Morality? A Rara Avis.

I am in the process of selling a flat in Gurgaon. As I told brokers and buyers that I wanted a 'full cheque' payment (My apologies to any foreign readers who may not understand what this means. What I am referring to is the Indian practice of taking part of the payment in cash, thereby avoiding tax) their expressions ranged from frank incredulity to pity. WHY would anyone want to pay a penny more tax than was absolutely necessary even if the process involves doing something blatantly illegal? Clearly, the process of defrauding the government was being blithely undertaken by all concerned, the government's tall claims of having reduced/eliminated 'black' money notwithstanding. It's a different matter that the colour of the 'black' money is now a bilious  pink, given the rather loathsome colour of the new Rs 2000 notes.

Recently, I needed to change the tyres on my car. The dealer offered me 3 alternatives for payment:

1. Cash - no tax (GST) would be levied. On my asking what would happen to the warranty for the tyres as it would be an unrecorded purchase, the dealer reassured me. "Hum hain na sirji. Tusi nischint raho." Again, the flavour of this statement is typically North Indian. Full of nice sounding insincerity.  
2. Cash or Cheque with GST. Here the cost was significantly higher due to the high rates that are applicable under the GST regime.
3. Credit Card - Here an additional 2% would be levied on top of option 2 by the dealer to account for the credit card charges that he had to pay the card company. 

He was clearly disappointed and a bit contemptuous when I opted for 3. However I manged to mitigate my own stupidity by prevailing upon him to forgo the 2% credit card charge. A small victory indeed!

There are innumerable examples of the traffic police coming up with 'Good Driving Week' where they will challan you if your car crosses the stop line at a traffic light, or for over-speeding or a whole range of minor traffic offences. Once the week is over, it's business a usual with a quiet colloquy with the traffic cop and some money that solves all problems.

It is fair to say that there are some areas where such dishonesty has been reduced or eliminated. Railway reservations, driving licences, passports, etc, largely due to IT that has led to the elimination of touts and brokers. However, the Indian psyche seems to naturally gravitate towards the easy (and cheaper) way out.

So are we an immoral society? The short answer is "yes".

Politicians and Godmen never tire of extolling the virtues of our glorious past. We claim to have have invented virtually everything from aeroplanes to nuclear bombs and we have a monopoly on any intellectual or artistic activity. A truly prolific and talented people indeed! We can be justly proud of the Ramrajya in the past but spare a thought for our immoral present where 'subkuch chalta hai' and businessmen and others revel in the tax that they have evaded and the rules that they have bent!

I wonder when it became socially acceptable to entertain a black-marketer or tax evader in your drawing room. The only problem is that you may lose all your friends and acquaintances if you were to rigidly enforce this rule. Coming to think of it you may be barred entry into your own drawing room as well!

PS - I did finally manage to sell my flat on 'full cheque' payment. Looks like I'm not the only foolish fellow around!


Take a look at my book 'Journey to the Hills and other Stories'. This nostalgic collection of short stories has reached the Amazon bestseller list for travel writing and has been highly acclaimed by readers.

You can buy the book from Amazon. Just click on the Link

Colonial Hangover

There are many types of Colonial Hangovers that India suffers from. Many of us are closet anglophiles and have a sneaking admiration for the language and customs of an England, all but forgotten by the English themselves. Brexit is an example of a classic muddled English mess, not to be confused by the food they eat which is messy enough. Having said all this, one of the most pernicious colonial hangovers is our system of Government.

Parliamentary democracy originated in the 'Mother of all Parliaments' in Westminster and was probably appropriate for a small, rain soaked medieval island, struggling to free itself from capricious kings, an effete aristocracy and a dominating clergy. The necessity of an 'Upper House' where the offspring of dukes and earls could be accommodated was probably necessary if you had to maintain a semblance of a monarchy with the attendant trappings of an aristocracy. Why is it necessary in India? Here the Rajya Sabha is full of irrelevant nominees and it's only purpose seems to be to act as a check on the legitimately elected Lok Sabha. Why is such a check necessary? Carrying on the same theme, why must we have a ceremonial President who lives in a 350 room mansion and mimics the ceremonial duties and functions of the Queen of England? It seems totally absurd.

Even more absurd is the relationship between the States and the Centre. Our states are big places with populations of 100 Mn or more. Yet, in our legislation we have a Central list, a State List and hold your hat a Concurrent List of areas where the State, Centre or BOTH can create legislation. If this is not a mess what is? The pathetic situation in Delhi is a case in point where an elected Chief Minister who won by a record margin has to kow tow to a mid level bureaucrat. Surely the States should be competent to run their own affairs and we should not have situations like the GST where we have 3 types of GST to cater to the States and the Centre's wishes.

I could go on in this fashion. What we clearly need is a rethink on the way that Government works in our country. Specifically:

1. What should be role of the States vs the Centre. As our Economy grows, each state has become a powerful economic entity. Socio-Cultural differences are stark between one State and another. Surely, they should be allowed to manage their own affairs with only a limited role for the Centre?
2. What should be the Governance Structure? Roles and responsibilities need to be defined and the public should be clear about what they can expect from their elected representatives. Are any of us clear about what we should expect from our MPs or MLAs vs the bureaucracy? I for one am not clear at all. If political parties wish to claim that they are the ones who deliver economic prosperity in a physical sense to people as opposed to merely legislation let them define their roles and responsibilities clearly for the public.
3. Delayering and role clarity are some of the mantras of modern management practice. Sadly the reverse seems to be the case in Government. Instead we have multiplicity of roles, lack of clarity of objectives and so forth.
4. What is the role of the IAS? This is a generalist cadre who magically become MDs in highly technical enterprises. They also become Economists almost by osmosis and take on important roles in Finance. Many elected MPs and others complain of the stultifying attitude of the IAS. Surely we need to rethink the role of 'Collectors' - another Colonial Hangover.  

As of now I for one do not see any thinking or a way forward on any of these issues. Governments come and go but we do not see concrete and meaningful changes in the WAY we work. The net result is that there is very little difference between the performance of one Government and another. They may shout from the rooftops about their contribution and how they are different and better but deep down inside it's all much of a muchness.

India deserves better.



Take a look at my book 'Journey to the Hills and other Stories'. This nostalgic collection of short stories has reached the Amazon bestseller list for travel writing and has been highly acclaimed by readers.

You can buy the book from Amazon. Just click on the Link

Affirmative Action and School Education

The Wikipedia definition of Affirmative Action is really quite simple

(in the context of the allocation of resources or employment) the practice or policy of favouring individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously; positive discrimination.

In India the practice of reservations (the Indian equivalent of affirmative action) in Government schools , colleges and jobs has been mired in controversy and bitterness for decades. The recent move to introduce reservations based on economic status in addition to caste based reservation has created a new dimension. In some ways this goes against the spirit of the original plan for the uplift of people who had suffered discrimination due to the caste system for centuries. On the other hand, it acknowledges the reality of poverty even amongst the upper castes.

In the early '70's when I was a student at IIT Kanpur, the institute started taking in a few scheduled caste candidates. These students had a severe handicap partly because the medium of instruction was English. They had to take remedial classes for a long time before they could comprehend what was going on in the classroom. In addition, since entry standards were relaxed for them their ability to cope with the curriculum was very poor. The IITs also suffered on account of a drop in brand image and perception as top quality institutions. In all respects, the idea of opening up premier institutes of learning to such practices hurts both the students that it tries to help as well as the institutes themselves.

In my view the practice of reservation as carried out in India since independence is a lazy government's easy way out.

If we are serious about creating a level playing field the starting point is to ensure that high quality school education is made available universally. After that, individual merit will take a young person to the best colleges where scholarships and tuition waivers can be made available to needy students. Thereafter jobs will need no reservations as all applicants will be evaluated on merit alone. Let us examine how we have performed as a nation in the critical area of school education.

India is a young country.

34% of the population is of school going age. This corresponds to over 400 Mn children (Census of India) who should have access to high quality education.  This includes about 288 Mn upto class 10 and the balance upto Class 12.

To service these huge numbers, India has an estimated 14,65,000 schools:

No of Schools in India (FICCI/E&Y Study)
Government	8,18,000
Local body/muncipal	3,09,000
Private aided	1,57,000
Private unaided	1,81,000
Total	14,65,000

As can be seen from the above table, the vast majority (76%) are Government run though they account for only 60% of the enrollment. Government run schools are therefore smaller than their private counterparts.

Clearly, the onus of school education in India lies squarely with the Government and this is where we have miserably failed as a nation. Anyone who has been to a Government school will know that infrastructure is pathetic, the curriculum and text books are outdated and full of errors and most importantly teachers are either absent or if they do come to school at all they spend the day in gossiping and drinking tea. As for the quality of teachers, the less said the better. In many ways the Government school system is a microcosm of the pathetic state of most Government run enterprises, be it the Railways, the healthcare system, the Public Sector, Air India or any of the myriad enterprises that the Government claims to run.

The tragedy is that while the rest of the shebang can carry on, poor school education saps the energy of the nation. Without it the country rests on a very weak foundation. In fact the much touted 'youth bulge' or 'demographic dividend' is fast becoming a liability rather than an asset.

What needs to be done? I have the following thoughts:

1. We need to have a dynamic and dedicated Minister for School Education. A person like Atishi Marlena of the AAP has made a significant difference to Delhi schools. Similarly, if the country is to progress, we need a dedicated, relatively apolitical leader.
2. In the '70s, the Government had handed over the distribution of Nirodh to 6 private companies. Hindustan Lever, ITC, Brooke Bond, Lipton, Tata Oil Mills and Union Carbide. The scheme was a huge success with vastly increased volumes of the contraceptive becoming available in the remotest areas of the country.  Similarly, I would recommend that the responsibility for running Government schools should be handed over to the private sector with a clear division of geographical territory. Instead on 6 companies there should be many more with smaller, more focused areas of operation.
3. CSR budgets of  companies should be earmarked for school education in addition to government budgetary allocations that are already available.  
4. School education in Government schools should be entirely free and universally available to all citizens. Private schools will coexist but the objective would be to make parents actually prefer a Government school education for their children as is the case currently in many parts of the developed world. 

What would be outcome of such a strategy? Clearly, such strategies take time to bear fruit. However, in 10 - 15 years years time if pursued diligently we should be able to remove the inequities in our school education system. This will, in time, obviate the need for reservations in colleges and Government jobs. As Shakespeare put it, that would be 'a consummation devoutly to be wished!'

Take a look at my book of nostalgic family stories set in Mussoorie

You can buy the book from Amazon Just click on the link.