TEN IDEAS FOR THE PRIME MINISTER @NarendraModi FOR @2015 1) Accessibility to Ministers The popular impression is that the PM has tremendous energy and is doing all the right things, but nevertheless, it is also felt, that except maybe for Mr Arun Jaitley, there are no ministers around him who stand out as exceptional and he is a one-man show. One of the problems is that these ministers have to work in an environment which is the by-product of decades of Congress rule, whereas the ministers are heavily dependant on PA’s and secretaries of PA’s and even peons. As a result, it is very difficult today to reach a Minister, even if one has genuine work. I know of three or four recent instances of friends, some of whom came from an influential background and had bona fide reasons for a meeting with a particular minister, but could not even get to the PA. Even recent entrants such as @RamMadhavbjp from the @RSS, have become unreachable and elitist. The idea is to do a media sting. For each important Ministry, a project and a project holder (who would be in effect the journalist ‘stinger’) would be selected, with a file, important and genuine enough that it would require the attention of the minister in question. The project holder would then try to contact the minister through the channels available on each ministry’s website, and notes would be taken of the dates, persons contacted, time that it took to reach (or not) the PA’s and success (or not) of an appointment with the minister. The report would then published. This would have the effect of putting ministries on their toes, for fear of another sting - which may not have to be repeated at least for two years. 2) The Media No doubt, censorship is not the answer to the Indian Media’s hostility both towards the @BJP and India’s ancient spirituality, plus the fact that Mr Modi’s governance, since he has become PM, has already made himself quite popular in his own right. Yet, Media houses like @NDTV or @TimesOfIndia, which have been traditionally pro-Congress and anti-Hindu, can be indirectly taken to task,– the former because there is a 100 crore scam more quite well documented against it – the latter as it has been caught many times doing paid news. But the real problem lies in Indian schools of journalism, which are deeply entrenched in a Marxist thought and keep churning out young journalists in the same mould. The solution would be for the Government to create or sponsor new schools of journalism which would teach a bit of true Indian History, a bit of yoga and pranayama, pride of motherland, along with the latest techniques in electronic and web journalism. 3) Institute of Indology One of the reasons for India’s wrong image abroad, which in turn results in lesser investments than say China, is that the western Indologists – @MichaelWitzel, @wendyDoniger in the USA, @jaffrelotc , Sanjay Subramanyam,(@orsimplysanjay) and others in France – keep harping on India’s problems – castes, poverty, so called-Hindu fundamentalism, etc. I know for a fact that in @France, it has an influence on the top bureaucrats and the politicians, as every time something important happens in India – elections, catastrophes, riots, etc, their slanted opinions are sought by newspapers radios and televisions. In France, even after Mr Modi has been elected and has shown vision in his statesmanship, the Media has remained fairly hostile, French investment in India has not increased & neither the French President Francois Hollande (@President_FR ) nor his External Affairs Minister have taken much notice of India. It is true, as Mr Modi has proved in America, that given time, they will have to acknowledge India’s rise, but why not speed up the process? The idea is to hunt for more friendly Indologists, which are there, but are shunted by the existing ones, and promote them by inviting them to India and give them material which they can use in their own countries. We can start by the USA, UK, France and Germany. Thus it is proposed to set up an Institute of Indology endowed with clearly defined and distinctive goals, a specific identity, an efficient functioning and rich outputs & with genuine researched in Indology and ‘Hindulogy’ a new word that should be coined. 4) Fitness` It is believed that the PM @NarendraModi will need at least two terms – if not 3 - to achieve his ambitious goals for the Renaissance of India. We know that the task is huge and that there will be many of obstacles. It is thus imperative, that he keeps his body fit and his weight under control, as much has been and will be demanded from it. It is easily in his means to avail of a personal trainer and dietician who will accompany him everywhere and chart out a daily fitness and dietetic program. This coupled with pranayama and yoga should help the PM to remain fit, even with all the traveling, campaigning, and sitting that his office entailed by his charge. 5) Museum of Indian History We see more and more today that Indian History has to be rewritten according to the latest linguistic and archaeological discoveries, if Indian children are to understand who they are and where they come from. We know now that not only the history of India’s beginnings were written by European colonizers, with an intention to downsize, downgrade and postdate Indian civilization, but that unfortunately, generation after generation of Marxist Indian historians, such as @RomilaThapar for their own selfish purposes, endorsed and perpetuated these wrong theories, such as the Aryan invasion, which divided India like nothing else, pitting South against North, Aryan against Dravidian, Untouchables against Brahmins. Hence the need for a Museum of Indian History, where the real Indian History will be engraved in stone and artefacts for generation to come. Our Foundation FACT started building a Museum of (TRUE) Indian history on 5 acres of land donated by HH @Sr Sri Ravi Shankar. We have inaugurated the first phase & second phase. See the film at: youtube/user/FACTindia/feed & https://youtube/watch?v=ggPjQEfeM0Q We need the Government’s help, both monetary and to obtain all the necessary permission, as bribes are asked at every step in Maharashtra. 6) Gurus Unite India is attacked by many forces today. And Her enemies are united, even if it is in disunity, even if it is a temporary arrangement based on a common hatred. Christian conversions, the onslaught of Muslim fundamentalism, the abhorrence of communists for Hinduism, the infinite dangers of Globalisation and Americanisation, @SoniaGandhiGs dangerous hold over the intellectual elite, even after her defeat, of India and her agenda of minority prodding against the majority community of India… There are so many great gurus incarnated in India at the moment. Yet not only are they not united against the common enemy (or for the common good), but they often compete against each other for disciples or territory and even criticize each other. Disunity has always been the curse of India and whichever enemy conquered this country, did it not because of superior strength, but because they were helped by Hindu betrayers. Remember the last great Hindu empire, that of Vijaynagar. The Christians have a Pope, the Muslims the word of the Koran, communists have Der Kapital of Karl Marx, but Hindus are fragmented in a thousand sects, which often bicker with each other. It is thus of vital importance that Hindu gurus and swamis regroup under one umbrella. Each group and guru will retain its leadership and autonomy but will meet three times a year to review the situation and issue edicts will be binding to hundreds of millions of Hindus all over the world. There are too many gurus and swamis all over India and the world and it would not be possible to assemble them all in one group. Thus I propose that the twelve gurus in India who have the most disciples, represent all the other swamis and gurus. Amongst them of course, we should find @Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, @amritanandamayi , the Shankacharya of Kancheepuram, Gurumai of Ganeshpuri, @swamiRamdev, Satguru Vasudev, etc. The leadership of this group will be rotated every year and so can membership for that matter, as there are quite a few other gurus of India who have a huge following.. It is not only Hinduism which is at stake, but the Sanatan Dharma, the Knowledge Infinite which came down, through the ages and has survived today only in India in a partial form. This Knowledge only can save the world. 7) Aviation Fuel It is exorbitant to fly now in India. A last minute ticket to Delhi from Chennai, can cost up to 14.000 Rs, one way. Whatever Mr Mallya’s faults, @flyKingfisher was the best airline that India had. Now @SpiceJet is struggling and 40 pilots have already deserted it. Aviation fuel costs in India are 40%-60% higher than in other parts of the world. Even as crude oil prices have fallen by 17.3% since June this year, the price airlines in India pay for aviation fuel has fallen by only 3.2%. SpiceJet paid INR3260cr for fuel in fiscal 2014. It is almost 60% of their costs. A 17.3% reduction would reduce their FY2014 fuel bill of INR3250 cr by INR564cr. A 35% reduction reduces it by INR98cr. The difference is INR466 cr!. ATF prices in India (combination of base price and taxes) is really hurting Indian aviation and challenging the very viability of the sector. The relevant ministries HAVE TO pass on more of the benefit of reduced global oil prices to help make the aviation sector in India healthier. 8) @SoniaGandhiG & @NarendraModis security The PM is for the moment at the top of his popularity and everything that he does is perceived positively by the public. Yet we know that all cannot be under his total control: the economy, the weather, the changing public moods can alter this wave. The PM of course knows the story of Prithviraj Chauhan who forgave Gohri, in the first battle of Tarain, against the advice of his commanders and was ultimately defeated, blinded and killed by him. This resulted in 5 lakhs Hindu women children and young men perishing in winter on the Hindu Kush, as they were taken as slaves to Turkmenistan The PM is showing lenience and has no bitterness towards those who even savagely went after him when he was CM of Gujarat (and ignoring those who supported him even in his darkest hours!) – and that seems the right attitude, as it has won him a lot of goodwill. Nevertheless, some believe that as long as @SoniaGandhiG is in India, she will be a danger to the PM, as she is the only one around whom, not only the Congress can focus, but also other hostile forces : Sri Aurobindo insisted a lot on the role of ‘occult’ forces, that is asuric forces who use human beings to do harm. Is SG such a person? She did try to have @NarendraModi imprisoned and probably would not even have minded if he had been murdered by the bombs planted during his election campaign in Bihar... 9) Trains In the forty-five years, I have lived in India, I have not seen any real improvement in the railway system. Today, if you are an ordinary citizen, and you want to travel on a short notice, say from Patna to Delhi, or from Chennai to Mumbai, you will be waitlisted 200 or above, the same way it was 5 decades ago. Which means that the capacity has not substantially increased whereas the population has multiplied. Before coming to Bullet trains, it is imperative that the government sees to it that modern railway coaches are manufactured quickly and in great numbers, so as to match the demand of passengers. Some of it should be offered to the private sector, thereby creating employment. It is also true that the quality of coaches has not improved, that passengers still have to defecate on the tracks through a crude hole and that some of the stations are a shame for a country that wants to become a superpower. In Old Delhi’s station for instance, huge rats are seen on the tracks, the platforms are extremely dirty and there are no sitting facilities for passengers. The railway minister @Sureshprabhubjp would do well to do a surprise check one night around 10PM… 10) VIP status If there is one thing that the Indian public has come to hate, it is the VIP culture and all the hassles that it entails for the common man. It is true that it was born because of terrorism - I remember when Indira Gandhi was quite accessible. But after her assassination and later of her son Rajiv Gandhi, protection had to be provided by the government to its politicians. The problem is that it has become a status symbol in India and that there are many politicians who are not targeted by any group, yet receive a VIP security status. For example, Sonia Gandhi and her family will never be targeted by Islamic terrorism, nor by any other group, the LTTE being defunct. Yet she probably has one of the highest securities in India and her Janpath residence looks like a fortress. A review committee should be constituted and each politician security status be reviewed (though that may be in the cards already).
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 09:45:02 +0000
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