Why I am enamored with Mangalore?

Sitting in my office gazing through the window, overseeing the approaching road to the SDB 3 I always wonder what the process was for me, to choose Mangalore as location after training at Hyderabad. Whenever I have tried to find the answer I have failed to exact one, out of my own self. Seemingly because there was nothing logical in it but a reality that big cities suck (apologies for not using a more civilized word) big time.

Having stayed in big cities like New Delhi and Pune, and having observed others like Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai, there was little doubt in my mind that the quality of life in Mangalore or for that matter, the Tier II cities is much better. This contention is driven by absolute logic. No conjectures here! I have identified certain yardsticks to back up my argument.

First yardstick I would like to introduce is the pace of traffic. Minimum distance covered in one minute at 9 am sharp on MG Road (peak time and supposedly to be the most crowed road). And the result is 439 m/ min. Just kidding!! But seriously in Mangalore am yet to see a traffic jam. There are some crowded intersections in the city though but the traffic movement is absolutely smooth. You compare this with any of our big cities. If you have to commute from point A to point B you shall have to plan at a war footing. You may even have to perhaps keep some buffer time and even then, you may reach the destination late, completely frustrated and drained due to the heavy traffic and pollution to top it all. Every morning when I drive to office in my bike (just 5 kms from Nethra), I touch the parking lot in 10 minutes flat. I always wish if this journey would take a bit longer so that I could enjoy the cool breeze hitting my face, for a little longer… Perhaps to mitigate the abrupt ends to my drives I should plan to relocate to some place a little more further from our campus. But wait a second. What about the petrol cost? So let me not do this mistake until the fuel prices stabilize a bit more…

My second yardstick is diurnal temperature (a meteorological term that relates to the variation in temperature that occurs from the highs of the day to the cool of nights). For Mangalore, the average of the mean max. and min. is 13.2 degree Celsius (33.2⁰C-20.0⁰C). And for New Delhi this was 31.4 (39⁰C -7.6⁰C). More than double is the difference in diurnal temperature between these two cities. Sorry for bothering with the loads of data. But the fact is Mangalore is pleasant and much more suited for human life.  Look at the advantages of this. You are not required to buy any woolen clothes or either buy, coolers and air conditioners that inflate electricity bills. You are insulated against this financial drag all because Mangalore sits at a more life sustaining latitude and longitude on the globe. What a global privilege!! So what are the other downstream benefits? You are in the lap of nature. You have your base in The Western Ghats-one of World’s bio-diverse heritage sites. And needless to say you have a rich variety of flora and fauna around you. The breath taking view that one can enjoy if you are of the habit of sitting on the benches overlooking the sea side (below our FC) is phenomenal. Perhaps many of you have sea facing cubicles and mind you that’s not a small thing. It is perhaps the rarest of the rare privileges which Infosys has provided you unknowingly and even did not care to factor it in your CTC (shush shush…). Jokes apart, I believe that in totality the wear and tear on life in Mangalore is definitely the least as compared to our ever burgeoning metros.

I have other yardsticks too to support my claim. But guess will talk about them some other time. In the meanwhile enjoy your stay in Mangalore to the hilt!!  

From thinking of containment to decimation: Why India’s Anti-Naxal strategy has to change?

Yesterday night the news came in that a convoy of congress leaders was attacked by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh. Reports suggest that the naxalites who were 250 in number killed 29 people altogether. Amongst them was senior Congress leader Mr. Mahendra Karma who was killed in cold blood. The irony is that Mr. Karma is stated to have been under the Z category security. Another senior congress leader Mr. V C Shukla has been critically injured. As usual the PM flew into Chhattisgarh with his retinue and make remarks like the perpetrators of this crime would be brought to justice and this is an attack against democracy.

I wonder why we are just mute witnesses to such dastardly acts time and again where some outlaws manage to kill our citizens at will. Shouldn’t be State and Centre be doing something about this? And if they say they are doing are they doing enough is the question? Do they even have a strategy to decimate the Naxalites who are freely operating within the Indian Territory? 

This situation should be shameful of any government of the day. Look how the US was successful in decimating the Al Qaeda network in a span of 10 years and Osama bin laden met the grave. No they are planning to withdraw from Afghan soil. And here we have been toying with the Naxalite movement since the 1960s. In the past five years alone over 10,000 have been killed in Naxal violence.  

This very attack is a clear indication that all is not well with the government’s anti- Naxal strategy which is to be two pronged. The security arm and the development arm. This attack is a clear indication that the security arm is ending in a failure and is lacking, in supporting the development arm. It should be noted that the congress leaders we there on a pre-election campaign trail, on the run up to the soon to be held assembly elections in the state. The Security agencies in charge of the Naxal operation have miserably failed the local citizens. The naxals have just got emboldened yet again. They have managed to get the security forces napping once again. It was so outrageous to read the reports that the police personnel guarding these leaders where not only outnumbered but also ran out of ammunition in the gun battle which ensued. There was no back up strategy in place, no air support or reinforcements. Once again our senior politician jumped on to the bandwagon to make rhetorical statements like saying that this is an attack on democracy and such other statements. But what I don’t understand that why they cannot do anything beyond serving words in times of such disasters.

My calculation is that the development arm may be doing its bit but the security arm is failing the development arm and therefore the government must run a reality check at the earliest.  There seems to be a need to get back to the drawing board and draw up a fresh offensive plan to tackle this growing menace which has managed to spread its fangs across 83 districts in nine states of the country.

In the year 2012 there were 300 civilians who were killed and from this 134 were police informers. It is observed that each year half the number of civilians killed are informers. I strongly feel that by using locals as informers the Security Forces are clearly endangering their lives. This has to be changed. We could substitute this with 24x7 surveillance by having drones in the sky to keep a tight check on the movement of the Naxalites and to ensure that we have real time intelligence collection from the ground.  We need to be more creative and deploy some stealth technologies as well. We should think of defoliating the jungles of these areas if need be. The government should not hesitate to do so. For the lives of its citizens are more precious than anything else.  Surgical strikes to decimate the top leadership of the Naxal Movement should be carried out periodically. Also the funding mechanisms of these groups should be investigated thoroughly and annihilated completely.

I strongly believe that if the center keeps harping on the line that since law and order is a state subject the center can only act in a ‘support and enabler’ role, then disaster is waiting to happen sooner or later. It is high time that the Union Government recognizes the fact that Naxalism is not a single state phenomenon but is almost engulfs a fourth of our mainland. And therefore to pass on the buck to the States is not going to help in the long run. It is time for taking some resolute action on the ground. If the government cannot guarantee its citizens safety from such anti-national elements then I am afraid that the very foundation of having established nation–states will get questioned and more so because this is an internal threat and the enemy is operating well within our territory and right under our nose. Till when, will we be talking of containment of the violence, and be happy with the reduction in the number of reported incidents of violence and deaths. Why can‘t we start thinking how to decimate this growing internal threat like what the US did to the Al-Qaeda.

The patience of the common man is running thin day after day and so is our faith in the democratic apparatus, as a whole.

Redefining India’s Afghan Policy

When President Karzai lands in New Delhi tomorrow, 20 May, 2013, it is expected that, there are going to be changes on the chess board of international relations viz-a-viz our partnership with Afghanistan. Currently India’s involvement in Afghanistan is limited to the areas of development like roads, education, telecom and training of armed personnel. India’s total commitment is worth US $2 billion. As the coalition troops are winding down their more than a decade long operations, there is a feeling that Afghanistan would relapse into terrorism and anarchy once again, as was the case after the Russian troops left in 1989. Therefore in order to fill the vacuum, Afghanistan and even US have been exhorting India to play an enhanced military role in Afghanistan. The emerging question on the scene is that, is this an opportunity for India to regain its position at the high table of the super powers given the fact that only Russia and USA have had the rare distinction of having played such decisive role in Afghanistan in the past. Or is this a trap into which India is been driven into. Remember, the coalition forces not only lost almost 2,500 soldiers since 2001 but also the US has had to pump a whopping 100 billion dollars a year to sustain its operations in Afghanistan. Let’s discover if it makes good sense for India to get involved militarily in Afghanistan.

As far as Afghanistan is concerned we should certainly have a much calibrated approach to our policy. Getting involved in Afghanistan is not easy for sure. Countries like Russia and United States have faced daunting challenges to retain their stronghold on this nation in the past. Therefore the government should have a robust policy in place. What we could have is basically a two pronged policy. First, of course, is sustenance of peace and security within Afghanistan and second is safeguarding our economic interests/investments. The quantum of our involvement in the former should be guided by the latter, predominantly. Meaning thereby that, the India’s Afghan operation should be one that is financially sustainable and profitable by virtue of our economic or financial benefits out of Afghanistan. We cannot afford to be a United States which passed on the cost burden of the war to its citizens. They may have had a case for it in 9/11 attacks but so far we don’t. Therefore what we need is that have revenue streams coming from Afghanistan itself to support our military arm in Afghanistan. This should be the broad framework within which we must operate.

Let’s now analyze each of the two parts in detail. With the economic part first. Afghanistan has mineral reserves worth an estimated 3 trillion dollars. These include coal, copper, oil, lithium and iron. Lithium is one such mineral which India is deficient in and which has huge need for future in the area of manufacturing of batteries. Afghanistan’s budding defence sector is in its growing stages. We could supply light artillery and other military equipment to them. Not only this, Afghanistan offers a big market to our private sector companies also. China has already made deep inroads into Afghanistan. Recently China firms bagged huge mining contracts. China so far has been reaping much of the benefits without have to invest much in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Then what is stopping us from gaining from our legitimate investments made? Afghanistan could be our gateway to trade with Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Coming to the second part of military deployment, now.  First and foremost we should be prepared to safeguard our economic ventures to maintain their smooth operation and subsequent financial viability. This would very much involve having a range of options at our disposal on the ground. We shall have to implant our intelligence officers to ensure that we have prior information of any misadventure from the side of insurgents. Then we should have enough men manning our embassy and consulates, adequate air support, surveillance mechanisms and reinforcement plan. All drawn out, well beforehand.  We should not be shying away from deployment of elite troops on the ground for carrying out surgical counter-terrorism operations. In order to avoid incidents like that of the bombing of our embassy in Kabul on 7 July 2008, we must have such plans in place in advance. Such a deployment should be very well supported by latest technological weaponry and stealth. A lean but credible and effective military presence is what the need of the hour is.

Many believe that India’s involvement in Afghanistan is a threat to our situation in Kashmir as Afghanistan has been used heavens by the Taliban to wage proxy war against India. But the fact is that in case of Afghanistan relapses into chaos once again the stability of Kashmir with come to a threat anyways. The prevalent peace, after the hard fought proxy war in Kashmir will be short lived. Therefore having our boots on Afghan soil is a more proactive strategy. So the fear of losing lives and the expenditure is little misplaced in this context. India has a choice to make here. Whether to continue to be passive in its involvement or take the risk and be at the high table where many superpowers have got involved and got routed.

I believe all problems also have opportunities in them. Afghanistan should not only be looked through the prism of problem but it also offers India with a rare opportunity. And the opportunity is to have a greater say in determining the future course of action in her immediate neighborhood.  Else countries like China will capitalize on this opportunity and once again we would be on the reactive mode to the happenings around.

And this should alarm, our policy makers at least !

Ideas for reclaiming an emergent Republic

Recently India celebrated its 64^th Republic day with great pomp and show. We had marching contingents from the three wings of the armed forces as well as the police and paramilitary forces. Numerous tableaus also were displayed on the Rajpath where the President of India, Shri. Pranab Mukherjee took the salute. In the backdrop of all this celebrations we also had a series of reformative decisions taken by the government in the areas of diesel pricing, cashless transfer, hike in railway fares etc. to ease the fiscal deficit burden of the burden. Also coupled with all this was the recent spat with Pakistan over its intrusion into the LoC and beheading of an Indian soldier. Even before all this, was the gang-rape in the national capital which aroused the anger in especially the youth of the country.

Now as a citizen I am little concerned if we are just traversing from one sore incident to the other mindlessly or are we even taking cognizance of the ills in our society and taking some lessons from our mistakes. Needless to say that some of these incidents have been really shocking and have occurred for first in time in history. What are these lessons or ideas which we can embrace so that we can contribute towards nation building which unfortunately nobody seems to be bothered about these days?

Right from the Anna Hazare’s movement to Baba Ramdev’s fast at the Ramlila grounds to that of the recent protests at the footsteps of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, there have been certain common trend lines which can be observed. One that, the nation is awakening to the passivity of our decision makers. Second, the nation is unifying to the plight of the common man and thirdly, a leadership vacuum does exist, which is very much palpable in our society. I say these because today the citizens are in the mode of asking questions from the political class. They are simply not content with the rudimentary style answers or cursory assurances provided by the government. For example, in the Delhi gang-raped case instead of the action of suspension of the erring policemen the citizens wanted the amendment of the laws of the land? Citizens want a change, which is more enduring. A change which completely annihilates, such ills which exist in the society. The unrest is very much palpable and it also seems that the masses are being pushed to the brink that they are even thinking of alternative courses of action and therefore you have the Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party and Anna Hazare’s Janatantra Morcha with burgeoning following. These are very much the signs of a possible mass social movement on the offing. Remember how the Indian freedom struggle started. Some uprisings here and there intermittently and then a fight for one unified cause woven by the emerging reach of the newspapers which at that time helped galvanize the public opinion. Today the situation is also similar. We do have such intermittent protests which have dotted our history, in the recent past. These uprisings have been assisted by the overarching spread of the social media platforms and the 24 X 7 news channels. But above all, the tragedy is that the leadership vacuum is still there unlike the pre-independent era. While Anna and Ramdev have chosen to work at the backdrop, the nation hopes against hope, for direction from the political class which is supposed to be found showing the way ahead. But the irony is that our politicians have stumbled event after event and their own credibility is coming to question, each time they try to engage with the masses. I am left wondering, do we not have a single leader at the helm who has the experience of engaging people at the grassroots and form a united front partnering with the common man and the civil society? The leaders of our freedom struggle where not like this. They were always present at the places where crisis was there. Gandhiji camped in West Bengal for days when the riots where going on to instill some calm in the people. But leaders of my generation choose to be seated in their plush offices and watch the happenings on television that come out and talk to the people.

Economically also we need to revamp our policies. Some of our actions which have been continuing in the past are highly unsustainable. The subsidy regime which encompasses even the rich, the overarching tax breaks for the big business houses are all highly arbitrary and unwelcome. The rationalizing of the diesel prices and the partial withdrawal of the subsidies on LPG beyond nine cylinders are welcome measures by the government in reducing the fiscal deficit.  The whole tax base is narrow and confusing. There is an urgent need to enhance the tax base and thereby widen the revenue streams of the government. The Railways which can be a cash cow for the government should be modernized as early as possible so as to reap the dividends of those who are ready to shell out some extra lucre to avail some comfortable and safe travel facilities. Our scientific organizations like the DRDO and ISRO should be strengthened more, so that they can not only cater to the indigenous requirements but also become sources of revenue and gradually self- reliant, by offering certain services to friendly countries. Another aspect the government needs to look into urgently is the Energy Sector. The current trend in usage of petroleum products in the country is highly unsustainable. We need to channelize our efforts to enhance the share of renewable sources of energy. Japan for example is planning to reduce its dependency on the Nuclear energy after the recent devastating earthquake which left its nuclear reactors destroyed causing emission of life threatening radiations. Japan has vowed to increase the usage of renewable sources of energy. Whereas in India, we are still trapped in the idea of relying on nuclear power to meet the energy deficits in the country. We have failed to capitalize on the excess solar power available in our nation or we can also fill up the deficit with hydro-electric project if needed, considering the fact that dams are a cause of worry for the ecosystem around.

And on the diplomacy and military front India needs to brace up to the present global challenges. In the recent past we saw how Pakistani soldiers intruded into Indian Territory and we had no option in hand to make Pakistan owe up to its dastardly act. We really have come to be taken for granted when it comes to any sort of serious diplomatic engagement. I more often feel that the fierce foreign policy which we once had during the times of Nehru has eroded now up to a great extent. For Example, under pressure from US we had to vote against our longtime ally Iran at the IAEA. China seems to be steadily asserting itself both diplomatically and militarily in the East Asian region. Their maneuvers in the South China Sea and that in the Maldives are examples for their robust policy making, backed up by its strong military capabilities. This should be an eye opener for India. India needs to recast its diplomatic policies and moreover make it more attuned with the changing times and country’s geopolitical interests. India needs to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean region for which it needs to urgently augment its naval capabilities. We also need much more advanced equipment for our ground and air forces. Having no options to exercise when provoked again and again is a sign of weakness.

I just hate it when people say we are a banana republic. I wish these aberrations which we see around us could be better tackled and if we could have some sort of mechanism in place like better legislative framework, sound political structure and better resources so that we can pursue the wholesome development story without any hiccups. Governance means all round development- development in policy making, growth in resource base, augmentation of defense capabilities, corruption free institutions. We need wholesome growth to rewrite our ‘emergent’ story.

Are our decision makers and policy makers listening!

Options in front of India viz-a viz Pakistan

Pakistan is our neighbor in the North-West. A country which was begotten out of India itself but has ever since, been at loggerheads with us .We have had a series of four wars with Pakistan in -1948, 1965, 1971 and 1999. We have defeated them decisively every time it tried to of invading India. Moreover, it has also continued to wage proxy war against us by sending terrorists across the border, majorly in J&K.

However, India as a nation has always wanted to be on a higher moral ground as far as the Indo-Pak relations are concerned. And by not retaliating vehemently it is still persisting on with maintaining on the high moral ground. The composite dialogue process is still on despite the many ceasefire violations and India believes in engaging with Pakistan on a one-on –one basis without any third party interference. More so because we haven’t had good experiences whenever we have knocked on the doors of any third party to resolve the Indo-Pak issues.  Therefore there is no alternative to a dialogue is what is a premise of the Indian policy viz-a viz Pakistan.

Now under circumstances when you have Pakistani soldiers’ crossing over the LoC and killing your soldiers as was the case on the 8^th of Jan 2013, one question comes to a citizen’s mind. Is it a sign of strength or weakness to continue talking to Pakistan? The answer is that we have no better option. This limit is what Pakistan is also aware of unfortunately, and is taking advantage all the time by resorting to such provocative acts on the LoC. Therefore the need of the hour and in future will be, to develop a new set of options that could perhaps have the potential of a deterrent and have the value of inducing certain element of uncertainty in the minds of especially those who call the shots in Pakistan.

Option 1: Have a covert network inside Pakistan. This will give India more tactical elbow room which we really are in need of, during such situations. If we claim to have agencies as RAW we must well use them instead of wasting the tax payer’s money on running such agencies. Else let’s just disband them. Off late, we have come to realize one fact that having a nuclear arsenal is not the solution to the problem because Pakistan too is a nuclear state today. And using the nukes is the last option and never the first. And with India’s stance of maintaining a – ‘No first use’ policy even this option is not available. Therefore, tactical options are something we should be looking at. And as it is there is so much uncertainty in Pakistan with respect to its democratic institutions that leveraging on this chink in its armor, should not be a difficult task. Like the killing of almost 100 Shi'ites from the Hazara community recently had led to mass protests in Pakistan. Such fault lines in the populations could be used by India to destabilize it at will.

Option 2: Choke the resources to sap them economically. Indian can even think of disrupting the oil flow into the Pakistani port of Karachi. However for this India will require international support from nations like US, China and Iran. This is on the similar lines in which US wants India to limit its oil off take from Iran and instead, switch to nuclear generated plants as per provisions of the Indo-US nuclear deal. This is also true when dealing with the river water sharing. Under the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, India chose to part with almost 80% of the water of the six Indus Rivers. As we have built dams on these rivers on the upstream on our side we can regulate the flow of water and choke the agrarian economy of the Northern parts of Pakistan. I feel we have been too generous with Pakistan and it’s time to tighten the noose. With all these rivers flowing from India and then to Pakistan it gives us enough room to ensure that the agricultural land across the border remains parched.

Option 3: Raise a diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan internationally and stop foreign aid from flowing in. Since 2001 $20 billion has been doled out by the US alone to Pakistan in the form of civil and military aid largely for using the Pakistani air bases and for allowing a free hand for the CIA to operate inside Pakistan. After the US operations in Afghanistan wound up by this year end, India must ensure that this aid reduces considerably and is gradually stopped at the earliest. Also we must see that no military hardware is traded between US and Pakistan so that these are not used by Pakistan against us in the event of escalations in tensions, if any.

Option 4: Deploy troops in Afghanistan. Undoubtedly India has spent a lot of money in the aid for Afghanistan and which Pakistan has been uncomfortable about. When US troops leave Afghanistan later this year, India can think of deploying a lean contingent of our special forces so that it has some sort of deterrent value and also a spoiler in terms of their focus on their border with India. A hot Durand line is in the interest of India as circumstances stand at present. This should sap the energy and resources of the Pakistani army slowly.

Option 5: Develop better relation with China. This is the most uphill task but also has the potential of being the most enduring one. A neutral approach of Beijing can be the best antidote to any Pakistani misadventures in the region. Given that China has invested in Pakistan it is a challenge to make Beijing act against Pakistan but what we can possibly do is to equally checkmate China in the process by increasing the presence on the Strait of Malacca from where the crude oil supplies flow to China.

I am not saying that these are easy options, perhaps not. To put in place some of these options India will require considerable political will and deft diplomatic and administrative acumen. But I strongly feel, time necessitates that we think in these directions. Else we run the danger of Pakistan bleeding us militarily and politically by engaging in such provocative acts as the crossing of the Pakistani troops into India in the Mendhar sector on the 8^th of January this year, and we having no option but just harp that- we have to engage in dialogue, and that too when we don’t even know if we have a buy in from the other side or there are sufficient mutual trust between both parties.

We have seen in the past that governments after government have been sitting as lame ducks whenever Pakistan has acted in such a manner. Take the example of the IC-814 hijack or the attack on the Indian Parliament or the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. You even had the NDA government which even marched a million men to the border and back, thinking that, that was an option, when it was not really. This kind of thought process is necessary if India has to be aregional power at least, forget being a super power.

A case for the urgent modernization of the Indian Railways

Recently, it was in the news that China opened a stretch of 2,298 kilometers long, high speed railway corridor from the country's capital, Beijing in the north to Guangzhou. China tops the world in having an expansive High Speed Railway network which operates at an average speed of 200 km/h or higher. And as compared to this- is our railways which still runs at average speed of 60 km/hr, operates the same old archaic coaches which are of minimum comfort. And if you have got berth near the stinking toilets then rest assured that your whole journey is going to be miserable and bound to leave an indelible mark in your mind for ever. Well, travelling is supposed to be pleasure but no longer is this true if you are travelling by the Indian railways.  And the next time around you do a booking you will definitely be prompted to at least check out the air fares, even if you cannot afford to book. This is the current situation of the Indian Railways which is the largest employer in India today. The same railways in which, we take proud because it is the lifeline of our nation, connecting its lengths and breaths. Moreover, railways have been a boon to the common man who can travel at relatively economical fares, at subsidized rates.

Remember that the Indian Railways is a legacy of the British raj. Post independence there is not much that has changed for the Indian Railways. There may be some milestones which the railways have traversed. As far as I can recollect these are- the change from steam to diesel/electric locomotives, switch from narrow/meter gauge to broad gauge and construction of the Konkan stretch. But In terms of speed and safety it has not recorded much progress, as compared to that of the British times.

Unfortunately the picture is not all that rosy today. The railways are cash strapped and are having losses at almost whopping 25,000 crores. The speeds of trains are below than any benchmark as per the 21^st century standards and the amenities are abysmal, if not worse. Added to all these are other problems like the requirement to make well in advance bookings, overcrowded unreserved compartments, unhygienic food, littered platforms, and security issues especially for ladies and the like. With cross subsidization the freight fares are increasing thereby making the railways less cost competitive as compared to the transport companies operating trucks. Thus, the railways seem to be heading to slow doom, which is almost the writing on the wall, unless we take some drastic measures to salvage this poster boy of Indian transport landscape.

However with the recent decision of the government there is some hope that the losses suffered by the railways would somewhat get reversed by the marginal price hike. The political parties are making a hue and cry of the price rise, saying that it will put undue burden on the common man. But this argument is false in my opinion. The price rise is marginal. If the fare from New Delhi-Mumbai was earlier Rs. 388/- then now it is Rs. 465/-. Which is an increase of Rs. 73/- which I believe is affordable when such long distance journeys are made once or twice a year.  And in any case the rise in fare in the sub urban segment is only 2 paisa.

And above all, we cannot be left behind as far as modernization of the railways is concerned. Railways is a key lever to the economic growth of any region. Connecting the under developed regions of the country with that of the developed regions can bring more economic parity. Railways has the potential to accelerate the movement of goods and people across the trade centers. Now the question arises how do we achieve this? The answer is to augment the speed of the trains by building High Speed Rail networks. HSR has a lot many advantages. Firstly, moving passengers through high speed lines frees up older railways to carry more freight, which is more profitable for railways than passengers, whose fares are subsidized. Secondly, this would also mean less clogged national highways and also reduced consumption of diesel whose import is a great drag on the national exchequer. Thirdly, dedicated High-speed railway networks allow more trains to share the tracks and this can be achieved at higher speeds. Fourthly, HSR construction would create jobs and drive-up demand for construction, steel and cement industries during the economic downturn. For example, Work on the Beijing-Shanghai HSR mobilized 110,000 workers. Fifthly, HSR locomotives being electric are more environment friendly. Lastly, developing an indigenous high-speed rail equipment industry make you being able to sell high-speed rail building technology to other nations are thereby early revenue as in the case of Antrix cooperation of the ISRO which helps launching of satellites for other nations. However, one must remember that the Chinese went for the policy decision of the modernization of its railways as early as in 1994. And subsequently it made what is visible, as a steady progress in stages. From 1997 to 2007, the speed of China's railways increased six times. Therefore the point here is that any plan of transformation and more so for the Indian Railways which is a mammoth machinery by itself, would take substantial amount of time to bring results. Therefore the key is to begin early so that the Railways stays in business else there is all danger of being kicked out of the scene by the low cost airlines and transport companies.

 If you have been to New Delhi, and the New Delhi metro station, you would feel how advanced and commuter friendly it is. But as you walk out of this underground station and move towards the New Delhi railway station of the Indian Railways you would witness something which is contrary to what you observed a few minutes back. You would see diesel locomotives pulling the age old model of coaches overcrowded with passengers and of course with the iconic stinking toilets. The theory of ‘Two India’s’ comes alive in front of you. As Indians we have the opportunity to bridge this gap. We can support the proposed hike in the railway fare. Thereby do a favour for posterity so that at least they don’t come to realize this gap. And that our next generation inherits a much safer, faster and efficient Indian Railways. This will be the best service we can do for our coming generations. Else history would adjudge us with inaction, when we were cognizant of the dwindling condition of the Indian Railways, leading to a downward spiral. Undoubtedly the railways may have chosen to burden the common man with the recent price hike, but the real test for railways is to convert the additional resources garnered, to tangible changes on the ground, in terms of better safety, amenities and modernization, so that the trust of the common man continues in the Indian Railways.

Why we need our uniformed personnel to be protected more?

Recently the nation witnessed the tragic death of a Delhi Police Constable, Subhash Tomar. Constable Tomar was seriously injured while controlling the protesters at the India Gate who were demonstrating against the recent gang rape in Delhi. He was rushed to hospital in an unconscious state and was kept on ventilator before he died on 18^th December, 2012 after battling for his life for two days. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.  This is yet another example of the ultimate sacrifice made by our men in uniform irrespective of its color. Be it olive green, khaki, black, white or blue, our men from the armed forces, police and other paramilitary forces have proved numerous times  that when it is the question of defending the territorial integrity of our nation or, that of maintenance of law and order, they are most dependable.

Now what is painful is that, everybody is talking of the brave lady who lost her life after she was brutally raped but Constable Tomar has soon become a forgotten hero, and nobody is talking about the sacrifice that he made and that of his family. Does donning the uniform mean that there is no value of your life or does it mean that it what you are supposed to do as part of your duty because that’s what you get paid for? Isn’t the life of a jawan or a policeman of this country as precious as that of any other citizen?    

I believe that the death of Constable Tomar was avoidable. While there are contradictory reports as to whether the constable really died controlling the mob or due to any personal ailment like heart attack. While we debate this and the investigations are on what can be said for sure and with utmost conviction is that, no proper first aid or ambulance was available in expectation of any emergency, when you had a situation where in hundreds where descending to the India Gate and clashing with the police. The visuals of the clashes showed that the policemen were largely in their plain khakhi outfits devoid of any helmets or bullet proof jackets, except some. When will we understand behind these men in uniform, are also their families and children. As a nation-state of the 21^st century, we are duty bound to defend and protect those who protect the territorial integrity and defend the law and order within. Because the maintenance of ‘law and order’ and protection of the territorial integrity, is what is innate to the very concept of nation –state and those who defend it should be treated with utmost regard.

From the point of view of the Army also we know that during the regular operations in the Siachen Glacier last month we lost 6 soldiers to an avalanche. I am not saying that these casualties could be prevented, may be not. When nature’s fury is at its maximum at places like Siachen, there is a lot of   uncertainty bound to prevail. Nevertheless what we can do at least that we can set up some mechanism which goes down into the causes of each of these incidents and tries to mitigate its occurrence in future. Else such casualties will keep taking place. The price of a jawan is not only precious for the forces but also we are accountable for his safety, to his family and next of kith and kin. Even in low intensity warfare in the hinterland as per the Annual Report of the Ministry of Defense of 2012 for the 95 terrorist killed and 35 apprehended, while we lost 15 soldiers. 530 soldiers were martyred during Kargil war under Operation Vijay. But 3,987 soldiers have been killed afterwards during the years 2000-2012. This makes an average of 330 soldiers per year.

Apart from this a total of 394 Army personnel have committed suicide between 2009 up to November, 2012. The case of an Army man who spent five days atop a mobile phone tower in the heart of Delhi to highlight his grievances — he threatened to jump but was somehow brought down safely — seemed to epitomize the crisis. Incidents of ‘fragging,’ or the fratricidal killing of fellow soldiers or superiors, also continue. It is clear that measures that were put in place by the armed forces after a study done by the Defence Institute of Psychological Research to identify stress-points are not efficacious enough. Some senior officers have contended that more than the physical and mental strain that extended deployment in counter-insurgency roles exerts, domestic, family and financial problems account for much of the distress.

Take the example of the Indian Air force. As per statistics the Air force has lost 171 pilots in crashes involving the Russian-origin MiG series of fighter planes in the past 41 years. The IAF had purchased 872 MiG aircraft of various types between 1966 and 1980. Out of these, 482 met with accidents between the financial year 1971-72 and April 19 2012. This makes an average, one pilot was killed in a MiG crash every three months. This is the state of Air Defense in our country. Imagine the morale of the pilots behind these machines which have far exceeded their service life but their replacement have not yet taken place. No wonder the MIG-21s came to be called as ‘Flying coffins’.

Now what the armed forces requires is a multi-pronged strategy at multiple levels in order to arrest these alarming trends. First, convert the peace areas to full-fledged family stations even for the jawans. This will allow the jawans to withdraw their families of from their ancestral places and keep them stationed in the Cantonments. This is more secure, gives adequate facilities, and ensures that children’s studies are unhampered and that they have other families around, who are in a similar situation, to empathize or provide the necessary support. Today, out of the 17 years that a jawan puts in as service he may be able to keep his family with him may be for just 3-4 years. This arrangement is absolutely skewed and is a certain drag on his mental makeup. Government has to ensure that the family life of jawans also remain undisturbed, as is the case with officers who are able to keep their families throughout except in field areas. The breakup of the joint family system has made the situation for the jawans even more problematic. Nuclear families have to fend for themselves now. And these stresses, within their families, even if they are miles away, get transmitted rapidly because of mobile phones, on a day to day basis, aggravating his stress levels furthermore.

Secondly, having a better pay parity is another aspect which is of utmost importance. Today the comparison is made with the private sector where the salaries are higher and there is a better quality of life. A poor economic situation can easily lead to lowering of the morale. There has to be a better parity between the officers and the jawans. The risk that the take are alike only the responsibilities differ and therefore one cannot be paying the jawans 1/10 of what is paid to the officers.

Thirdly, retirement and reemployment of the Jawans is another critical area. Imagine that you have to retire at the age of 37 yr. Will it not call for anxiety when at the peak of your life you are faced with the fact of retirement which could be aggravated by the fact that your children are still at school. And financial liabilities are all the more. I for one thing, am for the extension of the retirement age for jawans. Why do we want to lose these experienced soldiers so early in whom we have invested so much. And even if we provide their early retirement, what are we doing to get them suitably reemployed elsewhere. I strongly feel that there has to a centralized repository of database of organizations which could absorb these jawans and make the transition much easier. At least they could also be absorbed into the many auxiliary arms of the armed forces itself like the Defense Accounts or Defense Estates, etc.

Fourthly, provide all forces with the best possible equipment and intelligence before any sort of engagement. We heard that during the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai how we lost so many policemen due to inadequate bullet proof vests. Spending of a few lakhs could save umpteen lives. The decision makers must understand that showing generosity in terms of distributing compensation, to a martyr’s family is of less meaning when the family feels that the sacrifice could have been avoided. The defense equipment acquisition process should be both streamlined and expedited. If required the Planning Commission should be made in charge of planning the defense needs of the nation along with that of the economic development so that we do not land up in a situation where we are not able to defend our economic interests domestically and abroad alike, with , minimum casualties.

This is the minimum we could do for those who give the best years of their lives, in the service of the nation. You need motivated men with advanced weapons to make a 21^st century Armed forces which is capable of striking hard and striking deep. With a defense budget (2012-13) of Rs.1,93,407 crore, of which Rs.1,13,828.66 crore (58.85%) is earmarked for revenue expenditure,  there is some optimism that our men in uniform (Army, Navy, air Force) will get a fair deal in the years to come, if this trend in expenditure continues for a while. For no excuse or compensation, upon the loss of a life of a soldier or policeman, on account of a poor strategy, misjudgment or under equipment especially during peacetime, is justifiable. For this is no reason that even the family of the deceased soldier can take pride in, and if that is so, a nation should certainly not.