An RTI workshop in North-east
On 21st February at 7.45 AM, Annop Prakash, Project head-RTI conducted an hour long RTI workshop in the Government college Aizawl, Mizoram attended by 26 Participants. He was there on a 10 day invitation from Mizoram Youth Commission to teach Indian Economy to their Civil Service aspirant students.
For about 45 minutes he discussed various dimensions of RTI Act, how the Act evolved from Indian constitution Art.19(1)(a) and how Right to Information is our fundamental right. He also discussed various other rights of a citizen under the Act, responsibility of a Public Information Officer, nature of information accessible and the organizations to whom RTI Act applies and to whom it does not. He told them about the necessary fee and mode of payment and time limits required in getting information and filing appeals. In last 15 minutes participants gave their feedback.
Most interesting part of the workshop was drafting of demo RTI application, every participant wanted that Anoop should take his query first. He did demo drafting of first appeal as well as second appeal. He covered the aspect of how to address a concerned authority while seeking information as well as filing appeal. He also briefed them about the attachments necessary for an application and appeal.
The mode of instruction was marker and board.Milton Friedman Debate 2009, Round-II
Markets eliminate inequality-Prashant Narang
Before I start, I have a question for judges. Is time limit 4+1 equal for all? Giving equal time-limit is not enough. You should also give equal marks to all and yes, equal cash prizes to all.
So, if that’s the idea of equality, I agree with my some of my friends, that markets are unequal. But is that the right definition of equality?
Equality can broadly be classified into two categories- procedural and substantive. Procedural means political and legal, and substantive would include social, religious and economic.
Equality includes Equal protection of laws and universal suffrage. US constitution guarantees equal protection of laws. And so does the constitution of India, article 14. Unfortunately, the socialist instinct of Indian constitution effectively punctures the principle of equality everywhere. We all know about reservations. But there is more to it. A trade union leader gets exemption from criminal charges. Status matters, not the contract. However, free market would mean rule of law and sanctity of contract and not status based justice.
Equality also means Political equality and democracy: Though Singapore and China are still dominated by single party, yet, In Chile, the markets in 1973 led the country from dictatorship to democracy in 1990. So, no wonder, the phase of nationalization in India coincided with emergency and the ruler was same. And now with relatively freer markets, fundamentalists’ parties have lost election as well as appeal. So, I am quite hopeful for China and Sinagpore.
Equality before law also means access to law. Who can forget the Bhopal tragedy? Our Indian government acting like a daddy state did not allow the self-interested ambulance chasers- the US lawyers to take up the victim cases, and passed a law to represent all the victims and yet could not get justice to the victims. In US, you can get million dollars if Mc Donalds fails to write a warning on hot cup of coffee, that it is hot! Try that in India, may be your grandchildren will get something.
Markets also encourages Substantive or social equality. Look at the matrimonial advertisements, or look at how president and Lok sabha speakers are selected and elected. How elections are fought. If I say, I am Prashant, it does not suffice. I am required to mention- I am Prashant narang, Hindu, upper caste, Punjabi refugee, Delhi based, young straight male. Does it matter to Infosys or my neighbor shopkeeper? It does not matter to the matchmaker either!
Finally, let’s talk about economic inequality. There are two possibilities:
All are poor, and thus equal,
second situation is where there are many super rich, many more rich, many middle class and many poor.
It sounds like North Korea and Japan, isn’t it? So, What do we want- absolute poverty or relative inequality?
Second, it’s not if markets make poor poorer. Poor remained poor in India because their sectors remained regulated- like agriculture, cycle rickshaw pulling, auto rickshaw driving. If Indian is liberalized, which it is only partially, then those poor will also be out of the poverty loop as the Fraser institute economic freedom index has shown with data that markets bridge inequality gap with economic freedom.
Top ten companies keep changing every decade in US. It was Microsoft earlier, now its google. After 10-15 years, it may be you and me. An important consideration is whether poor get access to water, health and education. There are numerous examples that target bottom of pyramid, be it private unaided schools of Sangam vihar, or ITC E-choupal, Dr. Shetty’s medical insurance for poor. It is trickle down effect, direct access to bottom of pyramid showing that poor can also participate in market.
Before I start, I have a question for judges. Is time limit 4+1 equal for all? Giving equal time-limit is not enough. You should also give equal marks to all and yes, equal cash prizes to all.
So, if that’s the idea of equality, I agree with my some of my friends, that markets are unequal. But is that the right definition of equality?
Equality can broadly be classified into two categories- procedural and substantive. Procedural means political and legal, and substantive would include social, religious and economic.
Equality includes Equal protection of laws and universal suffrage. US constitution guarantees equal protection of laws. And so does the constitution of India, article 14. Unfortunately, the socialist instinct of Indian constitution effectively punctures the principle of equality everywhere. We all know about reservations. But there is more to it. A trade union leader gets exemption from criminal charges. Status matters, not the contract. However, free market would mean rule of law and sanctity of contract and not status based justice.
Equality also means Political equality and democracy: Though Singapore and China are still dominated by single party, yet, In Chile, the markets in 1973 led the country from dictatorship to democracy in 1990. So, no wonder, the phase of nationalization in India coincided with emergency and the ruler was same. And now with relatively freer markets, fundamentalists’ parties have lost election as well as appeal. So, I am quite hopeful for China and Sinagpore.
Equality before law also means access to law. Who can forget the Bhopal tragedy? Our Indian government acting like a daddy state did not allow the self-interested ambulance chasers- the US lawyers to take up the victim cases, and passed a law to represent all the victims and yet could not get justice to the victims. In US, you can get million dollars if Mc Donalds fails to write a warning on hot cup of coffee, that it is hot! Try that in India, may be your grandchildren will get something.
Markets also encourages Substantive or social equality. Look at the matrimonial advertisements, or look at how president and Lok sabha speakers are selected and elected. How elections are fought. If I say, I am Prashant, it does not suffice. I am required to mention- I am Prashant narang, Hindu, upper caste, Punjabi refugee, Delhi based, young straight male. Does it matter to Infosys or my neighbor shopkeeper? It does not matter to the matchmaker either!
Finally, let’s talk about economic inequality. There are two possibilities:
All are poor, and thus equal,
second situation is where there are many super rich, many more rich, many middle class and many poor.
It sounds like North Korea and Japan, isn’t it? So, What do we want- absolute poverty or relative inequality?
Second, it’s not if markets make poor poorer. Poor remained poor in India because their sectors remained regulated- like agriculture, cycle rickshaw pulling, auto rickshaw driving. If Indian is liberalized, which it is only partially, then those poor will also be out of the poverty loop as the Fraser institute economic freedom index has shown with data that markets bridge inequality gap with economic freedom.
Top ten companies keep changing every decade in US. It was Microsoft earlier, now its google. After 10-15 years, it may be you and me. An important consideration is whether poor get access to water, health and education. There are numerous examples that target bottom of pyramid, be it private unaided schools of Sangam vihar, or ITC E-choupal, Dr. Shetty’s medical insurance for poor. It is trickle down effect, direct access to bottom of pyramid showing that poor can also participate in market.
Milton Friedman Debate 2009, Round-I
-Prashant Narang
There was a man and there was a monkey. The monkey wanted to have a banana and the man too wanted to have a banana. The monkey snatched it from the other monkey which the other monkey had stolen from a private farm. But the man bought bananas. And that’s called trade. Mind you, it’s only human beings who can trade and no other living creature has been gifted with this ability of trade.
As you saw this transaction was entirely consensual and win-win for both parties, it proves that trade and markets are inherently moral. In facts market is the one of the most effective instruments that brings two strangers together.
Let’s come to the allocation of resources. Before 1990 one had to stand in queue and wait for years to get a telephone connection. Thanks to the visible hand of the state! But now you have invisible hand of the market providing you instant connection whenever you want, wherever you want, and that too at cheapest prices। That’s how even a poor farmer can avail a mobile phone in remote village.
Why does he buy a mobile and which model he buys? He buys the model that chooses to buy keeping in mind his needs, desires and likes. No other person can decide for him, and that decision for him would be the best one for it gives him the maximum satisfaction for the money he spends.
But to buy something, you have to sell something, isn’t it? Yes, you can buy mobile by paying money, but where do you get the money from? By selling wheat! That means he has to produce something which is desirable by others, what marketing guys call ‘sellable’. He may sell his wheat to another guy who is a wine-cellar. Thus, sale of one commodity gives rise to sale of all other commodities resulting in distribution of income.
What does the farmer while selling his produce check? Does he check the caste or religion of the buyer or he checks the price being offered? Similarly in a hotel, do people ask before having food if a schedules caste has had food in the same crockery ? Of course no beauty parlor asks if the clientele is an OBC before offering facial or massage. Markets are secular and believe in equality irrespective of article 17 of the constitution. Yet markets celebrate all festivals- be it Christmas, Eid or diwali. What the consumer care for is honesty in the transaction. The incentive for the business to deal honestly is the repeat transaction with the same customer and word of mouth publicity. And that’s quite powerful incentive. Remember the MTNL before 1990 when the babu asked you for holi baksheesh?
मुसलमान औ हिन्दू है दो,
एक मगर उनका प्याला,
एक मगर उनका मदिरालय,
एक मगर उनकी हाला/
दोनों रहते एक ना जब
मंदिर मस्जिद में जाते,
बैर बढ़ाते मंदिर मस्जिद,
मेल कराती मधुशाला //
So when the lines of discrimination blur, peace prevails. Whether you call it theory of golden arches or dell theory of conflict prevention, no one likes to fight where there are heavy economic costs at stake.
That’s where from the ancient principle of vasudhaiv kutmbkam comes. The whole world is a family!
There was a man and there was a monkey. The monkey wanted to have a banana and the man too wanted to have a banana. The monkey snatched it from the other monkey which the other monkey had stolen from a private farm. But the man bought bananas. And that’s called trade. Mind you, it’s only human beings who can trade and no other living creature has been gifted with this ability of trade.
As you saw this transaction was entirely consensual and win-win for both parties, it proves that trade and markets are inherently moral. In facts market is the one of the most effective instruments that brings two strangers together.
Let’s come to the allocation of resources. Before 1990 one had to stand in queue and wait for years to get a telephone connection. Thanks to the visible hand of the state! But now you have invisible hand of the market providing you instant connection whenever you want, wherever you want, and that too at cheapest prices। That’s how even a poor farmer can avail a mobile phone in remote village.
Why does he buy a mobile and which model he buys? He buys the model that chooses to buy keeping in mind his needs, desires and likes. No other person can decide for him, and that decision for him would be the best one for it gives him the maximum satisfaction for the money he spends.
But to buy something, you have to sell something, isn’t it? Yes, you can buy mobile by paying money, but where do you get the money from? By selling wheat! That means he has to produce something which is desirable by others, what marketing guys call ‘sellable’. He may sell his wheat to another guy who is a wine-cellar. Thus, sale of one commodity gives rise to sale of all other commodities resulting in distribution of income.
What does the farmer while selling his produce check? Does he check the caste or religion of the buyer or he checks the price being offered? Similarly in a hotel, do people ask before having food if a schedules caste has had food in the same crockery ? Of course no beauty parlor asks if the clientele is an OBC before offering facial or massage. Markets are secular and believe in equality irrespective of article 17 of the constitution. Yet markets celebrate all festivals- be it Christmas, Eid or diwali. What the consumer care for is honesty in the transaction. The incentive for the business to deal honestly is the repeat transaction with the same customer and word of mouth publicity. And that’s quite powerful incentive. Remember the MTNL before 1990 when the babu asked you for holi baksheesh?
मुसलमान औ हिन्दू है दो,
एक मगर उनका प्याला,
एक मगर उनका मदिरालय,
एक मगर उनकी हाला/
दोनों रहते एक ना जब
मंदिर मस्जिद में जाते,
बैर बढ़ाते मंदिर मस्जिद,
मेल कराती मधुशाला //
So when the lines of discrimination blur, peace prevails. Whether you call it theory of golden arches or dell theory of conflict prevention, no one likes to fight where there are heavy economic costs at stake.
That’s where from the ancient principle of vasudhaiv kutmbkam comes. The whole world is a family!
ECONOMIC FREEDOM: HOW FAR AVAILABLE IN INDIA
Political freedom would have no meaning if there was no economic freedom.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Have we ever thought what the anxieties for a common or average man are? Certainly earning a living wage is the question they answer daily. . If almost all agree with this, political freedom or rights have no meaning for many people. The reason is simple, different facets of economic freedom are the right to work, right to social security schemes , right to equality in employment etc. if provided to all can make a nation economically strong.The Indian Constitution if liberally interpreted provides under Article 21 right of livelihood to all as in its absence right to life holds no place. Being a welfare state, the different organs of the State have an obligation to ensure that every citizen gets means of decent living. The legislative has task of enacting just laws, executive of implementing them and judiciary of ensuring enforcement of fundamental rights by other organs.
Relating S. Krishna Kumar’s statement, it would not be wrong to call India economically rigid or favouring only the rich as most of the policies increase the incidence and acuteness of poverty in the country and others are poverty neutral i.e. the step does not affect the condition of the poor one way or the other.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES: WHETHER CONNECTED TO PLACE
The State may seem to provide business opportunities in cities like Kolkata but the survey of World Bank brought a different picture. The Report titled Doing Business in India 2009 attributed to factors namely from starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, paying taxes to trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business for success in Ludhiana, Hyderabad and Bhubaneshwar. Whereas left out 14 cities lagged behind in the above parameters.
Substantial variation between cities in the cost of opening a business was highlighted in the report. In Patna, Kolkata, and Bhubaneshwar, entrepreneurs spend less than 40% of income per capita to open a business; for those in Mumbai, the cost is almost double. Talking about my own place- Shimla, it is clear that such places are not given importance in surveys by international agencies. Though I agree that business opportunities in small towns are less and running business require fulfillment of many governmental formalities. The tougher competition, opportunities for business gets reduced, as in case of Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.
The states concerned are in favour of imposing more taxes on business establishments where they are more successful (having more taxable income). But the result gets adverse as slowly due to burden of restriction, success rate comes down. It should be our effort that the World Bank Report released recently does not bring such effects for business conducive cities.
Substantial variation between cities in the cost of opening a business was highlighted in the report. In Patna, Kolkata, and Bhubaneshwar, entrepreneurs spend less than 40% of income per capita to open a business; for those in Mumbai, the cost is almost double. Talking about my own place- Shimla, it is clear that such places are not given importance in surveys by international agencies. Though I agree that business opportunities in small towns are less and running business require fulfillment of many governmental formalities. The tougher competition, opportunities for business gets reduced, as in case of Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.
The states concerned are in favour of imposing more taxes on business establishments where they are more successful (having more taxable income). But the result gets adverse as slowly due to burden of restriction, success rate comes down. It should be our effort that the World Bank Report released recently does not bring such effects for business conducive cities.
INDIAN POLICIES NOT SUITING CREDIT DEMANDS: TRUTH LIFTED
We usually hear that our economy has expanded, if so, credit demands of common man for business purposes must be satisfied optimally. The truth, unfortunately is not so. Different indicators have been used by international agencies to make out which country offers best credit facilities or attempts so and which worst. Portugal tops the list in providing public registry coverage,China and Belgium.http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreTopics /GettingCredit/ India provides 10.5 private bureau coverage as compared to 100 , provided by 8 countries like Australia, Nicaragua, New Zealand and Norway. India lacks behind in providing both public and private credit facilitates even as compared to few less developed countries.Though, there is no minimum deposit requirement to obtain a business registration number. India has a score of 4, compared with the regional average of 3.8 and OECD average of 6.3. http://www.southasianmedia.net/profile/india/investment_indicators.cfm The Credit Information Index measures the scope, access and quality of credit information available through public registries or private bureaus. Efforts must be made to change the present situation where Credit Information Index, Public Credit Registry coverage (borrowers per 1000 capita) and Private Bureau coverage (borrowers per 1000 capita) are sadly zero.
LEGAL FORMALITIES FOR UNORGANISED SECTOR
Small entrepreneurs face more difficulties comparatively than large entrepreneurs mainly due to weak financial position and lack of influential relations with persons having authority. At times, they are exploited due to theses reasons by authorities, whom they approach for grant of permits etc. for starting up of business.
The Shops and Establishment Act is a state legislation Act by which each state has framed its own rules to be applicable within the boundaries of respective States. In all the States, registration of shop/establishment is necessary within thirty days of commencement of work. Fifteen days of notice is required to be served before the closing of the establishment .Though the Act provides statutory obligation and rights to employees and employers in the unauthorized sector of employment, i.e., shops and establishments. Still limitation as Working hours per day and week may seem offensive to the owners who can manage their establishments on all days , without violating rights of their workers(eg. by employing workers on shift basis). State governments can exempt, either permanently or for specified period, any establishments from all or any provisions of this Act like government establishments.
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 further imposes conditions for the shops and establishments. No person is allowed to manufacture sell, stock, distribute or exhibit for sale any article of food, including prepared food or ready to serve food, irradiated food except under a licence. Itinerant vendors, who have no specified place of business, shall be licensed to conduct business in a particular area within the jurisdiction of the licensing authority.
The conditions enumerated above under various laws have diverse implications. Those made for prevention of adulteration food products must be appreciated but few, being unnecessary can be withered away.
The Shops and Establishment Act is a state legislation Act by which each state has framed its own rules to be applicable within the boundaries of respective States. In all the States, registration of shop/establishment is necessary within thirty days of commencement of work. Fifteen days of notice is required to be served before the closing of the establishment .Though the Act provides statutory obligation and rights to employees and employers in the unauthorized sector of employment, i.e., shops and establishments. Still limitation as Working hours per day and week may seem offensive to the owners who can manage their establishments on all days , without violating rights of their workers(eg. by employing workers on shift basis). State governments can exempt, either permanently or for specified period, any establishments from all or any provisions of this Act like government establishments.
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 further imposes conditions for the shops and establishments. No person is allowed to manufacture sell, stock, distribute or exhibit for sale any article of food, including prepared food or ready to serve food, irradiated food except under a licence. Itinerant vendors, who have no specified place of business, shall be licensed to conduct business in a particular area within the jurisdiction of the licensing authority.
The conditions enumerated above under various laws have diverse implications. Those made for prevention of adulteration food products must be appreciated but few, being unnecessary can be withered away.
State sponsored Caste System - II
-Prashant Narang
Some disagree with the views expressed in article below on reservation on following grounds: -
Lets deal with myth #1. As I wrote about that in brief in my last article too with a link to C K Prahlad’s theory of ‘Bottom of Pyramid’. One can read the examples cited by him, and they are well-researched ones. Couple of years back, I did a survey as part of a seminar assignment in Govindpuri slums in Delhi on Education spending. Slum dwellers on an average spend as high as one-third of their monthly earnings on the education of their children. The slum has private unaided unrecognized schools that charge monthly of Rs. 60-300 per child. In fact there are tuition centers and coaching institutes that charge Rs. 100 per month. The parents though not well educated prefer these unrecognized schools over Sarkari schools. Few days back I read an interview of a Dalit housemaid in Indian express who sacrificed the second meal everyday to save money for private school education for her child. Even this illiterate woman rejects the sarkari education despite being almost free. As per an NGO survey, 80 % students of class V in Delhi MCD schools cannot read or write their names. I wonder what reservation can do if the quality of state institution is so bad. The conclusion is quality matters and poor can judge quality very well. It is the poor who end up choice less as the state regulates the quality through more and more stringent norms. The consequence is Delhi has lesser schools than it needs and hence the admission chaos. It seems Article 21 A is just going to inflate the state sieve without closing its big holes. Anyways…
The myth #2 has well-known loophole- not all Dalits are poor. The concept of creamy layer has sparked off a debate that reservations must be based on economic criterion. In fact there are weak grounds to hold for considering caste as the main criterion except for quoting 299 wise men that debated constitution draft for three years. Ironically, they intended this policy to continue for only ten years. What I don’t understand is why the qualification/ criterion should be group-based and not on ‘individual’ basis, if at all it is there. It also overlooks the fact conveniently that a significant percentage of general category is equally poor. Interestingly the data government relied on is 1931 census. As per National sample survey organization (NSSO) the percentage of population of OBC is around 29 % and around 23% of university seats are already with OBC. So is it not adequate representation? A study done by the IITs themselves shows that 50 per cent of the IIT seats for the SCs and STs remain vacant, and for the remaining 50 per cent, 25 per cent are the candidates who even after six years fail to get their degrees. So, clearly, in their case, reservations are not working. Mind you, the judicial interpretation has totally excluded the creamy layer concept for SC/ ST. At the risk of Contempt of court, may I mention that the judgment is indeed going to benefit the subsequent generations of impugned CJI? I wonder why it is not violation of principles of natural justice like the Shop sealing case.
Myth #3 speaks of biggest myth of our times- social justice. Social justice is itself a contradiction. It violates natural law, common law and morality by legalizing state theft and discrimination. Can reverse discrimination and that too with the subsequent generations be a tool of Justice? Can the state penalise someone for what his grandfather might have done or his community did centuries ago?
I never look down upon a low caste and I do not know whether my grandfather did. But I am included in the victimized general quota. Isn't that absurd that I am being looked down upon by others because I am not that poor, though not rich either; because I am not lower caste, though not belong to upper castes- brahmin or kshatriya either; because I am not hindi-medium educated, though not a through convent educated either. Once my friend during a seminar asked her counterpart who hailed from rural India about his first perception about her and the reply shocked her. He said, 'I disliked you because you are one of those bad rich people who exploit others.' I think the person needed help with his stereotypes. Neither can such stereotypes be justified nor they can become the basis for policy-making.
The idea behind Fundamental Rights was to put negative obligations on State to ensure Rule of Law. However, while ensuring equal protection of Laws to everyone by state, the constituent assembly also inserted number of exceptions and Article 17 that prohibited untouchability- by putting a restriction on citizens. Does that help? Well, that interferes personal liberty in garb of benevolence and protectionism. However, State is pathetic in terms of protection to Intercaste couples that seek Marriage and unfortunatey end up being the victims of honour killings. People mingle on their own socially and economically in absence of barriers and all they need is Rule of Law. Forget welfare, reservation in a form as practiced in India, is direct and crude form of reverse discrimination as it allows meritorious candidates to suffer in entrance exams, in jobs, in promotions thereby hampering the residuary efficiency of already inefficient administration. Our first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru who wrote to the Chief Ministers on 27th June 1961 expressed similar thoughts. Rajiv Gandhi too opposed reservations in Parliament whose party brought it again, ironically. If it is not injustice, then probably the definition of Justice needs to be rewritten.
Interestingly, one cannot change this intangible perception called "caste". I mean one cannot convert. So, if a woman marries to low-caste man, she indeed invites social stigma though yet not eligible for reservations and other privileges. Similarly, if a low-caste couple adopts a child from other caste (general quota), then contrary to the provisions of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, the child does not get the benefit of affirmative action. What if only of your parent is of low caste? Believe me, the progressive Indian Judiciary is still patriarchal in its mindset. Better to have a low-caste dad than low-caste mother!
The obvious question is how state checks the caste. After all unlike skin color, one cannot get to know the caste without ...I do not know. It is probably only the state certificate that declares your caste. State has monopoly over that, in fact. So, recently Mayavati declared more than twenty communities to be 'state SCs' and won UP elections. Meaning it would give SC certificates to previously OBCs and in turn expand vote bank. Wow!
BTW if one declares to be a low caste person, how he is supposed to be caught. Well, in that case, he needs to prove by calling people of his peer group in the court to support his contention. Is that difficult? Not at all, not in India at atleast. :-)
Some disagree with the views expressed in article below on reservation on following grounds: -
- Lower castes cannot avail private services due to poverty.
- Caste being a homogenous group can be the basis for classification for the purpose of affirmative action.
- Since caste has been the basis of century rather millenniums old discrimination, hence the same should be a ground for redressal.
Lets deal with myth #1. As I wrote about that in brief in my last article too with a link to C K Prahlad’s theory of ‘Bottom of Pyramid’. One can read the examples cited by him, and they are well-researched ones. Couple of years back, I did a survey as part of a seminar assignment in Govindpuri slums in Delhi on Education spending. Slum dwellers on an average spend as high as one-third of their monthly earnings on the education of their children. The slum has private unaided unrecognized schools that charge monthly of Rs. 60-300 per child. In fact there are tuition centers and coaching institutes that charge Rs. 100 per month. The parents though not well educated prefer these unrecognized schools over Sarkari schools. Few days back I read an interview of a Dalit housemaid in Indian express who sacrificed the second meal everyday to save money for private school education for her child. Even this illiterate woman rejects the sarkari education despite being almost free. As per an NGO survey, 80 % students of class V in Delhi MCD schools cannot read or write their names. I wonder what reservation can do if the quality of state institution is so bad. The conclusion is quality matters and poor can judge quality very well. It is the poor who end up choice less as the state regulates the quality through more and more stringent norms. The consequence is Delhi has lesser schools than it needs and hence the admission chaos. It seems Article 21 A is just going to inflate the state sieve without closing its big holes. Anyways…
The myth #2 has well-known loophole- not all Dalits are poor. The concept of creamy layer has sparked off a debate that reservations must be based on economic criterion. In fact there are weak grounds to hold for considering caste as the main criterion except for quoting 299 wise men that debated constitution draft for three years. Ironically, they intended this policy to continue for only ten years. What I don’t understand is why the qualification/ criterion should be group-based and not on ‘individual’ basis, if at all it is there. It also overlooks the fact conveniently that a significant percentage of general category is equally poor. Interestingly the data government relied on is 1931 census. As per National sample survey organization (NSSO) the percentage of population of OBC is around 29 % and around 23% of university seats are already with OBC. So is it not adequate representation? A study done by the IITs themselves shows that 50 per cent of the IIT seats for the SCs and STs remain vacant, and for the remaining 50 per cent, 25 per cent are the candidates who even after six years fail to get their degrees. So, clearly, in their case, reservations are not working. Mind you, the judicial interpretation has totally excluded the creamy layer concept for SC/ ST. At the risk of Contempt of court, may I mention that the judgment is indeed going to benefit the subsequent generations of impugned CJI? I wonder why it is not violation of principles of natural justice like the Shop sealing case.
Myth #3 speaks of biggest myth of our times- social justice. Social justice is itself a contradiction. It violates natural law, common law and morality by legalizing state theft and discrimination. Can reverse discrimination and that too with the subsequent generations be a tool of Justice? Can the state penalise someone for what his grandfather might have done or his community did centuries ago?
I never look down upon a low caste and I do not know whether my grandfather did. But I am included in the victimized general quota. Isn't that absurd that I am being looked down upon by others because I am not that poor, though not rich either; because I am not lower caste, though not belong to upper castes- brahmin or kshatriya either; because I am not hindi-medium educated, though not a through convent educated either. Once my friend during a seminar asked her counterpart who hailed from rural India about his first perception about her and the reply shocked her. He said, 'I disliked you because you are one of those bad rich people who exploit others.' I think the person needed help with his stereotypes. Neither can such stereotypes be justified nor they can become the basis for policy-making.
The idea behind Fundamental Rights was to put negative obligations on State to ensure Rule of Law. However, while ensuring equal protection of Laws to everyone by state, the constituent assembly also inserted number of exceptions and Article 17 that prohibited untouchability- by putting a restriction on citizens. Does that help? Well, that interferes personal liberty in garb of benevolence and protectionism. However, State is pathetic in terms of protection to Intercaste couples that seek Marriage and unfortunatey end up being the victims of honour killings. People mingle on their own socially and economically in absence of barriers and all they need is Rule of Law. Forget welfare, reservation in a form as practiced in India, is direct and crude form of reverse discrimination as it allows meritorious candidates to suffer in entrance exams, in jobs, in promotions thereby hampering the residuary efficiency of already inefficient administration. Our first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru who wrote to the Chief Ministers on 27th June 1961 expressed similar thoughts. Rajiv Gandhi too opposed reservations in Parliament whose party brought it again, ironically. If it is not injustice, then probably the definition of Justice needs to be rewritten.
Interestingly, one cannot change this intangible perception called "caste". I mean one cannot convert. So, if a woman marries to low-caste man, she indeed invites social stigma though yet not eligible for reservations and other privileges. Similarly, if a low-caste couple adopts a child from other caste (general quota), then contrary to the provisions of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, the child does not get the benefit of affirmative action. What if only of your parent is of low caste? Believe me, the progressive Indian Judiciary is still patriarchal in its mindset. Better to have a low-caste dad than low-caste mother!
The obvious question is how state checks the caste. After all unlike skin color, one cannot get to know the caste without ...I do not know. It is probably only the state certificate that declares your caste. State has monopoly over that, in fact. So, recently Mayavati declared more than twenty communities to be 'state SCs' and won UP elections. Meaning it would give SC certificates to previously OBCs and in turn expand vote bank. Wow!
BTW if one declares to be a low caste person, how he is supposed to be caught. Well, in that case, he needs to prove by calling people of his peer group in the court to support his contention. Is that difficult? Not at all, not in India at atleast. :-)
State sponsored caste system - I
-Prashant Narang
Have you ever been asked your caste in a beauty parlor in Delhi- during facial or body massage? Or by a Darban of a Hotel who graciously opens the door for you? Or in any of the restaurants where they serve in same crockery irrespective of their castes?
Not me at least. And mind you, its not because of Article 17 of Indian constitution.
Why caste system is not visible in urban India especially in private spaces? True, in government institutions, it’s on your face. Before admissions, you must fill that in the form.
In any of the private school in Delhi, students do not know about their castes. They would never come to know about it if they were never to seek admission in state run universities. Caste more or less would have reduced to academic issue, had state not patronized this pandora’s box for dubious reasons- vote bank politics being one of them.
Students who get admissions in higher courses secure marks much lower than the qualifying limit for a non-reserved category. For example a girl in faculty of arts who took admission in Masters in French had secured only nine percent. She was advised to take basic course classes in addition to obviously to make for her basic deficiency. She didn’t. There are many such examples where such students end up failing in the first semester itself. In other cases, it’s the other lot that feels frustrated due to legal discrimination, especially in cases of promotion where your junior becomes your senior before you, not because of its abilities but because of something which is on papers and not even tangible like color or sex. Such a strange basis of classification that is called as ‘intelligible differentia’ in Indian constitutional law.
The best way to deal with casteism would be development through entrepreneurship. Money is secular; it does not ask the caste of buyer. State can distribute government jobs for lower castes through reverse discrimination but such a legally plundered approach would create a further rift in the society. However, entrepreneurship is powerful tool to create wealth, confidence and also to integrate the society. The day Dalit will employ Brahmins for jobs; such a distinction would automatically disappear. The beauty of that phenomenon would lie in spontaneous order and free consent and not on any kind of discrimination and restrictions.
The other argument that I often come across is lower castes are also poor and hence they cannot possibly avail the secular power of money.
Well, the economists have proved that poor can be engaged in trade and can benefit from it.
Mind you, it’s the state that exploits these people in the name of public interest. Indian constitution gives sweeping grounds to regulate freedom of livelihood. That includes state’s power to create monopoly, acquire any business and impose innumerable licenses, quotas and permits. In 1990, government indeed liberalized the industries but not the poor (informal sector- 92% economy) of this country. Be it farmers, street vendors, cycle rickshaw drivers or auto-rickshaw drivers they are still not free to pursue what they want. And this system of License, permit and quotas comes with thousand crores of bribes and corruption.
Yet, we continue to support this tyranny in the name of public interest.
Have you ever been asked your caste in a beauty parlor in Delhi- during facial or body massage? Or by a Darban of a Hotel who graciously opens the door for you? Or in any of the restaurants where they serve in same crockery irrespective of their castes?
Not me at least. And mind you, its not because of Article 17 of Indian constitution.
Why caste system is not visible in urban India especially in private spaces? True, in government institutions, it’s on your face. Before admissions, you must fill that in the form.
In any of the private school in Delhi, students do not know about their castes. They would never come to know about it if they were never to seek admission in state run universities. Caste more or less would have reduced to academic issue, had state not patronized this pandora’s box for dubious reasons- vote bank politics being one of them.
Students who get admissions in higher courses secure marks much lower than the qualifying limit for a non-reserved category. For example a girl in faculty of arts who took admission in Masters in French had secured only nine percent. She was advised to take basic course classes in addition to obviously to make for her basic deficiency. She didn’t. There are many such examples where such students end up failing in the first semester itself. In other cases, it’s the other lot that feels frustrated due to legal discrimination, especially in cases of promotion where your junior becomes your senior before you, not because of its abilities but because of something which is on papers and not even tangible like color or sex. Such a strange basis of classification that is called as ‘intelligible differentia’ in Indian constitutional law.
The best way to deal with casteism would be development through entrepreneurship. Money is secular; it does not ask the caste of buyer. State can distribute government jobs for lower castes through reverse discrimination but such a legally plundered approach would create a further rift in the society. However, entrepreneurship is powerful tool to create wealth, confidence and also to integrate the society. The day Dalit will employ Brahmins for jobs; such a distinction would automatically disappear. The beauty of that phenomenon would lie in spontaneous order and free consent and not on any kind of discrimination and restrictions.
The other argument that I often come across is lower castes are also poor and hence they cannot possibly avail the secular power of money.
Well, the economists have proved that poor can be engaged in trade and can benefit from it.
Mind you, it’s the state that exploits these people in the name of public interest. Indian constitution gives sweeping grounds to regulate freedom of livelihood. That includes state’s power to create monopoly, acquire any business and impose innumerable licenses, quotas and permits. In 1990, government indeed liberalized the industries but not the poor (informal sector- 92% economy) of this country. Be it farmers, street vendors, cycle rickshaw drivers or auto-rickshaw drivers they are still not free to pursue what they want. And this system of License, permit and quotas comes with thousand crores of bribes and corruption.
Yet, we continue to support this tyranny in the name of public interest.
सूचना की धार, मिटायें भ्रष्टाचार - ३
जय हो!
इधर आर टी आई पहुँची, उधर मेरा वोटर आई- कार्ड । अब इंतज़ार है, व्यापार लाइसेंस का!
इधर आर टी आई पहुँची, उधर मेरा वोटर आई- कार्ड । अब इंतज़ार है, व्यापार लाइसेंस का!
सूचना की धार, मिटाए भ्रष्टाचार - २
- प्रशांत नारंग
अगर आपके वोटर- आईडी में कोई त्रुटि भी रह गई हो, तो भी उसे सही करवाने की ज़हमत ना उठाए। यह भूल आपको भारी पड़ सकती है।
मैंने २००६ में अपना घर बदला, हालांकि फर्क सिर्फ़ इतना पड़ा कि अपने साथ वाले घर में शिफ्ट हुआ। १७ नंबर से १६ में। २००७ में मैंने वोटर पहचान पत्र में सुधार के लिए आवेदन किया। २००८ के चुनाव में मैं वोट नही डाल सका। ऐसा नहीं , की मेरा नाम वोटर लिस्ट में नहीं था। था, मगर उसे काट रखा था। मैंने चुनाव अधिकारियों के आगे अपने जिन्दा भारतीय नागरिक होने के कई सबूत रखने चाहे, मगर उन्होंने एक नही सुनी।
इस के बाद, मैंने फिर से आवेदन किया, इस बार नए पहचान पत्र के लिए। सौभाग्यवश, दो स्वघोषित ईमानदार अधिकारी जांच के लिए हमारे यहाँ पधारे, ये जतलाने के लिए की वे कितने जरूरी काम छोड़ कर इस तुच्छ काम के लिए आए। समझदार को इशारा काफ़ी होता है, हमें ख़ुद समझदार होना चाहिए, जो हम नहीं होना चाहते थे।
खैर, यह कोशिश भी नाकाम साबित हुई। लगता है की ४९-० का विकल्प वोटरों पर लागू होता है, यह वोटर अब वोट नहीं दे सकता। अनियंत्रित, स्वेच्छाचारी, अन्यायपूर्ण और सर्वथा अनुचित ! संविधान के अनुच्छेद २१ का या इस विशालतम लोकतंत्र में हमारे वोट देने के अधिकार का सरकारी मशीनरी द्वारा जो 'पप्पू' बनाया जा रहा है, उसका क्या हल है? ध्यान देने की बात है की यह राष्ट्रीय राजधानी का हाल है। सोचिये बाकी शेहरो और गावों का क्या हाल होगा।
आखरी हथियार , सूचना का अधिकार ! एक और अर्जी , देखते है, क्या होता है।
To
The PIO,
Deputy Secretary Delhi State Election Commission,
Nigam Bhawan,
Kashmere Gate,
Delhi-110 006
Sub: Application under Right to Information Act-2005
Dear Sir,
Please provide the following information under Right to Information Act 2005 on a certified copy:
1. Mr./Mrs. _____________ made an application for change of address in the voter id card (Photocopies of original voter id card and acknowledgement attached along with address proof of the new address) as he/ she shifted house from D-1/17 to D-1/16 in the same colony i.e. Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016. Please tell me the status of this application along with the daily progress made on this application so far. i.e. when did this application reach which officer, for how long did it stay with that officer and what did he/she do regarding it during that period?
2. If the application was rejected, kindly state the reasons for rejection.
3. Also mention the name of the officer(s) who rejected the application.
4. What action would be taken against these officials for not doing their work and for causing harassment to the public? By when would that action be taken?
5. By when would this voter-id card be issued to the applicant now?
6. Right to vote is a fundamental right of every citizen. Please tell me the remedy(s) in case this right is infringed by negligence of a state authority.
Please make sure that the information provided by you is accurate.
Yours sincerely,
Name: Address:
Encl.
1. Photocopy of original voter identity card
2. Photocopy of the acknowledgement of application submitted
3. Photocopy of new address proof
4. Postal order no. _______________ dated ___________________
अगर आपके वोटर- आईडी में कोई त्रुटि भी रह गई हो, तो भी उसे सही करवाने की ज़हमत ना उठाए। यह भूल आपको भारी पड़ सकती है।
मैंने २००६ में अपना घर बदला, हालांकि फर्क सिर्फ़ इतना पड़ा कि अपने साथ वाले घर में शिफ्ट हुआ। १७ नंबर से १६ में। २००७ में मैंने वोटर पहचान पत्र में सुधार के लिए आवेदन किया। २००८ के चुनाव में मैं वोट नही डाल सका। ऐसा नहीं , की मेरा नाम वोटर लिस्ट में नहीं था। था, मगर उसे काट रखा था। मैंने चुनाव अधिकारियों के आगे अपने जिन्दा भारतीय नागरिक होने के कई सबूत रखने चाहे, मगर उन्होंने एक नही सुनी।
इस के बाद, मैंने फिर से आवेदन किया, इस बार नए पहचान पत्र के लिए। सौभाग्यवश, दो स्वघोषित ईमानदार अधिकारी जांच के लिए हमारे यहाँ पधारे, ये जतलाने के लिए की वे कितने जरूरी काम छोड़ कर इस तुच्छ काम के लिए आए। समझदार को इशारा काफ़ी होता है, हमें ख़ुद समझदार होना चाहिए, जो हम नहीं होना चाहते थे।
खैर, यह कोशिश भी नाकाम साबित हुई। लगता है की ४९-० का विकल्प वोटरों पर लागू होता है, यह वोटर अब वोट नहीं दे सकता। अनियंत्रित, स्वेच्छाचारी, अन्यायपूर्ण और सर्वथा अनुचित ! संविधान के अनुच्छेद २१ का या इस विशालतम लोकतंत्र में हमारे वोट देने के अधिकार का सरकारी मशीनरी द्वारा जो 'पप्पू' बनाया जा रहा है, उसका क्या हल है? ध्यान देने की बात है की यह राष्ट्रीय राजधानी का हाल है। सोचिये बाकी शेहरो और गावों का क्या हाल होगा।
आखरी हथियार , सूचना का अधिकार ! एक और अर्जी , देखते है, क्या होता है।
To
The PIO,
Deputy Secretary Delhi State Election Commission,
Nigam Bhawan,
Kashmere Gate,
Delhi-110 006
Sub: Application under Right to Information Act-2005
Dear Sir,
Please provide the following information under Right to Information Act 2005 on a certified copy:
1. Mr./Mrs. _____________ made an application for change of address in the voter id card (Photocopies of original voter id card and acknowledgement attached along with address proof of the new address) as he/ she shifted house from D-1/17 to D-1/16 in the same colony i.e. Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016. Please tell me the status of this application along with the daily progress made on this application so far. i.e. when did this application reach which officer, for how long did it stay with that officer and what did he/she do regarding it during that period?
2. If the application was rejected, kindly state the reasons for rejection.
3. Also mention the name of the officer(s) who rejected the application.
4. What action would be taken against these officials for not doing their work and for causing harassment to the public? By when would that action be taken?
5. By when would this voter-id card be issued to the applicant now?
6. Right to vote is a fundamental right of every citizen. Please tell me the remedy(s) in case this right is infringed by negligence of a state authority.
Please make sure that the information provided by you is accurate.
Yours sincerely,
Name: Address:
Encl.
1. Photocopy of original voter identity card
2. Photocopy of the acknowledgement of application submitted
3. Photocopy of new address proof
4. Postal order no. _______________ dated ___________________
सूचना की धार, मिटाए भ्रष्टाचार -१
-प्रशांत नारंग
आखिरकार, थक हार कर २ मार्च २००९ को मैंने व्यापार लाईसेन्स के लिए सूचना के अधिकार का प्रयोग किया। यह प्रयोग कितना सफल होगा, यह तो आने वाला वक्त ही बतायेगा। आशा है अपील से पहले जवाब नही मिलेगा। :-)
प्रस्तुत है सूचना के अधिकार के तहत आवेदित पत्र की एक प्रति:
To
The PIO,
Municipal Corporation of Delhi- South Zone,
Green Park,
New Delhi-110016
Sub: Application under Right to Information Act-2005
Dear Sir,
Please provide the following information under Right to Information Act 2005:
1) I made an application for issue of a Trade License (Applicant’s ref. No.- 244516, Receipt no.- 4252419). Please tell me the daily progress made on my application so far. i.e. when did my application reach which officer, for how long did it stay with that officer and what did he/she do during that period?
2) As per the MCD’s website, it takes only twenty days to issue the trade license. Please give the names and designations of the officials who were supposed to take action on my application and who have not done so?
3) By when would this trade license be issued to the applicant now?
Please make sure that the information provided by you is accurate.
Yours sincerely,
Name: Address:
Encl.
1. Photocopy of the receipt
आखिरकार, थक हार कर २ मार्च २००९ को मैंने व्यापार लाईसेन्स के लिए सूचना के अधिकार का प्रयोग किया। यह प्रयोग कितना सफल होगा, यह तो आने वाला वक्त ही बतायेगा। आशा है अपील से पहले जवाब नही मिलेगा। :-)
प्रस्तुत है सूचना के अधिकार के तहत आवेदित पत्र की एक प्रति:
To
The PIO,
Municipal Corporation of Delhi- South Zone,
Green Park,
New Delhi-110016
Sub: Application under Right to Information Act-2005
Dear Sir,
Please provide the following information under Right to Information Act 2005:
1) I made an application for issue of a Trade License (Applicant’s ref. No.- 244516, Receipt no.- 4252419). Please tell me the daily progress made on my application so far. i.e. when did my application reach which officer, for how long did it stay with that officer and what did he/she do during that period?
2) As per the MCD’s website, it takes only twenty days to issue the trade license. Please give the names and designations of the officials who were supposed to take action on my application and who have not done so?
3) By when would this trade license be issued to the applicant now?
Please make sure that the information provided by you is accurate.
Yours sincerely,
Name: Address:
Encl.
1. Photocopy of the receipt
Battling the Sarkari Smile
-Prashant Narang
‘Vegetarian only and no liquor allowed’. For more than a year I had been planning an Indian restaurant. We had one of the best food consultants and the best interior designers with us. Now only a week to go, Interiors were in finishing stage and I was contemplating furniture and equipments.
‘Neta ji’ – no, not a politician, he was our bijli-wala who forgot to earth the wiring. After constant reminders a hole was dug up in the rear street. Lo and behold! Two cops arrived within half an hour- One from the head(without brains)-quarters and other one from the local police station. They informed us that we were about to commit a legal offence as bore wells were not allowed in the area. ‘Bore well?’ I was confused. A well-wisher had complained on number hundred.
Who in the colony had not done the ‘earth-ing’ in the public street? For that matter most of the houses even had bore wells.
The cop from headquarter was quite friendly. His friendship comes with a price tag. But the other one, I guess more expensive one, summoned us to local beet. Since the bore well theory didn’t prove to be of much use, he reprimanded us of illegal construction. According to him one cannot even lay tiles in his shop without sarkari permission. I decided not to pay a single penny this time. I argued and he shouted. Threatening to file right to information application (RTI) and do a dharna in front of police station with hundred people, I set the fur flying. Thinking that the irate cop could do anything to let off steam or make a scene, my mother pacified the bhaisahib in khaki with some emotional words. Anyways he gibed at the idea of opening up a restaurant, “Don’t tell me, you all are going to manage the restaurant. Rather rent the space out. Better for you…!” I could get the reason behind his evil smile- number of licenses and endless bribes. Even the pani-wala from Delhi Jal Board had been suggesting the same to dad.
On 2nd October 2006 we did inaugurate our shop- a Handloom fabric and handicraft store-A tribute to Gandhi in the Socialist India. Of course we could not get rid of the licensing completely. To apply for trade license my father visited the municipality (MCD) office. The Afsar referred a dalal that knew the required documents and formatting exactly. Fee? Rs. 2000/- only. A paradoxical feeling- irritated, yet relaxed. At least assured that the procedure would be hassle free and finally we would get it and that’s what mattered, right?
Having applied with all the relevant documents we sat relaxed for almost a month till we received a letter by speed post from MCD. It demanded few more documents within 8 days. Death certificate of my grand father who never even saw Delhi, he died in 1947 partition-riots in Pakistan, few days before my father was born. How his death proof is linked to this business, only MCD officials can explain in the whole world. And NOC from his four elder brothers from whom he got his share in joint Hindu undivided family (HUF) property through registered family deed, duly signed and attested legally. Despite showing the attested copy of the family deed why no objection certificate NOC was required, I wondered. A photograph of the shop’s front and signboard had been attached with the original application, now the letter asked for proof of shop’s existence- a current bank account.
Next day dad went to UCO and HDFC bank; both replied the same- trade license was required to open up the account. Frustrated, we called up the dalal who then fixed up an appointment with the officer again with an assurance.
‘So, you guys had family partition?’ the officer asked. This was the preface for his next apprehension- why walls were put up in the original shop to divide it into three for three brothers. ‘I’ve sent the case to naksha department. Only if they approve it, to be frank that seems unlikely and otherwise too, you see eight days are over. So your application is expired.’
The same sarkari smile on his face!
[Latest Update: We applied twice through the same Dalal; paid him 4K. And yet that was not enough. I had to look for some Jann-Pehchaan in the MCD office, eventually got that too. Though the License seems to be lying ready the Babu’s table, he is never available or at least whenever My dad goes. So, yet to get the license L]
‘Vegetarian only and no liquor allowed’. For more than a year I had been planning an Indian restaurant. We had one of the best food consultants and the best interior designers with us. Now only a week to go, Interiors were in finishing stage and I was contemplating furniture and equipments.
‘Neta ji’ – no, not a politician, he was our bijli-wala who forgot to earth the wiring. After constant reminders a hole was dug up in the rear street. Lo and behold! Two cops arrived within half an hour- One from the head(without brains)-quarters and other one from the local police station. They informed us that we were about to commit a legal offence as bore wells were not allowed in the area. ‘Bore well?’ I was confused. A well-wisher had complained on number hundred.
Who in the colony had not done the ‘earth-ing’ in the public street? For that matter most of the houses even had bore wells.
The cop from headquarter was quite friendly. His friendship comes with a price tag. But the other one, I guess more expensive one, summoned us to local beet. Since the bore well theory didn’t prove to be of much use, he reprimanded us of illegal construction. According to him one cannot even lay tiles in his shop without sarkari permission. I decided not to pay a single penny this time. I argued and he shouted. Threatening to file right to information application (RTI) and do a dharna in front of police station with hundred people, I set the fur flying. Thinking that the irate cop could do anything to let off steam or make a scene, my mother pacified the bhaisahib in khaki with some emotional words. Anyways he gibed at the idea of opening up a restaurant, “Don’t tell me, you all are going to manage the restaurant. Rather rent the space out. Better for you…!” I could get the reason behind his evil smile- number of licenses and endless bribes. Even the pani-wala from Delhi Jal Board had been suggesting the same to dad.
On 2nd October 2006 we did inaugurate our shop- a Handloom fabric and handicraft store-A tribute to Gandhi in the Socialist India. Of course we could not get rid of the licensing completely. To apply for trade license my father visited the municipality (MCD) office. The Afsar referred a dalal that knew the required documents and formatting exactly. Fee? Rs. 2000/- only. A paradoxical feeling- irritated, yet relaxed. At least assured that the procedure would be hassle free and finally we would get it and that’s what mattered, right?
Having applied with all the relevant documents we sat relaxed for almost a month till we received a letter by speed post from MCD. It demanded few more documents within 8 days. Death certificate of my grand father who never even saw Delhi, he died in 1947 partition-riots in Pakistan, few days before my father was born. How his death proof is linked to this business, only MCD officials can explain in the whole world. And NOC from his four elder brothers from whom he got his share in joint Hindu undivided family (HUF) property through registered family deed, duly signed and attested legally. Despite showing the attested copy of the family deed why no objection certificate NOC was required, I wondered. A photograph of the shop’s front and signboard had been attached with the original application, now the letter asked for proof of shop’s existence- a current bank account.
Next day dad went to UCO and HDFC bank; both replied the same- trade license was required to open up the account. Frustrated, we called up the dalal who then fixed up an appointment with the officer again with an assurance.
‘So, you guys had family partition?’ the officer asked. This was the preface for his next apprehension- why walls were put up in the original shop to divide it into three for three brothers. ‘I’ve sent the case to naksha department. Only if they approve it, to be frank that seems unlikely and otherwise too, you see eight days are over. So your application is expired.’
The same sarkari smile on his face!
[Latest Update: We applied twice through the same Dalal; paid him 4K. And yet that was not enough. I had to look for some Jann-Pehchaan in the MCD office, eventually got that too. Though the License seems to be lying ready the Babu’s table, he is never available or at least whenever My dad goes. So, yet to get the license L]
RELIGION
- By Prashant Narang(1947)
A waif squalling sheds some torn tears
In front of the just stopped Lahore-express
With 'Allah-ho-akbar' engraved on bogeys
Haunted with dead mass of Hindu blood-sludge
He being appalled and checked under his nappy
By sanguinary Sikh-Hindu young men vengefully
Muslim? No apparently, not labeled Hindu either
What's his blood religion? That matters
(1984)
He's back again shedding some tears
After peaceful existence of thirty-seven years
At the same railway platform in Amritsar
Now it's the grim Delhi-mail exploding
Hindu bodies shattered and flaring
They know his supposed religion, evident
From naked hair and trimmed moustache
Clueless, confused and frantic, where to go
Golden temple? He's been going there everyday
But today there he'll be blindly slaughtered
He thinks about the Hindu gods and temples
Ten incarnations of Vishnu, vaguely remembers
Tries to spell 'Om', ends up saying 'Ek omkar'
Surrenders, recites 'sabads' from Sri Granth sahib
Hindu? No apparently, not labeled a Sikh either
What's his blood religion? That matters
DEMOCRACY: STRUGGLE AGAINST POVERTY
- Prashant Narang (excerpts from lecture delivered by Smt. Aruna Roy in Delhi)
By pointing at the difference between the village choupal audience and the present audience in the auditorium, she started the lecture in a language that she does not speak in the village and ‘…even the idioms to be used were going to be different’. She highlighted the fact that other than 8.5% Indians, rest of the Bharat is forgotten, people are jobless and are loosing their land. The ‘Trickle down’ theory is akin to the pipe leakage, hence notion of sharing is important. Those village poor are the people who shape democracy and she feels proud to be one of them. She recollected when she went to Rajasthan for the first time after leaving her job; she was full of arrogance and superiority. But this complex was shattered when the village women asked her bluntly ‘who asked you to come here? We don’t have time for you.’ ‘You have no business to be with us.’ ‘Go back’. She went back and wondered. What if a white lady from US comes to India and knocks at her door and tries to teach her …
She immediately understood the feeling of equality in them. We might perceive them to be uneducated but their ‘Mangamar’- a folk tradition of telling stories in form of songs brings wisdom to us.
In 1974 she met a Dalit (outcaste) woman ‘Mangi’ who constantly on migration as a construction worker, had six miscarriages. She desperately wanted a child. It was very important for her. They both had innumerable questions for each other. There Smt. Roy observed the infallible logic in her arguments. Once few professors from Jaipur went to Mangi to tell her the problems with child marriage. She asked them all how many of them did not accept dowry. None of them! How could they teach them if they themselves accepted dowry? And we know dowry encourages child marriages.
She of course had a sense of equality- learn from me and then I’d learn from you. A feminist with ‘toilet obsession’ offered the ladies there to get the toilets built but the ladies tried passing the buck to one another. Ultimately no one was ready to get a toilet in her own house. Strange? When Smt. Roy asked them the reason they agreed to share their mann ki baat with her. ‘Who will fetch the water for the toilet?’ Already the drinking water needs to be fetched from miles far away. This was the twenty-five years back. Now they might want to have a toilet. Hence, there is strong relationship between poverty, theory and policy- you plan toilets, they want drinking water. It is the same case with Indira Awaas Yojna. So, first what they need is ‘Right to speak’ and ‘Right to be heard’. First fight against poverty and then talk of other things with them. You ask them to use solar cookers without even thinking of the fact whether they have food to cook or not. Now things have changed. They want to speak and they want to be heard. On women’s day, seven thousand women were in queues to speak out on wages, water, panchayat…
‘Do you think they are illiterate?’ asks Smt Roy with a proud smile.
She has learnt a lot from them- especially learnt to fight against poverty and this poverty is violence. Very often, dalit and very poor women are the victims of rape. It is not sexual lust but the sheer display of power with violence, a way to suppress brutally. As we know the famous case of Bhanwari Devi- also for its bad judgment-Who was raped because she protested against child marriages. Having denied justice, there were protests against the partial judgment by all sorts of women. They came together and demanded justice despite all odds. If violence is rape, it is hunger too. Hundred thousands sleep empty belly, but they are not beggars. Even during drought, they offered Smt Roy roti and onion when she went to see them in their huts. ‘And look at us! The mere existence of poor in city is violation of sense of pride for urbanites.’ Poor are pushed out; we shut out car windows at traffic lights, as we do not want to see them. So, where is the sense of sharing? That sense of sharing is the ‘true’ democracy. The question of unemployment is linked to question of poverty. When Hanumant Rao (from planning commission) asked them what they wanted. None asked for money. They asked for work.
Right to work- national rural employment guarantee scheme is the most wonderful legislation in the whole world. No other country has ever guaranteed work for its citizens. When another dalit woman ‘Nauvti’ demanded minimum wages, government came down heavily on her. A war was fought through Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Supreme Court and she won. Justice Bhagwati gave that judgment.
‘kyaa chaahiye? Mazdoori chaahiye!’
Their biggest contribution to this democracy has been ‘Right to information’. They wanted the panchayat’s records to be open. The records revealed the wages being paid to them per day were only ninety-five paise per day! There were hunger strikes and the battle began. And now anybody including the people sitting here can examine any records in any government office. When susheela – another illiterate woman who led the movement for RTI, came to Delhi, she was asked what she would do with soochna ka adhikar, she said, ‘agar hum bachhe ko das rupaye bhi dete hai, to uska bhi hisaab lete hain, yaha sarkar hamare naam par karodo kharch kar deti hai, uska hisaab nahi lenge kya?’ (If we give even ten rupees to the child, we ask for the balance, here the government spends millions in our names, should we ask for accounts?).
We know the process of amendment is on. We will fight tooth and nail and won’t let it amend. Golkuma sat down with me on strike for fifty-three days. And she had so many stories to share with us during the strike. Even the police surrounding us there requested her to share more stories. Rukmabai, a seventy-year-old dalit woman sat on hunger strike. ‘Whatever I am, I am because of those marvelous gurus’, exclaims Smt Roy. Finally she quotes… no, not Gandhi, Mao or Lenin, but she quotes a ‘feminist man’ Lalsingh. When he was asked to speak and conclude within three minutes, he just spoke these words within a minute.
“hum sochte hai ki agar soochna ka adhikar nahi mila, to hum rahenge ya nahi, agar mila gaya to aapki kursi rahegi ya nahi, magar agar mila gaya to ye desh rahega ya nahin”
(We think it’s immaterial whether we will survive or not, in case if the act does not get passed. Equally immaterial is whether you will be able to save your chairs or not, in case if it gets passed. But what matters whether the country will survive or not, in case this act gets passed.)
(Smt Aruna roy is Megasaysay Award winner for her contribution towards enactment of right to information in India. She delivered this lecture on 14th November 2007 at India Habitat Center, Delhi.)
By pointing at the difference between the village choupal audience and the present audience in the auditorium, she started the lecture in a language that she does not speak in the village and ‘…even the idioms to be used were going to be different’. She highlighted the fact that other than 8.5% Indians, rest of the Bharat is forgotten, people are jobless and are loosing their land. The ‘Trickle down’ theory is akin to the pipe leakage, hence notion of sharing is important. Those village poor are the people who shape democracy and she feels proud to be one of them. She recollected when she went to Rajasthan for the first time after leaving her job; she was full of arrogance and superiority. But this complex was shattered when the village women asked her bluntly ‘who asked you to come here? We don’t have time for you.’ ‘You have no business to be with us.’ ‘Go back’. She went back and wondered. What if a white lady from US comes to India and knocks at her door and tries to teach her …
She immediately understood the feeling of equality in them. We might perceive them to be uneducated but their ‘Mangamar’- a folk tradition of telling stories in form of songs brings wisdom to us.
In 1974 she met a Dalit (outcaste) woman ‘Mangi’ who constantly on migration as a construction worker, had six miscarriages. She desperately wanted a child. It was very important for her. They both had innumerable questions for each other. There Smt. Roy observed the infallible logic in her arguments. Once few professors from Jaipur went to Mangi to tell her the problems with child marriage. She asked them all how many of them did not accept dowry. None of them! How could they teach them if they themselves accepted dowry? And we know dowry encourages child marriages.
She of course had a sense of equality- learn from me and then I’d learn from you. A feminist with ‘toilet obsession’ offered the ladies there to get the toilets built but the ladies tried passing the buck to one another. Ultimately no one was ready to get a toilet in her own house. Strange? When Smt. Roy asked them the reason they agreed to share their mann ki baat with her. ‘Who will fetch the water for the toilet?’ Already the drinking water needs to be fetched from miles far away. This was the twenty-five years back. Now they might want to have a toilet. Hence, there is strong relationship between poverty, theory and policy- you plan toilets, they want drinking water. It is the same case with Indira Awaas Yojna. So, first what they need is ‘Right to speak’ and ‘Right to be heard’. First fight against poverty and then talk of other things with them. You ask them to use solar cookers without even thinking of the fact whether they have food to cook or not. Now things have changed. They want to speak and they want to be heard. On women’s day, seven thousand women were in queues to speak out on wages, water, panchayat…
‘Do you think they are illiterate?’ asks Smt Roy with a proud smile.
She has learnt a lot from them- especially learnt to fight against poverty and this poverty is violence. Very often, dalit and very poor women are the victims of rape. It is not sexual lust but the sheer display of power with violence, a way to suppress brutally. As we know the famous case of Bhanwari Devi- also for its bad judgment-Who was raped because she protested against child marriages. Having denied justice, there were protests against the partial judgment by all sorts of women. They came together and demanded justice despite all odds. If violence is rape, it is hunger too. Hundred thousands sleep empty belly, but they are not beggars. Even during drought, they offered Smt Roy roti and onion when she went to see them in their huts. ‘And look at us! The mere existence of poor in city is violation of sense of pride for urbanites.’ Poor are pushed out; we shut out car windows at traffic lights, as we do not want to see them. So, where is the sense of sharing? That sense of sharing is the ‘true’ democracy. The question of unemployment is linked to question of poverty. When Hanumant Rao (from planning commission) asked them what they wanted. None asked for money. They asked for work.
Right to work- national rural employment guarantee scheme is the most wonderful legislation in the whole world. No other country has ever guaranteed work for its citizens. When another dalit woman ‘Nauvti’ demanded minimum wages, government came down heavily on her. A war was fought through Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Supreme Court and she won. Justice Bhagwati gave that judgment.
‘kyaa chaahiye? Mazdoori chaahiye!’
Their biggest contribution to this democracy has been ‘Right to information’. They wanted the panchayat’s records to be open. The records revealed the wages being paid to them per day were only ninety-five paise per day! There were hunger strikes and the battle began. And now anybody including the people sitting here can examine any records in any government office. When susheela – another illiterate woman who led the movement for RTI, came to Delhi, she was asked what she would do with soochna ka adhikar, she said, ‘agar hum bachhe ko das rupaye bhi dete hai, to uska bhi hisaab lete hain, yaha sarkar hamare naam par karodo kharch kar deti hai, uska hisaab nahi lenge kya?’ (If we give even ten rupees to the child, we ask for the balance, here the government spends millions in our names, should we ask for accounts?).
We know the process of amendment is on. We will fight tooth and nail and won’t let it amend. Golkuma sat down with me on strike for fifty-three days. And she had so many stories to share with us during the strike. Even the police surrounding us there requested her to share more stories. Rukmabai, a seventy-year-old dalit woman sat on hunger strike. ‘Whatever I am, I am because of those marvelous gurus’, exclaims Smt Roy. Finally she quotes… no, not Gandhi, Mao or Lenin, but she quotes a ‘feminist man’ Lalsingh. When he was asked to speak and conclude within three minutes, he just spoke these words within a minute.
“hum sochte hai ki agar soochna ka adhikar nahi mila, to hum rahenge ya nahi, agar mila gaya to aapki kursi rahegi ya nahi, magar agar mila gaya to ye desh rahega ya nahin”
(We think it’s immaterial whether we will survive or not, in case if the act does not get passed. Equally immaterial is whether you will be able to save your chairs or not, in case if it gets passed. But what matters whether the country will survive or not, in case this act gets passed.)
(Smt Aruna roy is Megasaysay Award winner for her contribution towards enactment of right to information in India. She delivered this lecture on 14th November 2007 at India Habitat Center, Delhi.)
PROPERTY RIGHTS TO PASSENGER RIGHTS
-Prashant Narang
Why is it only in Delhi that buses kill rather than serve people? While it is easy to blame bus drivers for all the chaos without evaluating the transport policy and traffic management but what actually causes the driver to indulge in rash and negligent driving is unhealthy competition arising out of insecurity of poaching of passengers by the competitor. The other problems like corruption and bribery are related to regulations- licensing and permits and the authorities are well aware of the liberal solutions to address the problems.
The current scenario with DTC and Blue-line Buses as the major players is the pure commons case, which gives rise to freewheeling competition, resulting in ignorance of safety standards and more accidents. In this case everyone tries to poach passengers to outdo other and those who don’t, like Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), incurs heavy losses. Passengers are thus, left at the mercy of poor service providers. The ongoing debate on Public transport seems to be hijacked by the notion of stronger and stricter enforcement. Positive it may seem, the chief minister has now a plan in pipeline for ‘corporate-isation’ by granting exclusive rights not only to the waiting passengers but also to the entire route. Thus the option chosen by her is corporate monopoly (or may even be government monopoly as per the high court directions to buy new buses for DTC) on a particular route.
Let’s start with the most non-controversial and agreeable step. First the bus service must be scheduled in order to generate passenger congregations. Every operator will obviously have incentives to cultivate passenger congregations but the returns on investment in cultivating passenger congregations must be protected from interloping.
The right to ply on Delhi roads should be auctioned to only two different bus operators. Now the question arises who would be these two companies, DTC and Blue-line co-operative or some corporate firms? A regulatory agency shall set the safety and or even minimum luxury standards with maximum bus-fare ceiling for the services to be provided and then auction all the routes as a whole to two companies- of course the highest bidders. Hence the city will have two companies having the rights to ply on all the routes, maintaining their own bus-stops and abiding by the standards laid down by the regulatory agency. As far as the issue of bus-fare is concerned, the authority must acknowledge the bus-operator’s perspective too. As quality bus service cannot come at current fare structure, the government may opt to provide subsidies in the interest of commuters initially, if required to encourage bidders. The option is quite considerable in light of the magnitude of the losses incurred by DTC in the name of commuter’s interest. The bus-operators can also generate extra-income through advertisements on the bus stops and buses.
For example, take the route of bus # 520 that starts from Malviya Nagar and goes to Super Bazaar. Say, the route gets auctioned to company A and company B entitling them to ply buses between Malviya Nagar and Super Bazaar. Let them have exclusive curb zones- meaning exclusive bus stops at every alternate point. Say, at Hauz Khas both have separate bus stops- one for A and another for B- at a distance of 200 mts from each other, and then Green Park will have a common bus stop that both share. Then AIIMS will have two separate bus stops. This helps the bus operators to create passenger congregations- that’s exclusive for them. Company A will have exclusive rights on the passengers standing on bus stop A and it cannot stop its buses at bus stop of B. Same applies to B.
There would be monitoring by an agency (like Telecom regulatory authority of India – TRAI) that makes rules, keeps an eye on the bus operations through GPS, redresses commuter’s complaints and penalizes the defaulters. Moreover, it will be in the interest of bus providers to report any such case of interloping or poaching to the regulatory agency. The bus stops can show the arrival time chart of buses, thanks to Global positioning system (GPS) technology. This also gives choice to commuters to choose the bus service.
After having experts on board, the role of regulatory agency can be expanded to innovation and research related to revision of routes, extending bus-corridors, integration with other modes of transport, technological advancement and better traffic management. It can invite time schedules from the companies making sure that no other bus of the same route number starts operating in last or next fifteen minutes. For example, company A has time schedule for 8, 8.30, 9.00…so on. And company B has 8.15, 8.45, 9.15… so on.
Here one may question why not different time slots and common bus stops. The only problem with such an approach would be that, either red lights or traffic jams may cause buses to delay and reach at a particular point all together. That is bound to bring us back to square one, isn’t it? The bus stops must be separate, at least at alternate points so that the bus driver feels secure that the other will not poach his passengers. The bus operators will themselves ensure loyalty by issuing attractive bus-pass offers. This can happen only if there is no monopoly. Here one can compare the difference between monopolistic distribution of power services and oligo-polistic telecom services in Delhi. Not just the system eliminates any possibility of monopoly but it inculcates competition between two thereby creating incentive for passengers. Once this system is efficiently implemented, the market forces will operate. This would open the floodgates for competition; secondly it would usher in new opportunities for service resulting from entrepreneurial insight into transforming the city’s growing demand for quality commuting. Only a suitable mechanism like this can enable the invisible hand to achieve in urban transport what it already has in other sectors of the economy.
Why is it only in Delhi that buses kill rather than serve people? While it is easy to blame bus drivers for all the chaos without evaluating the transport policy and traffic management but what actually causes the driver to indulge in rash and negligent driving is unhealthy competition arising out of insecurity of poaching of passengers by the competitor. The other problems like corruption and bribery are related to regulations- licensing and permits and the authorities are well aware of the liberal solutions to address the problems.
The current scenario with DTC and Blue-line Buses as the major players is the pure commons case, which gives rise to freewheeling competition, resulting in ignorance of safety standards and more accidents. In this case everyone tries to poach passengers to outdo other and those who don’t, like Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), incurs heavy losses. Passengers are thus, left at the mercy of poor service providers. The ongoing debate on Public transport seems to be hijacked by the notion of stronger and stricter enforcement. Positive it may seem, the chief minister has now a plan in pipeline for ‘corporate-isation’ by granting exclusive rights not only to the waiting passengers but also to the entire route. Thus the option chosen by her is corporate monopoly (or may even be government monopoly as per the high court directions to buy new buses for DTC) on a particular route.
Let’s start with the most non-controversial and agreeable step. First the bus service must be scheduled in order to generate passenger congregations. Every operator will obviously have incentives to cultivate passenger congregations but the returns on investment in cultivating passenger congregations must be protected from interloping.
The right to ply on Delhi roads should be auctioned to only two different bus operators. Now the question arises who would be these two companies, DTC and Blue-line co-operative or some corporate firms? A regulatory agency shall set the safety and or even minimum luxury standards with maximum bus-fare ceiling for the services to be provided and then auction all the routes as a whole to two companies- of course the highest bidders. Hence the city will have two companies having the rights to ply on all the routes, maintaining their own bus-stops and abiding by the standards laid down by the regulatory agency. As far as the issue of bus-fare is concerned, the authority must acknowledge the bus-operator’s perspective too. As quality bus service cannot come at current fare structure, the government may opt to provide subsidies in the interest of commuters initially, if required to encourage bidders. The option is quite considerable in light of the magnitude of the losses incurred by DTC in the name of commuter’s interest. The bus-operators can also generate extra-income through advertisements on the bus stops and buses.
For example, take the route of bus # 520 that starts from Malviya Nagar and goes to Super Bazaar. Say, the route gets auctioned to company A and company B entitling them to ply buses between Malviya Nagar and Super Bazaar. Let them have exclusive curb zones- meaning exclusive bus stops at every alternate point. Say, at Hauz Khas both have separate bus stops- one for A and another for B- at a distance of 200 mts from each other, and then Green Park will have a common bus stop that both share. Then AIIMS will have two separate bus stops. This helps the bus operators to create passenger congregations- that’s exclusive for them. Company A will have exclusive rights on the passengers standing on bus stop A and it cannot stop its buses at bus stop of B. Same applies to B.
There would be monitoring by an agency (like Telecom regulatory authority of India – TRAI) that makes rules, keeps an eye on the bus operations through GPS, redresses commuter’s complaints and penalizes the defaulters. Moreover, it will be in the interest of bus providers to report any such case of interloping or poaching to the regulatory agency. The bus stops can show the arrival time chart of buses, thanks to Global positioning system (GPS) technology. This also gives choice to commuters to choose the bus service.
After having experts on board, the role of regulatory agency can be expanded to innovation and research related to revision of routes, extending bus-corridors, integration with other modes of transport, technological advancement and better traffic management. It can invite time schedules from the companies making sure that no other bus of the same route number starts operating in last or next fifteen minutes. For example, company A has time schedule for 8, 8.30, 9.00…so on. And company B has 8.15, 8.45, 9.15… so on.
Here one may question why not different time slots and common bus stops. The only problem with such an approach would be that, either red lights or traffic jams may cause buses to delay and reach at a particular point all together. That is bound to bring us back to square one, isn’t it? The bus stops must be separate, at least at alternate points so that the bus driver feels secure that the other will not poach his passengers. The bus operators will themselves ensure loyalty by issuing attractive bus-pass offers. This can happen only if there is no monopoly. Here one can compare the difference between monopolistic distribution of power services and oligo-polistic telecom services in Delhi. Not just the system eliminates any possibility of monopoly but it inculcates competition between two thereby creating incentive for passengers. Once this system is efficiently implemented, the market forces will operate. This would open the floodgates for competition; secondly it would usher in new opportunities for service resulting from entrepreneurial insight into transforming the city’s growing demand for quality commuting. Only a suitable mechanism like this can enable the invisible hand to achieve in urban transport what it already has in other sectors of the economy.
Why do Autorickshaw Drivers overcharge?
-Prashant NarangAny other medium like metro trains or even hi-capacity buses cannot be a substitute for IPT-Intermediate public transport (autos and taxis) because it provides round the clock mobility, right at your door step and are crucial for ports of entry like airports and railway stations. Not just that, these can be used easily for commuting by convalescent, patients, children, aged and tourists and also in case of emergencies. They provide comfortable and personal commuting experience. They are most of the time mobile; hence require parking spaces for minimum time.
However, it is easier to become an industrialist in Delhi than an auto rickshaw driver.
Thanks to license, quota and permit-Raaj that a new or even a second hand auto rickshaw in Delhi costs almost twice. The cost of an auto rickshaw is higher than a new Maruti car in Delhi only- more than three lacs. It is not so expensive in Ahmedabad or in Mumbai.
Some rickshaw owners give their vehicle on rent to the poor drivers and charge very high rents (almost thrice) from auto rickshaw driver (ARD) as the permits are closed. So for a new entrant into this profession, the only possibility is to take a rickshaw on rent for Rs. 250-300 a day from the rickshaw owner. In other cities, this rent is around Rs. 100-150 a day. Here in Delhi, the Government revised the fare to Rs. 3.50 per kilometer. In all other Indian cities it is much higher, up to Rs. 6.50 per kilometer. It is not feasible to pay up such high daily rent with this kind of fare structure. This discourages the ARD to ply by meters and they charge a higher fare from the commuter. Unaware of the policies, the commuters misunderstand and blame the ARD. Even then an ARD barely manages to save only Rs. 3,000-4,000 (85-95 $) a month, as he ends up paying Rs. 6,000-9,000 (170- 190 $) a month to the rickshaw owners. A chunk of this saving goes into maintenance of his vehicle. Whereas an auto rickshaw driver in Ahmedabad earns Rs 9,000 a month. No wonder, he never denies the commuter.
Why is only a particular model of a particular brand of auto rickshaws allowed? Why not second hand cars? A second hand maruti costs Rs. 40-50, 000. If there is no restrictions on what a private vehicle user can driver, then why so many restrictions on them?
If the government opens up permits or abolishes permit system, the rentals for the vehicle would automatically come down, hence helping the auto rickshaw drivers to earn an honest living. Though even in that case, the fare structure need to be revised.
Mind you, this is the only private service/sector, where the government enforces what to charge. Can you quote any other private sector other than transport (bus and auto) where government tells what to charge from the consumer? In Scandinavian countries, neither there is any permit system nor there government fare structure. Hence there are taxi drivers competing with each other trying to provide the best service at minimum charges. For tourists and first time visitors, air port authorities get into contract with taxi companies to ensure that tourists are not cheated. But India is not yet liberalized for poor communities like auto rickshaw drivers. Government is exploiting this poor community. Better it should pull its hands out of deciding fare structure after liberalizing the market. They should open the market and they cannot give the excuse of traffic congestion as there are only two percent auto rickshaws in Delhi.
What is fare/price? It is customer’s perception of the service or product consumed. Hence the market decides what the fare/price should be. Who decides price for cold drinks, chips, chocolates or toys, or clothes? Who fixes up what a private lawyer/doctor/teacher should charge?
Is there a restriction in other professions that there can be only a fix number of professionals? No. then who decides? The market! It is simple demand and supply rule. Why is there restriction on number of autos, whereas there is no restriction on number of private vehicles?
94% Private vehicles, 2% auto rickshaws and 1% buses (as accessed on 29 november 2006) http://www.cseindia.org/campaign/apc/pdf/parking-policy.PDF
Can you quote any private entrepreneur whose uniform is decided by government other than auto rickshaw drivers? Why do we doubt that they would not wear good clothes in absence of a law? Government should decide uniforms only for its employees and prisoners (not even for them). Auto rickshaw drivers are neither its employees nor prisoners. The law just becomes a tool for bribery and corruption leading to their harassment.
An ARD has least options to choose the fuel/ model of vehicle he wants to ply, or cannot fix up the fare, cannot wear clothes of his choice, has to renew his commercial driving license every five years (20 years in case of personal license), cannot expand his business or buy another vehicle, cannot sell his vehicle (except to the government as scrap) and has to pay very high price for purchase of his vehicle.
He pays parking taxes to the government for parking space that does not exist. Where are those 312 parking slots meant for their parking? They do exist- mostly on papers.
Why is there no bank finance facility available to them for buying auto rickshaws?
‘Multiple commuters sharing’ is not allowed. It can ease congestion.
What about the fare revision committees? Why have they not submitted their reports? The last one- khullar committee had advocated for allowing branded auto rickshaw companies. The government should allow brands and co-operatives to emerge in this sector.
Heavily regulated intermediate public transport has led to drastic increase in private vehicles resulting in heavy congestion and parking problem.
http://transport.delhigovt.nic.in/info/info8.html
Why are those challans returned?
From 1998 to 2003, permit transfer was not allowed. Though one cannot think of any rational reasons, but that is how our government works. Of course there would have been auto rickshaw drivers who wanted to leave or join the profession for number of reasons, could be personal or medical or financial. Or some drivers would have died; hence how can the government put an abrupt stop on permit transfers? But it did. The result was illegal drivers. In 2003, when the government relaxed the policy, thousands of permits had been transferred illegally. Then Government hiked the permit fee from Rs. 50 to Rs. 1950. why do you make such rules that cannot be followed?
Why Auto rickshaws are a problem
-Prashant Narang
We blame bluelines and autorickshaw drivers for all our problems. We curse policy makers for not controlling them enough, for the indiscipline and for the corruption.
But we fail to recognize the fact that these bus and auto wallahs are the most 'regulated' ones- controlled by too many laws and regulations, leading miserable lives and pursuing difficult livelihoods- not because the skills are tough but the regulations are just too many. These regulations make their lives hell by giving opportunities to the cops to charge bribes.
Have you ever thought why only Delhi has problem with Autorickshaw drivers?
Unless we go down to the root of problem, the blamegame would only reflect our cynical attitude.
Ofcourse, we can lobby against them, get them removed by 2010; but believe me the problem won't solve till we have choice and competition in Public Transport.
China has learnt that, when will we learn ?
We blame bluelines and autorickshaw drivers for all our problems. We curse policy makers for not controlling them enough, for the indiscipline and for the corruption.
But we fail to recognize the fact that these bus and auto wallahs are the most 'regulated' ones- controlled by too many laws and regulations, leading miserable lives and pursuing difficult livelihoods- not because the skills are tough but the regulations are just too many. These regulations make their lives hell by giving opportunities to the cops to charge bribes.
Have you ever thought why only Delhi has problem with Autorickshaw drivers?
Unless we go down to the root of problem, the blamegame would only reflect our cynical attitude.
Ofcourse, we can lobby against them, get them removed by 2010; but believe me the problem won't solve till we have choice and competition in Public Transport.
China has learnt that, when will we learn ?