Exploring our country on a motorbike - Michael Soier and his 800 cc Suzuki

Met an interesting character, one Mr. Michael Soier a motorbiking enthusiast.
This gentleman has been riding across some of the most challenging terrains in the world on an 800cc single cylinder Suzuki Motorbike. Some of his pictures taken on 20.10.2006 are shown below.




His spills and spoils can be followed on his website.
He has planned to spend the next couple of months exploring our country. To begin with he will be riding down south to Kerala and thereafter will be traveling to the northern and northeastern part of the country.

Update on begging by children

SMSs are puprotedly being sent by the Commissioner of Labour (State of Maharashtra) to Airtel Phones. One such SMS (received on 14.10.2006) reads- “Ban on engaging child as domestic servant or hotel, tea shops, dhabas, eating houses, spas etc. Request you not to employ child below fourteen years and help us to make our state child labour free”.

Looks like soon we will start getting SMSs advising us to refrain from giving alms to children engaged in begging. Let us hope, we the people start taking such advices (if and when they are sent) seriously.


Post Script
Next, in these liberalized times the syndicates engaged in the business of utilizing the services of children for the profitable business of begging may start an agitation. Perhaps such an agitation may find support from the groups engaged in the peripheral activities viz., kidnapping of children, physically mutilating such children (it increases the market value of such child beggars).

"Child Labour Banned"- "Begging By Children Allowed"

The Central Legislation banning children (below the age of 14 years) from working in hazardous conditions (which perhaps doesn't include begging by small children in crowded local trains) came into effect from 10th October 2006.
In theory this ban is definitely a step in the right direction but there is disturbing dissonance between the quixotic laws conceived by our myopic policymakers, enforced (rather not enforced) by our creaking law enforcement mechanism and the ground realities that obtain in our fast developing(?) country. The photographs appearing below will eloquently attest to that disturbing conflict.

The girl child appearing in the photos, as can be seen was partially clad and was begging in a local train in the suburbs of Mumbai –The Financial Capital of India. She could not have been more than five or six year old.

The question is - will the ban on child labour have any effect on this phenomenon where small children are either forced to beg due to abject poverty or due to the criminal avarice of entrenched gangs engaged in such shameless business where destitute children are not only forced to beg but are also subjected to all kind of abuses and physical mutilation. This can end only when the Government and Society take responsibility of welfare of such children and ensure that scandals in juvenile homes and child care institutes become history.

The economy is booming, India is shining but the naked underbelly is showing.

Post Script (not without a little bit of essential sarcasm)

Formulate legislation to regulate begging and allow beggars to form legally valid unions / associations. This move will certainly certify the Indian State as a failed welfare state but the consolation will be that beggars will have a platform to voice their concerns. I hope that this move will not adversely impinge on the growth rate of Indian Economy. Atleast India will remain shining.

Chief Minister is the King - How come a banal issue regarding non-payment of bill, result in disconnection of power supply to his residence?

My attention was drawn on news about “Power Snap At CM’s House” which was published in the Times of India, Mumbai Edition (TIMES CITY section) page 3 (10.10.2006) - "Notices served on two senior bureaucrats".

The background of the case is as follows: on September 11, 2006, MSEDCL had disconnected the power (electricity) supply to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s official residence (Ramgiri) at Nagpur as there was a huge outstanding amount ( perhaps more than Rs. 1 lac) which the Government of Maharashtra or PWD had purportedly failed to pay despite several reminders. This matter was lapped up by the media and it seems it resulted in considerable embarrassment to the State Government. The Chief Minister was outraged at the audacity of MSEDCL and understandably, the State Government’s immediate knee-jerk reaction was to suspend the concerned Superintending Engineer. But more embarrassment was in store - due to widespread agitation by the MSEDCL staff, the suspension had to be revoked. Another embarrassing incident!!

Now, it seems that the Government in all its considerable wisdom (?) is trying to fix responsibility on two senior bureaucrats who happen to be at the helms of the affair at MSEDCL. I, personally do not have any idea about the competence or lack of competence of the two senior bureaucrats who have been served with notices but my curiosity is certainly aroused by the fact that till date I have not come across any news about attempt at fixing the responsibility of the shenanigans on the Government Department concerned with making the payment of the electricity bills. This is curious. The fundamental fault is there for all to see but no action seems to have been taken on that front to ensure that such mistakes do not recur. Or perhaps, the State Government feels that there was no mistake on its part if the bills were not paid, or that the bills should not have been raised at all, as it concerned the Chief Minister’s Residence.

Far from being a cause for embarrassment, this issue of disconnection of power supply could have been handled in a much better manner if the P.R. machinery of the State Government had been blessed with people with the right aptitude and attitude. In fact, the State government should have initiated actions to resolve the issue related to non payment of bills and should have appreciated the MSEDCL’s action by suggesting that it had done the right thing. This one act would have reinforced the idea that the law of the land is equally applicable to all and sundry. This course of action would have saved the Government the blushes and would have given much needed fillip to the beleaguered MSEDCL which is struggling with arrears. It would have also sent the right signals to all the consumers of electricity.

Post Script:

Even otherwise, it is high time for the Chief Ministers of Indian States (as well as other potentates ranging from politicians to bureaucrats, blessed with official authority) to get out of the warped belief that they are de-facto kings and satraps (from the medieval era) and hence above the law. The sooner this happens, the better it would be to the cause of democracy.

Power Shortage - major stumbling block in the process of economic growth

Once upon a time there were no cell phones. Public Sector / Government enterprises like MTNL and DOT were the only telephony service providers in India.

In those days the long distance calling charges were sky high and local call charges were unrealistically low (no call duration limits). The interesting part was that once a consumer crossed a particular threshold in terms of number of calls being made during a particular billing cycle, he was charged at higher rate / slab. In other words, consumers with high usage were charged at a higher rate (i.e, per call unit) than consumers with low usage. This distortion naturally resulted in many consumers opting for multiple phone connections, so that they could manage to keep the number of calls per phone below the crucial threshold.

Now look at the situation- the theory behind small consumers being charged less was ostensibly to subsidize their cost of phone usage and to encourage more people to opt for phones - greater and wider penetration. But this resulted in more phone connections being garnered by big consumers; and this was in the days when there used to be a considerable waiting period for getting a phone connection.

Well the situation changed drastically when the telecom sector came to be liberalized; so much so that the same Public Sector Enterprises are now giving the private players a run for their money when it comes to tariff and consumer friendly schemes.

Similar situation has emerged in the power sector. Just look at the latest fiat from MERC- it envisages penalty on consumers who consume more than a specified limit (both in absolute terms of 300 units per month as well as dependent on individual consumers’ past consumption pattern). Now, this kind of convoluted thinking is not only draconian, especially in these liberalized times, but also potentially dangerous for the economy. Why dangerous – just calculate the power consumption pattern of a typical Mumbai Apartment Dweller- if he uses a couple of ACs (falling prices have made it more of a necessity than luxury in the humid climate of Mumbai) and some other time saving and labour saving gadgets like Washing Machine and Microwave Oven / Toasters etc., his / her electricity consumption is bound to cross the threshold of 300 units (it will be closer to 500 units). Even otherwise in a developing economy, limiting power consumption based on historical consumption pattern does not make any sense – per capita power consumption in India is very low and as the economy grows, it is bound to go up- it is a healthy sign.

Penalising consumers for higher power consumption may have cascading effect on almost all the white goods manufacturers and may even have a palpable impact on the economic growth. Instead of penalizing consumers who consume more electricity, for ameliorating the grim situation in the short term, the whole gamut of pricing process should be rationalized and this rationalization should compulsorily include reduction of wastage (pilferage camouflaged as T&D losses and actual T&D losses much beyond international norms). There is bound to be a lot of scope for improving efficiency and cost reduction in the whole business of electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

As far as long term / medium term measure is concerned, there is need for setting up of large power stations and a policy to see that the large coal reserves and natural gas reserves are utilized for electricity generation. The pace of liberalization and reforms in power sector must speed up immediately or else power scarcity may become a major stumbling block in the process of economic growth.

Reality of infrastructure (roads)

What you see in this photo is not a scene from bombed out Iraq or Afghanistan or for that matter from any of the BIMARU states. This is straight from the road / bridge which serves the busiest Indian International Port Terminals clustered around JNPT. This particular bridge connects all (bar one) Container Freight Stations with the Port area. It is heavily trafficked day in day out, 24/7. The amount of money (fuel wastage, increased vehicle maintenance costs and time lost) going down the drain may be colossal but who cares.

The only hope is that someday someone may file a PIL and then the judiciary may compel better maintenance, till then enjoy the potholes and the bumpy and jerky ride.

Another point, our esteemed infrastructure planners could not envisage that there should have been grade separation at places where there are intersections. Especially, when in all their wisdom, they planned to have almost all the Container Freight Stations at a location which entails two road intersections and two rail intersections. Small mercy that the rail intersections do have grade separation but there is no grade separation at two vital points where there are intersecting roads. At the first intersection (at Sonari Chowky), one invariably comes across a traffic jam. It is only the efficiency of the traffic constables (poor souls – forced to withstand so much pollution) that saves the day.

It is interesting to note that the proposed SEZ is also coming up in the same general area.

Water - a precious commodity?

Water crisis may be more of a case of mismanagement, wastage and skewed availability / distribution than shortage, but the resultant picture is certainly not pretty.

As the old adage goes, “a picture is worth thousand words.”

But the question is how to rectify situations and circumstances which lead to such pictures becoming commonplace. This particular picture was not shot in any backward, underdeveloped region of the country but in close proximity to the nation’s most modern and biggest cluster of International Port Terminals. The direness of situation in other areas which are not blessed with either the proximity to power centres (financial, political, economical) or abundant rainfall can only be imagined.

Or else, ponder over the other old adage - "Water everywhere, but not a drop to drink"