Tranparency desperately required

Legislation making it mandatory to have maximum tranparency in all public works across India whether the projects are of Central, State or District level bodies, right up to the Panchayat level. BACKGROUND - From Rajiv Gandhi to his son Rahul Gandhi, we keep hearing how of each rupee that the government spends, only 15 paise - or 10 paise or whatever - reaches the target group. We need to bring in transparency across all public projects. For instance, if a road is being repaired in Amravati, the contractor needs to put a notice board there which clearly mentions the following- 1. Total cost of the project - repairs in this case 2. Time lines - start of the project and promised deadline for it to be completed 3. Name of the contractor along with the name of his company, its address and telephone number 4. Name of the government department responsible for the execution of this project. 5. Name of the government employee who is directly responsible for overseeing this project, along with his working phone number. 6. Name of the employee's immediate supervisor along with his designation and phone number. 7. Clear mention of the penalities that are likely to be imposed on the contractor and / or the government supervisor if the project completion is delayed with reference to the timelines expected. The legislation should also be clear that besides the contractors, even the government employees have personal responsibility towards completion of public works and delays will have an impact on their future promotions within the department.

India needs a vision

In this 60th year of our Republic, India needs a vision. India needs an able administrator. India needs someone capable of driving this vision through. No, I am not talking about corruption, police incompetence, judicial delays, political dishonesty, pathetic levels of education, extreme poverty or lack of basic health facilities. These are all basic necessities and need to be fulfilled not necessarily by our politicians but definitely by our bureaucrats. All these are jobs for which, the bureaucrats have been siphoning off money since ages now. It is them who need to be made answerable not the politicians. We don’t even need politicians to fulfill these basic requirements.
We need politicians to bind this great nation together. We need politicians to create a vision and to show us that vision and to let us all feel a part of that vision. Leaders don’t get down to brass tacks. That is for the soldiers to do. Leaders need to break free and create a vision which the rest of us can see too and feel for. Nehru had a vision. So did Indira. Rajiv too had a vision. In fact he had a dream - the dream of a young nation. God only knows where it got swept away during the floods of Mandal, Kamandal, Communal and Terror.

We need a new dream and a new vision and we need it now. We need to break the mould, break the barriers to our own thinking and say, Yes, we can!

What is it that will create the magic pull for each and every Indian from each village, town, city, state and union territory? What is it that will take some time to form and yet will fire the imagination of each and every citizen of this great nation? What is it that will truly be a great tribute to this land with more than 5000 years of history and the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world? What is it that will bring a lump to your throat every time you see it or feel it or talk about it? What is it that will fill your chest with pride and unite you with each and every other citizen of this great land? What is it that will pay a tribute to the culture of this civilization while also inspiring its young citizens towards far greater achievements in the future?

The task is humungous but the answer is simple.

Our great visionary will build a massive complex which when seen from the sky will look like a Swastik representing the great Indian civilization and the ancient importance of this all powerful symbol. The complex will comprise a series of monuments and buildings each dedicated to the millennia through the ages. Each monument would depict something of importance right from the Vedic era right up to 1947. Be it the reign of Ashok or Samudragupta or Akbar or even Aurangzeb and Gazni. Another set of buildings will denote important episodes in the history of this great civilization like the Indus Valley civilization or scenes from the Ramayana or Mahabharata or the arrival of Saint Thomas in Chennai. Yet another set of buildings would depict educational systems during ancient times such as the Universities of Taxila and Nalanda. Even the not so goods of India would be shown here such as the Caste system, the Dowry system, the sati pratha and so on.

Towers in between the various arms of the Swastik would be dedicated to depicting the life and times of important personalities right through the ages culminating in the tallest tower being dedicated to all the people who died fighting during India’s struggle for independence.

This entire complex will not only be a one stop shop for all things truly Indian but also will be a living and breathing economy on its own providing jobs for thousands of people. It would have schools, shops, small scale businesses, handicrafts, pollution free industries all within the larger complex.

This complex will house the DNA bank and research facility for all Indians across the globe where they can search for their antecedents should they ever want to.

The architecture of this entire complex will reflect the development of architecture right from the Vedic era to the modern age keeping true to the age that a specific monument represents.

Where will this massive complex be built? Well, of course on the banks of the river Ganga, the holiest of holy rivers in India and just a stone’s throw away from Varanasi, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.

Why would this construction create a shared vision for each and every Indian? Because for the construction of this massive complex, bricks will be brought in from each and every village, town and city of India no matter how far or how inaccessible. At least one individual from each village of India will be offered a job at this massive construction site along with permanent housing within this complex when the project is completed. This would result in a mini India, right on the banks of the river Ganga, within the holy city of Varanasi, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world!

From across the river Ganga, the ever smiling, ever benign, ever peaceful Buddha would be looking over this entire complex. His statue would be the tallest Buddha statue carved from a single stone perhaps taller than the Bamiyan statues.

Why would this be a unique complex? Because the tower dedicated to those who died fighting for our independence would be the tallest independent standing tower in the world with individual names of freedom fighters etched on it in stone.

Further something that would add to the uniqueness of this monument to India, made in the shape of Swastik, would be that it would be the only man made construction in India that would be visible from the moon when we reach there in 2015.

Who can deliver? It is the one and only, our very own, Behen Kumari Mayawati who would be able to realize this great vision in the name of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and with the blessings of the 10th incarnation of Vishnu, Lord Buddha.

Uttarakhand - What needs to be done!

Dear Mr. Khanduri,
Congratulations on the swearing in ceremony!Having closely followed the BJP and your career within the BJP (I really admire the way you changed the face of the Indian highways with a single minded devotion seldom seen in the Indian politicians, BJP included!).I am tempted to offer you my own two pence worth of humble suggestions. It is ofcourse most certainly upto you to consider the same or not:Please shift the capital of the state from Dehradun to Girsain. Lets not lose touch with the people on the ground. For too long in India, people have been taken for a ride. Lets not do this anymore. Uttarakhand is Devbhumi! Lets strive to make it a true devbhumi! Now it is the turn of the BJP, ostensibly a Hindu party and a party pledged to good governance. Let us ensure that all the religious places (I mean ALL of them) in Uttarakhand are cleaned up, made hygienic, renovated, even if through public - private partnerships, and made pilgrim friendly. Let our own Devbhumi be like the Vatican. Have you been there? Its absolutely religious, really clean, safe, secure, pilgrim friendly and tourist friendly.Can we aim at turning our Devbhumi into a place where truly even the Gods would love to come and stay! Can we clean up Badrinath, not just the temple but the city as well? How about the route to Kedarnath? If the route to Shree Vaishno Devi can be renovated why cant the same be done for the route to Kedarnath. I am not talking of widening the roads for cars to go. No, pilgrims need to walk it, if it be so. I am simple talking of cleaning up the route, providing lights, drinking water and toilet facilities en route etc.How about the route from Gangotri to Gaumukh? Have you been there? Its one of the most dangerous routes. If God forbid something happens to someone, it is nearly impossible for the person to get medical help. Can we have Radio en route to Gaumukh? What about Tapovan? What about Brahma Sarovar? Hemkunth? Joshimath? Yamunotri? Oh, the list is endless. But believe me, if the government focuses on simply making the tourist and religious places more accessible and friendly, just improves the roads,electricity and health facilities at these main points across Uttarakhand, more than half the work would be done. We dont need polluting factories in the hills. We need Uttarakhand to be a true Devbhumi. We need it to be an ecologically safe place, open to visitors and secure for the residents. We need to de-congest Nainital and develop Kausani, Jogeshwar, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh, Chamoli, Chopta, Almora...All this of course cannot be done by the government alone. The government just needs to take out money and get in private investment to develop the roads and electriciy and focus on a complete makeover of the religious places spread all across Uttarachal. Just developing these would ensure the development of the people living in those areas. Believe me, the rest will happen on its own. You see the example of India, unfolding right in front of our eyes. Just have to provide the right conditions and the Indian psyche will take care of the rest. We are all across the world, doing well for ourselves everywhere. We are more than a billion in India itself. Why does anyone feel that we cannot do things or we need the government to tell us how to do things? After all the government also comprises Indians. The government just needs to provide the right conditions. Focus on the basics. I repeat. You can do all of this in the first two years of your government. Just like what Mr. Nitish Kumar is doing in Bihar. I love Uttarakhand and I dont want to see it going to waste. It is our Devbhumi and we owe it to ourselves to make it a true Devbhumi!RegardsGaurav