Non Corrupt is Not Anti-Corrupt

I read somewhere a poignant statement.

'Non Corrupt is not the same as Anti-Corrupt'

There are many who are personally not corrupt. But they also turn a blind eye towards corruption around them.

When I was in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation as Sales Officer of Coimbatore Sales Officer, I was a hothead, both uncorrupt and strongly anti-corrupt. I had a colleague of mine, who was an operations officer, and my neighbour. A gentleman who was the son of a legendary Sales Officer of ESSO (which became HPCL). The father was not clean. But the son was honest to a fault. Unfortunately, he had to work in the Coimbatore Storage point which was a hotbed for corruption, headed by a Depot Manager who was corrupt to the boot. My colleague, though personally clean, would never raise his voice against the all round corruption in the Depot, while I was raising hell and shouting at the top of my voice. My voice finally reached the Regional Office and I was called up - my first instance of being a whistle blower. But soon I found out that the whole excercise of an enquiry into the issue was a sham, as even the people in the Regional office was involved. But the coup de grace was when my friend was called up by the Superiors and he refused to back me up, prefering to say 'he was not corrupt' and he doesnt know anything about others. With dealers and tank truck operators fearing the wrath of the Depot Manager if they spoke against him, the enquiry was closed for want of evidence. I felt disgusted and asked my friend (with whom I had discussed for hours about these issues) why he kept quiet. He refused to look me in my eyes and mumbled something incoherent. That was the beginning of the end of a good friendship, for I never forgave him. And not long after I quit HPCL.

My father's advice was "It is alright for you to take on corruption. But remember that you are extremely careful in every single action of yours. People whom you take on will wait for you to make one tiny little slip". And I was very very careful and the effort was a tremendous strain on me, though I relished it.

This strain is why people, though personally non corrupt, do not become anti corrupt. The corrupt lobby is too well entrenched and will go to any length to silence the whistle blowers and the anti corrupt activists. They take the easy route of  'I am clean, and if other are not, then it is for the society and the authorities to take action. I have nothing to do with it'.

The Prime Minister of India belongs to this category. But in his case the defence that he will be victimised dont hold water. He has reached the pinnacle of his life and he can afford to take on the corrupt.

And that is why the Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan is revered by the Malayalees, despite his faults as an Administrator. He is strongly anti corrupt and runs crusades against the corrupt, though many dont reach the logical end. Still he makes it a point to take on the corrupt. And it is why, despite his party not wanting him to contest elections in 2006 and now, popular pressure ensured he was given a seat. But he is 87, and his breed is vanishing fast. So much the pity.

Quack, quack.....................

Indian PM Manmohan Singh and Pakistan PM Gilani are meeting at Mohali. This is how the conversation is likely to be,

MMS : Gilani. quack quack quack

Gilani : MMS, quack quack

MMS: The weather is quack quack .........

Gilani: I hope Pak players dont fix quack quack.......

and thus the 'quacks' went on and on.

No I am not crazy!

How else would two LAME DUCK PRIME MINISTERS sound when they talk?

The actual power centres in India and Pakistan are Sonia and Army Chief Kayani respectively.  These two lame ducks need to take their bosses permission even to piss. Then what is the use of them meeting at Mohali?

Nostaligia

I rarely cross post on my blog. But I have to make an exception to THIS POST by the Cricket Writer Suresh Menon, as it captures what I went through in many ways during my formative years and my passion for Cricket, which has never died.

The hours of playing cricket inside the house in the alley between the dining room and hall, the first bat purchased for Rs 8 at the age of 7, which  had a defect on the inside edge, oiling and seasoning of the bats, playing on the concrete yard meant for drying boiled paddy, getting up at 5 am to catch the first bus to Palghat 20 kms away to be in time for the morning session of the coaching camp during peak Palghat summer, travelling alone at the age of 14, 250 kms to Kannur to attend the State Coaching Camp lasting 21 days which was washed away literally by the unseasonal rain, having photograph taken by Indian Express as one of the two most promising youngsters, walking into the 10th standard class, after a Coaching Camp session,  after the 1st hour to be royally ticked off by Malayalm Teacher Ramakrishnan Sir who cared a fig for Cricket, standing on top of a stool listening to ABC commentary in a Valve GEC Radio which took 5 minutes to heat up, cutting newspaper pictures and pasting them on a notebook during the WI tour of India in 1975, listening to India win the World Cup in 1983 in disbelief, carrying pocket radios to the class in College, watching the Indian World Cup highlight on a friends house in a Cassette brought from overseas with 20 friends who have never seen cricket on TV before, going to a movie to watch 2 minute clippings of cricket in Indian News Reel projected before the film, setting up the antenna of the TV in 1986 to catch poor quality transmissions from Kodaikkanal HPT in Chittur, telling commentaries of imaginary cricket match while walking on the road to school - it all seemed long long ago.

Any why Suresh Menon's article brought back nostalgic memories.

Even we don't deserve him!

If Manmohan Singh had tried hard, he could not have found a more stupid way of ensuring India dont win the World Cup. It boggles one's mind as to the reason for the PM to convert the India-Pakistan Semi-final at Mohali into a political/diplomatic event by first announcing that he himself will attend the match, and then compounding the folly by inviting Pakistan PM and President to attend the match.

It is a known fact that post 26/11 Mumbai attack, Pakistan has tried every trick in the book to block the investigation and had run a misinformation propaganda against our country. They have refused to share information, have refused to co operate in the investigation, they have scoffed that Kasab is a Pakistani Citizen to the extend of even asking his family back in Pakistan to move away from their village and removing all records pertaining to Kasab. Added to this, they have not given an inch to India diplomatically, and have gone to the other extreme to take pot shots at every given opportunity. In fact we had reached an impasse with respect to bilateral relationship, and it would have been better to allow it to remain that way.

But by inviting Pak PM to the match, MMS has again shown to the World that India is a soft state and can be pushed around.

In the bargain he has put more pressure on the Indian Team. As such, this is a high pressure game. MMS should have better served the Indian cause by making some strong public statements against Pakistan as a nation, which would have resulted in a retort from Pakistan, and in turn would have put considerable pressure on Afridi and Co to win the match, just to prove a point and that would have been their undoing. And all Indians would have loved this, as this is precisely what they want.

But then when has Manmohan Singh ever understood the psyche of the common man? He has never won even a Municipal Election.

Frankly, even we don't deserve a Government and a PM like him.

Kerala - the transition

Decades ago, much before other States even began to think about it, Kerala concentrated on taking its economy away from Agriculture to Services. This despite it being one of the three States which had and still has a strong Communist presence - the other two being West Bengal and Tripura. Communists normally had worked for the upliftment of the Agriculture sector.  But the Communists (at least those of 50s, 60s and 70s) also emphasised on reading, art films, and philosophical discussions which all required education.

Many things contributed to the transition of Kerala to a Services Economy, wittingly and unwittingly. Kerala has limited land holdings and a high population density. Kerala's population density is thrice as much as any other State of India. And this despite the State being the leader in population control. The land reforms act in 1950s led to fragmented the land holdings and made the feudal lords redundant. The long term consequence was that with very small land holdings, it just did not make economic sense to do agriculture for a living, unless it is a cash crop.

Another reason can be dated back to the pre independence era - 1911 to be precise. The then Travancore-Cochin State took a bold initiative in improving the education and healthcare systems. These intiatives were continued post independence. Hence, by the turn of the century, we had the fourth generation who concentrated on Education and enjoyed better health care. Even when I was studying in 1970s and 80s, when Private School's role was very limited (this has changed since), the State was proud to have a Primary School within walking distance of any child, a Secondary/High School within 5 kilometer of any student and a College within 8 kilometers of any aspirants house. This, along with highly subsidised Bus Travel (we paid just 10 paise to travel upto 8 kilometers till late 1980s, and this subsidised rate was applicable in both Government and Private buses. Even today bus travel for School Children is <25% of the actual rate). The phenominally high circulation enjoyed by the many vernacular newspapers also went a long way in creating awareness.

Initially Kerala took the leadership in preparing its students for the obvious Industrial Economy that should have followed the Agrarian Economy. Many Junior Technical Schools (teaching technical vocational courses equivalent to High School) and Polytechnics (equivalent to +1,+2, +3) were started by the Government. However, the industrial sector in Kerala did not quite take off, because higher awareness and an organized trade union, resulted in higher wages for the workers, forcing many industrialists to move away from Kerala. But the thousands who passed out from the JTS and PTs found job outside the State initially, and later formed the core of the migrant NRI population in the Middle East. Somewhere in the 80s the State and the People becoming aware of the futility of converting the State into an Industrial giant, went one step ahead and wholeheartedly transitioned to the Services Economy. The focus of the education was more on generic programs more suited for the Services Sector, though Technical Education by way of Engineering programs is still the main draw. But most of these Engineers pursue a Management Program and pursue a vocation in the services sector, either in Kerala or more likely outside the State. 

The seeds sown by the Travancore- Cochin Government of 1911 on the healthcare front, and the continuation of that policy by the post independence Governments, also saw malayalis pursuing medical education in a big way. This led to the State making tremendous progress in the Doctor:Population Ratio (Kerala's ratio of Doctors to population in the Government Sector is 1:6000, and Doctors to population taking into consideration both Govt. and Private Sector is 1:2000, which is a tremendous achievement). However, more importantly, the advances made by the State in Nursing Education, has created generations of Nurses who, apart from improving the quality of medical care in the State, also brought in much needed Foreign Exchange by migrating to all over the World. In a way, one can say, the State has become dependant on the Services Sector, for both Education and Medical care come under the Pure Services category. It is immaterial whether these practitioners work in Kerala or abroad. That the State leads in controlling infant mortality, pre natal deaths, pregnant woman mortality, overall mortality and higher life expectancy is a side benefit of the above.

Where Kerala has missed out was in exploiting two sectors where it would have done extremely well - IT and Financial Sectors. The IT professionals would have loved Kerala for the cosmopolitan atmosphere, higher wage levels, availability of foreign goods through the numerous duty paid shops, a consumer economy and general levels of education. Similary, Kerala would have done well in the Financial Sector, and should have taken the step to make it a Financial Hub of the nation. Why we didn't think of this seriously or if we did think of it seriously, why we didnt pursue it aggressively is something which both UDF and LDF governments should intrspect. The Vallarpadam container terminal, Smart City Project and the various initiatives on the Toursim front is expected to develop the Services sector further. But if I were the Finance Minister of Kerala, I will go hammer and tongs at converting Kerala into a Financial Hub, and a Banking Destination. This would also help channelise the NRI funds and ensure higher returns for the hardworking NRIs.

Why is the Government happy about the attack on Libya?

My friend Budhirakshasan is a fly in the wall in the corridors of power in Delhi.

I was quite pleased when he appeared last night out of the darkness, just when  I was raking my brain for a suitable topic for today's blog post.

"Good evening Swamy"

"Good Evening Bujee" - I call him Bujee, (I had written about Bujee before), short for Budhi Jeevi, as a mark of respect for the space between his ears.

"Do you know why India abstain in the vote in the UN Security Council on enforcing the no fly zone in Libya and not oppose it?"

"Nope"

"Because India was sure it will lead to US, France and UK attacking Libya and leading to a spike in the oil prices"

"And why should that be in India's interest?"

"Swamy, Swamy!! You are so naive. Who said it is in India's interest?"

"Then"

"It is in Congress and UPA's interest to have a higher oil price."

"Why?"

"The inflation was showing no signs of coming down, and elections to 5 States are on in April and May"

"So"

"The government and the party was running out of reasons for not being able to control the inflation. With oil prices crossing $110/bbl mark, they have a ready excuse now for the next 6 months by which time Kharif harvesting would have started."

"Bujee, you are so cynical"

"Cynical, my foot. You dont know Swamy how devious these guys are"

Poof!! and he was gone

And guess what. Today's newspapers had this story.

Law of Unintended Consequences and 2 G Scam

I had writtten about the Law of Unintended Consequences before (read here).

Much despicable the actions of ex-telecom minister Raja is regarding giving away the 2 G spectrum at a throw away price, one has to admit that it has had a tremendous positive impact in empowering the ordinary people, especially the poor.

I had written way back in 2009 as another post, in this blog,

It is amazing how much an improvement in the earning capacity the mobile phones have brought in for the poor in India. The mobile penetration and the low calling rates have done much more to empower the auto driver, the priest, the jasmine seller, vegetable vendor, the house maid, the petty shop owner, the plumber, the electrician than any NREG scheme that the government uses to dole out freebies. To say the truth, the poor have leveraged the mobile much much more than the educated and the rich in India to further their economic interest. For them, it is a tool to earn, rather than a social networking facilitator. And that is how it should be. The mobile revolution has also enabled the poor to network professionally. I was amazed at how each one of them have created a network of other trade craftsmen/women to offer an integrated service to their clients. They earn more, have improved their productivity and as a result enjoy better living standards. This stresses the importance of having better grass root level infrastructure to eradicate poverty rather than taking the route of welfare economics.

Almost all the decisions taken by the Governments, Central or State, reeks with corruption. But at least in this case, we can rest assured that the Rs 1.76 lakh crore notional loss to the exchequer ultimately benefitted the poor rather than going to the deep pockets of big businessmen, like for example government acquiring lands dirt cheap for big business houses, who in turn sell it at a premium immediately, and the gain goes only to them. Raja made money, as did many telecom companies, and government definitely could have got much more from the sale of spectrum if it were auctioned. But the money thus raised would have gone down the drain through some social security programs like NREGS, where the end beneficiary, the poor, gets only 15%, with the rest lining the pockets of fat pig middle men. Or for running corrupt games like the CWG. But the low tariff rate, possible because Raja gave away the licenses for a pittance, changed the rural, economical and social landscape of India.

Raja never intended any of these when he gave away the licenses. His only aim was to make money for his party and himself. But the Law of Unintended Consequences came to the fore, much to the relief of the common man.