Being the Chief Minister

“That Government is Best which Governs Least” as righty said by Henry David Thomas is
the best strategy in my view to be adopted by a Chief Minister of any state or Prime Minister
of a country. Before coming to the problems and its solutions, let me begin first by
highlighting the key aspects of a “Good Governance” and my approach will be based on
these parameters. There is no doubt and debate on the matter that Democracy is the best form
of any government. However, it is to be understood that simply electing our representatives is
not the complete form of Democracy. It does not take much time when governance becomes
the privilege of these representatives and leads to misgovernance. We need a “participatory
democracy” where the voices of masses are heard and the policies must be based on the
welfare of helpless and needless people rather than keeping in mind the benefit of few chunks
of people. If I need to put it in 5 letters, I will follow the policy of SMART government-
Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent. I agree to some criticizers that
these are ideal cases and look good only on the paper; however, I strongly believe that all we
need is just a simple point- “Political Will” and everything will move on in favour.


Assam is one of the prominent states of India and since independence; it has been facing
political and social issues both internally (in terms of insurgency of ULFA) and externally
(the Border issue with Bangladesh). Whether it is illegal immigration, migration of people in
search of better education, inefficient utilisation of natural resources, and rampant corruption
among the government officials etc. all have to be checked by a collective effort of the
Government and those who are being governed.


Let me then begin by taking into consideration the problem of illegal migrants. We must
understand the impact it has on the residing people. There is also too much pressure on the
natural resources which is available for the people of a particular area. Very recently, we saw
the violence in three districts of Assam which was believed to be a cause of illegal
Bangladeshi migrants. As said by the leader of Asom Gana Parishad, because of the increase
in the proportion of these illegal migrants, there is a growing aggressiveness among these
people and they sometimes clash with the local people for controlling the available resources.
As a Chief Minister, I will immediately discuss the severity of these issues with the Home Minister
and plan for sealing the Border. It is only the reluctancy of the Union Government
and the State Government and probably the vote bank politics of the State Government that
leads to such type of situation in the state. I will not wait for the next violence to take its
shape but will ensure that it is done and will also prepare a plan with the help of locals to
identify those immigrants and will take them to legal course of action.


The other problem which needs the serious attention of State Government is that of Education
sector. The literacy rate of Assam is 73.18% which is even below the national average (when
the national average is not too impressive!!!). Hence, we need a collective effort to improve
upon it from the basic level i.e right from the Primary level to the Secondary level. We find
most students migrate to other cities for higher education. Last year, our education minister
Himanta Biswas Sarma requested the HRD ministry to set up IIIT and IISER but nothing has
been done so far. It was a good step on the part of education minister of the state. But,
considering the fact that the central government lacks political will, as a CM, I will prepare a
plan and try to retain these students by collaborating with the research institutes to set up its
branch it my state. I want to apply this approach as my first step. This is because if I can get
few good institutes, I can attract many students from other cities too. This will in response
will reduce my dependency on the central government for funds. Also, I will try to allocate
more percentage of GDP in the education sector as I believe proper education can itself solve
most of the problems. For this purpose, I will improve on other sectors to gain more funds.
Assam is one of the gifted states on the ground of natural resources. Only thing we need to
understand that the state government is unable to attract investors. However, the primary
requirement for this is the “Infrastructure” which is purely on the hands of any state
government. So, even though I have no control over the geographic location of my state, but I
can surely improve the infrastructure of my state which will lead to the creation of investment
friendly climate in the state. Just like the “Vibrant Gujarat Summit”, I will create similar type
of Summit on a large scale with the investors of India and will make them understand the
importance of investing in Assam. At first, I will have to provide them the required incentives
to set up their industries or invest in the existing ones. Other areas where I can play to get
more investment in the economy is Tourism.Even though Assam is one of the naturally
gifted places, we are not able attract as many as other states like Rajasthan in “Tourism”. I
will try to promote it throughout the length and breadth of the country and promise to the
visitors their safe visit to the state. When tourism is a growing field, we should keep in mind
its impact on the economy. In some country like Monaco, their main source of income is
tourism. However, I will make it a point that tourism does not lead to degradation of its
unique culture as is the case with some tourist places like in Andaman and Nicobar Island.


On a further note, I would like to discuss about the growing menace of corruption. Assam
government is no good in this aspect. It is a general perception that most of these government
officials evade the funds meant to be invested in infrastructure, health and education only for
their personal gains. However, if I say that I will be an honest CM and will not allow any of
such activities to be in place in my government, I will be making a hollow statement because
people have probably lost their faith on the political class or their credibility has surely
decreased. Hence, to revive this faith, I will adopt the policy of “Right to Recall” and “Right
to Reject”.


On conclusion, I would try to create a link between the government and People. The political
class must understand that it is for the “Aam Junta” that we have to work and not for the
fulfilment of their political ambition. As far as economy is concerned, it is like a cycle, I will
take into account all together and not target any particular sector to become self sustained.
This is like a chain, even if any single unit is not working, it may destabilize the entire
system. Hence, I will improve infrastructure, look into investment, fund more into the
education sector etc. and only then we as a citizen can be proud of our state and will serve as
an example for others. Let’s take the initiative!!!

To curb the menace of inflation!!

Inflation has always been one of the key concerns of every nation and India is no exception to it. We keep on hearing the loud voices of the market force getting strong as soon the RBI prepares itself to announce its quarterly monetary policy or in case our Government announces some fiscal measures to deal with the Inflation-Growth problem.

In India, inflation is based on WPI (Wholesale price Index) which is a basket of 676 items. In November 2012, inflation based on WPI stood at 7.24% (still in the trotting zone). However, some economists believe that CPI (Consumer Price Index) is a better method to determine inflation because of their differences in the weights of essential items. This is because inflation directly hurts the poor people and CPI data shows the increase in price of "primary items" like food and fuel separately. On the other way, WPI carries very less weight of primary goods (only 20%). The food inflation stands at around 9.5% which is still in the uncomfortable zone for the Aam Aadmi. 

Before coming to the measures taken to curb inflation, let us first discuss the main causes of inflation. Inflation is caused by increase in demand of essential goods and services. There is a famous saying: “Too Much Money Chasing Too Few Goods”- this is the case with demand-pull inflation. Other type of inflation is due to structural deficiency in the economy which is unable to respond to people’s increased demand for food. It also includes the inefficient distribution system. Cartelisation, Hoarding are other economic issues leading to man-made inflation.

I believe the solution is based on the collective effort of Fiscal, Monetary and Administrative measures. The “Fiscal Measures” is based on the government policies. Government of India at first should try to reduce the “indirect tax” as it directly hurts the lower income groups. However, to compensate for this, government must increase the “Tax Base”. At present, it is only a mere 2.5% tax payers in the country. Tax evasion is highly prominent in our country. Very recently, America adopted a policy whereby the super-rich will have to pay higher tax. I subscribe to this view and it can be adopted by India. Even some economists including the PMEAC chairman C Rangarajan suggested the incumbent Finance Minister Mr. P Chidambaram to follow the same route. The other area for the government to manage efficiently is the “Expenditure” of the revenue generated. India has been facing high fiscal deficit of around 5.9% in 2012. This inefficient expenditure increases liquidity in the market. However, the sad part of the story is that these expenditure in most of the times fails to create Asset for the country. For eg. We are spending crores in MGNREGA without creating any asset. The government must understand that these are not sustainable in the long run and also leads to inflationary pressure. It is equally true that expenditure is important for carrying out the social work for the needy, but we should focus on skill development so that dependency on the government is reduced and hence the unnecessary expenditure. One of the most crucial areas requiring prompt attention of the government is that of “Infrastructure”.  Infrastructure includes roads, storage facility etc. Lack of infrastructure leads to higher transportation cost and hence increases prices of essential commodities. Also, we are facing serious shortage of good storage facilities resulting in demand-supply imbalance. The government should also look upon with a hawk-eye that there is no cartelization. It is not for a single time or so we had observed cartelization by the companies. Not many days ago CCI (Competition Commission of India) had imposed fine on eleven cement firms, DLF etc. These are of the nature of self-created inflation.

The Reserve Bank of India is always under pressure especially from the corporate to reduce the CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio), Bank rate etc. These come under the monetary policy. It is very much necessary for the RBI to keep the policy rates balanced and not fall to the external pressure to keep inflation under control. It is also the responsibility of the Administrators to keep vigilance regarding hoarding. The 2010 onion price surge was an example of hoarding.

In conclusion, the government should keep in mind that inflation creates a negative sentiment among the masses and must make suitable policies to keep inflation on check. 

SO... Here comes the last phase for many !!!!!!

I do not know exactly why I am being driven or motivated to write this small post. Perhaps one reason can be the expectations of people of our country from IITians. For some people, IITians are the role models, while for others they are just a bunch of "Intelligent people" who fall prey to the lure of huge package and forget their the so called "Social Responsibility". I do not know which way to go !!!!!  Hence it is an small effort form my side to put forth my views and hope to find the answer regarding the validity of the views of different sections of people. 

The placement for the year 2012 is on its way. Many many congratulations and good wishes to them from my side. Its only 2-3 days and some students got placed in companies like FB, GS, DB, Schluberger, Mitsubishi and many more on the list. If we look at the average package of these (above mentioned) companies, the average package is around 20 lpa  (Caution:This is not the final average package for IIT).  As the placement session ends, perhaps all gets placed in some company or the other. I do not know the exact percentage of students placed in their respective core companies, however, it will not be wrong to say that the % is quite less because of the not-so-handsome package that these companies offer. 

Lets come to main point directly i.e the topic under consideration. To defend this aspect, I would very promptly say that IIT was established to produce leaders in different fields (not necessarily engineering) so that with the skill they developed in the IIT Curriculum, they make an impact not only at the national but at the international level too. It is through their hard labour that they have come to this stage. Thus by entering in any multinational companies (MNCs), they are proving their mettle and will contribute in the growth of a company. Also it must be borne in mind that these people have to undergo several tests, interviews to finally get selected. So, at every stage, IITians are proving their capability and leadership too. At 21 or so, being a part of a MNC and contributing in its day to day affairs speaks a lot on itself. So, no doubt on leadership too..!!!!! HENCE the aim of producing these IIT ians gets fulfilled... Right!!!! 

Contrary to it there are other views too floating in the educational market. It says the IITs are just a manufacturer of "items or products" for these MNCs. What's the use of having such people in the country or their leadership who are serving only their purpose and hardly care for those who have contributed to their "Subsidised" education. According to Harish Hande, a Ramon Magsaysay Award Winner and an IIT Khargpur alumni, IITians are a "Product of Subsidy" of the tax payers which consists of 70% of the poor people in India.  He believes they got a chance to come to IIT just because 600 million Indians did not have the opportunity to prove themselves. In other words, the other part of India are too unprivileged to even participate in the day to day affairs of our country. So isn't it the responsibility of these IIT ians to use their "high level intelligence" to solve the problems of rural India so that they can also play in the frontfoot? If these IITians will not solve the problems of India. no one else will probably. US and Europe are already too developed and they do not need us the extent to which India needs them. So, a small conclusion can be drawn from here: There is a fight between personal gain and country's well being. We the people of India have become so concerned about our personal well being that we at most of the time forget our Social Responsibility whether it is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or any other. A lady reader once said "These corporates exploit the poor men for their personal growth in the day time and at night they draw their curtains to avoid those poor on the road sleeping under the streetlight". Hence, we really need a transformed India where even a small worker who works on daily wage to have the minimum requirements of life.  We desperately need an ecosystem so that India can retain its manpower specially these IITians so that they contribute in providing a feasible solution to the problems of India. 

Solving a critical book question is good but the need of the hour is to solve the real problems we are facing. 

I will pen down my writing with my last statement. A social enterpreneur once said humourously " IITians generally move away from our country or work in other areas just because they are afraid of solving the real life problems and make themselves comfortable with the corporate world which pays them handsomely".

Note: Constructive views are welcomed and appreciated.

Cable TV Digitization

Digitization : The way ahead for India Television
	Time to switch to Videocon d2h, “The purple digital revolution”
	Govt. of India has passed an ordinance mandating the digitization of Cable Services? What does this mean?
	A ordinance has been passed by the Govt. of India on the mandatory digitization of the Cable Services. According to this amendment made in the section 9 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 1995, the I&B ministry will make Digital Addressable System mandatory. This measure will empower consumers to an increased number of channels and high quality viewing. The concept of a prime band will be passé after introduction of digitization. Viewers will be able to access digital services only through a set top box (STB). Eventually, you will be facing a black out of analog signals in major metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai post October 31st 2012, in cities with more than one million populations like Pune, Ahmedabad and Bangalore by March 31, 2013, the deadline for complete digitization in urban areas is September 30, 2014 while the entire country is expected to achieve digitization by December 31, 2014.
	Every Household in India must have a Digital Set Top Box post these deadlines to be able to watch Satellite TV.
	The process of Digitization will definitely benefit the television viewers in India. Digitization will lead TV viewers to more qualitative viewing with access to digital picture and High Definition Digital (HDD) Sound Quality. The real advantage for TV viewers will be when they opt for a DTH Service provider like Videocon d2h.
	TV viewing services in India is currently provided mainly by three mediums Analogue Cable Services, Digital Cable Services and Digital DTH Services. Analogue cable services have been existing in India for more than two decades in India, however, analogue cable services have limited number of channels and do not have extra features and value added services. Digital DTH services in India have been started less than a decade back and are gaining popularity and acceptance in India mainly because of their superior picture and sound quality.
	Everything you need to know about Digitization
	Do you still watch your television programs on cable?
	The cable operators transmit the channels in analog signal mode which is very hazy. The common problems associated with the analog transmission include ghosting of images or even hazy and noisy signal. You will notice that after a particular number, the quality of channels become very poor.
	In high end televisions, cable is more distorted and one will not be able to watch the programs clearly. You need to switch over to the Digital signals provided by a DTH service provider to reap the full benefits of a high end television and its superior features.
	What is a Digital Signal? How are they superior then Analog signal?
	In a digital signal, the receptivity is much clearer and all the channels have the same reception quality. As both the signals are received at the same time, there are no issues with the synchronization of sound with video.
	Are Cable Operator ready to beam digital signals?
	Cable operators are currently providing analog signals. There is a huge cost involved in digitization of cable signals and many cable operators are shying away from this kind of investment, barring few organized and large scale cable operators.
	Why do you need to switch to DTH today?
	DTH means, Direct to Home Service. Through this service, the recipient will receive the signals directly from the satellite on his Set Top Box. The viewer gets a wider range of channels to choose from which can be activated through packages. The picture quality is much superior and the sound is crystal clear. The viewers are also able to watch High Definition content which is set to make television viewing even more superlative. HD Channels is one of the major advantages for a DTH Service subscriber along with other features mentioned below. One can now watch his favorite sports action or travel & adventure series in high definition; he can now also see all the movie action with higher clarity. There is upto 5 times picture quality over normal or standard definition picture quality and the images carry 16: 9 aspect ratios. Note: I have not written it myself. I have taken it from a source. However, the information will be beneficial to all. Thank you.

Tamil Nadu VS Sri Lanka + Foreign Relations with Neighbors

Sri lankan tamils perhaps have become an ethnic group in the South Asian island of Sri Lanka. According to Anthropological evidences and Archaeological evidences, Sri Lankan Tamils have been living on the island since 2nd Century BCE (Ref: wiki), but, there has been a constant tension between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. Sinhalese are the majority population of SL and constitute around 74.5% of Sri Lankan population. 
In the present situation when "INTERNATIONAL RELATION" plays a key role for a country in terms of economy, political stability, border issues etc., we are trying to worsen our relation and that too with a neighboring nation. 
Very recently, Jayalalithaa, the incumbent CM of Tamil Nadu in her letter to the PM expressed her anger for training the Sri Lankan Army officers in Wellington (Tamil Nadu). Not many days later, in another case, she suspended the officer for allowing the Sri Lankan football players to play a friendly match with a custom department team. It clearly reflects the lack of co-ordination between the central and the state government. When the matter is related to any foreign country, it becomes a national issue and should be a prerogative of the Central Government and not only the state government. The decision should be made either by a consensus of both or by the central government. Sole decision/Hard decision of the state government will only bitter-up the relation and may not be in the favour of India. 
Talking about our foreign policy- India was always a believer of maintaining a fine diplomatic relation specially with our neighbors. India played a key role in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. In 1988, India helped preserve the integrity of Maldives by assisting it from the take over by armed mercenaries. In fact, India won International Appreciation for its initiatives for strengthening ties with neighbors. These initiatives are based on five principles. 
1. With neighbors like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, India does not ask for reciprocity but gives all that it can in good faith and trust. 
2. No south Asian countries should allow its territories to be used against the interest of another country of the region. 
3. No country will interfere in the internal affairs of the other.
4. All South Asian countries must respect each other's territorial integrity and Sovereignty. 
5. They should settle all disputes through peaceful bilateral negotiations. 
India has taken several further steps which gained her respect from other countries and also positioned it among the powerful countries not only in Asia but in the world too. India is considered as the leader of the developing nations and having the potential to be a developed nation somewhere down the line. 
India is a key member of SAARC. In the recent years SAARC played a crucial role in the accelerating pace of economic growth. The South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) became operational in 1995. At the 9th SAARC summit in Male in 1997, chaired by India, a historical decision was taken to strive for a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) BY THE YEAR 2001. At present India is implementing a "LOOK EAST" policy. Some significant steps in the pursuance of this policy has been taken with the admission of India as a full dialogue partner of Association of South east Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a member of ASEAN Regional Forum in 1996. 

Reference: Embassy of INDIA, Beijing

The MULAYAM'S game plan

Ms. Mamta Banerjee's  act of leaving the UPA political ground was thought to be catastrophic by many. But, to the dismay of Ms. Banerjee and other oppositions, a third hand was ready to help out the government from the "No-Trust Motion" to be passed in the parliament. The third hand was none other than the game changer Mulayam Singh Yadav.
It was not the first time that UPA was supported by him, but we had seen it earlier in the Presidential Election too when Mulayam changed his plan overnight from Mr. APJ Kalam to  Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. During that situation too, Ms. Banerjee was on the loosing side.
So far so good...
The question which is not exactly clear is: why Mulayam is extending to support to the government even though it is a true fact that "The sooner the election , better the opportunity for SP to increase their seats in Delhi".  The answer cannot be anywhere near Ms. Banerjee because SP is not going to be affected anyway by the TMC. Thinking that the BJP should not form the party from SP'S point of view is not justifiable because we cannot ignore the fact that BJP in no circumstances is going to win elections (if it happens now). BJP is not strong enough to form party at this moment because of their lack of leadership and the internal mis-understandings among the party members. The relation between Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar are well known to all and their race for the post of PM.
The SP's answer to it that they do not want to give chance to any non-secular party to comew to the centre seems to somewhat bizarre looking at the present situation. Then lets look at the exact reasons.
 Certainly SP has the required no.'s to save the government. Hence, it can get benefits and make the work done by putting pressure on the government and at the same time supporting it from outside. It seems to be double plan of Mulayam.
Also, if Mulayam withdraws support and the government somehow fails to topple, it will be a crucial loss to SP as well as UP. This is because of the financial problem of UP. The SP in that case may lose the Central assistance which will be fatal for the cash-strapped Akhilesh Government.
SP on the other hand, by putting pressure and carrying out rallies can earn the favour of other Third Front parties and also the people.
Hence, it is better for him to extend his support to the government for whatever time they can and wait for the right time to come.
The extra time may also provide SP an opportunity to make its base strong enough so that it can make itself fully prepared for the 2014 elections. Even it does not make too much impact, it might remain a part of the UPA govt. (it hardly matters they win or lose). If the UPA wins the elections, it will be even better for the SP to bargain for some cabinet positions (I am expecting that if the UPA wins, it will be in coalition with the SP).
Lets wait and watch each and every step very carefully particularly of the SP. 2014 election is not too far away.
There will be more to watch the new party of Arvind Kejriwal who will announce its party's name on 26th November. More and more competition. Hope that 2014 election might be an important election for INDIA and many changes can be expected.
Reference: The Hindu 26th sep.