Electricity tariff hike roll back in India

I fail to understand the Punjab’s government’s decision to increase the power tariff by 12%. How could the government betray the trust reposed in them by the people of Punjab. The people had re-elected the SAD-BJP alliance thinking they will do good for the state, but this is how their hope was shattered.

The common man is already burdened with tax and the government instead of easing their problems is adding to them. The government is increasing electricity tariff at a time when people are reeling from severe power cuts and industries are shutting down due to lack of power supply. Furthermore this year the state has been hit by severe drought due to which all irrigation is done by ground water for which tubewells are extensively used and increasing the electricity tariff will increase the cost of agriculture putting undue burden on the farmers.

The government should immediately roll back the hike and concentrate on real problems like power theft and transmition losses. The stress should also be on increased production of electricity as this will solve the state’s power problem and bring relief to the people.

There are some social worker of India which are well connected with roots of the punjab.

FDI Investment in India - Is it right or wrong

I am yet to understand why some people are opposed to FDI in retail. Are they so blinded by vested interests that they don’t see that this move will prove beneficial for the country?

The government has specified that 50 per cent of the FDI investment in the country should go towards creating rural infrastructure, thus paving the way for a revolutionary change in the face of villages. Of the total fruits and vegetables produced currently, about 40 per cent either goes waste or becomes rotten due to inadequate cold storage facility. Our post-harvest losses remain unacceptably high. A complex chain of middlemen has a cascading impact on supply inefficiencies and prices as well. As a result, on the one hand farmers are unable to secure remunerative price for their produce, while consumer ends up paying more than 5 times the price secured by the farmers. But all this will become a thing of the past once the effect of the new policy starts showing.

FDI will not only bring down prices for consumers, but also provide increased income to millions of farmers in the country. The successful deployment of 100% FDI in China is an example in point. The Chinese retail market was fully opened to retail FDI in 2004, resulting in the sector’s rapid growth. Today, its retail sector is the second largest (in value) in the world.

Multi-brand retail will transform India’s retail landscape in a significant way. Organised players will bring in investment that would spur further growth of the sector. India has also been crippled by rising inflation rates that refuse to come down to accepted levels. A key reason for this has been attributed to the supply chain costs in the Indian food and grocery sales which have been estimated to be a whopping US$ 24 Bn. The infrastructure support of organised retail will improve the backend processes of the supply chain and eliminate such wastages.

FDI in multi-brand retail would also lead to the creation of millions of jobs as massive infrastructure capabilities would be needed to cater to changing lifestyle needs of the urban Indian, who will be quite at ease shopping at supermarkets as well as the friendly, neighborhood kirana store. These stores would be able to retain their importance owing to their unique characteristics of convenience and proximity. Also, organised supermarkets would find it harder to get a footing in Tier-II and Tier-III cities where kirana shops will continue to rule. Take the case of China. Walmart entered that country some two decades ago and has opened over 300 stores till date. Yet it just has only 5 per cent of the market share in China. Local Chinese retail companies are all bigger than Walmart in China.

FDI in multi-brand retail is, therefore, a necessary step that needs to be taken to propel further growth in the sector. This would not only prove to be fruitful for the economy as a whole but also integrate the Indian retail sector with the global retail market.

Punjab’s government’s decision to increase the power.

I fail to understand the Punjab’s government’s decision to increase the power tariff by 12%. How could the government betray the trust reposed in them by the people of Punjab. The people had re-elected the SAD-BJP alliance thinking they will do good for the state, but this is how their hope was shattered.

 

The common man is already burdened with tax and the government instead of easing their problems is adding to them. The government is increasing electricity tariff at a time when people are reeling from severe power cuts and industries are shutting down due to lack of power supply. Furthermore this year the state has been hit by severe drought due to which all irrigation is done by ground water for which tubewells are extensively used and increasing the electricity tariff will increase the cost of agriculture putting undue burden on the farmers.

The government should immediately roll back the hike and concentrate on real problems like power theft and transmission losses. The stress should also be on increased production of electricity as this will solve the state’s power problem and bring relief to the people.

Different Peoples from Different States of India

I was deeply saddened and disturbed to see images on television of people from the Northeast boarding trains to return to their respective states from Bangalore. It is scary and unbelievable that people from the Northeast, who had simply gone to another state to earn a livelihood or study, had to undergo humiliation and fear in their own country. We cannot allow such jingoistic sentiments in our country.

Any community from any state can settle anywhere in India. We may be Punjabis, Assamese, Bengalis or Tamilians, but at the end of the day we are all Indians and we should be able to move about freely in the country without fear of being attacked or threatened.

I hear that miscreants from outside this country had spread the rumour that people from the Northeast will be attacked and killed in Bangalore, leading to the exodus. Thankfully, the government took effective measures to clampdown on the rumour-mongers. People who are trying destabilise India by creating disharmony should know that such vicious acts will never succeed in this country. India is one and will remain so.

Punjab can also shine like Haryana in Olympics

The success of Haryana sportspersons in the London Olympics has been lauded by the country. Out of the six medalists, four – Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Saina Nehwal and Gagan Narang - have their roots in Haryana.

While I am proud of their achievement, I wonder why Punjab cannot replicate Haryana’s focus towards sports. Haryana-origin athletes have won 60 per cent of India's medals in the 2010 CWG and 67 per cent in 2012 Olympics. All this while only 2.1 per cent of Indians live in Haryana!

There was a time when Punjab dominated India’s hockey. But they are nowhere now. We should draw a lesson from the Olympics and start repairing the damages of the past years. There are two reasons why Haryana sportspersons did so well in the Olympics – training and infrastructure. Punjab, too, needs to identify potential sportspersons and train them from a very early age. We have to invest funds and create world-class training infrastructure and stadiums. There is no dearth of talent in the state. All we need to do is hone them.

Players should also be encouraged with government jobs such that they can concentrate on the game and not bother about supporting their families. I am totally for sports quotas in government departments to boost sports. If Haryana can do it, so can we.

National Highway Widening Problem.

The government is planning to widen the National Highway running through Sangrur, Dhuri and other areas by 16.5 feet on both sides to facilitate easy movement of troops, heavy vehicles and armoured units. The National Highway is the main link between north-west Punjab/Haryana and the army’s operational area further west. 

However, there is a problem: Widening the highway would result in the demolition of thousands of homes/shops which have been there for decades. No amount of compensation and re-allotment of land would rehabilitate them as these people have been living and working here for generations and displacing them would cause irreparable damage.

Rural development is of utmost importance if a country has to progress. But I think it will be eventually time consuming and unsafe for our troops to travel through Sangrur and Dhuri. A better solution would be to make a bypass skirting the towns. This would ensure that people are not uprooted and at the same time would assist movement of troops and people in general.

As a social activist, I have served the people of Punjab for the past 16 years and consider each one of them a part of my family. I would do everything in my means to ensure that the plight of the people is heard in the right platform. I have already written to the minister of state for road transport and highways and he has assured me that he will look into the matter. I have faith that the government will see the logic behind my suggestion and will look at the problem compassionately. I would also urge the people of Sangrur and Dhuri to stay calm as their leader is with them.

Akali government dragging its feet from the uranium issue

The uranium hazard in Punjab has taken alarming proportions. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has found traces of uranium in groundwater samples collected from 13 new districts, including Tarn Taran, Moga, Barnala, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Ropar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Pathankot. The uranium content in these samples varied between a scary 0.1 and 153 ppb (parts per billion). The minister of state in the PMO, V Narayanasamy, has urged the Punjab government to find out whether the high incidence of cancer in the region had any connection with uranium presence in the sub soil.

Expressing concern about the lack of “desired urgency and seriousness” in dealing with the situation, a parliamentary panel has recommended the central drinking water and sanitation ministry’s intervention. The panel has said if the problem is not addressed immediately it will “cause incalculable damage to the health of people, livestock and environment”.

In response, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who also holds the drinking water and sanitation portfolio, has requested the Akali Dal government in Punjab to submit a detailed report on the situation on the basis of which the Centre will come up with corrective measures. But the state government is yet to respond to the request.

I am surprised that the Akali government, which claims to be the champion of Punjab’s cause, is dragging its feet on such a critical issue. Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal always accuses the Centre of meting out a step-motherly treatment to Punjab. But, now a central minister is urging the Punjab government to simply submit a proposal following which the Centre would take steps to address the problem and the state is doing nothing about it.

The lives of thousands of villagers are at stake here and if the state government doesn’t  show some initiative it will spell doom for Punjab.

Recruitment trends in India

The recruitment process in India is designed in such a way that each candidate gets the desired job profile that suits their educational qualification. To appoint new employees, the companies concerned work in tandem with recruitment agencies for the process of recruitment in Punjab and other states of India.

To select the right candidate, a lot of resources are invested by a recruitment agency. It includes preparing the job description, the list of openings in the market, conducting meetings, scheduling interviews, managing responses and making crucial decisions. A great recruitment company is one which is able to make each and every procedure of the recruitment process feasible for every man and woman in India and who understands the needs of the candidate and clients.

All most every recruiting company in India follows three steps of processing recruitment in Punjab and other parts of the country.
A) Short listing of applications of candidates.
B) Preliminary assessment.
C) Final interview and selection.

Some recruitment companies may also include a written test to judge a specific skill of a candidate. Above all, the resume of a candidate plays a crucial role in the process of recruitment. The resume must be organized, refined, industry oriented and follow the current trends of the industry. The process of recruitment in Punjab and all over the country must be strong, transparent and fair. The interviewer must consider all the skills of the candidates. The candidate must be told what documents to carry, and the job profile for which he/she has applied for.

After the interview, the candidate must be informed about whether he/she is selected or not. An ideal agency of recruitment must have a good understanding of all the areas of the industry and must be proficient enough to execute all the processes of recruitment in Punjab and other states. It is only when we have a solid recruitment process in India that we can have both rural and urban development.

Working towards empowerment of women in India

Women in India are today aware of their rights and privileges. They participate in every democratic process of the countryand their contribution in the fields of art, science, and sports, education, politics is remarkable.

Women in India play various roles – that of mother, sister, wife and daughter – successfully. Yet, women in India still depend on men for protection and help at every stage of life. As a daughter, she depends on her father; as a wife, she depends on t her husband and later, when she becomes old she needs her son.

The status of woman in 21st century is a sort of irony. On one hand, she is becoming educated and financially independent and on the other, she is suffering a lot because of superstitious, traditions and customs still being practised in India.

Women in India are still exploited to a great extent; the statistics of exploitation are appalling. The birth of a female child is still considered a curse of god in villages and towns. The process of recruitment in Punjab and many such states is still male oriented.

The current status of woman in India needs to be improved. Women’s empowerment is of utmost importance for India to progress. Through projects on women’s empowerment, we can uplift women in India. Education is the only way to women’s empowerment in India. Literacy is the only way to awareness of the fact that women are not inferior to men. Women in India are endowed with the qualities of beauty, love, tolerance, the quality of giving everything without expecting. With these qualities they can do wonders for society.

We, at Umeed are working hard to clean society of primitive rituals and improving the status of women in India. To a certain extent, we are trying to transform the male-oriented process of recruitment in Punjab to a female-friendly process. Change has begun but at a slow pace. But that day is not far away when women will share equal status with men.