Lokpal Bill: It is about changing the status quo

We are passing through a historical moment. I was at the Anna Hazare protest in Ramlila maidan yesterday. There were people from all walks of life- young, old, rich, poor and even some foreigners. People have a sense of purpose. They want to do some thing to change the system. Scale and extent of corruption in scandals like commonwealth and 2G shocked people.

To be sure Lokpal bill is not every thing. We need a series of reforms to stem the rot. We need a root and branch examination of the current system.


We need police reforms so police can do their job without interference from their political masters. We need electoral reforms to take criminal elements out of politics. We need internal democracy in political parties. So we need whole lot of reforms to change the system.

I hear and read different arguments against this movement. One argument is that the people who follow Anna Hazare are naive, that they expect too much and that they don't understand what they want and that they don't know that they are going to fail. It is a convenient argument for doing nothing. It is very simple. Either you are happy with the current set up or you are not. If you are not, what you are doing to change it. Anna Hazare is doing some thing about it, here and now. To be sure Lokpal bill is not every thing and even Jan lokpal bill may not achieve much. But it is a step, first of perhaps many we have to take, just like the RTI Bill.

The second argument is that Anna and team can't impose the will on the nation. If it is only Anna and team, government wouldn't care. The fact is that millions of people support and want tougher legislation to fight corruption. In a democracy, citizens have every right to demand changes when things go wrong. Corruption has seeped into every root and branch of government machinery. It is about time we took steps to stem the rot. If politicians and bureaucrats are too comfortable to make changes to the cosy set up, then the citizens have no choice but to take to the streets to voice concerns and demand changes. And that exactly what is happening. To argue that, people should not demand changes and let the parliament do the job is to let the status quo continue. That's what people want to change.

Entertainment and Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon

Today we visited an amazing educational institution- the entertainment and technology center at Carnegie Mellon.

It's one of the very few places to teach an interdisciplinary course of entertainment and technology. It's creatively designed and is full of energy. As the Executive Producer Don says- work is life for staff working there and it shows. Amazing place!!

Visit to US West Coast

This blog is about my recent visit to the US west Coast along with a few other Fulbright fellows. I had visited the east coast several times before but hadn't been to the west coast.

We bought a package that turned out very well. We began our trip from LA. We went to Disney land on the first day. For me it was great but not spectacular. Disneyland doesn't seem to take full advantage of the digital revolution. Yes it was thrilling, but it was not out of the world. I guess it's time for a digital make over for Disneyland.

We moved to Las Vegas from there. Vegas fully lived up to the expectations as the entertainment capital of the world. All the big hotels / casinos had a unique selling proposition to attract the tourists. We stayed at the stratosphere that housed the tallest tower. At the top, the tower has a bar appropriately named the air bar. Having a drink at the air bar was a dizzying experience. Our card counting skills were not good enough to bring down the house, but we did make a little money at the casino below.

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon. The views of the canyon were spectacular which ever way you look. The Colorado river, the huge rock formations offer amazing views. I was a little surprised to find that there were almost no safety precautions on the west canyon rim that we visited. Given the importance given to safety all over the US, it was an anomaly for me.

Our next stop, the Yosemite national park is pure nature. Yosemite is a very large ( over 3000 sq. KMs) area of wilderness in central Sierra Nevada of California known for mountain cliffs, water falls, forests, clear streams and biological diversity. Visiting Yosemite is experiencing nature at its best. I only regret we couldn't spend more time there.

Our final stop was the beautiful city of San Francisco. We walked the steep slopes of the city and enjoyed the chilly summer fog. The weather, the beautiful city and the culture of start ups creating much of the Internet we experience today is a heady combination.

It was a hectic trip but it was a wonderful trip. The mountain cliffs, steep water falls, clear streams, cities, dams, buildings, best of the creations by nature and man.

Global Leadership Forum 2011- Carnegie Bosch Institute 2011

I have just finished the first four weeks of my Fulbright fellowship. The first part of the fellowship is the Global Leadership Executive Forum conducted by the Carnegie Bosch Institute.

The four weeks' period has been an intense roller coaster ride. I was gently informed that there could be better locations for a fellowship in the US, but Pittsburgh was just great. It's a small city with beautiful views all around ( the image is of Pittsburgh from a small hilly suburb called Mount Washington). It has been a phenomenal transformation from a declining industrial city to a beautiful university town.

The program itself was intense with courses on strategy, leadership, culture, change management and other topics packed from morning to late evening. The participants were of eight nationalities with Indian and Germans making the bulk of class of 30. Coming as it did after 15 to 20 years of professional experience to most of us, the topics were very relevant. The faculty were from top schools and well experienced in executive education. The content is a mix of theory and application. I liked the structure of the program, the emphasis was not only giving inputs but ensuring that we understood and applied it by regular sessions of reflections on the inputs.

I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of improvisational theater as one of the themes. Stories and visual images communicate far better than talking about concepts using data. People want to relate to some thing they already know so stories are very good in communicating. In improvisational theater you learn to communicate without preparation. I thought it was a terrific idea to include it in the program. Over the years I observed many people who are very good subject matter experts but poor communicators. I think it is a result of lopsided education system that put emphasis on learning from books and exams but very little emphasis on how you communicate your ideas.

I will conclude with a quote from Prof Michael Brimm who taught us on leadership:

A fundamental task of leadership is providing simplicity of thinking – a clear story – that effectively communicates the mission and fundamental strategic path of the business. Failure to accomplish this yields a "cognitive complexity" that frustrates and paralyzes organization into inaction and failure to take necessary decisions.

Visit to Amritsar: Golden Temple and Wagah Border

We visited Amritsar during the Easter weekend. We visited the two main attractions, the golden temple and the wagah border.

As our bus winded through Punjab I could see names of villages and towns that I only heard for all the wrong reasons in the violent 80s. Now Punjab is a big part of the India growth story. A bollywood flick was being shown on the bus, which I thought was incongruous with the times. It was about a dare devil act of the Indian commandos saving passengers kidnapped by Pakistan based terrorists and taken to Pakistan side of Kashmir. It shows the kind of patriotic fluff that gets fed on both sides of the border.


As a non-believer, the visit to the golden temple was more historic than religious. I had expected heavy rush and pushing and shoving that I experienced in other temples but it was pleasant. You can see the devotion and commitment from the staff rarely seen. If only we have as much devotion to our standard operating procedures at work :-)


We visited the circus called the Wagah border the next day. What happens at the Berlin wall of Asia every evening is complicated to explain. It is theater put on by two groups on either side of the border trying to outdo each other and indulging in showmanship. You could hear the music blaring out on both sides trying to literally drown the sounds from the other side. The emotions build up slowly as the crowds gather for the start of the flag ceremony. I am sure crowds on both sides have the same degree of certitude about their country, their philosophy and about their future though events of the last few years must cast some doubts on the Pakistan side. The show if you can call that is purely one way, in the sense that each group is trying to show that they enjoy their show better. There had been efforts to tone down the hostility of the ceremony but I still found it very aggressive and hostile. It was nice to see many women solders being deployed on the Indian side ( I can't confirm if the Pakistan does the same as I couldn't see what goes on the other side). I am sure it tones down the hostility some what. All the songs were patriotic and Bollywood's popular numbers started coming towards the end. It was a nice touch to let the women dance on the Indian side to the Bollywood numbers. It does tone down the hostile atmosphere and makes for a more happy atmoshpere. The BSF officer who orchestrated the show can find alternative career in TV reality shows :-)


I have a few suggestions to tone down the hostility further. First limit the crowds. There are thousands on each side, particularly on the Indian side. Simply make people pay for the show and they will reduce in numbers. Second cut down the sloganeering. I guess some of it is inevitable but it is far too much at this point. Third, can we listen to the same music on both sides? Can the BSF and the Pakistani rangers sit down and agree to listen to a set of songs that may be appreciated by the both the groups? I am sure "Jai Ho" will be enjoyed by the Pakistani crowd and there will be some songs that Indians would like to listen from the other side. It is just cacophony at this point. And finally, can we do away with songs with any religious content? Or at least very religious content like Bhagavadgita and the like?


Of course, it would be perfect to be able to take a stroll across to Lahore for a day, after all it is only 23 Kms from the border!

Right to Education: The Real Discussion

It is more than a year since the Right to Education Act came into force in India. Public Interest Foundation did a survey to find the status of implementation in various states. The findings show that the RTE act impacted very little on the primary education system in India. However different states have taken different approaches and made beginnings in several areas. Why is it important to study the progress at grass root level? Because all the discussion in the public sphere regarding the RTE act has been on areas which are almost irrelevant to improving the quality of primary education in the vast majority of schools. Over 80% of children get educated in government primary schools. So when we want to look at how the RTE act is improving quality of primary education in India, we have to look at these 80% government primary schools. Instead all the discussion was about administration of private schools- the mandatory 25% admission of children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups, regarding the norms of admission, regarding the promotion of children of from one class to another and so on. This is not the real issue. This is a distraction to the real issue of improving quality of education in the vast majority of government schools. The private schools are governed by market principles. If they don’t provide good quality of education, the parents have a choice of moving to a better school. The private schools have built in incentives to maintain their standards. If they are not good, they don’t survive. They don’t need visits from School Inspectors every year to maintain their quality. The proposed inspections of private schools will only lead to increased corruption and will stifle the entrepreneurship and growth of private schools. But we are digressing. So instead of getting caught in this debate about whether and which RTE norms should apply to private schools we wanted to study what has been happening in the government sector which is where our attention should be. What is the status of implementation then in various states? Here are the findings from a survey conducted by Public Interest Foundation: · None of the states has appointed an advisory council to over see the implementation of the act. Appointment of this council is an important first step under section 34(1) of the RTE act. · Most state governments are yet to embark on the journey of estimating the additional funds necessary for the implementation of the act. State governments receive assistance under Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan (SSA). However requirements of the RTE act go beyond SSA and the state governments have to identify the additional requirements, make estimations of funds required and send proposals to the central government. · The data mapping of schools is a critical exercise to identify the need for creation of new schools. The RTE act stipulates that for classes I – V, there shall be a school within a walking distance of 1 Km and there shall be a school within a walking distance of 3 Kms for classes VI- VIII. While most states have responded that this activity is yet to begin, some states have initiated this exercise, notably the Delhi state. This is an area States can coordinate amongst themselves to outsource this activity to a common partner and get the data base completed in a time bound fashion. However, this responsibility falls to various departments in the state such as Planning and so imagining creation of central database of neighbourhood schools doesn’t appear within the realms of possibility. · Finally, all states except one state replied in the negative regarding the reimbursement of funds to private schools. The state of Delhi has budgeted funds for 20,000 children to be admitted to private schools and that’s encouraging. It is a best practice that other states should emulate. So to summarize these are early days still for the implementation of the act. Different states have taken different approaches and at different states of implementation though all of them are in first leg. There is a lot that they can learn from each other. They can gain by centralizing some activities such as creation of database of neighbourhood schools. Can the national advisory council at the Central level play this role of coordinating between the states? That’s an open question!

Right to Education Report Card on States and the Poor Seven Sisters

Pratham has just published The Annual Status of Education Report 2010. The full report is here. The report also published how schools in different states conformed to the norms of the Right to Education act. I performed a simple analysis to see how different states perform.

I constructed a simple index based on a set of 13 parameters like Teacher to Pupil ratio, Infrastructure ( office building, toilets, play grounds), libraries, Kitchen sheds etc. with respect to their compliance to their compliance with RTE norms. I used the data published in the ASER report and ranked the states on that Index. What I find is striking.

Puduchery is the most compliant state with 84.5% compliance to the RTE norms. Kerala is the second with 81.8% compliance. The third ranked state is Daman Diu with a compliance rate of 78.9%. With double digit economic growth and reports of $450 Billion invests committed at least on paper, I was wondering if Gujarat's economic progress meant better social infrastructure and indeed it is. At 4th Rank with 78.5% compliance, Gujarat is amongst the best and if you leave out small states, has really the best infrastructure for schools in the country.

What is shocking is the bottom of the table. The bottom 7 ranks are occupied by the seven sister states from the North East with Meghalaya at the very bottom of the table with only 35.9% compliance. The seven sister states only have an average of compliance of 45% almost 20% points below All India average. Speak of negligence! Interestingly Sikkim does better at 64.3% compliance and ranked in 14th position slightly below Andra Pradesh. How does Sikkim do much better than the other North Eastern states? That's some thing to look at.

West Bengal doesn't do very well for all the rhetoric of emphasis on social infrastructure in left governed states. West Bengal has only 54.7% compliance and is languishing at 21st position only just above Bihar.

The southern states, expectedly are doing better, all in top 10 and over 70% compliance except Andhra Pradesh at 13th position.

It is not really a scientific comparison. Not all parameters are considered and we have to think about if all parameters have equal weight. Still based on simple comparison, it does show that Gujarat is really pulling ahead and The seven sisters need some urgent attention.