दृष्टिकोण – Indra's Viewpoint

As reported, ‘Modi talks to foreign leaders in Hindi even though he is reasonably comfortable in English. Apparently, he uses translators for Hindi-English or Hindi-Russian language conversions, but if he gets replies in English he needs no reverse translation.’ In stead of taking a national pride in it, some vested interest of media are trying to give a negative twist. I somehow smelt the same after watching a debate on NDTV 24×7 in ‘The Big Fight’ anchored by Vikram Chandra. Why should such issue get a priority that may be divisive? Please watch and let me have your views

Very soon, I shall be starting my ‘sanyas ashram’, but before that I can certainly talk and write on some subject with my emotional ferment. In late 40s and early 50s, I started my high school education in Birlapur living with my grandfather. My grandfather in those days used to write his dairy- one page every day- in English, as he had all his education in English. Because of our nationalist views imprinted in us by our teacher in village, Ganga Dyal Pandey, whom we respected blindly, We insisted with my dadaji to change his dairy language to Hindi. I got education up to School Final of West Bengal Board with Hindi as medium of writing while my teachers in class taught only in Bangla. I learnt a little bit of Bangla, particularly the conversational. Starting from Presidency College from where I did my Intermediate in Science examination of Calcutta University to IIT, Kharagpur, English was the medium of teaching. It was inconvenient all the way, but today I do not consider the language as cause of much concern ever. During my professional career of almost forty years in West Bengal, I got benefited with my working knowledge of Bangla.

When my Yamuna joined me, she also picked up Bangla. My kids didn’t get much exposure of Bhojpuri, but they learnt to understand that because of the frequent visitors from the region. Anand is best with Bhojpuri because he had spent a lot of time with my father when he came to live with us while Anand was in school. Between Yamuna and myself, we had decided to use Hindi pretty early. We hardly spoke with our kids in English at home, though they studied in English medium. They picked up Bangla too. All the Hindi, Bhojpuri and Bangla around the at home never caused any problem for them in picking up English well. All of them are today in US. Unfortunately, over the years they have lost the touch and will hardly be comfortable with the reading and writing in Hindi. My grand children will hardly ever be in position where they will be using Hindi conveniently in any manner. It is troublesome for Yamuna, but she manages and we have accepted the situation. Interestingly, here in US schools, the grand children have picked up Spanish. Sometimes, I heard Mandarin also from Zach, the youngest of Anand.

US companies are integrating the people coming from different countries in the world with all sort of accent of English, but working together with no trouble. US schools encourage the additional learning of other languages of the world. The trend is becoming popular even in India. The private schools of metros and cities are providing the facilities for learning a number of foreign languages. Even at very early age, the kids on their own or sometimes facilitated by the enlightened parents go for other languages.

It is only the community in politics that are questioning the use of English as medium or sometimes opposes the teaching of Hindi as it was apparent in the debate on the TV channel that I referred above. But another news report from Chennai coming from Tamil Nadu from the same channel was astonishing and surprisingly pleasant too: “In the 1960s, Tamil Nadu saw violent protests against the compulsory learning of Hindi. Now, in a turnaround, many parents and schools in the state have launched a battle against the monopoly of Tamil and say they want Hindi.”

Months ago, I had read another news report also from Chennai that talked of the election campaign in Hindi in the residential pockets of Hindi immigrants. Hindi cinemas also have enhanced the popularity of Hindi among younger generation besides the possibility of transfer to Northern region for better job opportunity or the same for zeroing on the life partner from North India during college days.

The schooling up to class VI, say till a child is around 12 years of age must focus on just two subjects-language and math. The teaching of the language must include the vernacular nearest to the mother language along with English. The knowledge of all other subjects must be imparted through the curricula of the languages. At the end of class VI, the child must be proficient in reading and understanding the subject referred as well as in conversing fluently. He must be able to write too. The thrust should be on building good vocabulary and on encouraging reading. Unfortunately, the present schooling does not meet these requirements that are necessary as social necessity today to succeed in life through different phases.

Here is an excerpt from Economist from which we can learn that the world understands and appreciates the potential of India to emerge as one of the top manufacturing power. However, the government, through the necessary reforms such one coming from Rajasthan, fast implementation of infrastructure projects of roads, rails, aviation, ports and broadband/Internet speed, involving and, if necessary, handholding some key entrepreneurs and reforming some taxes, will have to move effectively to grab the opportunities that may slip to other competitive destinations in no time.

Manufacturing powers:
One of the major forces reshaping global business is that of rising wages in China. Nominal wages have been rising at over 10% a year in every year since 1997: Chinese workers are still much cheaper than those in, say, the United States, but the gap is closing rapidly. China has managed to create such a dominant position in global manufacturing supply chains, despite rapidly increasing wages, partly because of its infrastructure, but also because productivity growth has been unusually rapid.

Over the next five years we think that Chinese wages will continue to rise fast. Productivity will rise as well, but this is going to change the type of activity in which Chinese workers are competitive. Countries all around the world, such as Bangladesh, Peru and Nigeria, are hoping to get a slice of labour-intensive manufacturing supply chains as Chinese factories focus on a different stage of production. Which countries are best placed to move into this gap? One country stands out as having a lot of potential: India. It has low wages and business inputs are low, and it has the scale to attract big firms that many countries in, say, Africa lack. India’s business environment is very difficult, however, and its infrastructure is poor. But if India can get the building blocks right, then China’s rising wages create an opportunity it is uniquely placed to capture.”

Interestingly, Financial Express has article on trade policy that talks of some aspects of the FTA agreements discouraging manufacturing. Has the FTA agreements benefited India, particularly its manufacturing sector? There are worries that in one respect they may have harmed the country’s economic interest. India, like its partners, has excluded a number of non-agricultural products from the elimination of duty in these agreements. The exclusions have resulted in an inverted tariff structure, whereby the import duty has been eliminated on the finished products while being retained on parts and components. As a result, the original equipment manufacturers prefer to do business by importing finished goods rather than manufacturing the product in India from imported or domestically-produced parts and components. There has been a large influx of imports of such goods as refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines, microwave ovens and television sets (below 19 inches). The tariff structure is stimulating imports and inhibiting local manufacturing.

There is also some controversy on FDI in defence sector between CII and FICCI on three possible levels of FDI – 49, 74 and 100 per cent, that is intended to boost manufacturing in India.

Another suggestion from a private company intending to come in manufacturing of defence products is as this: “Any increase in FDI in defence must be accompanied by a commitment to transfer technology to the Indian entity in a phased manner (starting, for example, from 30 per cent and going up to the 90 per cent to 100 per cent over a two- to five-year period). A similar phased percentage of local content must be applicable in the serial production phase and the Indian entity should also undertake to export the equipment being manufactured after a period of three to five years or so. In this manner, it can become part of the global supply chain of foreign defence companies investing in India.”

Why can not the debate be conclusive? India must become a manufacturing power. Let all the member companies of both CII and FICCI must effectively endorse and invest in that.

However, the good signals are being heard. The President and thus the government has agreed: The President speech to joint session had the following specific point besides others welcome ones:

27. For rapid creation of jobs in the manufacturing sector, the government will strategically promote labour-intensive manufacturing. ……Employment opportunities will also be expanded by promoting…… agro-based industries………

28. We need to transform ourselves into a globally competitive manufacturing hub powered by Skill, Scale and Speed. To this end, the government will set up world class investment and industrial regions, particularly along the Dedicated Freight Corridors and Industrial Corridors spanning the country. My Government will encourage the domestic industry to innovate and collaborate internationally. It will strive to move towards a single-window system of clearances both at the Centre and at the States through a hub-spoke model.

29. To strengthen our share in global trade, procedures will be simplified and trade infrastructure strengthened so as to reduce transaction time and costs. The SSI and Handicraft sectors will be encouraged by providing them enhanced technological, marketing and investment support. Export potential of this sector will be encouraged. My government will make every effort to improve the working conditions of our weavers in particular. It will also set up a task force to review and revive our MSME sector.

30. …….We will encourage R&D and high level local manufacturing for railway systems. ……….

40. My Government … ..will encourage domestic industry, including the private sector; to have a larger share in design and production of defence equipment. We will introduce policies to strengthen technology transfer, including through liberalised FDI in defence production. With readily available skilled human resource, India can emerge as a global platform for defence manufacturing including software, which will strengthen our defence and spur industrial development as well as exports.

And Jaitley has emphatically endorsed that: “This is the last opportunity to be a part of the low-cost manufacturing revolution taking place in some Asian countries. We want to make India a low-cost manufacturing hub.”

Let us hope for a bright future for Indian manufacturing sector.

The media is flooding with the wish lists of action plans and dreams for Modi. Let me add some of mine.

1. At the outset , let all your ministers understand and appreciate that you do not have five years to be judged and voted again but much less a period. As the very first thing, let them all, your ministers and babus get all the ongoing projects moving at visibly greater urgency and speed.

2. You might have asked the ministers to list out what they can get completed in next hundred days. But as next item, your government must plan the projects and plans listing what you shall be completing by the end of the first, second, third and fourth years, all the backlogs of the previous year getting completed in the running year. The uncompleted ones at the end of the fourth year must get completed by the time the next election dates are announced. Otherwise, the people who are much more intelligent than assumed will get totally disenchanted about your ability of getting implemented the dreams you sell to them. They must get fruitful engagement to fulfil their aspirations.

3. Let each project be identified by measurable characteristics, numbers, miles, MWs, Expected Dates of Completion (EDC) etc. and never by sanctioned amounts.

4. The media is getting flooded with new promises: reduction of inflation, clearances of help up of infrastructure projects, announcements of hordes of model school, ITIs, one IITs, and AIIMS in every state, clean Ganga and even Yamuna flowing by Delhi, Mumbai-Delhi, Bangaluru-Chennai or Delhi-Kolkata industrial corridors, a 2BHK accommodation with toilet and electricity, and tapped water for all the poor, golden quadrilateral and NS and EW corridor converted to a minimum six-eight lane expressways and few additional ones such as Bangaluru, Mysore and Lucknow-Kanpur, high speed train services at least one between Mumbai and New Delhi, one important ant river interlinking project. But it will mean hardly any thing if people do not see work initiated fast and ultimately if it can not be completed by 2019. Why should any of projects take more than 5 years, if the planning and execution are managed scientifically and efficiently and the merits of those executing them are given preference?

5. Simultaneously, for controlling the main concern of continuing inflation, can you work for cutting down the number of middle men so called intermediary between the consumers or the endusers and producers or manufacturers, as these middlemen are only adding to the cost escalation without hardly ant value additions, beside impressing on the state government to act ruthlessly with hoarders.

6. While the exports of India’s high-tech, high-margin products need more encouragements and must get incentives, the unscrupulous traders must be counselled to encourage indigenous manufacturers and dissuaded firmly to cut on the import of poor quality household items just because they can sell all the junks in our huge consumer market. The government must involve big players in organised retails such as Reliance, Birlas, Mittals, Biyani’s Big Bazar or other brands such as Home Centres to encourage local manufacturers to innovate and produce globally competitive low tech household items that are in huge demands world over that can strengthen the country’s manufacturing sector. It is unfortunate that all these outlets along with thousands other smaller ones are engaged in importing and retailing only the cheap Chinese items of all sorts. Even the manufacturing OEMs in many sector such as even automobiles prefer to outsource its parts rather than getting them developed and procuring them from local parts manufacturers. Many have just turned assemblers with hardly any value additions.
(To be continued)

I was shocked when someone from opposition attacked you through social media: “What a Cabinet of Modi? HRD Minister (Looking after Education) Smriti Irani is not even a graduate! Look at her affidavit at ECI site pg 11 (sic)!” And then pleasantly and surprisingly, his own men were more vocal in condemning him. However, I wish you to prove yourself a great HRD minister that sets an unprecedented legacy that shames every one of your critics. India and particularly, rural India is so much backward in education, that with a little idea and effort, you can achieve what is needed. You have already shown your intention of increasing the spending in education to 6 percent. But let it not just be an intention, you see to it that it happens, otherwise you will be just like one of your predecessors. Some other suggestions are:

1. Encourage each of 543 MPs with their funds and India Inc. under its CSR obligations to set up schools in rural India in thousands, taking assistance of the people of the constituency as Madan Mohan Malviya did. It will be easier and cheaper to get land for it there. I felt sorry that HDFC had to postpone its school building project because of unavailability of land it required. The majority of the government model schools such as Kendrya, Navodaya and Kasturba from class six to twelve should be built in rural India for next ten years. And the government must see that the 2000 of them planned come up before 2019.

2. Help the states to shun or gradually reduce the practice of contract teachers. Instead appoint trainee teachers and as they develop their proficiency, get them promoted in regular scale of remunerations. Improve the teachers’ training facilities and system. Let the selection of primary teachers not focus on formal education but on their interest in teaching and attitude. Let each school be digitally connected, electrified on priority. Let each have a library and sports ground. Encourage the human resources and the school infrastructure to be used for other related activity such as skill training, adult education, and other means for educating the deprived class in the society. If required, the faculty can suitably be compensated for their participation.

3. Encourage the states, and its boards to participate in international tests such as PISA (Program for International Student Assessment)or TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study), and provide the schools and its teachers with incentives and awards for higher scores of Pratham’s evaluations.

4. Request each and every institution and school of higher education such as engineering and humanities to get their student study at least one useful courses through MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) that are free and to provide the necessary infrastructure such as Wi-Fi and Internet. Alternatively, let all the courses of IITs available digitally, be the minimum course materials in all the engineering colleges of the country. Wherever, the medium of teaching is English, the entrants must undergo a preparatory course in the language and pass an examination such as TOEFL. Each professional college must get into some sorts of tie ups with the companies in related subjects. Industry and academic interactions must be developed on priority to keep the courses relevant and employable. The top ten students of all recognised ITIs must be admitted without entrance tests to degree colleges and provided with scholarships.

5. Every college and its all departments must provide teaching or research assistantships to 10 percent of students. Teachers must have five yearly appraisals based on the ratings by the alumni, number and quality of original papers published, effective research work and achievements such as patents, new product developments etc.

6. Let us aim at making India a global education hub with targeted improvements of our institutions in global rankings and other necessary infrastructures.

Your work is certainly not rocket science and you will excel better.

Without waiting for May 16, the country has gone in ‘the expectation mode‘, perhaps rightly so. I have some of my own:

1.Can Modi come out with its imprint on the formation of his new cabinet that must be mean and lean and exemplary for the world?

2.Can the new government encourage and incentivise every working individual, organisation, institution and most importantly the system to be one of the globally best?

3.Can the manufacturing from high-tech to low-tech in the industrial clusters to every rural habitation become the passion of the entrepreneurial class?

4.Can every rural panchayat and even smallest town have an educational institute of the type of Kendriya, Kasturba, Navodaya or Sainik Vidyalaya?

5.Can all the public sector units and universities be challenged to be the globally competitive? Will the companies like BHEL, BMEL, BEL, the railway workshops and factories and defence establishments be export-oriented?

6. Will the export of raw materials such as iron ores, leather, cotton, or grains be discouraged and the exports of more and more value-addition be incentivised?

7. Will the polluting industries will be moved to the clusters with effective effluent treatment facilities provided by the government through a cess? Will Ganga and Yamuna, all water bodies be made pollution free?

8. Will India focus on becoming the friendliest country in the world and the best for doing business?

9. Will Indian universities be brought to the global standard to attract a large number of foreign students in higher education and research?

10. Will the middlemen between the manufacturers/producers and consumers be reduced to minimal or removed?

11. Can something innovative be done to avoid the large number of suicides by the farmers?

12. Can the PDS in all states be improved to the level that the states such as Chhatisgarh and Andhra have achieved?

13. Will the infrastructures in the cities like Varanasi and Ajmer be effectively improved in next five years?

14. Will the artisans of the country be ensured a minimum earning and assistance in marketing of their produces?

15. Will the new government start with a bang all the important pending big projects such as the railway link to Kashmir valley, expressways, corridors-Delhi-Mumbai, Chennai-Bangalore or Delhi-Kolkata and get them completed with globally best efficiency?

Media and quite a large number of intellectuals are harming real secularism of the communities of the country. Why should Imam support of Congress get so much of coverage? Imam might not understand the consequences of his pronouncement and appeal to the minority voters for his vested interest to vote for a party at one time and the other next time. Sonia, Mulayam or Nitish must understand that better. However, I felt pretty happy that Imam didn’t recommend for voting SP, and BSP, and I wish the community doesn’t vote for their Lok Sabha candidates. Both SP and BSP have been cheating the minority with false promises.

Further, why should media keep on reporting that ‘the Muslim vote may consolidates clearly against the BJP, and Muslim voters in constituency after constituency may vote carefully and tactically with the only objective of denying a victory to the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, this could be key to how far the NDA finds itself from its the magic number of 272 MPs on May 16.’ Surely, a large number of Hindus will feel bad after reading this news.

Many types of community-based data appearing in media do also cause heart burn. Should those with BJP affiliation not feel bad to know that only around 5-6 percent of major minority voters cast their votes for their party? Should we discuss everything on TV channels in name of freedom of expression?

What big purpose will be served by the recent revelation of Cobrapost of Anirudh Bahl regarding the Babri Masjid demolition? Will Anirudh get a ‘Padma’ for that or the highest award of investigative journalism? Many Hindus still believe that Babri Masjid was built on the birth place of Rama. It was not Babar but one of his generals built that. The masjids near the most important Hindu pilgrimages at Mathura, Varanasi, and Ayodhya always remind Hindus the era of slavery and foreign rule when they visit the places. Why can’t the saner in them convince the fellow community leaders about the sentimental values of these places for Hindus.

How can a responsible prime minister declare that the first right on the resources of India is that of the minority community? Is not some thing that no sane Indian can take it rightly.

Whether some one likes it or not, BJP is going to remain as a powerful entity and certainly it is less dynastic and more democratic than Congress. How can a country of billion plus get governed only by few members of a family?

Muslims are integral part of India. They must join the mainstream. If the Dalits and tribals can understand the importance of mainstream education in science and technologies, that of the knowledge of English and economics, why can’t the minority accept that and get benefitted. Why not the government try to integrate them in all the educational institutes rather than building separate institutions and examination systems for the minority community that is around 18 percent or so of our billion plus overall population?

Media and quite a large number of intellectuals are harming real secularism of the communities of the country. Why should Imam support of Congress get so much of coverage? Imam might not understand the consequences of his pronouncement and appeal to the minority voters for his vested interest to vote for a party at one time and the other next time. Sonia, Mulayam or Nitish must understand that better. However, I felt pretty happy that Imam didn’t recommend for voting SP, and BSP, and I wish the community doesn’t vote for their Lok Sabha candidates. Both SP and BSP have been cheating the minority with false promises.

Further, why should media keep on reporting that ‘the Muslim vote may consolidates clearly against the BJP, and Muslim voters in constituency after constituency may vote carefully and tactically with the only objective of denying a victory to the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, this could be key to how far the NDA finds itself from its the magic number of 272 MPs on May 16.’ Surely, a large number of Hindus will feel bad after reading this news.

Many types of community-based data appearing in media do also cause heart burn. Should those with BJP affiliation not feel bad to know that only around 5-6 percent of major minority voters cast their votes for their party? Should we discuss everything on TV channels in name of freedom of expression?

What big purpose will be served by the recent revelation of Cobrapost of Anirudh Bahl regarding the Babri Masjid demolition? Will Anirudh get a ‘Padma’ for that or the highest award of investigative journalism? Many Hindus still believe that Babri Masjid was built on the birth place of Rama. It was not Babar but one of his generals built that. The masjids near the most important Hindu pilgrimages at Mathura, Varanasi, and Ayodhya always remind Hindus the era of slavery and foreign rule when they visit the places. Why can’t the saner in them convince the fellow community leaders about the sentimental values of these places for Hindus.

How can a responsible prime minister declare that the first right on the resources of India is that of the minority community? Is not some thing that no sane Indian can take it rightly.

Whether some one likes it or not, BJP is going to remain as a powerful entity and certainly it is less dynastic and more democratic than Congress. How can a country of billion plus get governed only by few members of a family?

Muslims are integral part of India. They must join the mainstream. If the Dalits and tribals can understand the importance of mainstream education in science and technologies, that of the knowledge of English and economics, why can’t the minority accept that and get benefitted. Why not the government try to integrate them in all the educational institutes rather than building separate institutions and examination systems for the minority community that is around 18 percent or so of our billion plus overall population?

I have lived in three constituencies of the country and so have kept a tab on the candidates who fight election there. Now I live in Noida, and Dr. Mahesh Sharma is the candidate of BJP. He has been a doctor entrepreneur with number of super-specialty hospitals. Kailash Hospital in Noida has been pretty popular. I wish if with large number of retired senior citizens of the high end of the society, Dr. Sharma gets some ‘first class old age home complex’ with all the necessary facilities for the aged ones who live away from their children built in Noida.

Interestingly, my home comes in famous Sasaram constituency in Bihar. Sasaram as such is associated with Rohitasva of puranic era, Ashoka the great because of the location of one of his rock inscription nearby, and then as the birth place and final resting mausoleum of Shershah. No other emperor in India did so much in so little time that Allah granted him to rule. And in independent India, Jagjivan Ram, one of the great political leaders and the illustrious son of this great land of the era represented Sasaram in New Delhi. Unfortunately, Sasaram is in no better a condition that Shershah would have seen and experienced in his childhood for no fault of its own. Sasaram could have easily become heritage city or town. The water bodies around Shershah Mausoleum and the one in Takia (part of Sasaram) could have been a big tourist attraction and breathing space for the population of Sasaram. Unfortunately, none did anything. I find the political leaders hardly had any attachment with the place but for visiting it during election time. I have been visiting the mausoleum in Sasaram since my childhood day. Every time I go there, I get more and more morose. And now again a party hopper Chhedi Paswan is the BJP candidate against Meira Kumar, the daughter of Jagjivan Ram. Interestingly as I came to know very lately, Chhedi Paswan was born in Takia itself. I will certainly love to see Meira Kumar winning because her knowledge and performance as speaker of the last Lok Sabha, though she also has hardly done anything what I would have loved to see in Sasaram. I wish who so ever wins, must take care of the heritage of Sasaram.

And the famous Hooghly is having Chandan Mitra, basically a journalist, but hardly impressive as the BJP candidate. As usual, the word ‘development’ or ‘law order situation’ hardly has mattered in deciding the election results of West Bengal. For coming 20-25 years Mamta and her party will rule the state till someone again learns the lesson of winning votes from the history of the leftists or Mamta. Almost all the companies, perhaps in hundreds or thousands along both sides of the River Hooghly and the old Suri’s Grand Trunk Road have got converted into ruins requiring archeologists to know about their glorious past. My own company, once the only car company of India is on death bed with very few to mourn. What can any one or I expect from the win or loss in Election 2014 in West Bengal? But Mamta will be a satisfied queen or princess of the state playing a significant role in the formation of the next government in Delhi.
यथा प्रजा तथा राजा ।