with chickenpox for a fortnight. I can never forget their caring and magnanimity showered on me for more than six months before I got married and settled in a separate house with my young wife in July 1972.

2) Shri Ram Bihari Lal, the Commissioner of Bilaspur Division (1973-74)

The cadre of deputy collectors in a state is a sine quo non for an inter mediators role in the governmental setup. The state of Madhya Pradesh was lucky to have a good team of dedicated deputy collectors who rose to the ranks of collector and commissioner. Shri Ram Bihari Lal was one of those rare specimen in terms of efficiency and integrity in office. I was lucky to have this gentleman as my Divisional Commissioner at Bilaspur while I was the Sub Divisional Officer at Jashpur Nagar and Officiating Collector at Raigarh on two occasions (1973-75).

The amount of experience, the level of maturity and the rare quality of real leadership exhibited by him as my second-level senior in hierarchy can hardly be forgotten and brushed aside even now. I had occasions to interact with this official indirectly mostly but directly only once. Once I had insisted and succeeded in shifting of the government agriculture market from the busy market area to the newly created premises in the municipal town of Kharsia town despite resistance from the business community with someone making a complaint against me to the commissioner. He never questioned my conduct on this account, probably he knew the value of my bold action and contribution in public interest. On a second occasion when a complaint was filed against me in connection with the withdrawal of Rs 1.5 lakh from the district treasury as the officiating collector in anticipation of formal sanction and allotment of funds from the state government for the purchase of gunny bags to facilitate the procurement of paddy from the farmers according to the targets fixed by the government. He supported my timely action taken in public interest again. Technically speaking he could have initiated disciplinary action against me for drawing money from the treasury by an executive order. Such was the bold and supportive leadership that I enjoyed at the beginning of my career.

I am forced to compare and contrast this action on the part of this divisional commissioner with those of later-day powerful and supposedly-successful politicians, ministers and chief ministers (Who miserably failed in my estimation) who gladly adopted double standards and doubted the good motives behind my actions at the fag end of my career in Central India. 

Revival

Nice to resume my blog activity after a long gap of time.