Bikash Choudhury
What is common between 'fire &ghee', 'handsome boy & a beautiful girl' and 'stockpiles of arms & War’? Simple answer; one can't stay near the other without creating explosion or exploding with one another. In current times, UN-winnable war & un achievable territorial ambition has actually made stockpiles of arms & production of weapons of mass destruction and growing defense expenditure very futile & redundant. Nevertheless, World spends about 1500 billion USD annually as per figures available for 2009-10;out of which USA hold the lion’s share of about 800 billion USD. US President and his defense secretary currently mulling over to cut defense expenditure to the tune of 500 billion USD by 2023; which is too little and too late. Very soon, tax payer all over the World would demand that its Govt. spend what is needed to defend the country--not a penny more. When the entire World is fighting against natural calamities and climate change--spending huge sum of poor tax payer’s money to acquire and maintain an efficient "Killing Machine" of innocent human beings is atrocious and less than human. The misfortune that devastated Japan on March 11 and more recently in USA, most likely to be repeated in other parts of the World in future; therefore,, it is urgent & necessary for the World to "rise above Nationality to Preserve the Humanity”. The fragile planet belong to all of us and anything inimical done at one part of earth would hold consequence to the other part as well. The destiny of humanity of this civilization would be decided by Nature at its sweet time. However, present young generation must not give up, as it is their lives and their future which is being tampered & trampled prematurely by unimaginative Leadership of the World at current times. Young people of today must organize themselves to fight peacefully against the violence & War perpetrated by sovereign Nation States and also sophisticated & organized global terrorist groups. There is high degree of correlation between amount of weapons stored and chances of having war or violent backlash. Therefore, first of all it is important to cut down on stockpiles of Weapons & its production across the World. Secondly, it is also imperative to creatively deal with assuage the hurt feelings of young people in Muslim dominated countries who have been alienated fro the mainstream and Western Countries by love, compassion and actual understanding of their religion 'Islam' and dissemination of its fine prints inside the Muslim community and more specifically in the poor regions. The real understanding of real Islam by poor and under privileged of the community holds the key to stop global terrorism by controlling human resources to terrorist organizations.
Students community living in the University campuses across the World must take stock of this explosive like situation in the World and organize themselves in coherent groups to launch a sustained campaign against stockpiles of arms and for cut in production of WMD and above all excessive and unproductive defense related expenditure; which is over & above the just requirement of defending the territorial integrity of Nation States. This is not a fight which will give an immediate return or acceptance; therefore, University students in the Global Capital Cities must be prepared to fight long and hard peacefully in a very systemic manner using all the technology available at their command. To start with, they can persuade or convince as many Senators/Parliamentarians/Govt. functionaries as possible to get buy ins for "cut in Defense expenditure" of respective countries. Simultaneously, students can periodically organize peaceful demonstration in front of Parliament/Legislature of each country to press their demand. Governments worth their salt dare not antagonize future Leaders-young people in University campuses in Global Capital cities; sooner than later, the current leadership of each Nation would have to seriously consider about the penny drained in defense related expenses. Eventually, the next generation of Leadership would vote for a truncated defense expenditure regimen; which should improve the chances of "A Peaceful World".
Friday, June 3, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Vision & Strategy of Orissa-2021
Bikash Choudhury
Young boy of around twelve years gave the final touches to the glistening replica of Konark temple and jumped to the sea" the ice cool sea water splashed on my face that woke me up from deep slumber, slipped while trying to find feet on the ground, bruising the body; in the process, the nausea vanished completely. The realization dawned about self and about the dream in which I was viewing a brand new Konark Temple being completed and very unusually, me giving a speech to a distinguished audience with a few familiar faces in Govt., Bureaucracy, Opposition and Media fraternity. Strangely, I was speaking on "Vision & Strategy of Orissa-2021"The so called speech goes like this: " Good evening ladies & gentlemen, before I start, let me caution you that some of my Ideas you may find, prima facie unreal & impractical; please don't jump to the conclusion right away. Hang on to my words, please. Later part of my speech you will find sound logic, arguments that will vindicate all my contention in this speech. Please bear with me for some time.
Ladies and Gentle men, our State lost a war about two thousand years ago, but, still, it remains an important land mark in the annals of history. Our ancestors must have something on them that they could coerce Emperor Ashok to adopt & adept 'Budhism'.Those mind and hands built majestic Konark temple must have high degree of competence in Architecture, Engineering, Project Management capability 800 years ago. The cells in our body, our blood veins, our genes and our DNA must have a trace of our ancestors. But, is it not strange- How come we don't know to keep our city clean? How largest malaria related deaths happen in our State? How we still evacuate our sewerage and Industrial waste into our rivers? How our people live on the streets under the open sky and children go to work? There are a few more questions that defy answers but dare not ask. Apparently or perhaps our current civilization has pressed "Control + Delete" in our collective memory and that put us behind twenty States in India in terms of Per Capita Income & general competitiveness.
Ladies&Gentlemen, shouldn't we say enough is enough. Shall we not try to comprehend, where do we wish find ourselves a decade later, by the end of 2021.Ten years from now we must achieve 100% literacy, complete removal of poverty, each family in urban & rural areas must have a decent home, every adult a job, world class road connecting clean & green cities and towns, a complete railway network and reasonable air connectivity, water bodies free from pollution and State having lowest carbon foot print in the World. Can we pack it in a frame of 10 years? Yes, we can; if not, we will never ever do it in any stretch of time. Friends, to accomplish all the cherished parameters may not be easy but, not difficult either. Just we have to work on five broad areas.
1. A powerful brand identity of Orissa.
2. Convert State Govt. organization into a powerful delivery mechanism.
3. Need to develop a powerful culture
4. Rapid Economic growth.
5. A strong value.
'Green Orissa' as brand identity of State would get National attention and International recognition which would later help the State to attract FDI, Best Technology and Top class human resources. We need to achieve cent percent climate change compliance, Comprehensive green legislation that stop and prevent further pollution/ deterioration of precious natural resources, A citizens’ charter for green practises,Emphasis & encouragement on research & development in Green Energy Technology that eventually leading to lowest carbon foot print in the World.
Best Govt. of the World as an internal branding exercise to obtain commitment and enthuse them to work towards the goal of highest standard of public service by unleashing the potential of human resources.
Develop a collective mindset for Innovation-Excellence-Enterprise in all walks of life by creating a very conducive and competitive atmosphere that encourage individual to give only their best. Focusing on clean and green cities and towns could be one of the tools to test the paradigm.
Nee to target a growth rate that doubles the gross state domestic product in every five years. That can be achieved by leveraging co-operative in retail, Agriculture & Agro, Westland development, Micro finance. Empowering the MSME and youth energy, Leveraging cities and towns as economic units, Moving to high value agriculture and also developing Bhubaneswar city as hub of multiple Industries.
Last but not least, instill 'discipline' as most important value in the society that is respected in all walks of life in the State through a sustained public campaign. Friends, I am sure with a concerted effort for a period of ten years, we can achieve our goal and the dream of our leader and Statesman Late Sri Biju Patnaik who wished to see Orissa in the same level of Socio-Economic-Political strength that was achieved during the reign of Emperor Kharvela in Kalinga Empire. Very recently, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore developed his country from a developing to a globally recognized economic power in a span of just twenty five years. If you all wish, Orissa can achieve a prosperous State status in a decade. Can we???”
Young boy of around twelve years gave the final touches to the glistening replica of Konark temple and jumped to the sea" the ice cool sea water splashed on my face that woke me up from deep slumber, slipped while trying to find feet on the ground, bruising the body; in the process, the nausea vanished completely. The realization dawned about self and about the dream in which I was viewing a brand new Konark Temple being completed and very unusually, me giving a speech to a distinguished audience with a few familiar faces in Govt., Bureaucracy, Opposition and Media fraternity. Strangely, I was speaking on "Vision & Strategy of Orissa-2021"The so called speech goes like this: " Good evening ladies & gentlemen, before I start, let me caution you that some of my Ideas you may find, prima facie unreal & impractical; please don't jump to the conclusion right away. Hang on to my words, please. Later part of my speech you will find sound logic, arguments that will vindicate all my contention in this speech. Please bear with me for some time.
Ladies and Gentle men, our State lost a war about two thousand years ago, but, still, it remains an important land mark in the annals of history. Our ancestors must have something on them that they could coerce Emperor Ashok to adopt & adept 'Budhism'.Those mind and hands built majestic Konark temple must have high degree of competence in Architecture, Engineering, Project Management capability 800 years ago. The cells in our body, our blood veins, our genes and our DNA must have a trace of our ancestors. But, is it not strange- How come we don't know to keep our city clean? How largest malaria related deaths happen in our State? How we still evacuate our sewerage and Industrial waste into our rivers? How our people live on the streets under the open sky and children go to work? There are a few more questions that defy answers but dare not ask. Apparently or perhaps our current civilization has pressed "Control + Delete" in our collective memory and that put us behind twenty States in India in terms of Per Capita Income & general competitiveness.
Ladies&Gentlemen, shouldn't we say enough is enough. Shall we not try to comprehend, where do we wish find ourselves a decade later, by the end of 2021.Ten years from now we must achieve 100% literacy, complete removal of poverty, each family in urban & rural areas must have a decent home, every adult a job, world class road connecting clean & green cities and towns, a complete railway network and reasonable air connectivity, water bodies free from pollution and State having lowest carbon foot print in the World. Can we pack it in a frame of 10 years? Yes, we can; if not, we will never ever do it in any stretch of time. Friends, to accomplish all the cherished parameters may not be easy but, not difficult either. Just we have to work on five broad areas.
1. A powerful brand identity of Orissa.
2. Convert State Govt. organization into a powerful delivery mechanism.
3. Need to develop a powerful culture
4. Rapid Economic growth.
5. A strong value.
'Green Orissa' as brand identity of State would get National attention and International recognition which would later help the State to attract FDI, Best Technology and Top class human resources. We need to achieve cent percent climate change compliance, Comprehensive green legislation that stop and prevent further pollution/ deterioration of precious natural resources, A citizens’ charter for green practises,Emphasis & encouragement on research & development in Green Energy Technology that eventually leading to lowest carbon foot print in the World.
Best Govt. of the World as an internal branding exercise to obtain commitment and enthuse them to work towards the goal of highest standard of public service by unleashing the potential of human resources.
Develop a collective mindset for Innovation-Excellence-Enterprise in all walks of life by creating a very conducive and competitive atmosphere that encourage individual to give only their best. Focusing on clean and green cities and towns could be one of the tools to test the paradigm.
Nee to target a growth rate that doubles the gross state domestic product in every five years. That can be achieved by leveraging co-operative in retail, Agriculture & Agro, Westland development, Micro finance. Empowering the MSME and youth energy, Leveraging cities and towns as economic units, Moving to high value agriculture and also developing Bhubaneswar city as hub of multiple Industries.
Last but not least, instill 'discipline' as most important value in the society that is respected in all walks of life in the State through a sustained public campaign. Friends, I am sure with a concerted effort for a period of ten years, we can achieve our goal and the dream of our leader and Statesman Late Sri Biju Patnaik who wished to see Orissa in the same level of Socio-Economic-Political strength that was achieved during the reign of Emperor Kharvela in Kalinga Empire. Very recently, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore developed his country from a developing to a globally recognized economic power in a span of just twenty five years. If you all wish, Orissa can achieve a prosperous State status in a decade. Can we???”
Friday, May 27, 2011
AVIATION POLICY 2021
Bikash Choudhury
Aviation, one of the most risk prone business after gambling(if it were called one);the popular joke doing the round in page three parties in National Capital—in Aviation business, you need to start as a billionaire to become millionaire. However, the sex appeal of Aviation business always attracts the rich, famous and mighty. Keeping in view of the current financial health of Airlines both private and public; it is imperative, country formulate a forward looking ‘Aviation Policy2021’ to promote seamless connectivity to top 100 cities & towns with full service airlines, next 100 cities should be linked by low cost airline and most importantly the District HQ should be connected to the respective State Capitals by ultra low cost regional airlines by 2021.
The biggest stumbling block in Aviation in India is the high cost structure of the Industry itself. As, the aircraft does not come cheap @ Rs150-250 crore a piece, neither, the fuel (ATF) aviation turbine fuel nor the Pilots who actually fly the machine and passenger @ Rs 5-15 lakh a month and engineers who keep the Birds ‘Air Worthy’ and also the prohibitive cost of spares parts that comes with an expiry date does not help. Further, Airport cost and Insurance drive big hole in the pockets of any airline; on top of it the volatile petroleum pricing that rule above 100 USD a barrel makes airline business extremely volatile in current times. The paradox in Aviation sector is to keep paying the high cost of inputs while you need to charge less in fare to attract new customers. But, how on earth can one airline survive???Our Aviation Industry has done very well in trying circumstances though most of the Airline, both private and public are bleeding profusely which is not good for the future health of the Industry. The other Jigsaw puzzle of the Industry is the pricing policy of the Industry. The solution to the vexed problem lies in a consensus driven uniform pricing policy across the Industry for long term gain and survival. The pricing mechanism should be such that the route allocation and earning of trunk routes must cross subsidies the non trunk routes, instead of burning cash with Air India the central Govt. and State Govt. should subsidies the routes of top 51-200 cities in the range of 20-35% in the interest of economic growth and better Governance. The pricing of Air connectivity between District HQ and respective State Capital require altogether a unique business model that subsidies the cost in the range of 30-50% for 5-10 years.
In the trunk routes the pricing should be ideally be twice of the first AC fare, and that of 51-200 cities should be two times of third AC fare and between District HQ and State Capital should be ideally in the range of two times of second class sleeper fare of Indian Railways. These pricing is just indicative cost of average cost of air transportation in India; but, eventually the pricing should be able to recover the cost with a normal profit to continue in Business.
Both central Govt. State Govt. and top 100 corporate houses must collaborate to offer the country new airstrips wherever required and renovate the unused and older air strips and make those available to schedule, Non-schedule Airlines and Chartered Operators at a reasonable cost in the initial period of 5-10 years. Further, Govt. must also find ways and means to create a separate fund for "Aviation Industry”. This fund can be accessed by the operators at lower rate of interest than the prevailing market rates.
The central Govt. has taken steps to develop one mid size 80 seated aircraft in collaboration with a Russian Company that should be ready by 2016-17. Simultaneously, Govt. should encourage corporate sector to invest in research & development and actual manufacturing of mid size low cost aircraft with 80-150 seating capacity with lower maintenance cost for typical Indian requirement in the span of 10-15 years.
With a robust and proactive "Aviation Policy 2021" the Aviation sector would mature while offering seamless air link to over 700 destinations in the country by the end of next decade.
Monday, May 23, 2011
CO-OPERATIVE—DRIVER OF ECONOMY
[Published in Orissa Post on 20 May 2011]
Bikash Choudhury
'Amul' has long a conquered the household in India; now, very recently the comment "Amul Baby" became hot topic of spat between two powerful political activist; not very many people would be in the know about the organization behind the Amul brand, GCCMF otherwise known as Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation which is one of the most successful Co-operative not only in the country but, across the World with 2.9 million members,15322 village societies, 13.07 million liters of milk handling capacity per day and Rs.8005 crore of sales in 2009-10. Little known fact about GCMMF is the members have planted 2.35 crore saplings in last four years. Co-Operative sector has immense potential to shape the State Economy. Orissa Milk Marketing Federation has posted reasonable success in Co-operative sector in milk collection, processing, production of byproducts and marketing. In farm loan also Co-operative Banking system disburse largest amount of agricultural credit to farmers. There are many other small players in Co-Operatives sector in many other domains at local level. However, Co-Operative movement has not been able to demonstrate a transformational opportunity in the State like "Amul".
Cooperative sector can become one of the important drivers of Orissa State economy and turn out to be the largest employer of Highly Skilled to unskilled labor pool. New Co-Operative Minister must attempt to plug the long standing loop holes in our Co-Operative system, Administration and in accountability. Just like our new Agriculture policy, Cooperative minister can emphasize on a brand new Co-Operative policy that will encourage entrepreneurship and productivity in Co-Operative sector in Agriculture, Retail, Micro Finance & Micro Deposits, Wasteland Development and other growing services sector. The main objective of Co-Operative policy should be to streamline the functioning of elected representative so that they would pool their local knowledge in sustainable growth and profitability of the organization while providing opportunity to the professionals to do their job to their best of ability without fear or favor. Ideally elected representatives of cooperative and professional executive should work in a collaborative frame work in mutual interest and in the interest of the organization.
Co-Operative Banking system for Agricultural credit allied sector need to be institutionalized and Co-operative should have the freedom to source best of human resources in the given market condition to develop leaders to manage growing Co-Operative institutions in the State. It is very important to strengthen the Co-Operative farm credit delivery mechanism that would be sustainable in both in short and in long run. Co-operative credit institution needs to add domain knowledge in agric and agro sector to offer high quality service to their customer. They can introduce a Agriculture and Agro consulting division at apex level or at District level with an objective to make profits for farmers with their advice and market linkages. This can be only done by either hiring competent personnel at market rate or deploying retired professionals on contract.
Co-Operatives were the first to introduce Modern Retail in Orissa, through ‘Bhanjaprabha’ in Bhubaneswar, ‘Kamadhenu’ in Angul & ‘Indradhanu’ in Dhenkanal and many other small stand alone retail outlets which did not make much headway but, in the current times Co-operatives can reenter the Retail space as an aggregator of small grocery stores by providing them scale, technology, negotiating muscles and above all higher profitability by modernization while serving larger customer segments with extended Stock Keeping Units (SKU) as it is called in the retail Industry. Professionals need to drive the foray in retail as the context and customer has undergone sea change over the years. Professional run Co-Operative retail could actually give Private retail players a run for their money and at the same time can create huge employment opportunity in entire length and breadth of the State.
Our new Agriculture Policy has facilitated contract farming by corporate and co-operatives; therefore, our Co-Operative sector should take advantage of this opportunity and encourage High Value farming (Israel Type) instead of High volume farming currently practiced at the cost of farmers and their families. Each revenue block must have Agricultural Co-Operative comprising 5-15 villages with 2500-5000 acres of land. The Co-operative should use modern technology supported by local knowledge and resources to promote high value farming to grow the productivity and create employment potential for the people living in the hinter land. Co-Operatives must also take up post harvest processing, Ware housing, Cold storage and transportation to mitigate the challenges of logistics and strangle hold of middlemen. Successful farm Co-Operative can actually create a demonstration effect in the nearby rural pockets and therefore, spread the message of Co-Operation movement much more effectively.
When we travel by road or train, mostly find thousands of acres of land adjoining the route. The Co-Operative sector in association with respective habitation can organize Waste land development Co-Operative and plant “Jatropa” for green fuel. Such Co-Operative institutions also can develop other downstream Industry to create a complete Eco-System for green Energy and add substantially to the economy and brand image of the State. Similarly, Co-Operative Institution can create along the habitation of 480 Km long Coastline to plant mangroves, Jatropa to increase their productivity. Further, Co-Operative could be the most effective medium to reach out to “bottom of the pyramid’ through Micro Finance, Micro Deposit.
If State Govt. takes on the role of a powerful facilitator then, Co-Operative sector alone has the potential to contribute additional 1-2 % to the growth of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
Bikash Choudhury
'Amul' has long a conquered the household in India; now, very recently the comment "Amul Baby" became hot topic of spat between two powerful political activist; not very many people would be in the know about the organization behind the Amul brand, GCCMF otherwise known as Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation which is one of the most successful Co-operative not only in the country but, across the World with 2.9 million members,15322 village societies, 13.07 million liters of milk handling capacity per day and Rs.8005 crore of sales in 2009-10. Little known fact about GCMMF is the members have planted 2.35 crore saplings in last four years. Co-Operative sector has immense potential to shape the State Economy. Orissa Milk Marketing Federation has posted reasonable success in Co-operative sector in milk collection, processing, production of byproducts and marketing. In farm loan also Co-operative Banking system disburse largest amount of agricultural credit to farmers. There are many other small players in Co-Operatives sector in many other domains at local level. However, Co-Operative movement has not been able to demonstrate a transformational opportunity in the State like "Amul".
Cooperative sector can become one of the important drivers of Orissa State economy and turn out to be the largest employer of Highly Skilled to unskilled labor pool. New Co-Operative Minister must attempt to plug the long standing loop holes in our Co-Operative system, Administration and in accountability. Just like our new Agriculture policy, Cooperative minister can emphasize on a brand new Co-Operative policy that will encourage entrepreneurship and productivity in Co-Operative sector in Agriculture, Retail, Micro Finance & Micro Deposits, Wasteland Development and other growing services sector. The main objective of Co-Operative policy should be to streamline the functioning of elected representative so that they would pool their local knowledge in sustainable growth and profitability of the organization while providing opportunity to the professionals to do their job to their best of ability without fear or favor. Ideally elected representatives of cooperative and professional executive should work in a collaborative frame work in mutual interest and in the interest of the organization.
Co-Operative Banking system for Agricultural credit allied sector need to be institutionalized and Co-operative should have the freedom to source best of human resources in the given market condition to develop leaders to manage growing Co-Operative institutions in the State. It is very important to strengthen the Co-Operative farm credit delivery mechanism that would be sustainable in both in short and in long run. Co-operative credit institution needs to add domain knowledge in agric and agro sector to offer high quality service to their customer. They can introduce a Agriculture and Agro consulting division at apex level or at District level with an objective to make profits for farmers with their advice and market linkages. This can be only done by either hiring competent personnel at market rate or deploying retired professionals on contract.
Co-Operatives were the first to introduce Modern Retail in Orissa, through ‘Bhanjaprabha’ in Bhubaneswar, ‘Kamadhenu’ in Angul & ‘Indradhanu’ in Dhenkanal and many other small stand alone retail outlets which did not make much headway but, in the current times Co-operatives can reenter the Retail space as an aggregator of small grocery stores by providing them scale, technology, negotiating muscles and above all higher profitability by modernization while serving larger customer segments with extended Stock Keeping Units (SKU) as it is called in the retail Industry. Professionals need to drive the foray in retail as the context and customer has undergone sea change over the years. Professional run Co-Operative retail could actually give Private retail players a run for their money and at the same time can create huge employment opportunity in entire length and breadth of the State.
Our new Agriculture Policy has facilitated contract farming by corporate and co-operatives; therefore, our Co-Operative sector should take advantage of this opportunity and encourage High Value farming (Israel Type) instead of High volume farming currently practiced at the cost of farmers and their families. Each revenue block must have Agricultural Co-Operative comprising 5-15 villages with 2500-5000 acres of land. The Co-operative should use modern technology supported by local knowledge and resources to promote high value farming to grow the productivity and create employment potential for the people living in the hinter land. Co-Operatives must also take up post harvest processing, Ware housing, Cold storage and transportation to mitigate the challenges of logistics and strangle hold of middlemen. Successful farm Co-Operative can actually create a demonstration effect in the nearby rural pockets and therefore, spread the message of Co-Operation movement much more effectively.
When we travel by road or train, mostly find thousands of acres of land adjoining the route. The Co-Operative sector in association with respective habitation can organize Waste land development Co-Operative and plant “Jatropa” for green fuel. Such Co-Operative institutions also can develop other downstream Industry to create a complete Eco-System for green Energy and add substantially to the economy and brand image of the State. Similarly, Co-Operative Institution can create along the habitation of 480 Km long Coastline to plant mangroves, Jatropa to increase their productivity. Further, Co-Operative could be the most effective medium to reach out to “bottom of the pyramid’ through Micro Finance, Micro Deposit.
If State Govt. takes on the role of a powerful facilitator then, Co-Operative sector alone has the potential to contribute additional 1-2 % to the growth of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
Assembly line for Leadership
[Published in Orissa Post on 14 May 2011]
Bikash Choudhury
Is our over protective family culture and values responsible for an aging political leadership? Statistics has never been a perfect science; but, sometimes the data would stare you in the face. Our top political leadership in Union Govt, the laws of central tendencies would stay at 72 years of age, Leadership in opposition in Parliament also no different, at 69 yrs of age on average. Leadership in States taking into account twenty two States; the average age stands at 63 yrs of age. Irony is the country sports of population of over sixty percent below 35 yrs of age. Contrast is also equally baffling; as the average age of top leadership in developed countries around 50, while their demography favors old age in large number. What is this phenomenon? And why it is so? Can call these Phenomena of divergent family culture & values. As the close knit family system does not allow experimentation at early age and therefore people mature little later than their western counterparts in developed countries. Since their family system allow individuals to live independently at an early age and make decisions about living, livelihood and their lives. But, this hypothesis does raise an important concern for India in the next decade; if the status quo persists further, our top leadership in 2020 would still be older than the current decade.
Interestingly, Indian Political leadership comes from a very narrow base and that is one of the biggest problem facing the strength of younger leadership; mostly, our current top leadership come from traditional political families or Legal background or Business or from Media and retired bureaucrats and few from university campuses. Middle class almost shun political leadership sweep stakes and 'raison d’être' of our aging leadership. Further, fast pace economic growth in last two decades has also complicated matter in this domain as it has thrown up lucrative opportunity for talented and potential leaders in the private sector that makes leadership in political domain full of risk and unattractive proposition. Further, amount of expenses involved in Political Activism & in electoral process dissuade many as it is fit for rich and famous who can afford and fewer of them can sustain without adopting short-cut.
Harvard Business Review (HBR) in a recent study on "Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership" by Daniel Goelman & Richard Boyatzis finds that” Leaders can improve group performance by understanding the biology of Empathy" .India currently stands at disadvantage as the aging leaders would find it difficult to understand the biology of empathy of a large population of young people. Conventionally, young people stand for Speed and Quantity wherein senior people represent wisdom of experience and discretion. Hybrid strategy of leadership could be followed by India at present and if need be in the next decade. Futuristic India must be driven by its Young Leaders with senior citizens leadership being Advisers by choice; that could eventually deliver both Quantity & Quality in Governance. Country urgently needs an assembly line for leadership to shape leaders of future decade.
We need to design a unique leadership program keeping in view of its need, culture and value system. Indian Young leaders of the future decade should be physically strong, professionally competent with Intellectual depth. They must also possess ability to inspire people with varied Indian languages, strong belief in ethics and must be financially liberated with a Spartan life style. Leadership Gurukul can be developed by Govt or Corporate in tier two cities where students of Gurukul can complete their formal education of choice in the city while attending and living the leadership coaching specially designed to transform students into empowered World Class leaders on their own right. After completion of their studies and leadership training they can join any Political party of their political persuasion to give a able leadership from Govt. or from opposition. Ideally Leadership Gurukul should recruit students across the country having ambition for political leadership in the age group of 18-25. Potential Leaders must have academic excellence, physical prowess and deep knowledge about the country and also should meet other requirements of World Class Leadership and with passion to contribute towards Nation Building
Bikash Choudhury
Is our over protective family culture and values responsible for an aging political leadership? Statistics has never been a perfect science; but, sometimes the data would stare you in the face. Our top political leadership in Union Govt, the laws of central tendencies would stay at 72 years of age, Leadership in opposition in Parliament also no different, at 69 yrs of age on average. Leadership in States taking into account twenty two States; the average age stands at 63 yrs of age. Irony is the country sports of population of over sixty percent below 35 yrs of age. Contrast is also equally baffling; as the average age of top leadership in developed countries around 50, while their demography favors old age in large number. What is this phenomenon? And why it is so? Can call these Phenomena of divergent family culture & values. As the close knit family system does not allow experimentation at early age and therefore people mature little later than their western counterparts in developed countries. Since their family system allow individuals to live independently at an early age and make decisions about living, livelihood and their lives. But, this hypothesis does raise an important concern for India in the next decade; if the status quo persists further, our top leadership in 2020 would still be older than the current decade.
Interestingly, Indian Political leadership comes from a very narrow base and that is one of the biggest problem facing the strength of younger leadership; mostly, our current top leadership come from traditional political families or Legal background or Business or from Media and retired bureaucrats and few from university campuses. Middle class almost shun political leadership sweep stakes and 'raison d’être' of our aging leadership. Further, fast pace economic growth in last two decades has also complicated matter in this domain as it has thrown up lucrative opportunity for talented and potential leaders in the private sector that makes leadership in political domain full of risk and unattractive proposition. Further, amount of expenses involved in Political Activism & in electoral process dissuade many as it is fit for rich and famous who can afford and fewer of them can sustain without adopting short-cut.
Harvard Business Review (HBR) in a recent study on "Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership" by Daniel Goelman & Richard Boyatzis finds that” Leaders can improve group performance by understanding the biology of Empathy" .India currently stands at disadvantage as the aging leaders would find it difficult to understand the biology of empathy of a large population of young people. Conventionally, young people stand for Speed and Quantity wherein senior people represent wisdom of experience and discretion. Hybrid strategy of leadership could be followed by India at present and if need be in the next decade. Futuristic India must be driven by its Young Leaders with senior citizens leadership being Advisers by choice; that could eventually deliver both Quantity & Quality in Governance. Country urgently needs an assembly line for leadership to shape leaders of future decade.
We need to design a unique leadership program keeping in view of its need, culture and value system. Indian Young leaders of the future decade should be physically strong, professionally competent with Intellectual depth. They must also possess ability to inspire people with varied Indian languages, strong belief in ethics and must be financially liberated with a Spartan life style. Leadership Gurukul can be developed by Govt or Corporate in tier two cities where students of Gurukul can complete their formal education of choice in the city while attending and living the leadership coaching specially designed to transform students into empowered World Class leaders on their own right. After completion of their studies and leadership training they can join any Political party of their political persuasion to give a able leadership from Govt. or from opposition. Ideally Leadership Gurukul should recruit students across the country having ambition for political leadership in the age group of 18-25. Potential Leaders must have academic excellence, physical prowess and deep knowledge about the country and also should meet other requirements of World Class Leadership and with passion to contribute towards Nation Building
Thursday, March 17, 2011
How to Improve Efficiency of Governments in India?
Bikash Choudhury
Problems:
1. In our opinion our administration is designed at the time of "British Administration" for their own requirement to perpetuate their dominion in India and even after over 60 years of independence, we have not changed much to align the administration to suit the requirement of free India.Therefore, time and again we come across serious setbacks that soil the image of our country.[ General feeling is that, govt. employees consider ordinary citizens with contempt that Britishers used to do]
2.Our I.A.S probationers join service with lot of enthusiasm and Idealism;but, over period of time under the wheel of system they loose drive, initiative and innovation in administration.
3.The main problem in Central & State Administration is the large no of Jr. level employees(bottom of pyramid) loose a sense of identity, recognition after joining govt. service, i.e., a very large organization. They are not consulted in important matters of State in spite of having knowledge and skill after working on the subject for long time. (They are condemned to repetitive work for life in current system-----huge loss of human resources.
4.Central & State Govt. being very large organization and does not have a proactive HRD organization & system to use the human resources at optimum efficiency as private sector does(Though the two sectors Job Content can't be compared one to one)
5. In my opinion, Govt. sector work at 55-65% of their efficiency which can be considerably improved with appropriate intervention in HR practices.
Solution:
1. Central & State Govt. immediately need a very competent HRD organisation to convert its Human resources into highly productive assets for the country. Hypothesis: Every 5% improvement in Govt. efficiency would add 0.5% growth in GDP.
2. Jr. employees can be allowed to/or have the freedom to suggest any Ideas that would have bearing on administration, policy and execution. (Repetitive work does not facilitate innovation and kill enthusiasm)
3. Senior and Mid level I.A.S /I.P.S/ & other central services officers must be offered refresher training with contents that would inspire a sense of history of country, Philosophy of life and spiritual base of our country to make them Leaders of Men with interest to leave behind a vibrant legacy with their work in Govt.
4. Inter Ministerial co-ordination has always been a very difficult task involving inflated Ego between departments. One solution of this could be: Each Ministry/Department/ and Govt. office the No 2 position could be vested with responsibility for proactive co-ordination between Ministry/Department/and Govt. offices that should put inter ministerial work in auto pilot mode as their performance could be monitored/measured and appropriate rewards given in time.
5.With growing complexity of administration, at senior level Govt. can start a 'Officers exchange program' with private sector to develop necessary business skill in administration.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
PROBLEM IN SUPPLY OF LPG
(Published in The New Indian Express)
BIKASH CHOUDHURY
Being a consumer of LPG connection of one of the public sector petroleum company; thought, after receiving a double cylinder, my problem would be over pertaining to erratic supply of LPG refill. But, that was one of my wishful thinking as I had to run after private suppliers of LPG in the neighbor hood, even after a booking for a refill of 38 days. I had to buy LPG at Rs.65 a Kg available in the open market. I am sure, thousands of LPG consumer would be facing similar problem again and again in the city of Bhubaneswar. Who is to blame for this sorry state of affairs? In my opinion, the hypocrisy in subsidizing pricing of LPG by Govt. alone responsible for this problem. Any middle class family in the city and else where could easily afford to pay Rs.450 for a standard cylinder of 14.2 Kg. Out of additional one hundred rupees if the LPG distributor gets additional Rs.25 as handling charges and rest Rs. 75 could go to reduce the subsidy of Govt. and thereby bridging the wide gap between subsidizing pricing and the open market and would help stop black market of such a sensitive item in our homes and more over reduce the risk to life of road side untrained shop keeper who vend LPG gas on the street with crude device. This could be a win-win solution for all stake holders. But, it is unlikely that authorities would see reason unless until LPG consumers vociferously raise this issue and media patronize the cause.
BIKASH CHOUDHURY
Being a consumer of LPG connection of one of the public sector petroleum company; thought, after receiving a double cylinder, my problem would be over pertaining to erratic supply of LPG refill. But, that was one of my wishful thinking as I had to run after private suppliers of LPG in the neighbor hood, even after a booking for a refill of 38 days. I had to buy LPG at Rs.65 a Kg available in the open market. I am sure, thousands of LPG consumer would be facing similar problem again and again in the city of Bhubaneswar. Who is to blame for this sorry state of affairs? In my opinion, the hypocrisy in subsidizing pricing of LPG by Govt. alone responsible for this problem. Any middle class family in the city and else where could easily afford to pay Rs.450 for a standard cylinder of 14.2 Kg. Out of additional one hundred rupees if the LPG distributor gets additional Rs.25 as handling charges and rest Rs. 75 could go to reduce the subsidy of Govt. and thereby bridging the wide gap between subsidizing pricing and the open market and would help stop black market of such a sensitive item in our homes and more over reduce the risk to life of road side untrained shop keeper who vend LPG gas on the street with crude device. This could be a win-win solution for all stake holders. But, it is unlikely that authorities would see reason unless until LPG consumers vociferously raise this issue and media patronize the cause.
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