THE CHANGING NORMS

     Today I read in newspapers a very interesting news.  This news is that RPG Enterprises chairman Harsh Goenka has asked his employees to call him and each other by the first name. This step will bring in a cultural change at workplace, making it more informal. In the Indian context this is somewhat unusual.  Centuries of slavery has created a social hierarchy in India.  To put it bluntly, you will notice that we  go great lengths to please people who are placed ahead of us in the social pecking order and look down upon people placed below us in the pecking order.

     It is a common to  see the pictures of IAS/IPS officers in newspapers/television touching the feet of politicians publicly and the same IAS/IPS officers getting their shoe strings tied from their juniors.  It is very sad that even after 68 years of independence we have not liberated mentally. Even now people occupying high positions treat people working under them as their slaves. The reason for this is that the rajas, nawabs and zamindars of yesterday have become MPs/MLAs and industrialists of today.  The feudal system might have been abolished years ago but that mentality is still alive in our psyche.  I won't blame only rich and influential people for this malaise in our society. Disparity between rich and poor, and lack of education has kept attitude of our masses unchanged.  They still treat the people occupying position of authority as superior to them and instead of asking for their rights, they beg them.

   

    The urban youth of today is educated and  is aware of what is going on around the world, thanks to internet and other mediums of communication.  The young generation of today asks questions, it gives and expects respect and it is not prepared to cater to bloated egos.  So even at workplace they want to be treated as equals.  They don't feel that their employer has done them a favour by giving them a job, they feel that they are being paid for their professional services.

     The modern organisations are understanding this shift in the  attitude of today's generation and trying to provide a more informal atmosphere at the workplace.  I think it is a step in the right direction.  This change will create a more cordial and congenial atmosphere in the organisations which will lead to more productivity and overall well-being of the employees.  I think more and more Indian businesses should change their attitude and start treating their employees on equal footing.

IT IS DYNASTIC RULE, NOT DEMOCRACY

     On election of Mr. Pranab Mukherjee as President of India, his Lok Sabha seat (Jangipur in West Bengal) fell vacant.  Similary, when Mr. Vijay Bahuguna became Chief Minister of Uttrakhand, his Tehri Lok Sabha seat became vacant.   Now two things happened in this connection which I consider unethical.  First, on both the seats Congress fielded sons of Mr. Mukherjee and Mr. Bahuguna from their respective seats.  This shows that these political parties don't have internal democracy in their parties.  They are behaving as if these seats are their personal assets and should be inherited by their sons or other family members.  This is not at all acceptable.  They are treating the country as their personal property.  We the ordinary citizens of this country should make sure that this dynastic politics is put to an end..  What are the credentials of Rahul Gandhi, Jitin Parsad, Milind Devda, Sachin Pilot, Akhilesh Yadav, Anurag Thakur, Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar and Agatha Sangma, Sukhbir Badal and Jyotiraditya Scindia?  These people owe their position to their parents.  These are the new rajas of this country and unless we realise the gravity of the situation, our country will not have real democracy but dynastic rule.
     Second unethical thing in this incident is that Ms. Mamta Bannerjee did not field any candidate from the Jangipur Seat.  Though she is not supporting Congress at  Center but she supported Congress candidate (Pranab Mukherjee's son) in the bye-election.  Had she fielded  a candidate from that constituency, Abhijeet Mukherjee  would have lost the election (won by only 2536 votes).  Is this not a betrayal of public sentiment.  These politicians give and take personal favours at our cost.  Is this democracy or Collective Dynastic Rule?  

Good Luck to Kejriwal & Co.

     By launching the political party, Arvind Kejriwal has done our country a big favour.  When Anna, who was the face of this movement against corruption, backed out of the idea to provide a political alternative to the country, many people like me were frustrated.  Frustration of the people stemmed from the fact that all the present political parties are corrupt, and they don't want  laws like Jan Lokpal Bill to be passed.  This practically means, that poor people of this country will keep suffering for another 3-4 decades, when another Anna or Kejriwal will come on the scene.

     But in this fast paced word people cannot wait for that long.  Sensing this feeling of the people, the Kejriwal and his friends took a very courageous decision to launch a political party.  I have heard certain, people talk negatively about this new set up.  They say that it is very difficult to fight elections without black money, and they will have to resort to the same means to which they are opposed right now.  To these people, I simply say that if these people can remain honest till now, why we can't hope that they will remain honest in future.

     The least we can expect from this party are: 1. honesty, 2. people with criminal records will not be given tickets,  3. efficiency in administration and 4. no division of society on the basis of caste, religion and region.  If these four  things are achieved, then all our problems can easily be tackled.  If this party achieves high standards, then others will have to raise their standard also.  This will be good for our country.

     So, if you are a Congress or BJP loyalist, open up your mind, think again and vote for this new party in the next elections.  If you don't do so, you may have to repent later for letting this God sent opportunity go waste.  Good luck to Kejriwal & Co.

     

Anna Please Give Us a Political Platform.

With a very deep feeling of sorrow, I learnt that Team Anna has split.  Anna Hazare backed by Kiran Bedi and Justice Santosh Hegde holds the view that Team Anna should not enter politics.  Anna says that going into politics is selfish and running an Andolan a public service.  I agree that most of the politicians are into politics for money and position and they really don't care about the public welfare.

I am not able to understand one thing, why Anna and others do not want good people to enter politics. It is very easy to stay away from the fight and avert defeat.  But that is not the sign of brave people. Brave people don't fear the failure.  Anna's Andolan (agittion) has raised the expectations of this nation.  This is the time Team Anna must take lead and give this nation an honest and strong leadership.  If Anna does not grab this opportunity, he will be remembered in history as a man who faltered at the finishing line.

I fully support Kejriwal's idea to float a political party because now at least I know whom to vote for next time I enter the polling booth.  He is showing  a direction to the people of this country. 

Unreasonable Price Hike

Hike in Diesel prices by Rs.5/- will affect the prices of transportation and will have spiraling effect on items of daily consumption like vegetables, milk and almost everything an average consumer requires. Along with this is another bombshell from Government. Now ever family will get only 6 subsidized cylinders and for more than 6 cylinders one will have to pay market price, which is going to b

e around Rs.750/- per cylinder. This will effect an average family by Rs.2100/- per month (Rs.750 - Rs.400) X 6 = Rs. 2100/-. Add to this Rs.2/- per liter hike made by Mother Dairy 2-3 days back. Just imagine the plight of a man who has to run a family and earns only Rs.7000 - Rs.8000/- per month.

Government says that they have to increase prices of diesel and LPG because prices in international market are rising. This is not the truth, near about 40-50% consists of Taxes Government imposes a lot of taxes on petroleum products. If Government was successful in tackling corruption, the level of taxes would have been lower and Government would not have increased the prices like this. Our present political class is totally insensitive towards the hardships borne by an average person. We must find new alternatives.

Loss On Account of Coal Block Scam

I am surprised how learned people like P. Chidambram and Kapil Sibbal are saying that no loss has been incurred in case of Coal Block Allocation.  Their logic is since no coal has been mined, hence no loss.  Do they mean to say that loss will occur only when mining will be done?  They should not try to make fool of people.  Government has transferred the legal rights to private parties and valuations of those companies has sky-rocketed.  Can M/s Chidambram and Sibbal explain the increase in valuation of these companies?

This also speaks about the mentality of our leaders, who believe that they can fool masses.  But by doing so, they are making a fool of themselves.  India has seen through their designs.

Why BJP is waking up now?

     BJP is stalling parliament on the issue of Coal Scam.  It seems BJP came to know of the scam only after CAG uncovered it.  Only naive will believe it, because on the matter of auctioning of coal mines Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states like Rajasthan,  Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were against auction.
    If BJP was against coal block allocation without auction, they should have protested at that time.  This brings out the fact that both Congress and BJP are involved in Coal Scam.
     Tomorrow Team Anna is protesting outside the houses of PM and Nitin Gadkari, President of BJP,  on the issues of coal scam.  Kiran Bedi is of the view that Team Anna should concentrate only against the misdeeds of ruling coalition.  I differ from this view.  I think that when both the parties are involved in the issue, protest should be directed against both the parties.
     Delhi Police has asked Delhi Metro to close 6 metro stations during the day.  This is definitely to stop people from reaching  Jantar Mantar for protest.  This is most undemocratic and people are taking note of this.