Chachu's Column #10: Of Delhi and Parivartan

Last year when CNG was mandated for commercial vehicles in Delhi, I was happy. Happy because finally someone, in this case judiciary, was addressing the environmental issues facing the country. Now, however, that decision along with couple of similar such rulings passed by Supreme Court (SC) has threatened our daily bread and butter. What is the connection you may ask? The point is that my father is the president of a Glass factory, a factory that uses CNG as fuel for its furnace. A CNG pipeline terminated directly at the factory, making the location of the Glass factory quite strategic. This strategic location translated into higher profitability. Now, however, the pipeline runs dry; instead, the CNG is used to satisfy the ever-growing demand for the commercial vehicles of Delhi. The lone decision of stopping supply of CNG to the industries and diverting it for transport industry has reduced the profits of the Glass factory by crores.
If this blow was not enough, the SC came with another judgement that has broken the backbone of the Glass factory. The SC has prohibited trucks not destined to Delhi from entering Delhi. In simple terms, this means that if your truck has nothing to deliver in Delhi, it will not be allowed to enter Delhi. Geographically, Delhi has a very central location. It is surrounded by Rajasthan and Haryana in West/South/South-West, Uttar Pradesh in East/South-East, and Punjab in North. Given this geography, inter-state transport generally requires transit through Delhi. A ban on inter-state transit means routes that earlier were of 60km, will now shoot to 150km. The distance is not the only problem. Most of the alternate routes have very poor infrastructure in terms of road quality, width and the ability to carry heavy trucks. Then there is ignorance, which means that many truck drivers are not aware of this change in rules. All this means the decision is a nightmare for truck-drivers and entrepreneurs alike.
What is my grudge you may ask? First, does a state have the right to ban movement of trucks in its administrative territories? What if tomorrow, large states like Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh ban trucks that have nothing to do with them? Does a state have such a right? In the beginning of this year, India had banned Pakistan flights from over flying India. The decision had cost Pakistan Airlines dear. Now, we see similar measures within India, hurting Indian industries severely. Second, what makes Delhi so special to take such arbitrary decision? With due respect to Supreme Court, any decision must take into account the ground realities. However, in India, rules are made first. Implementation is an after thought. If there was a third ring road in Delhi's periphery that provided unrestricted movement of inter-state trucks, this decision might not have been so harsh. But without adequate arrangements, the benefits of the decision are subverted by the hardships faced by the masses.
The case of CNG supply is no different. Despite SC's ruling, there are still long queues to be seen at CNG stations. Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), the company responsible for CNG supply, and Delhi government, continuously fight with each other for CNG supply. And the Auto owners brave the Delhi's severe heat and cold to fill their fuel tanks.
Then, the country is facing a drought. Each state is queuing up at the Center with a begging bowl; each demanding help to face droughts. The ones with greater clout will take away a greater share of the loot. Some states are facing floods, and the reaction is no different. Give us grant so that we can bail the poor. Are the poor really bailed?
At the end of it all, one is forced to ask how decisions are implemented in India? Can the roads be not made before the trucks are banned? Can the CNG stations not made before the deadline for diesel expires? Can the states and center not take adequate action so that the damage inflicted by nature's calamity is limited, whatever the state of monsoons be. Should the farce be repeated time and time again? Can there be no planning before a decision? Can the entrepreneurs be not informed a priori about the decisions that affect their very existence? Should everything be made a hotchpotch before a damage saving exercise begins?
Among these days of poor governance, there is an NGO that is doing some great work for the common man. This NGO, Parivartan, fights for right of the masses. Find below two examples where Parivartan have brought about a change using the Right of Information as their tool. Visit them at www.parivartan.com
* Parivartan has been working in a slum in Delhi called Sundernagari. The Kerosene Depots in this slum do not open regularly. Even when they open, they issue only 4 litres against an entitlement of 7 litres. About 15 women from the community raided one such shop last month and asked him to mend himself. That day, the oil in that shop was distributed by an old woman, who was put behind the counter by the raiding party. Everyone that day got the right quantity of oil at the right price. This incident galvanised a whole lot of others in that community, who then would themselves collect the people in their area and threaten other ration shopkeepers to mend themselves. Two such cases have been told to us by the residents in the last few days, where the women raised their voice against other shopkeeprs as well and forced them to mend, this time, without Parivartan's help.
* Similarly, there has been a drastic improvement in sanitary conditions of some areas in Sundernagari and Pandav nagar, where Parivartan is working for the last few months. This has become possible through the use of Right to Information. Earlier, the sweepers would not come at all and the citizens were not even aware of who the sweeper was and whom to complain. The residents now obtained the copies of attendance registers of sweepers and their jurisdictions. They started monitoring whether the sweeper actually comes and whether he is marked present if he does not come. In one such beat in Sundernagari, earlier, almost no sweeper was seen. Now, out of a total of 51 sweepers in that beat, 29 have started coming regularly for the job and others are marked absent. This has created a lot of furore amongst the sweepers. They gheraoed Parivartan workers and local residents twice, when they threatened of dire consequences if this work was not stopped. Last week, the sweepers invited us for a meeting with them. When we went there, about 100 sweepers gheraoed us and started threatening us. But these are all empty threats. However, it is not the sweepers who are at fault. It is their inspectors, whose corrupt incomes have taken a plunge, who are instigating them. In some informal meetings with some sweepers, we did try to explain to them that it was in their own interest that they cooperate with us. The sweepers are themselves an exploited lot and their cooperation with us would help their own interests in the long run. This absentism from duty is a racket called Lahori system in their parlance in which the sweepers do not come for work and share a part of their salary with their supervisor for marking him present. It is this system, which is responsible for pathetic sanitary conditions in Delhi.
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Chachu (28/7/2002)

Chachu's Column #9: Of Dhirubhai, Politicians and Cricket

The last week saw the demise of one of the greatest industrialist of contemporary times ¾ Dhirubhai Ambani. The who's who of Indian politics, Industry tycoons and Bollywood celebrities made a beeline to pay the last homage to the great man. The TV channels and newspapers were flooded with obituaries reminding us the greatness of the man and how from being a gas station attendant, he rose to build a staggering empire worth 60,000 crore, now run by his sons. Ordinary people like us always ask the question ¾ What is the secret behind this extraordinaire rags-to-riches story? Why, while thousands of people dream, only few succeed. And even among those who succeed, only very very very few rise to the heights as that conquered by Dhirubhai Ambani. The secret was let out by the employees of the Reliance Company in a very subtle fashion. After the death of Dhirubhai Ambani, a notice was put at Reliance notice board expressing dismay and shock at the demise of Dhirubhai. The Reliance employees, in a remarkable gesture to show the solidarity towards their deceased leader, went on to work more than expected from them. The gesture was symbolic of the values imbibed by Dhirubhai who said he could retire only after death. I was truly inspired by the gesture. But this is not the end of the story. In a start contrast, a section of Gujrati businessman, decided to keep their business houses closed for a day to express their grief over the death of their role model. I just wished the businessman had the sensibility to take a cue from the Reliance employees, who went to do more work not less. Lot more can be said about this, but I will keep it till here.
Among other news, the politicians these days are showing remarkable solidarity for an issue that is threatening their very existence. Supreme Court (SC) some time back passed a judgement whereby candidates contesting elections were required to provide information necessary for the voters to decide their representatives. The information included educational qualifications, criminal precedents, and information about the assets held by them as well as their spouse/dependents. After the judgement, the Election Commission passed an order thereby implementing SC's order. However, the move made the politicians jittery. They proclaimed that they were supreme in their own sense, and that no orders from Supreme Court were required. Soon, legal analysts were brought in to find means to subvert the orders of SC. Finally a clause was found. The order had said, "In the absence of a suitable law". What if a law was made that suited the interests of the politicians. An all-party meeting was called and everyone unanimously agreed that Election Commission had arrogated the powers of the legislature. They then decided to bring a law that mandated that some of the information had to be furnished after the candidate was elected. Now, this law has two basic fallacies. Firstly, the original intention of providing means for the electorate to base their decision on solid facts was peacefully forgotten. Secondly, once the candidate was selected, there was very little chance of him/her losing her seat, notwithstanding whatever information they furnished. That is, if they ever furnish any information. In UP assembly, when such information was asked, only 6 out of the 400 odd members responded. God save the country from the self-serving politicians.
Lastly, today was a big day for Indian cricket. Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh showed a remarkable temperament to help India successfully chase a gigantic England total of 325 and lift the Natwest trophy. Kaif, who was not out on 87, was declared Man-of-the-match. The win was particularly important because through this win India broke the jinx of being chokers, as, preceding this victory, they had lost 9 successive finals on the trot. Today too, when India were 140 odd for five down, I had lost all hope. And I dreaded that along with two pieces of news that I have shared with you above, I would have had to share third bad news too. But Kaif made my day and India won a thriller. For once, three cheers to Indian cricket team, and especially to the young tigers like Kaif, Yuvraj, Sehwag and Zaheer. Hip hip hurray! Hip hip hurray! Hip hip hurray!
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Chachu (13/7/2002)