May 1st of 2021 on KH

Another media hype that befools people is the projection of Kamal Hasan.( KH )

As an actor, he shines best in comedy roles. He cannot weep or look sorrowful. This was commented on by producer Mukhta Srinivasan when he said audience booed him when he showed his reaction to his son’s death in “Naayagan”, copying Marlon Brando forgetting that this is a different culture.

If his film image and popularity are to help his politics what then is his Reel image?

He was a playboy in Manmatha leelai. He took delight in hurting sentiments of others in reel and in real lives. If people worshipped God in Temple Chariots, he delighted in breaking them into two.( Thevar Magan ) and he teased vegetarians by putting fish in their sambar.(MMK). He mocked the Brahmins by making his side-kicks do Sandhyavandanam with whiskey.(Panchavarnam)

MGR carefully cultivated an image of a good man fighting the evil and was a winner in films. This helped him to be a winner in real politics. His songs gave him a boost thanks to Vaali, his lyricist. In real life, MGR was a great philanthropist and a humanist. He knew he did not know. MGR respected women in reel and perhaps in real life too.

But KH had no such handle. KH played negative characters; glorified violence till the end of the film. His message was means did not matter as long as the end was good. In real and reel life, he never respected women. His dances were obscene, the type the youngsters used to see in the late 60s stealthily in what was known as Record dance . ( his dance with Ramya Krishnan in Panchavarnam is one such.) He claimed to be a rationalist but changed his name from Kamalahasan to Kamal Hassan believing in numerology.

How will this image boost his politics ? May be persons of similar thinking would be inspired to vote for him. His knowledge of public affairs, leave alone constitution, is next to nothing. His debate with Smriti Irani in Republic TV exposed his depth of ignorance. . He was using his Padma Shree Award as a title, which is prohibited. ( My earlier post on this perhaps stopped that.) Two people in Andhra Pradesh had been deprived of their awards in the eighties.

He called himself Gandhiji’s follower and his B team. People may remember how he set Karate Hussiney to raid Burma Bazar to stop the piracy of his movie DVDs and how one died in the scuffle. KH has now aligned with IJK Parivendar of SRM college which was selling PG Medical seats for crores. In a recent election speech, he said that the AIADMK Government worked against him and caused him a loss of Rs.66 crores. Otherwise, his wealth, now shown as Rs.174 crores would have crossed Rs.200 crores. He has a revenge to take. He did calculate that his anti-BJP postures would please the minorities and take him past the winning post. Mayura Jaikumar of Congress is also targeting the same section.

KH ‘ s party obtained 3.72% of votes in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Has he done anything to improve on that ? Hardly anything. He will get less than 3% this time. His convoluted sentences are meat for Memes. Clear thinking alone would bring forth clear speech. Yet he draws a crowd. Any actor of his standing should get that. Remember the crowd that Vadivelu drew in 2011 ? His failure to take off is media’s failure too. But sometimes, failures are remunerative.

 

On May 1^st, 2021 :

Having watched and read analysts of all types informed, half-baked, and unbaked, I think I should write this as I cannot postpone this any longer because tomorrow this might become irrelevant.

This is about pumping done by all the people mentioned above for AMMK leader Dinakaran  and it was even said that he might cut into AIADMK votes and thus be an additional factor for DMK’s “inevitable” win.

Times are such that plain truths need to be reiterated. Dinakaran promises one job for each household. There are 1, 96,16,093   house holds/Fair price shop cards in TN. If someone believes,   he is going to achieve that he needs to be initiated in common sense. His other promises like essential goods delivery at the door step ( no one has asked for it since that is the only kind of shopping for the poor ) and subsidy for gas cylinders are all impractical. Therefore, anyone voting for him on the basis of promises is less likely.

What then is his strength? Sasikala has distanced herself from him. To begin with, she never associated herself. She has not uttered the word, AMMK.” Even when she came out of the jail in the so-called 23 hour road show, her car for some distance carried the AIADMK flag , and not the AMMK flag. This was hardly commented upon.

Dinakaran has the support of   Mukkulathors and hence his support would be a deciding factor, it was said. Even a reputed magazine like Thuglak believed in this myth. Sasikala is a greater Mukkulathor icon than Dinakaran. When she has not supported him, one does not expect other Mukkulathors to support him.

But then he polled a good enough percentage in 34 Assembly segment s in 2019 Parliamentary polls. Much water has   flown since then. Sasikala’s card was closely held then and he could convince voters that she was backing him. Besides, his aides, Vetrivel ( since deceased), Pugazhendhi, Thanga Tamizhselvan  are no longer with  him. Even during the 2019 Lok sabha polls, his decline could be seen by those who kept their eyes open.  He secured 89,013 votes in the RK Nagar by poll. But, his party candidate could get only 10,551 votes in the same RK Nagar assembly segment in the recently concluded LS polls.

Between  the parliamentary poll results   and October 24, when the Vikravandi and Nanguneri ( with AMMK not contesting )     results were announced, nearly 70 per cent of his state and district functionaries switched their loyalties to the ruling AIADMK or the DMK.  Grass root workers know better.

Even in the midst of 2021 assembly election, one of his candidates deserted him and joined AIADMK.  His candidates complained  that he did not fund them enough to meet even legitimate expenses.   Buying votes as he did in R. K. Nagar and   cannot be  replicated  in a large number of constituencies.

Compare this to the hype by media and print and electronic on his importance. He is likely to lose in his constituency, his party will score a zero and his percentage my not exceed 3. .

 S>Pushpavanam  just a day before counting of votes;

Supreme court on firing crackers

                              Supreme court on firing crackers

             Both common sense and popular opinion are against recent Supreme Court judgements. Let me illustrate  just one.

            

               The order that   crackers should not be fired beyond a stipulated two hours during Deepavali  is based on the assumption that these  cause  air and noise pollution.

There has been no scientific study on how many air particles are there in the atmosphere or in the stratosphere or in a given square kilometre area and what is the level of pollution and how long the smoke which always goes up continues to harm people. There is no finding on parts per billion pollution or  permissible level of pollution.

                   

                   Regarding noise, it is true that it exceeds the normal 60 dbl. But then it is only one day in a year. It used to be said that bear-biting ( the game of killing bears or boars in an open arena) was banned by Puritans ( a sect in Christinaity) in England between 1648 and 1660 not because it gave pain to the bear but it gave pleasure to the Spectators  as Puritans were supposed to be against any enjoyment. Because of Puritan influence there was no cricket or tennis or theatre on Sundays in England as late as 1980s.The pleasure the boys and even adults get out of firing crackers cannot be equaled by any other thing.

                       

                         I was in Coonoor this summer and I was aghast at the way the steam engine puffs smoke right into the serene clean atmosphere of the hills thousands of time between Mettupalayam and Ooty. Mind you, this happens twice a day! 730 times a year! Compared to that , the smoke generated by the firing of crackers on 1 day or 2 in 365 days is nothing. Noise is built into our culture. Even if  cracker noise is avoided; you cannot escape other noises, for instance the TV debates. Noise is defined as unwanted sound. When one eagerly looks for the sound of a cracker, it ceases to be noise. Others ( a  small section in the 130 crores population ) who treat it as noise and not as a celebration  are expected to  show tolerance towards other cultures, as it is only  for a day or two.

                          

                   Will the political parties stop celebrating their victories with firing of crackers  anytime they like  ? Cracks are fired even to receive a neta from airport.  Crackers are fired continuously during miles-long funerals.  If firing crackers are stopped on these occasions successfully, one can think of extending it to common man during Deepavali.   (04/11/2018 )                 

Railway Budget to be or not to be....

                                       Railway Budget to be or not to be?

 A panel headed by   Bibek Debroy, a member of Niti  Aayog has suggested   the  practice of  a separate  railway budget  be discarded.   This   remedy   is worse than the disease. .

First,   It is said to help depoliticize the Railways .Even without it,   Suresh Prabhu has strongly resisted attempts to influence Railway decisions for political reasons. He has refused to announce new lines, new trains, etc., .  He has   introduced transparency in tendering.  

Secondly, It is also said   that this would help the Govt   take commercial decisions. There are two enemies who must be defeated if Railways are to take commercial decisions.    A separate Budget  is not one of them.

1.The Railway unions entrenched in a corrupt relationship with bureaucrats , will never allow reducing the staff cost from the current 53% of the Revenue to  at least 40% when  10% to 20% is the norm and  commercial viability  threshold  in  other  Railways . A news item on 28^th June says that CBI has filed an FIR against  41 TTEs who printed fake receipt books and collecting money and there was an agitation by SRMU protesting the FIR.

2. As the proverb goes, the cat that has tasted milk will hover around all the time. The bureaucracy which   has   made Railways their own empire with absolute freedom from accountability will not allow any change in the status quo. (   Remember   the Rs.10 crore scam of   Bansal’s nephew.) They  would even   expand   their empire solely   to serve their interests   (9 zones became 17  but  efficiency only decreased:  Debroy report ).

Thirdly,,   there is nothing to show that  customer service  would improve  if it became  a part of the Government.. If the budgets are merged, Railways   would move further into the Government instead of moving further away from the Government   .

Let Zones become corporations. Let manufacturing units compete with the private players in those sectors. Let them follow the standard commercial accounting practices. Let them lure investments.  Then Railway budget will become irrelevant and fall like a withered leaf gently.  Merging now is putting the cart before the horse.

Fourthly,, this merger is said to facilitate account reforms   Several  committees, from  Sarin (1985) to Debroy (2015) have recommended accounting reforms to understand  easily   the true financial state of the organization. The   power of the Railway Bureaucracy  can be measured by the fact that till today they have stalled all efforts to reform although  there is a Chartered Accountant as a Minister. Prabhu promised  zero based budgeting in this year. Has it happened?   . What is needed is   separation of Railway employee-Members from Railway Board, and a complete overhaul of the   Board by bringing in experts.

Fifthly, this merger can be done only at the cost of transparency and accountability.   Sadananda Gowda in his Railway Budget speech of 2014 said that out of 676 projects in 30 years, only 327 were completed. After spending the original estimate Rs 1,57,883 crore,  now the railway  needed Rs 1,82,000 crore to complete the rest.  Only one out of 99 new lines sanctioned in the last ten years has been completed. This kind of shocking revelation will never be made about Railways in the General Budget.  Debroy wants   only a paragraph for Railways in the General Budget.  Even the financial details would be relegated to a corner in small print in the annexure.

Besides, IR carries 822 crores passengers in a year.( 2014-15)  ). Because its decisions affect the people,   there are  expectations and curiosity  about the budget . It is certainly an engine of economic growth.. Railway’s annual revenue is projected to be Rs. 1, 84, 820 crores.  Only, U.P., A.P. and Maharashtra have higher budgets. IR needs special attention.

  Let us see  why  the  Railway Budget  was separated from  the General Budget  in the first place  .The Acworth Committee (  1921 ) wanted Railways to be run as commercial organization on sound business principle. (  Indian Railways-M. A. Rao  pp58-60 )  Then,  it  would   meet its needs from its own income,    from  outside the general revenues of the country,     Three more   committees   endorsed   this  .  Japan separated its Railway Budget from the Central Budget in 1919. A   Legislative Assembly   committee on 20^th September 1924 passed a resolution separating Railway budget from the General Budget. The Government   accepted this   and the Convention of 1924   came into force.  It recognized the railways as being   free to look after their own affairs and to function on “sound business principle” as a commercial undertaking, besides being a public utility.

 This must continue. Merging the budgets   and making it a mere department of the Government would take us back by a century to pre-1924 days.

                               My wish list for the Railway Budget.

Being wise, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, did not announce any new train   or project or new line last year because he knew he had no money . No extra money has flowed in now although plans are afoot.  He has to be wise this year too.. Then Railways would survive.     .

Mr.Sadananda Gowda  did some plain speaking in his Railway Budget speech in 2014.   He said that out of 676 projects in  30 years, only 327 had been completed and after spending the original estimate Rs.1,57,883 crores, now Railway Bureaucracy needed Rs.1,82,000 crore to complete the rest and  only one out of 99  New lines sanctioned in the last ten years had been completed.  Our Parliament meekly accepted such gross inefficiency.   .  

 . Rs.8.56 lakh crores are needed to modernise in the next five years including Rs.1.27 lakh crores for safety (  p169 Bibek Debroy Report ) and nearly Rs.4.91 lakh crores are needed to execute  the pending projects.  ( p136. BDR) There have been 23 committees so far to reform Railways. The  self-preserving Railway Bureaucracy has ignored most of the recommendations of the 22  earlier committees. Of the Anil Kakodkar committee’s 106 recommendations on safety (2012) 70 were discussed and 36 yet to be discussed  including  the creation of Railway Safety Authority.  The list of accepted but unimplemented recommendations is long..  Accounting reforms suggested  in 1985 are yet to take off.P128 BDR)  .   Mr.Prabhu must stand firm and allot sufficient funds to implement  Debroy report  in full.   

. This Bullet train can wait for another decade as it means taking a Japanese loan for Rs.90, 000 crore besides our money Rs.10,000 crores.  

 ,  If FDI is to come, zonal Railways must be corporatized. . The PPP did not  progress since the Railway  Bureaucracy    would  ensure it failure. Look at their power!  Although 1973 Pay Commission asked them to abolish Bungalow peons, they still retain 1126   peons. A corporate Board  at best may have  40-60- personnel to assist the Board. The Railways have 1107 persons   working in the Board secretariat.  Railway Board was not worried  that operating ratio  was over 90% from 1980-2005,  .

It made 17  Zones out of  9  Zones  to have   that many GMs, DGM(g)s,  DGMs,  AGMs, .  CCMs more and  so many thousands more   including 40 more DRMS. Debroy committee records the efficiency did not increase even by one percent because of this creation of new Zones. The operating ratio was at 75.94 % in 2007-08  . The Railways must get back to this figure from the current unacceptable 91%.    

The Unions are going to strike. Goats never liked Bakhrit.. Reforms will be stoutly opposed. Mr. Prabhu must gear  up   to manage the strike. The staff must be reduced at least by10%.this year as the staff cost remains at unconscionable 51% of revenue.  Surgery is needed. .On the night of  16^th November, 1980, the entire Railway Board was sacked and M.S. Gujral was appointed Chairman and Mrs.Gandhi signed the order at 2.00 am .  Later, he sacked 900  Railwaymen on  single day. If the zones are constricted to   5 again, the savings will help. In order to raise the Rs.8 lakh crores, he must sell lock, stock and barrel Railway Quarters, hospitals,   schools and the lands surrounding them. They have outlived their purpose of creation. Non-core pet projects like nursing College, Medical College and Railway University   must be immediately dumped to save money.   .

Profit can be made either by enhancing the revenue or by reducing the cost. There is already a drop in passengers’ revenue. Before any fare hike is attempted, this must be borne in my mind. Any more increase in A/c classes will persuade the people to fly. Season tickets have still scope for increase. Fare must be fixed per km.  Prices of commodities ten years ago  and now should be compared with Railway ticket prices ten years ago and now  to convince the public. Development charges must go and rationalization of cancellation charges must be done.

  .   The cost of concessions must be borne by the respective Ministries instead of the Railways. Concession for handicapped will be borne by Welfare Ministry. This suggestion (DBR) can be implemented now. As   senior citizens occupy more berths and seats, Railways suffer erosion in income. Their concession must be limited to 20% for both genders.

Mr. Suresh Prabhu will not get encomiums but posterity will not willingly forget him.

                                                                   S..Pushpavanam 93451 01216

Secretary, Consumer Protection Council, TN. (786)

                

                                      Recurring Railway Rhetoric

The   rhetoric of the Railway Bureaucracy  (RB) would have become very  familiar to people who   follow  Railway Budgets. Since it is a mainly a  PR exercise    to create impressions and not really meant to be     executed within a time frame, it has become an interesting entertainment   Ministers may come and Ministers may go but the attitude of the  RB remains the same  forever . Hence we can expect the rhetoric this year too.

It might begin  with a paean of praise for the Prime Minister.  Then   a few sentences on what Railways have achieved with the help of ever sincere   public-service minded workers and the officials. Then something about the soul of the Railways which is claimed to be commitment to the   common man and its role in moving the economy. A few sentences on its nation integrating functions will follow.

They may even try to name this year. They may call it year of the Customer  or passenger year as they did in the nineties.  For them the passenger is not clearly the customer.

As usual, it will be declared safety is their priority .But you would never be told how many heads rolled when a train rammed into another train from behind, or when two trains caught fire or when several derailments had taken place during 2015-16  so far or in 2014-15 

  Debroy Committee  submitted  its report in June 2015. The RB  has kicked 22 earlier committee reports to their destined goal, the attics in Rail  Bhavan. Possibly, a committee will be appointed to study Debroy Committee Report and  analyse its implications. This is the usual route to the attic. Many of you must have  concluded  that this article is brimming with   prejudices  and so permit me to  quote  two passages.

This is from Shri.Sadananda Gowda’  Railway budget speech n 2014.

He  said  that out of 676 projects in  30 years, only 327  were completed. After spending the original estimate Rs.1,57,883 crores,  now RB needs Rs.1,82,000 crore to complete the rest.  Only one out of 99 Newlines sanctioned in the last ten years has been completed .

  Debroy, said in an article on Aug.4^th ,2015( ToI)   satirically ,” A new Railway Minister wants to show a healthy operating ratio? Not an issue, reduce contributions to Safety Fund  Depreciation Reserve fund  and PF. Consequences will be borne by posterity.  RB could do anything at will and on demand at  the cost of safety. “

The minister may proudly announce that operating ratio has come down.

The RB  is most inventive. If they want to hike the fare, they can think of one thousand ways of doing it without calling it fare hike.  If   any other Railways says  in the world, “if you want us to carry you from Point A to Point B in our trains, pay us this much; if you want us to  carry you safely, pay us more” it would be considered outrageous. But our Indian Railways did exactly that and got away   with their safety surcharge. Similarly, if any trader sells you   his goods for a price and collects as Develop0ment charge price +x   rupees ,  no one would pay and it would be a terrible unfair trade practice. But our Indian Railways have been collecting Development charges for years. It is quite   likely , this year they would come up with something  cleverer.   

Then we come to the desert.  I   am reminded of Tennyson’s lines,” They landed in an afternoon where it always seemed an afternoon.”(  Lotus eaters) That European afternoon was a very pleasant thing unlike ours. Similarly in Indian Railways, once they launch a pilot project, it always remained a pilot project. These are a few of my favourite   pilot projects,   safety devices like GPS guided signaling, train activated warning system, Anti-collision devices, and fool-proof signaling ,Advance warning systems,  Bio-toilets.  Dedicated Freight corridors, Dedicated passenger train corridors, Railway Safety Authority ,Rail tariff Authority and branded food in pantry cars, fire  extinguishers in every coach  will find a mention

. These are regular characters in the drama of Railway Budget.  RB will never tell you why they have not installed scoot and flash warning devices at every level crossing gate saving hundreds of crores in salaries. It is because that these appointments, manning the unmanned LCs are the play field of the politicians and union   leaders..

 Rat-eaten suit cases, unpunctual trains, unhygienic lavatories, unpushable flush knobs in the latrines, and waterless wash basins in the early mornings, unusable newspaper pouches in the chair cars, regularly recurring accidents ,, as usual will not find a mention. AS usual, the PM and ruling party will welcome the  budget, of course the opposition criticising it.

                                                            S.Pushpavanam

            consumerpc@rediffmail.com(785)

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corruption in Railways

                            Corruption in Railways

Union Minister Shri.Suresh Prabhu is very happy that he has introduced  e-tendering in Railway contracts.. When I met him on Dec ember 3^rd, he listened to my criticism and at the end  gave me a booklet on his e-tendering initiatives and  said that would   curb corruption. This article is to tell you how misled he was.

          e-tendering will make  the contracts transparent  . Overpricing to cover bribes can be detected. To that extent, yes it is welcome. But corruption in Railways has several dimensions  outside the field of tendering, which cannot be stopped unless surgical measures are resorted to.

Member –staff ( Mahesh Kumar) of the Railway Board was asked to pay Rs.10 crores (  paid advance of   Rs.90 lakhs) to get the “lucrative “ Member Electrical post.  Except Mahesh Kumar’s suspension, and CBI chargesheet, nothing happened. It is business as usual in all departments.  

In the second biggest catch Railway Traffic   official Ravi Mohan Sharma was arrested on Oct.22, 2014  while accepting Rs.5 lakh bribe  from a tour operator for getting coaches for special train on priority. When CBI reached his house for raid, his relatives flushed out in the drain Rs.10 lakhs which CBI re covered.( Oct.25^th IBN)

CBI is scanning several top officials. March13, 2014 ToI reports two  CBI enquiries on the Railway Board and  another  on  Rail Tel in giving mobile phones to employees. A multi-crore weighbridges scam  (22^nd April IE. 2015).  and. a Rs.300 crore freight scam in  Tiruchirappalli Division (  June 11^th, The Hindu,2015) are  being investigated.  While the former relates to under-reporting , the latter refers to fixing cheaper classification.   

. Central Vigilance Commission reports that in 2014 there is an 82% increase in corruption cases from 2013 and most of them were on Railways.( Aug.4^th ToI, 2015)   

            Under the dual pricing system introduced in May-July 2008, the freight rate for transporting iron ore for non-domestic consumption was more than three times the fixed rate to transport coal for domestic consumption. Without getting   prescribed documents, the consignment was classified under domestic consumption category

In a report tabled in Parliament on  Feb.12,2014 , CAG said the railways lost revenue of Rs 2,487 crore   on this account, according to its audit conducted between May 2008 and March 2012. Additional loss of Rs.1796 crores was also reported during 2011-12..

The report said about Rs 15,500 crore was to be recovered as penalty and recovery from various iron export companies.

 It said lapses had occurred at all levels, including by the booking staff at loading-unloading points and commercial and account officers at the divisional and zonal levels. The “Railway Board failed to stipulate specific checks and balances for implementing their orders”, the report said.

In January 2007, East Central Railways had purchased 219 acres of land for about Rs 140 crore   without “any clear cut decision on utilisation”, the report said.  Of this, Rs 112 crore  was raised through a loan that resulted in interest liability of Rs 8.8 crore    

The report also  said 65 per cent of overhauled locomotives reported failure within three months of periodic overhauls. Bibek Debroy famously asked the question in his report, “Why do two thirds of locomotives develop problems within 6 months   of periodic overhaul? Why do two thirds of goods trains leave late because the locomotives are not available?”  No answers. There is a corruption story behind these two.  

According to CBI spokesperson   the Railway Board had prescribed that IRCTC shall provide Rail Neer at a rate of Rs 10.50 (approx) per bottle to the private caterers and the private caterers will be paid Rs 15 (approx) per bottle for supplying the same to passengers in premium trains. But the private supplies also procured   local cheap packaged water buying them at Rs. 5.70  to Rs.7  and sold them for Rs.15. Railways lost, supplier and officials gained.

 Despite repeated requests of IRCTC, the accused public servants did not take action against the private parties." .On October 16^th, 205, CBI recovered Rs.20 crores in cash in a simultaneous raid  on 13 locations  and  the Rail Neer  scam was bust.

A road inside Tiruchirappalli junction was laid on 30-06-2012  and was  in tatters within 1 year. It is worse now.. It is a standing   testimony  to corruption by the DRMs who gave the  work order  for Rs.62  lakhs , signed the contract and satisfactory completion report.

How can e-tendering detect all these corruption ?  Mr. Prabhu must make the Railway men understand that Railways are not for Railway men and the public are  their paymasters, establish accountability at all levels, reduce the zones from 17 to 6, corporatize them,  appease unions by golden handshake, deflate the bloated bureaucracy, and above  all,   rid the Railway Board of  the Railway- employee Members.

 No Board of management in the World consists only of its employees as our Railways do.

                                                                   S.Pushpavanam consumerpc@rediffmail.com( 817)

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