Spreading educational support by Engineering institutes

It is irony that country with very low number of graduates is suffering from vacant seats at engineering colleges. This is because there is shortage of proper educational facilities  and awareness at primary and secondary level of education, specially in districts. Though some of the educational groups like Techno have downward linkages like Schools. But there is need of more awareness.

These institutes should organise more discussions and seminars in district towns by engaging local schools and educational institutes to increase awareness about the prospective careers among the prospective students and guardians. They can also advertise various scholarships offered by them for meritorious students.

Better awareness about the careers and scholarships will influence the students and guardians in districts towns to focus in right direction and help the colleges to attract more students.

Reviving Economy

The commodity crash is the indication of severe recession looming. Some countries exporting commodities are in dire straits and demand de-growth affecting the exports of manufacturing. This can be used as a blessing in disguise for the Indian Economy. We must not let the opportunity go by and just involve in scoring brownie points.

It is no secret that our budget for education is very low. We must also not underestimate the growth in per-capita income for educated class. Thus we spend a little more without having much impact on fiscal positions.

Further, it is well known that interest outgo for both states and union government is the biggest expenditure in budgets. On the other hand, both states and union governments own large number of merchant establishments apart from PSUs, both listed and unlisted. It makes sense to sell these assets to pay off debts to minimise the interest outgo. It is easier said than done, given the capacity of Indian Private Sector and overall leftist mind set of masses.

But some serious beginning has to be done. We have seen the listing of some PSUs despite the opposition. We have seen gradual privatisation of ICICI, HDFC and UTI. Thus, it is possible given the will at the establishment.

To begin with, both states and union governments should identify companies, which want to grow and offer them the option of divestment and fresh raising of capital. This will help the government to secure the support of top management of these companies. Further, investors should be assured that they have say in appointing independent directors. This can be done by having voting rights to non-government shareholders for at least half of the independent directors. This will make the PSU disinvestments attractive for prospective investors. More presence of private sector (not just family owned) will change the public mind set too.

At present, companies like NTPC can raise funds to takeover distressed private sector power companies. Even companies like ONGC, OIL and oil marketing companies may raise funds to acquire cheap oil assets overseas.

At domestic level, we need more cities well connected by air, road and rail for spreading IT companies all over the country to boost domestic demand.

We must act fast to seize the opportunity.

Celebrating independence

India earned independence in 1947, 68 years ago. 

We earned the right to govern ourselves. Our early leaders gave us the right to elect the Government.  The infrastructure built up started with Bhakhra Nangal, DVC and Hirakud. We had also great connecting bridges like Rajendra Setu at Barauni, Farakka Barrage etc. Life without these infrastructural marvels can just be imagined. All these were in 50s and 60s. 

Our economy grew at 3.5% compounded rate, also called as Hindu rate of growth, during this period. But, it has to compared with near zero growth in early half-century under British Raj.   

They also established certain educational institutions like IITs and IIMs. Whatever the blame casted on them for becoming NRIs, they are the biggest contributors in keeping our Current Account Deficit within control.

It is during 1970s, Politics overtook development and Control of Politicians and Bureaucrats increased over the economy. The quality of politicians also got poorer. Today, we are seeing attacks on the autonomy of great institutions like IITs, IIMs, RBI and others. 

We need another movement for independence from politicians and bureaucrats. Let the Govt. be cut to size by large scale divestment and growing up of tech start-ups challenging the established conventional players. 

Let the technocrats take a vow to reach villages and down-trodden in unconventional way by spreading education and healthcare. 

 

Selection of Smart Cities

List of Smart cities have been published.

Crowded and overburdened cities like Mumbai and Delhi have been selected as part of it. They have also included Thane, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai. All these are part of Greater Bombay. India is a vast country and has vast underdeveloped areas.
This selection also signify the control of babudom on decision-making process. They do not want to move out of their comfort zone in existing cities. 
Indian Industry is now suffering from lack of demand. If we compare our consumption level of goods and services with international standards, we cut a very sorry figure. Again, if we compare state-wise figures, we can find huge disparity. Further again, if we compare district-wise figures, we can find disparities more severe. This gives us a huge opportunity. According to law of marginal propensity to consume, the increase in income of lower starta of people will increase the consumption level faster due to pent-up demand among them.
Recently, Govt. has set up IITs, IIMs and AIIMS in many unrepresented areas. Converting these centres as Smart Cities makes more sense. This will help these institutions attract better faculty, better student intake, better industry-institute partnership. This will help change the social fabric of nearby hinterland. This will also help the percapita incomes in these areas grow and raise the consumption level of goods and services.
This incremental demand will help the industries suffering from lack of demand. The incremental industrial activity will create more jobs, raising demands further.
With economic activities and job opportunities rising in newer cities and towns, the pressure on present large cities will reduce making them easy to live.
The Rate of Return for investment in Smart Cities in unrepresented areas will be faster. 
 

Harmony between Employers and Employees

Everybody knows that there should harmony among employers and employees for best productive outcome. But strangely, this is most unfulfilled desire.
In general, there is huge mistrust among the employees and employers. The trade unions in India are mostly headed by outsiders, who has no interest in the well being of the organisation and have vested interest in extracting favours from the management. They act as brokers by creating mistrust among them.
Our society has little respect for banias, the business class and the bureaucrats mainly from upper caste brahmins and thakurs have a feeling that they are cheats and compromising. Laws have been framed in the manner as if the owner will not take care of its workers and will exploit him.
It is high time, we must start honoring the job creator. In his own interest, he will keep his employees happy for getting best out of them. The companies having participatory management with workers have higher productivity and enjoy more goodwill among its customers. We must free them from outside intervention. They must act as a head of the family with workers as members. 
Our society too think that entrepreneur has also right to profits, the way the worker gets wages, landowner gets rent and financier gets his interest. More often than not, specially in small organisations, the entrepreneur provides land, capital and labour too and his profits include all. 

Spreading education is key to india's economic wooes

While analysing CAD for 2014-15, we observed as under:

Trade Deficit                                                        $ 144 Billion
Earnings by Indian Manpower                          $ 140 Billion
Comprising of:
Software Exports                          $ 73 Billion    
Inward Remittance from
Indian Workers to family             $ 44 Billion
Local Withdrawals from
Non-Resident Deposits                $ 23 Billion

Thus, the entire trade deficit is almost wiped out by earning by Indian manpower either working at home or abroad. This does not include the retained earning of NRIs settled in US and other countries.

This is the result, when a large mass of Indian youth is uneducated and unemployable. All this story of India becoming a superpower is not just a dream but very much doable.

Consider a situation, where larger part of Indian population is employable and produce optimum results. All we need is imparting education to youth at large scale and war footing, so that they are employable.

Apart from Govt., all well meaning Indian Citizen and India Inc. has to work on this. IT companies should get engaged with Engineering Colleges for improving skills instead of crying for quality of education. The Brick and mortar companies should get engaged with ITIs for getting skilled workforce needed by them. Similarly, Citizen groups can get involved in improving the primary education in their locality.

Educated workforce in villages can find job elsewhere and contribute the family by his earnings. Further, with lesser number of people left dependent on agriculture, the percapita income from agriculture will rise too. With improved earning in rural sector, the consumption will grow resulting in growth of manufacturing sector.

Smart City in Bengal

It is irony that West Bengal is inviting investors for small parcels to be developed as smart City. One must bear in mind that a Smart City should have all at one place. Educational institutions, Healthcare institutions, Entertainment zone, Market, Connectivity, Commercial enterprises etc. should be available at a common place for occupants of small city. For this, a larger space is required than the ones offered by Bengal Govt.

West Bengal can also advertise cheap commercial spaces available in Sector V and Rajarhat for attracting smaller IT/ITes businesses. This itself will create jobs for youths, which will result in better commercial activities.  

Spreading Indian Growth Story

After all the rising expectations along with luck in the form of cheaper crude, Indian Economy is still to take off. One of the major reason is low local demand coupled with high cost of domestic production affecting the manufacturing sector. Despite of this slowdown, most of the professionals like engineers, chartered accountants and lawyers are absorbed. But all these are related to new age IT or IT-enabled industry. This sector require high level of skillsets, specially with English knowledge. Huge population of unskilled or low skilled persons with local language skills are finding difficult to find jobs. Our basic education today is divided in two parts- one private schools with modern infrastructure and other the state owned schools with old educational pattern with little monitoring by the guardians. The poor fellow coming from these schools cannot compete with rich community students coming out of private schools. Thus, the benefit of quality higher education eludes them and they find it difficult to find jobs. This is also one of reasons for objections to land acquisition by locals. As these locals are unlikely to find jobs in modern high-tech industry.



We must try to spread the education to masses by adopting a uniform education standards till Class VIII or atleast Class V. The children of all indians, whether rich or poor must go to the common school atleast at primary level. These schools can be better monitored due to involvement of influential and knowledgeable guardians. Better education at primary level will help children from poor families to acquire right kind of skillsets.      

Land mapping with sick industries

There is too much discussions and controversy on the new land acquisition bill. There is no point in arguing against the acquisition for the purpose of building roads and rail tracks. But for Industry, we need to map the unutilised land locked with sick industries closed for years. Instead of trying to revive same unit again and again, we need to free these land parcels for setting the new industries or industrial parks for small and medium industries. There is large parcels of land in Shahganj in Bandel with Dunlop and lands on bank of Hooghly with closed jute industries. All these land parcels have almost all the facilities like electricity, connectivity, education and healthcare in nearby places. This makes it affordable for small and medium industries to locate.

These examples are just samples. There are large parcels of land with HEC, Ranchi, Cycle Corporation, Asansol etc.

Land is a national asset which cannot be produced or created. Leaving it unutilised is a crime. People involved in this utilisation should be brought to book and let public decide on their fate instead of politicians, whether in Govt. or outside.

Agro-processing industries

We need to take our farmers to next stage by opening agro-processing industries. This will reduce agro-waste and increase the income levels of farmers. We need to ease their entry into business by raising the exemption limit for VAT, Excise and Service Tax for this industry. In rural towns, proper infrastructure of tax consultants are not available and it becomes difficult for small businesses to be set up in these areas by following rules of taxation and therefore restrict them to trade their goods with urban areas, where their products are likely to be consumed.  

The rise in income levels in rural sector will help consumption levels alongwith educational standards. It has been observed that primary education level is very much dependent on economic level of the society. 

In India, Saraswati is becoming a tool for reaching Laxmi

On the auspicious occasion of Vasant Pachami also celebrated as Saraswati Puja in Eastern India, we should be happy that our young entrepreneurs are coming from the educated techies than conventional business families. Not long ago, there was a belief in India that if you have Laxmi, you can buy or hire Saraswati. So, there was less inclination for education among the business families. But things look reversed.  Now, young educated professionals are not just getting good salary packages, but also turning into entrepreneurs. The success of Flipkart, Snapdeal, Olacabs etc. are more talked about than Reliance, Tata or Birlas. These enterprises are beginning of techies entering the real business than just outsourcing for Developed economies. The day is not far off, when Indian techies will take on research and make India as a research powerhouse and exporter of technology. 

Indian business houses need to see the writing on wall. We could imagine the fate of Tatas and Premjis, if they would not have moved into IT sector early. Today, TCS is the most valuable company of Tata Group. It is high time, the wealthy and High Networth Indians invest in research. 

They must invest in education for developing skillsets to retain and nurture talent.