Vijay Kumar Gaba

"The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground."

—Buddha (Indian, 563-483BC)

Word for the day

Forgettery (n)

A faculty or facility for forgetting; faulty memory, e.g., A witness with a very convenient forgettery

Malice towards none

"Raid" sounds like a war cry.

Can't we use a more civilized term like "Inspected" or "Visited" to report visits of enforcement authorities at someone's place?

First random thought this morning

Chinese manufacturers have studied the Indian traditions and markets very closely. That is why they have been able to penetrate all our festivals and benefit from it by selling God idols, Diwali lights and fire crackers, Holi colors, home decorations etc.

Patanjli Ayurveda is using the strategy. They go to the market, see what is selling and launch a seemingly cheaper version of all such products.

Emotions are evoked to hide the complete lack of innovation!

Be with times

The consistent "below potential" performance of Indian economy has been a matter of concern for both the investors (especially global investors) and the government. Though we have seen some instances of high growth (the best being 1994-97, 2005-09), such growth did never realistically appeared sustainable or consistent. In fact all such instances of sporadic high growth invariably led to (i) crumbling of already inadequate physical infrastructure; and (ii) heightened social strife as the system was not able to complement the burgeoning aspirations.

As already stated on multiple occasions, I have always been skeptical about the matrix commonly used to measure the potential growth, as it mostly ignores the qualitative aspects.

It is common knowledge that inadequate basic infrastructure, both social & physical and unacceptably large level of inequalities (socio-economic & regional) have been constricting the economic growth. For example, lack of adequate parking space (and not the affordability) may be limiting the demand for passenger cars. Poor health due to malnutrition may be impacting the productivity of labor. Inadequate port capacity, and not necessarily the demand, may be limiting the foreign trade.

A more serious limiting factor of our growth has been the poor quality of our human resources and the famous Jugaad mindset. The level of education & training in the country has been more than wanting. Moreover, the "quick fix" mindset for problem solving may have prevented finding and implementing sustainable and scalable solutions.

The ‘jugaad’ mindset has traditionally pushed back India and Indians tenaciously into survival mode, preventing development of a strong foundation for economic growth and prosperity.

The ‘jugaad’ mindset reflects poorly on almost every aspect of the socio-economic life in India. This has severely impacted the pursuit of excellence, a hall mark of Indian art, culture, engineering, architecture, industry till 19^thcentury, at least. Today, “Quality” is something India and Indians are not particularly known for globally.

As stated earlier also, occasionally I get the opportunity to work with some of the active participants in the Prime Minister Skill Development Scheme. After having witnessed the training process and assessing the training content & trainers' quality, I have mixed feelings.

During the course of my engagement with the program, I always get a feeling that this scheme might not be much different from MNREGA or its previous incarnation, viz., JLN Grameen Rozgar Yozna. The facilitator, the trainer & the trainee all appeared more interested in the immediate payout rather than the long term impact of the capacity building of the intended beneficiaries.

Without getting into the debate over issues of quality and utility of the training under the scheme, and potential corruption involved in that, I find the endeavor lacking conceptually.

I get a feeling that there is no primary driving force behind the skill development mission. It just addresses the status quo; no "forward looking" involved. Such a massive exercise, simply ignores the global trends in automation & robotics changing the economic landscape faster than ever.

The prospective trainees just go out in the market, search for the "Required" board hanging outside some work place and seek training so that they could get into that work place. There is no aptitude test of the trainee, demand assessment of the skill, or sustainability of the business that would employ that skill.

Imagine, half a million embroidery workers getting trained in three years only to find that automatic machines have replaced their skills; or a million dairy workers getting skill training only to discover that all dairy farms have been fully automated; or five million commercial drivers trained to find that vehicles needing a driver are no longer produced.

Arguably, the training improves workers' immediate employability. It may also aid the industry inasmuch as it augments the availability of skilled and semi skilled workers. The logical extension is productivity enhancement. A deeper study is required to establish these benefits.

But, my point is that should the skill building mission not have a larger vision. Should it be perpetuating the status quo or should it be forward looking?

And for god sake why do we need 100,000 yoga teachers, when a free app on everyone's smart phone can guide everyone interested in learning yoga. A Rs100 DVD can do the trick in schools. The required TV set and DVD player will cost just one salary of the yoga teacher.

"Skill India" and "Make in India" are noble ideas for human resource development. But we need to make sure that these do not end up as mere government schemes or political slogans.

If you ask me, I would focus on the following five skills in the initial phase of the mission:

(a) Old age & child care: The changes in demography (more old people & more working couples), will keep this skill relevant. It is at least 50yr when robots become preferred worker to take up this job.

(b) Religious preachers: Each individual will have their own problems and would need a unique personalized solution. Robots or youtube tutorials may not take up this job any time soon. (I am glad to note that MP government has taken an initiative in this direction)

(d) Artists & entertainers: Regardless of advancement in technology, painters, singers, sculptors, performers, moviemakers might still remain in demand.

(e) Police and security personnel

Read with the following

Growth is a collective, consistent and continuous effort

Let our children grow as Indian

Believe what you know

Skill India for global economy

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Skill India for global economy

"I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done."

—Budha (Indian, 563-483BC)

Word for the day

Luddite (n)

Someone who is opposed or resistant to new technologies or technological change.

Malice towards none

After three years, may we ask PM, what's the progress on his promise to establish special courts for cases involving politicians, so that all such cases are decided within a period of one year?

First random thought this morning

Integrating the solar energy equipment into normal building construction material could be a major innovation in the coming years. The work has already begun with roof tiles and window panes incorporating PV cells.

I have yet not heard someone taking a lead in India. Designer solar walls & roofing sheets, roof tiles, pillars & poles, car, bus & train roofs, doors and windows, pavement tiles - the opportunities are immense.

Government may want to spend some time and money on this also.

Skill India for global economy

Millions of reams have been used to write and publish about the demographic characteristics of India. Many stories, themes and strategies have been built around the young demographic profile of 1.25bn Indians.

Almost all these stories and strategies recognize the young Indian as a great opportunity - "Demographic dividend" for the Indian economy. A few of them have words of caution also. Failure to channelize this vast reservoir of energy into productive streams may not only dissipate the demographic dividend but also prove to be counterproductive in terms of widespread civil unrest and violent disruptions.

I have not come across any presentation that classifies this demographic profile as the solemn accountability and responsibility of India to the world.

The global community has always valued resource rich nations, expecting them to behave in a responsible manner to preserve the global order.

The capital rich western world has been expected to help the poor and starved of the world. The world looked forward to them to fund technological advancement, preservation of cultural heritage, assisting global growth and development. Even after taking full cognizance of the allegations of imperialism and suppression, I believe that financially rich communities have worked for the betterment of human life by funding technological innovation, life science research & development, productivity enhancement, and development assistance to the economically lagging world.

Similarly, nations rich in natural resources like minerals etc. have been expected to prospect and exploit these resources in optimum manner to assist the sustenance and growth of the global economy.

My point is that now since India possesses the largest pool of prospective workers for the world, should it not be responsibility of Indian government to prospect, grow, and develop this resource for the larger benefit of the global community.

This is even more pertinent in the context of the current global context. In places like Europe and Japan the root cause of the economic challenges could be traced to their aging demographic profile. China is also like to join the club soon. Under the circumstances it is the responsibility of India to provide educated, skilled and trained workforce to the global economy.

A number of research papers and surveys have shown that (a) Child and mother nutrition level in India is sub-standard consequently child mortality rates are poor; (b) higher and professional education standards are extremely poor consequently a large number of Indian graduates are unemployable even in routine jobs; (c) There is acute shortage of competent scientists to scale up research and development (R&T) activities to make Indian businesses competitive at global stage.

"Skill India" and "Make in India" are noble ideas for human resource development. But we need to make sure that these do not end up prospecting and developing only blue collar low skilled workers. In that case India will not only fail in its responsibility to global community but also slither back into the lower orbit of economic development...to continue

Read with the following

Growth is a collective, consistent and continuous effort

Let our children grow as Indian

Believe what you know

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Believe what you know

"Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence."

—Budha (Indian, 563-483BC)

Word for the day

Imprimatur (n)

Sanction or approval; support, e.g., our plan has the company president's imprimatur.

Malice towards none

Kapil Mishra (AAP) and Naseemuddin Siddiqui have added a new manifestation to the phrase Coming Out

First random thought this morning

I am not sure about how the pet project of PM Modi, viz., Make in India is doing in industrial sphere. But the hype created by it has certainly helped making a grand rally in Indian equity market.

Perhaps for the first time in more than two decades, domestic investors are more enthusiastic about Indian equities than foreign investors. Consequently, the market are moving higher despite intermittent selling by foreign investors.

Believe what you know

I have written on this many times earlier. Regardless, I find it important to reiterate my observations and thoughts on this once again.

I have been wandering through mesmerizing landscapes of India for past many years. The nomad hidden within me had coaxed me to many journeys. I would travel mostly aimlessly; enjoy various manifestations of the divine Mother Nature; acquaint myself with various people; appreciate their way of living; admire their culture; collect some souvenirs, recipes, anecdotes and come back into my cocoon- relaxed, happy and little wiser.

Nonetheless, in the process, I have developed a great appreciation for a variety of people - their varied customs & appearance - and usually felt comfortable even in a cross cultural environment. Subconsciously, I have invested significant efforts in identifying how other people are different from my own ways, rather than discovering the points of convergence. (If someone alleges that this is an act of racism – well I admit it certainly is.)

Most of these journeys have been fulfilling and contributed positively to my thoughts. However, one thing has always bothered me. Many times, I have been confronted with serious doubts about the “Indianness” of “India” and “Indians” as we understand these ideas in common discourse.

Deriving from my discussion on social, political and economic conditions with people of various regions, I doubt that the idea of “Indianness” perhaps only exists in films, army manuals, national holidays (26^th January and 15^th August), political speeches and patriotic songs. The compositions my children write describing “Unity in diversity” appear somewhat mythical to me.

I have discovered that after 70years of becoming a geopolitical union, India still remains merely the one. It is far from becoming a socio-economic union and even further from becoming a socio-political union.

I find a national approach to anything is conspicuous by its complete absence in general public discourse. People have strong dogmatic allegiance to their caste, religion, locality, region and state, generally in that order. I saw little evidence of any effort being invested by the system - local politicians, teachers, social workers, police or administrators - in developing an “Indian” identity of people.

The failure of national economic policy in recognizing this regional diversity is perhaps the primary reason for sub-optimal outcome of our efforts. No special efforts are needed to discover that most of the states, regions within states and communities within regions have diverse socio-economic behavior. Hence, their needs and requirements are also distinct. A blanket policy for all is therefore least likely to succeed in meeting its objectives.

The post 1947 political organization of the country on lingual basis appears to have outlived its utility. It is high time that our political and economic order should recognize this diversity and be re-designed.

In my view, an incremental approach (creating more states and districts) will not work. We need to begin from the beginning without any prejudice or reference....to continue

Read with the following

Growth is a collective, consistent and continuous effort

Let our children grow as Indian

Friday, May 12, 2017

Let our children grow as Indian

"It is so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey."

—Soren Kierkegaard (Danish, 1813-1855)

Word for the day

Milliner (n)

A person who designs, makes, or sells hats for women.

Malice towards none

Those filing hundreds of PILs on non-issues, may please consider filing a PIL requesting SC to order a judicial review of all orders passed by the controversial Kolkata HC judge! Please.

First random thought this morning

The entire pharma industry seems to be passing through its Galileo moment.

First, the scientists challenged the diabetes standards. Then came the big challenge to the entire theory of good & bad cholesterol and its impact on cardiac health. And now someone is challenging the impact of salt (sodium) intake on human health.

I am not sure who will go the gallows this time - the challenger Galileo or the defender pharma giants. But certainly we have interesting times ahead.

Let our children grow as Indian

A few months ago, the government of Maharashtra decided to erect a colossal statue of the great Maratha King Chatrapati Shivaji off Mumbai coast, broadly on lines of the Statute of Liberty off New York coast.

While I fully appreciate commemoration of one of the greatest sons of India, I feel, the proposed statute may not be a justice to his memory and stature. It may be seen as yet another poor attempt at Americanization of India.

This needs to be appreciated that the Statue of Liberty is deep rooted in the American consciousness. Freedom of people, thoughts and ideas is at the core of American State. The Statue came after the American State enshrined the idea of liberty in its consciousness. The flame carrying lady represents what USA stands for. It is widely considered both a reminder of core values, and inspiration to many.

In India, outside the erstwhile Maratha kingdom, the knowledge about the ideology and Vision of Chatrapati Shivaji is scant. The school history books outside Maharashtra contain few short stories about his valor, but nothing beyond that.

Unless, the students across the country are taught about the great vision, struggle and contribution of the great king, in a manner that it leaves an indelible imprint on their collective conscience, the proposed Statue may just remain a tourist attraction.

Not only this, the same is in fact true about most great kings, saints, religious leaders and literary genius. School students in Maharashtra read little or nothing about history and legends of South, East or North India. The same is true about most states. The students are taught only about the respective regional personalities.

Students in Mumbai & Delhi could not even name all North Eastern states. None of several 10th class Delhi students I spoke to were aware about a region named Rohilkhand in India (located just 160kms from Delhi). Students in UP, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan are mostly ignorant about Tukaram, Thiruvalluvar, Subramanya Bharti, Eknath, and Chandidas.

To a person sitting in Mumbai, Bangaluru, Chennai or Hyderabad, the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) may not mean much more than – Taj Mahal, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kebab, taxi drivers and construction labor. Very few residents of the western and southern states appreciate that UP is as diverse as India itself. Various regions of the state, i.e., Awadh, Brij, Rohillkhand, Bundelkhand, Purvanchal, and Doab, have distinctly identifiable history, food, dialect, customs, deities, and problems.

The consequence is that student grow up with mostly misplaced sense of supremacy of their regional identities and culture vis-à-vis other regional identities and cultures.

Under these circumstances, how could one expect people in general to have a national approach to any issue! Politicians who emerge from these people only, naturally have parochial viewpoint of most issues concerning growth and development of the country.

...to continue next week.

Read with the following

Growth is a collective, consistent and continuous effort

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Moving away from roots

"Boredom is the root of all evil - the despairing refusal to be oneself."

—Soren Kierkegaard (Danish, 1813-1855)

Word for the day

Holus-Bolus (adv)

All at once; altogether.

Malice towards none

Why the home minister of modern India should engage himself in debate over supremacy of Maharana Pratap and Akbar?

Should these things be not better left to historians, poets and archaeologists?

First random thought this morning

The number of near misses in India civil aviation sector has seen material rise in past couple of years. This reflects the phenomenal rise in air traffic. At the same time it also reflects that the infrastructure needed to handle this kind of traffic growth is not in place. The new UDAAN scheme may add significantly to the air traffic. It is also possible that people with lesser experience and skill are hired to manage the sudden rise in number of flights. The maintenance standards may also become slightly lax.

Authorities, Supreme Court, passenger associations must look into the matter before we have a major disaster mid air or on the tarmac.

Moving away from roots

Have you seen the latest TV promotion of the largest travel portal in India. The advertisement not only stereotypes a typical resident of Delhi, but also tries to generalize the socio-economic behavior of a large group of people based on their regional identities.

Anyone who has lived in Mumbai for sometime will vouch for the deep prejudice of affluent and highly educated Marwari and Gujarati people towards north Indians.

A few weeks ago, a senior leader of the ruling party implied by his public comments that the Aryan race north Indians are tolerant enough to live with the dark skinned Dravidian south Indians.

The racial crimes against people from north eastern states are frequent and rising.

One thing that we as a society have steadfastly refused to accept is our regional and racial prejudices and preferences. Admittedly, the degree of prejudices may vary from 0-100 on individual level, but on a broader social level they do exist, and defiantly work to the detriment of country's overall growth and development.

The presence of regional and racial prejudices and preferences in the economically developed countries cannot be denied. In fact, there these could have even stronger influence on the social structures.

But this does not justify the racism and regionalism in our land. Our roots are built upon the Sanatan Dharma that seeks peace and prosperity for everyone (सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामया), irrespective of race, region or creed; and strengthened by the belief like (a) the entire universe is a family (वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्) (b) all women in this universe are incarnations of the Mother supreme (स्त्रियः समस्ताः सकला जगत्सु।) and (c) all castes are integrated into the one Mother Supreme (यादेवी सर्वभूतेषू जातिरूपेण संस्थिता).

The current state of social, cultural and religious affairs is definitely a distortion.

I have no inhibition in saying that the root cause of our socio-economic backwardness lies in our utter disregard for our religion, culture and traditions. More so by the vested political interest groups.

Religion has been a major force in core Indian ethos. Traditionally it has been the influence of religion that has brought the concepts of scientific inquisition, righteousness, moral rectitude, social responsibility, environmental sustainability, debt management, HR management, and just & fair taxation, etc. in the trade and commerce.

Post Independence the State has been over focusing on micromanaging businesses and ignoring key social issues. This has weakened the core fabric of Indian society, inasmuch as that taking pride in our rich heritage has become synonym with bigotry for all - the so called "nationalist" who takes pride, the so called "secularist" who is too scared to take pride, and the so called "rationalist" who find nothing to take pride in Indian heritage.

...to continue

Read with the following

Growth is a collective, consistent and continuous effort