Bihar on the path of development

In last six days, I have lambasted two articles published in Business Standard. So it comes as a surprise to find a constructive and positive one in today's Business Standard. Kudos to the author, Aditi Phadnis for bringing out the reality after excellent research on the ground. Her artcile - His new republic of Bihar - is indeed one of the best pieces of constructive journalism that I have recently come across. It's vivid, it's real, it's palpable! [Just noticed that Business Standard for some God-forsaken reason has removed the article from their site. So if you are unale to see the full article on Business Standard, you may read it HERE] The best thing about this article is that it encompasses a wide range of issues and how the new government is dealing with them. This article is a comprehensive analysis of how things are turning for the better in Bihar. Some examples that may startle many people who have been wholesomely fed with stereotyping of Bihar by media: Marriage of social welfare and technology A young woman tugs at a security official’s sleeve. “I don’t have a petition,” she says, on the verge of hysterical tears. “I paid Re 1 to someone to write out my petition but he took my money and walked off.” An officer is summoned and an application is written on her behalf. This will be entered in a data base designed by Tata Consultancy Services to enable the CM’s secretariat to track the complaint and redress it if the district administration doesn’t act on it. Police reforms - an excellent example Once the police understood that criminals were going to get no political protection, they decided to go after them. The Arms Act is beautiful in its simplicity. ...The criminals were chargesheeted in three days, brought before a fast track trial court and convicted even before they could ask for bail. ...Says principal secretary to the chief minister, R C P Singh: “Last month we logged 27 convictions a day. Of these, eight per day were for life imprisonment. In September we expect this to go up. In the last eight months we have convicted around 3,000 people in cases of heinous crime — murder, kidnapping and murder — and 2,000 people have been convicted in other crimes.” ...It has already recruited 5,000 retired soldiers who have been banded as the Special Auxiliary Police for constabulary and cordon and search operations. Industry - preparing a conducive environment ...A Single Window Act, 2006 seeks to cut red tape for industry wanting to invest in the state. ...There are new rules for infrastructure development, the Rent Control Act has been abolished, stamp duty has been cut for better compliance, the Agricultural Produce Marketing Control Act used to force farmers to sell only at designated mandis has been abolished, the power sector has been unbundled into eight new entities, Bihar has a new sugarcane policy... ...“Bihar is going to spend Rs 17,000 crore over three years just on roads. Apart from unbundling the power sector, we are going to franchise distribution,” says N K Singh, newly appointed vice chairman of the state’s Investment Board. Basic amenities - a priority ...In the last eight months, Rs 222 crore has already been spent on the health sector and the outlay in next year’s budget could be Rs 400 crore (it used to be Rs 100 crore before 2005). World Bank economist's view: “In principal, Bihar should be growing twice as fast as the the national average if the government continues its reforms process. That’s the potential of the state,” says Dipak Dasgupta. Intentions are good, actions are taking place, future is Bihar. What the esteemed junta feels?

A gem on journos and their biased world view

Today while wandering through the endless depth of the 'world wide web', I hit upon this gem of an article. Absolutely fabulous article that hits the point where it hurts and does so in a style that is simply classic. Here it is: Journalists and Bihar Bashing When the only thing you have is a pen, every problem resembles a piece of blank paper ready to be filled with powerful thoughts having the potential to bring about great change. What is junta's viewpoint on this?

Even professionals colour their articles with unconnected facts

I thought only journalists used unconnected facts to give colours to their articles. How wrong I was! Even reputed professionals who ocassionally don the hat of a journalist are no less. I found one such example in today's Business Standard column by Arvind Singhal, Chairman of the retail consultancy 'Technopak'. He writes about India's education sector. Read it here: Arvind Singhal: Educating the educators Now read a few lines of his: Ironically, this is happening not in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh, where such developments would probably surprise no one, but in the more progressive Karnataka, whose most recent claim to fame is its high technology and technology-enabled services, which have found recognition across the world and have even led to an interesting addition—Bangalored—to the international vocabulary. Why no one will be surprised if this happens in UP or Bihar? To me this kind of reasoning seems moronic. Another example: The director of IIM (Ahmedabad) cannot find a better guest lecturer than our current railway minister, notwithstanding the fact that till recently, he and his wife managed (?) Bihar for long enough to take it to the lowest levels on almost all socio-economic indicators, including literacy. Questioning the judgement of IIM-A's director without going into details or facts and figures as to why Lalu was called to deliver lecture. Isn't this kind of assertions childish? And this doesn't end here. Mr. Singhal ends his article with following lines: A young, well-educated India is our best hope for becoming a developed, vibrant, creative and a truly civilised nation! I never knew that India was an uncivilized nation aspiring to become civilized. And ya we are also not vibrant and creative!! We expected the chairman of India's leading retail consultancy to present his thoughts more logically, coherently, and driven by facts rather than a string of unconnected and prejudiced words. What is junta's take on this?

Hope for revival of ancient glory of Nalanda University

There seems to be a ray of hope for the revival of ancient glory of Nalanda University - one of the earliest and most reputed universities of the world - that was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khalji's troops in 1200 AD. The Singapore governement is interested in the revival, Patna Daily reports in Singapore Keen on Reviving Nalanda University Destroyal of Nalanda University, the ancient seat of higher learning, was a loss not only to Bihar or India, but to the entire world. Read the poignant The last lesson at Nalanda I am sure junta would be glad to see an early revival of the ancient glory of Nalanda University. Isn't it?

When negative journalism becomes obvious...

Some journalists and media agencies never change and take immense pleasure in negative one-sided reporting. Here I find one another example today in IBN Live: Caste divide rules Bihar police If my memory is not too bad, I remember there was a proposal some months back to abolish this practice of separate kitchen in police force. But unfortunately this fact doesn't find mention anywhere in the report. And what about other facts related to police reforms being planned and executed by the new government? Sometimes biases become too obvious. What is junta's opinion?

Suhel Seth on Bihar

The day of Bihar has come, so it seems to me! Going by this article of Suhel Seth, Bihar is soon destined to be in the big league. And this coming as a first person account is even more credit worthy. Atleast far better than the writings of journos who sit in air-conditioned corner offices in Mumbai or Delhi and write articles about poverty and crime in Bihar. Suhel has perhaps set a right example for them. Seeing is much better than hearing. Kudos to the Bihar governement and all the officials who are slogging hard to turn a dream into reality. Suhel Seth, as I know him, is not an easy man to get impressed so soon except of course if what he sees is truely outstanding. What the junta says? Click on the scanned picture to enlarge and read. Or read it here.

One more article on Lalu's railway

I am feeling guilty on writing third post on Lalu in 2 days. But I have to after reading this in Business Standard today. This article raises questions on railways turnaround and tries to paint a picture that the so called turnaround is a matter of good luck and even goes overboard to suggest that it is not sustainable. And in the process it throws some numbers that confuse you more than convince you. To me this seems like a non-cricketer watching Sachin playing very well and then telling the world that Sachin doesn't know how to play and had he been there in his place he would have smashed every ball over the boundary! Huh... Or is it the over intellectual mindset prevalent in some ivy league graduates who can't help but think 'How can a buffoon from a remote hinterland teach in the same B-school that I attended'. You will have to live with it Mr. Sunil Jain. And here is my two cents question: Will an organization on brink of bankruptcy look for its survival or at improving its operating ratio? Financial gurus who are part of junta will answer this.

All Investments Lead to Bihar...

...so says Financial Express on 25/09/2006. Here is the report: States like Bihar now top India Inc's priority Really a moral booster for a committed governement which is showing guts to revamp the economic and social scenario in the state. A nice piece of positive journalism. What does the junta feel?

Swaminomics, Lalu, Population, and Demographic Dividend

Lalu seems to be having a field day today. Yet another post on Lalu by Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar in TOI of 24/09/2006. Here it is: Lalu Yadav's demographic dividend All in all a good analysis of population, demographics, and the repercussions on economy. But I am wondering where was the need to bring in this analysis the fact that Lalu fathered 9 children. Why the media gets so obsessed with unconnected facts? I am bewildered. What about the junta?

Gurcharan Das on Lalu, Railway, and Bihar

Nice article from Gurcharan Das in TOI of 24/09/2006. Here it is "Lalu is our Ronald Reagan" Good insight and analysis except one word that seems bad in taste. It is 'Biharing the railways'. Do we give the minister, Lalu Prasad, credit for this revival? He took over when the railways were tottering financially, and if they had sunk we would have blamed him for 'Biharing the railways'. But considering the eminence of Mr. Das, it is perhaps an aberration. Anyway, Bihar or any other state should never be stereotyped. What does the junta say?

Welcome to Chanakya's Media Watchdog

Media always plays a pivotal role in any democracy. A proactive, fearless, and objective media is an essential to ensure good governance and development in any democracy. While by far the significant part of media in India gives an unbiased, fact based, objective analysis, a few journalists and journals are proving to be not as thorough and objective as expected from world class journalism. This is not a healthy sign as this does grievous harm to the stake holders of issues that get analyzed in a biased manner. Chanakya's Media Watchdog steps in at this crucial juncture in Indian journalism to act as a Media Ombudsman and bring to attention journalists that indulge in negative journalism. At the same time, it will also attempt to bring attention to the journalists who practice the fine art of fearless, truthful, objective, and constructive journalism so that such journalism gets encouragement and applause. So here comes Chanakya and his contemporaries from the golden era of Indian history to slice, dice, analyze, and act as a constructive catalyst for development of a responsible and enlightened media. He along with his noble contemporaries from the golden age of Maurya and Gupta era – who made India a global power in ancient times – will ensure that media in India practices the art of responsible journalism and acts as a catalyst for development and good governance. Stay tuned for more!