Rent and Lease Laws of India Need Immediate Change!

I have been hearing and reading the opinions of many economists and legal experts regarding the need for having progressive property laws and rules in India that enable letting out of properties for residential and commercial activities beneficial and hassle free for both the property owners and the tenants. Unfortunately neither the union government of India nor the state governments in India seem to act in this regard.

Real estate business can flourish and would be beneficial to both the builders and the owners only when there are laws in place that facilitate all concerned in an equitable basis.

In countries like the USA, Australia, UK etc, getting a furnished accommodation on rent from property rental companies who not only build buildings but also furnish and maintain them properly for the purpose of letting them out is not difficult. They have the laws and rules that  permit such an economic activity. In India, such a thing has not yet happened.

Even after six decades of existence as a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic, the democratically elected leaders and the officials of India who have been governing India under the authority provided by the written Constitution of India, could neither bring about socialism nor secularism in the manner that the Constitution stipulated.

Having failed in these and having observed failure of administered socialism and secularism in several other nations, the Indian leadership has evolved a system which does not honor socialism or secularism in the right sense as the Constitution envisaged.

Indian laws and the Indian jurisprudence is a legacy of the colonial era. Though India got independence from its colonial rulers, it has never achieved independence from the colonial era laws and legal systems partly because the Indian leaders finding the colonial systems too enchanting and beneficial for their own self satisfaction at the expense of the people at large. The incompetence of the elected legislators and the laziness of the permanent bureaucratic members responsible for drafting the laws for the elected legislators have also contributed to make the legal system of India to degrade and become too complicated preventing justifiable justice a distant dream to all. 

The Indian law practitioners got a gold mine of opportunities to enhance their practices and incomes because of the ever increasing complexities beyond the common understanding of the people of independent India. Contradictory and opposing judgments from the various levels of judiciary became a common thing in independent India as a result of all these. Ambiguities in the statutes provide enough scope for interpretation of the laws differently by different people!

Unfortunately, every halfhearted and incomplete approach to make corrections in the system causes and enhancement of ambiguities. As a result, the existing rule of law and justice in India is perhaps worse than what existed during the colonial days! Essentially what India has achieved by independence is a transfer of power from a group of colonial foreigners to a group of Indians with colonial mindset!

What the colonialists practiced was the control of land and property that belonged to the native Indians by adopting various rules and laws many of which had been for the purpose of governance as applicable more than a century ago. 

Unfortunately the same laws governing property, its use and control exist in India more or less in the same fashion as during the colonial days. Only cosmetic changes here and there were done by the state and the central governments of India after independence in this context. The absence of cohesiveness on a pan India basis is very obvious to any one who have tried to get to the details for any reasons.

Laws and rules regarding land ownership, sale, lease, use, distribution, partition, etc are not in accordance with the current requirements of the people of India. The Indian law makers seem too lazy and unconcerned to do the necessary work in this regard. As a result land reforms is an area of great disappointment for all in India. [You may read my earlier blog on this here!]

The rules regarding leasing and renting of immovable properties like residential houses, flats, apartments and commercial properties remain an  area of extreme concern which cause immense problems to the people, both the owners and the users. The present laws are too much biased in favor of one party than having a balanced approach. When such biased laws exist, no one can expect proper justice to the people. 

Let me explain this with a few examples. Suppose that you are an owner of one house at one location and you need to move to another location or city to live there for a few years in connection with your profession or job. What you immediately need is a residential accommodation on rent for a period of say 3-4 years till such time that you are in that location. You are now an owner of a property who wants to vacate your own home some where and move to another property owned by another person in some other location. Perhaps the other person too might be in a similar situation as you. 

But you would face much difficulty in getting a rented accommodation because of the present laws which are too impractical. The present laws are biased and made some decades ago when the situations were different from now. The laws also do not permit business men to build, maintain or let out properties following fair business ethics.

Indian real estate business for the time being is only concerned with building and selling of properties. The boom has created a big surplus of flats in all major cities and towns. In Mumbai alone, it is reported that there are over 130000 flats remain unsold.  Imagine the total money invested and the numbers lying unused all over India! At the same time the builders are not facilitated to give out these properties on rent, because the laws are not conducive for that. It is indeed a great opportunity lost for a country where millions are without shelter and housing!

The overall charges incurred by the sellers of properties are extremely high on account of high stamp duties, registration fees, lawyer fees, commissions to agents, etc. Just one transaction of a property would make it dearer by nearly 15 %. A property that has changed ownership a couple of times would naturally be with a much higher cost price than similar properties that did not encounter such ownership changes. Naturally, this situation artificially jacks up property prices in India causing much imbalances and unfairness in determining the fair price valuation of properties. This in turn causes a high degree of black economy trade in India.

Any progressive government who is determined to provide good governance for the betterment of the nation could never sit as a passive spectator to such things. Unfortunately passive governance has been the situation for several years!

I hope the Narendra Modi government would do some thing positive in this regard in the days to come. What I look forward in this context are:

1. New rent control laws as applicable to the whole country which is simple and beneficial to both the owners and the tenants. The law should also allow property companies not only to build and sell, but also to own, maintain and rent properties easily to clients on rentals that are fair and justifiable. It is reported that the government is already mulling on a  New law for regulating rental housing . But this law should also address issues like long term professional upkeep of apartment and commercial buildings on chargeable basis by estate management companies including facilities for existing owners societies to outsource such services to such companies.

2. New property transfer laws that enable owners to incur less costs while selling or transferring them there by reducing the possibility of artificial jack up of property costs. Governmental agencies should provide better and reliable property registration, record keeping and documentation facilities including creation of digital property identities and data. Government may stipulate different stamp duties for properties sold at different intervals of time. The national law should be the benchmark of guidelines for all state and local authority laws for all issues concerning development of properties, sale, lease, maintenance, taxation, fire safety, lift safety, water and electricity use, responsibilities of residents, etc.

3. Government may set up national institutes which train people in various aspects of land and property surveys, evaluation, record keeping, assessment, designs, documentation, etc. Degrees and diplomas from these institutes should be made mandatory for all appointments to offices responsible for activities pertaining to land and property assessment and management.

I would like the readers to respond with their views on these.

The Campa Cola Apartment Eviction Case: Who Are Responsible? Who Are to be Punished?

The Campa Cola Apartment Case is becoming a test case in India regarding the rule of law. It is proving that justice in India goes by the written laws impartially and blindly at whatever be the outcome.

But the Campa Cola case is a test case in the administration of justice because, in this case it has become difficult to ascertain who is or who are the culprits. On the one side, there is the mighty democratic system of governance represented by the local administration of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ably patronized by the state government of Maharashtra and on the other side there are about 250 odd owners of the apartments built on the Campa Cola premises in Worli, South Mumbai. 

The background of the case is some thing like this. Some decades ago the governments at the central, state and local levels in India were having much land in their possession. They also had enough statutory powers and the officers of the government had enough guts to acquire land using the prevailing laws.

To promote growth and development of factories, educational institutions, hospitals, roads, etc, it was an acceptable practice by the governments to lease out large peaces of land to both private and public organizations for such purposes.

Leasing out of landed property is quite different from outright sale. The custodian of the property in the former case is called a lease holder while in the latter case the custodian who has purchased the land is the owner holding the free hold title to the property. The lease holder enjoys some rights on the property for a long period as per the lease agreement which could go as long as 99 years in some cases. After the original lease period, the lease holder has to return the land back to its original owner or his legal heirs. If the lease holder had constructed buildings etc on the land, those have to be demolished if the agreement so stipulates.

Normally, as per the standard lease agreements in vogue in India, the lease holder has no right to lease out the property in full or in part to others without the concurrence of the original owner. 

Now coming back to the Campa Cola case. A private company, M/s Pure Drinks Ltd- the makers of the popular Indian soft drink, Campa Cola- got the land for constructing its soft drink bottling plant on lease from the local government, the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) who were the owners of the land. The BMC authorities naturally would not have done so, without the approval of the state government authorities of that time. Initially, the lease was for the purpose of building the factory. But later, the company approached BMC to amend the lease terms in such a way that they could build some apartments for their employees on the same land. It seems that the BMC agreed to this.

But the company with the help of some private builders thought of making a big profit from this. Instead of the initial five floored buildings to function as the official quarters of their employees, they began to construct additional floors  for the use of those not connected with the work of the company. They built about 250 additional apartments and wanted to sell them to the public there by taking full advantage of the high premium for residential apartments in the highly populated city of Mumbai. Naturally, as per the lease agreement, the company was not authorized to sell property to others or even lease it out to others. But under the guise of building apartments for their own employees, they built the additional apartments for sale or lease to the public. 

It was the duty of the BMC authorities and the government to prevent the additional construction and its sale to the public. But there was no such enthusiasm from the representatives of the governmental authorities (the owners of the land) during that time. Perhaps there was some attempts from some authorities to be watered down by some others. There was some tacit understanding between the owner representatives and the lease holder company representatives!

The public fell in to their trap and 'purchased' those apartments by paying heavy amounts. In reality many of them did not understand whether they are really purchasing those properties or not as per the law. Perhaps they knew it, but cared little because they cared less for the law and its ramifications later. But ignorance of the law is no excuse!

But the long hands of the law acts slowly in many instances. It has taken long 25 years. Those of the public who had paid huge sums to acquire these 'prime properties of Mumbai' later realized their folly, but refused to accept it. The question they have been asking is all these time has been this: Why the authorities allowed the illegal construction and its sale? Why only targeting us, the hapless buyers of the apartments? How come the other authorities provided us water and electricity and other such facilities if we were illegal occupants? 

Yes, all these are valid questions. But that does not mean that the public who had paid for these flats are totally innocent. It is the duty of the purchasers of properties to ensure the legal aspects before they shell out their monies!

Obviously, in this case there are errors and violations made by all the three parties. The BMC authorities of that time, the company authorities of that time and the public who paid to occupy these illegally made apartments. 

But it is for the court of justice to decide those things critically and give out the final verdicts. That is what the SC has done. 

This is not an isolated case in India. Due to misunderstanding of the provisions of lease agreements, laws , the over enthusiasm of officials of public authorities and the casual approach of the citizens, so many such instances had happened in India in the last few decades. 

I know a case wherein many people ignoring the warnings of a state government of central India and proceeding to acquire properties that a Public Sector Undertaking was trying to lease out to its employees! Not only they ignored the warnings but went ahead to acquire the properties and further made the things more complicated by constructing palatial buildings later by personally 'managing' and circumventing the lease stipulations!

For the time being, nothing has happened to most of them. But there is no guarantee that some thing of this sort would not happen in the future. Because, when laws and agreements are violated, things could really go bad, not necessarily immediately.

So those who think of manipulating the laws by their own influences should remember that they could not do that always. 

And that is the lesson that people should learn from the Campa Cola case!

Migrating from the Era of Negative Laws to an Era of Positive Laws: Need to Think Originally!

If I say the world is full of copycats, please do not get angry on me. It is a reality. I am not against any one copying or imitating some thing good. Copying of ideas and content would no doubt could reduce work load in many areas to a good extent. So, copying per se, cannot be considered as some thing bad.

For many years, I have been working as an engineering project consultant. One of the jobs that I was supposed to do involves drafting of project feasibility reports, contract or tender specifications, etc. In the process of doing this kind of work, it is quite natural that I have to take clues from my predecessors and copy many things that they had thoughtfully drafted for situations of similar nature. Naturally, this would reduce my time in thinking of the proper clauses and statements that compose my document.

I had the opportunity of finding documents containing statements originally drafted by me with some fore thoughts. But if such things happen without any one giving any attention to the purpose and the meanings, things could create problems at some time.

A couple of decades ago, such copying could not have been done by simple 'copy-paste' operations that the present day word processing software allows in the digital word processing environment. In those days, even if some one wanted to copy some thing, the texts had to be re-typed and edited where some human thoughts also went in simultaneously. That way, a document generated with some copying could not be considered as full word by word copies. Instead they used to be modified versions of documents made with some original thoughts.

Unfortunately, the word processing power the computers have provided had caused certain other undesirable side effects. Now-a-days, full documents could be made by some one without ever giving any proper application of mind. Even many documents could be made mechanically by the machines without any human thoughts ever doing some fine tuning!

Laws, rules, procedures and the whole gamut of interpretation of laws comprising legislation and the judicial system perhaps uses the maximum use of text processing called legal documentation. The present day legal procedure is so complex that it is extremely difficult for any normal human being to read and understand the whole documents that get created in the judicial processes involving judgments.

Once I had the opportunity to read the findings and the recommendations made by an Inquiry officer of a company who conducted an inquiry in to certain allegations leveled against an employee as per the Conduct and Disciplinary procedures laid out by the said company. He had made a long inquiry report which quoted the statements of the witnesses and many documents of proofs (called exhibits). As I read on, I found that the findings were in favor of the accused. But to my surprise, the last para of his report the inquiry officer had given his recommendations to the disciplinary authority which were just the contrary to what were explained earlier. The disciplinary authority being a high ranking official with not much time to read everything, went as recommended and awarded the punishment to the accused!

In the present day system what we have, the judgments as read out by our honorable judges are in hundreds and thousands of pages. Would it provide opportunities for 'reading between the lines'? Could there be some alternative that is better? It is something that modern society has to start thinking.

I am not a legal expert, but a common layman. But, my common sense tells me that there is a need to improve our system of legislation and legal procedures. We need to come out from the compulsions of sticking to what is known as legacy. Legal documentation and legal languages need to get simplified, approachable and understandable by the majority of people. It cannot happen overnight or even in the present generation. But some day it has to happen. That would be the time when the leaders of human beings become more comfortable with what is now being acknowledged as 'transparency'.

Another thing that comes in to my mind is the need to have many different types of punishments which could help positive changes in those getting punished rather than the present day system of negative punishments. Many of our laws only recognize 'imprisonment' as the only way of punishing some one regardless of the gravity of the crime or error. Though we may be proud of our so-called elected representatives whom we call as our law makers, it may not be known to many that it is not always these representatives who actually draft the documents that are called the 'bills' to be enacted (approved) as laws. Many times it is the lower level staff attached to the various ministries who do the drafting work, many times under stress and duress, under certain compelling conditions as dictated from their higher ups. When they are so compelled, they often adopt copy-paste techniques without the proper application of mind. Many times such application of mind get missed in the later processes as well, that the laws that get finally adopted tends to be stereotyped. 

And what is more disturbing is the tendency that we blame everything on our so-called system. And what is this system? And who is responsible for this system which many people call as 'rotten'.

Why do we shy away from original thinking? Are we so pauper in our thoughts of innovation in such areas which affect each and every one of us?

Is it happening every where in this globe like this or are there exceptions? Are we prepared for bench marking our systems with some systems that have proven their effects in some better manner?

What is preventing us from trying simpler and positive laws? 

Is it right to equate a drug peddler in the same way as some one who made some false declaration in a document ? What happens to our common sense when some of us are entrusted with the responsibility of making laws for the rest of us?

Why is it that we prefer to get agitated of an injustice only when we are some how affected and not when we are entrusted to execute the justice? Why do we have different yardsticks at different occasions? 

All these things, in my humble opinion, arise out of certain short comings of our minds, even when we consider ourselves as highly educated, intelligent or competent. We certainly lack certain essential things which could polish our competencies. You may read what I wrote about the 4 Cs earlier!

There is a need for humanity to migrate to an era where positive laws (laws which are simpler to interpret and apply) are in force which are administered by organizations manned by leaders who are not lacking the 4 C's- Competency, Character, Courage and Compassion. And the laws then would perhaps contain less of negative punishments but more of motivational rewards for law abiding too!

No doubt, punishments should act as deterrents for potential crimes to take place. But fear can only be deterrent only to certain inferior minds, but not to all.

How could all these happen? It could, provided human brains are allowed to think originally, instead of compelling to follow those legacies which prevent original ideas. Let us not copy-paste every thing!

In any case, the thought process need to begin now.

What do you think?  

About Political Sovereignty, Law , Liberty, War and Peace : Some Statements of Supernal Wisdom!

The following are some supernal statements of wisdom about political sovereignty, law and liberty that I read in my favorite book of life guidance-the Urantia Book. Some of those statements, I reproduce below for the thoughtful meditation of those who are capable of assimilating such knowledge:

Sovereignty is power and it grows by organization. This growth of the organization of political power is good and proper, for it tends to encompass ever-widening segments of the total of mankind. But this same growth of political organizations creates a problem at every intervening stage between the initial and natural organization of political power— the family—and the final consummation of political growth—the government of all mankind, by all mankind, and for all mankind.

As sovereignty passes from smaller groups to larger groups, wars are lessened. That is, minor wars between smaller nations are lessened, but the potential for greater wars is increased as the nations wielding sovereignty become larger and larger. Presently, when all the world has been explored and occupied, when nations are few, strong, and powerful, when these great and supposedly sovereign nations come to touch borders, when only oceans separate them, then will the stage be set for major wars, world-wide conflicts. So-called sovereign nations cannot rub elbows without generating conflicts and eventuating wars.

Political sovereignty is created out of the surrender of self-determinism, first by the individual within the family and then by the families and clans in relation to the tribe and larger groupings. This progressive transfer of self-determination from the smaller to ever larger political organizations has generally proceeded unabated in the East since the establishment of the Ming and the Mogul dynasties. In the West it obtained for more than a thousand years right on down to the end of the World War, when an unfortunate retrograde movement temporarily reversed this normal trend by re-establishing the submerged political sovereignty of numerous small groups in Europe.

Your world will not enjoy lasting peace until the so-called sovereign nations intelligently and fully surrender their sovereign powers into the hands of the brotherhood of men—mankind government. Internationalism—(viz., Leagues of Nations, the UN)—can never bring permanent peace to mankind. World-wide confederations of nations will effectively prevent minor wars and acceptably control the smaller nations, but they will not prevent world wars nor control the three, four, or five most powerful governments. In the face of real conflicts, one of these world powers will withdraw from such Leagues and declare war. You cannot prevent nations going to war as long as they remain infected with the delusional virus of national sovereignty. Internationalism is a step in the right direction. An international police force will prevent many minor wars, but it will not be effective in preventing major wars, conflicts between the great military governments of earth.

As the number of truly sovereign nations (great powers) decreases, so do both opportunity and need for mankind government increase. When there are only a few really sovereign (great) powers, either they must embark on the life and death struggle for national (imperial) supremacy, or else, by voluntary surrender of certain prerogatives of sovereignty, they must create the essential nucleus of super national power which will serve as the beginning of the real sovereignty of all mankind.

Peace will not come to your world until every so-called sovereign nation surrenders its power to make war into the hands of a representative government of all mankind. Political sovereignty is innate with the peoples of the world. When all the peoples of earth create a world government, they have the right and the power to make such a government SOVEREIGN; and when such a representative or democratic world power controls the world’s land, air, and naval forces, peace on earth and good will among men can prevail—but not until then.

Citizens are not born for the benefit of governments; governments are organizations created and devised for the benefit of men. There can be no end to the evolution of political sovereignty short of the appearance of the government of the sovereignty of all men. All other sovereignties are relative in value, intermediate in meaning, and subordinate in status.

With scientific progress, wars are going to become more and more devastating until they become almost racially suicidal. How many world wars must be fought and how many leagues of nations must fail before men will be willing to establish the government of mankind and begin to enjoy the blessings of permanent peace and thrive on the tranquillity of good will—world-wide good will—among men?

If one man craves freedom—liberty—he must remember that all other men long for the same freedom. Groups of such liberty-loving mortals cannot live together in peace without becoming subservient to such laws, rules, and regulations as will grant each person the same degree of freedom while at the same time safeguarding an equal degree of freedom for all of his fellow mortals. If one man is to be absolutely free, then another must become an absolute slave. And the relative nature of freedom is true socially, economically, and politically. Freedom is the gift of civilization made possible by the enforcement of LAW.

There shall be wars and rumors of wars—nation will rise against nation—just as long as the world’s political sovereignty is divided up and unjustly held by a group of nation-states. 

Another world war will teach the so-called sovereign nations to form some sort of federation, thus creating the machinery for preventing small wars, wars between the lesser nations. But global wars will go on until the government of mankind is created. Global sovereignty will prevent global wars—nothing else can.

It is not a question of armaments or disarmament. Neither does the question of conscription or voluntary military service enter into these problems of maintaining world-wide peace. If you take every form of modern mechanical armaments and all types of explosives away from strong nations, they will fight with fists, stones, and clubs as long as they cling to their delusions of the divine right of national sovereignty.

War is not man’s great and terrible disease; war is a symptom, a result. The real disease is the virus of national sovereignty.

World peace cannot be maintained by treaties, diplomacy, foreign policies, alliances, balances of power, or any other type of makeshift juggling with the sovereignties of nationalism. World law must come into being and must be enforced by world government —the sovereignty of all mankind.

The individual will enjoy far more liberty under world government. Today, the citizens of the great powers are taxed, regulated, and controlled almost oppressively, and much of this present interference with individual liberties will vanish when the national governments are willing to trustee their sovereignty as regards international affairs into the hands of global government.

Under global government the national groups will be afforded a real opportunity to realize and enjoy the personal liberties of genuine democracy. The fallacy of self-determination will be ended. With global regulation of money and trade will come the new era of world-wide peace. Soon may a global language evolve, and there will be at least some hope of sometime having a global religion—or religions with a global viewpoint.

Collective security will never afford peace until the collectivity includes all mankind.

The political sovereignty of representative mankind government will bring lasting peace on earth, and the spiritual brotherhood of man will forever insure good will among all men. And there is no other way whereby peace on earth and good will among men can be realized.

[Reproduced in part from Paper-134 of the Urantia Book. Paper authored by the Midwayer Commission]

Compulsory Crash Helmets For Two Wheeler Riders:Reason Why I Left Riding Those Cute Machines !

I purchased my first scooter way back in 1981 and it was an yellow Lamby-150, which was a modified version of the good old Lambretta originally made by Innocenti of Italy. At that time, it costed me about Rs.8500. During those days, the other scooters in the Indian market were the bulky, imbalanced Bajaj scooters, following the designs of Vespa of Piaggio, Italy and the Indian version of the Lambretta made by the Public Sector company, Scooters India Limited, in the desi name , Vijay Super.  

My Lamby was similar to the one above!

Picture courtsey: Google Images

During those days, the common men of India were just experiencing the pleasure of motorized self travel. There were a few motor cycles as well such as the Royal Enfield, the Java and the Rajdoot, the latter being the most preferred means of transport for the farmers of North India.

All these models of scooters and bikes had their dedicated customers. Scooters were for the urban class and bikes for the rural folks used to be the unwritten rule. Perhaps, the rural roads were not good for the small wheeled scooters. 

Being in a well planned city with relatively good roads, it was a pleasure for me riding my Lamby and I liked it very much. It was a perfect, well balanced and sturdy one. The only problem encountered at times was its starting trouble. Perhaps, this one aspect made the unbalanced Vespa models of Bajaj, the most preferred scooter in India at that time. These scooters did not give much starting problems. All one had to do was to tilt the machine to one side for the petrol to flow to the carburetor before attempting to kick the start pedal. With such an advantage over the other few scooters, the common man at that time was ready to pay almost the equivalent of a new scooter as premium for a second hand one even when it was almost a decade old. The Vespa never failed in starting, though proud owners of these scooters tilting them to one side before attempting the kick starter, used to be a common sight on the roads in those days. My Lamby too was not so unreliable. Only thing needed was to know the trick of starting its engine without the petrol flooding its cylinder causing an embarrassing delay in starting. Somehow, I knew the trick ! 

The only harassment the two wheeler owners of India faced from their democratic government used to be the insulting manner in which the policemen stopped them on the road for checking  the 'papers' which meant the license, registration book and the insurance policy. What they gained by checking these papers used to be an unsolved question for most of the owners and the non-owners of these vehicles alike. Perhaps the ruling class wanted to show their existence and power to harass those not in power ! Perhaps, they wanted to show that they are with the genuine owners and not with those thieves riding these machines without the papers in proof of legal ownership in their possession. Frankly, I have no idea ! But, it is widely talked in private that these vehicle checks are for aiding another form of  forcible tax collection in the form of penalties specified in the motor vehicles act. It acted as a means of filling both the official and unofficial coffers!

I was fortunate that I escaped from these police men's traps during those many years when I owned my scooters, the Lamby and then the modern gear less Kinetic Honda. I normally avoided those routes and times where these policemen in groups wait and catch their preys. Yet, I was caught one day.

It was an evening. A friend of a friend came to meet him. At around 9 PM, my friend came to me with a request of dropping his friend at the railway station to catch the late night train. In those days, perhaps even now, this city where I lived, did not have any worthy public transport. Interestingly, this city is a modern city of 1.5 Million people in central India. During those days, the population was around 0.4 Million.

My friend too wanted to see off  his friend. Thus, it was inevitable that we three make the trip on my Lamby. Though my Lamby and I were capable of  doing that, the police did not allow such things. And I told my reluctance to break the law to my friend. But, the situation was such that there was no other way than to break the law. The police would not be there any where at this time, was the assurance given by my friend.

So, we three proceeded to the station on my Lamby. For the first five kilometers nothing happened. Then, suddenly on an unlit square, they appeared, stopping me. We three tried to plead, argue and beg with the officer. No use. My friends decided to walk the other 2 kilometers to the railway station in the night leaving me alone with the policemen. After harassing me for about half an hour, they agreed to leave me making me poorer by Rs.100, a good amount in those days. The money obviously did not go to the official chest as the uniformed men were kind enough not to give me a receipt. If they make it official, it would give me more trouble in the courts ! That was their reasoning ! With the ordeal over I felt relaxed and was happy even with the loss of the money. More than the money, it was the mean minded looks and talks that these government officials mete out to the public that is common knowledge to all. The policemen are not normal humans who can recognize other normal humans. That is what  I felt that day !

So, whenever I see these uniformed men on the road, a kind of panic sweep my whole body. I have not broken any law and I am no criminal. But, a law breaking policeman could easily make me one if he so desires. That is my worry. I have known senior police officers, many of them perfect gentlemen and I have known many policemen as well who are also good people. Just as there are good and bad people there are good and bad policemen. Yet, my worry remains. In these days of democracy, many people take the troubles of gaining power through their involvements in the so called politics and try clinging to such political powers for getting some influence over this tactical government machinery. All over the world, it is like this ! They make rules to create a vicious organization with whimsical powers thinking that it would do good and then keep amending it thousand times for controlling it, making it a double edged sword that harms the good and the bad equally and always. A ferocious dog might give a pseudo security feeling to its master, but when masters keep changing, the dog becomes confused and no more be willing to obey some of its masters any more !

It is the invisible power of God that has been protecting me from such visible and invisible forces. That is what I believe. Yet, it is not wise to get in to the traps of such dark forces, knowingly.

And that is the reason, I decided to sell off my last scooter and decided not to ride one any more. The authorities introduced a new rule which made wearing crash helmets compulsory for bikes and scooters. The authorities are wise men and women. They know better than common people like me. They introduce rules and laws for the benefit of people like me. That is what we are all supposed to believe! But in a society composed of a mixture of good and bad, semi-perfect and imperfect beings, perfect rules and perfect justice can never arise !

They have found that riding scooters and bikes cause accidents. A good percentage of accidents become fatal for the rider. And the major reason for fatality is head injury. So, wearing a helmet can reduce the head injury and the fatality. That is the simple logic. Scooter and bike riders should be happy to wear the crash helmets to save their own lives.

But, given a choice, most riders do not wear the crash helmets that are now available in the market. Initially, I too purchased one helmet.

To my horror, I find wearing a helmet enhances my chances of making and accident. Without a helmet I am clearly conscious of the surroundings and the vehicles nearby. There is little chance that I hit someone or someone hit me. But with the helmet, my vision is hindered, my hearing is tampered and my perception is lowered. My chances of making accidents enhance many fold. Besides, my perspiring head keeps me irritated always. If I do not make an accident, it is only the providence of God !

So, I considered it wise not to wear the helmet while I ride my scooter. For me, prevention was better than a cure. Wearing a helmet increased the chances of an accident and also improved the chances not losing life due to head or spinal injuries. But it will not prevent you from getting other injuries and fractures. You can still be in the hospital bed for days or months. So, how do you make the choice ?

I had experienced the difference of riding a scooter with and without the helmet and I took a considered decision that not wearing the helmet was better for me. Because in this case my chances of making an accident is reduced. Unfortunately, it is difficult to prove this, unless the researchers take honest feelings of the riders into consideration instead of relying on statistical accident data for conclusions.

Regrettably, the authorities go by the latter route and preferred to take  away the choice of the riders. They made it compulsory and empowered their police to harass those riders without wearing these helmets.

I did not want to get into troubles with the police again. You see, there are good and bad ones there. The latter in more numbers !

So, I sold off my last scooter and became a four wheeler driver instead for my personal movements in and around. I know, it is not an energy efficient decision. Nor it is one I enjoy much.

There are many like me and now the roads are no more good for any smooth traffic.

The wise authorities are perhaps thinking to empower their police with yet other restrictive rules !

I am waiting to leave my four wheeler and walk for good ! I do not know whether that too could make me safe !

National Pension Scheme of India: Why The Banks Cannot Be Entrusted to Handle Peoples' Savings ?

If a government fails in its duty to safe guard some security to its old people who are no more in a position to earn a decent livelihood, such a government cannot be considered as a government for the people. In a democracy, if the government is not for the people, it simply ceases to be a democracy. 

Governments of olden days and some present day governments of nations, where civilization has not matured enough, could be made of people whose qualities are more or less matching with the selfish beasts. Here they come up to occupy the ruling positions by using instruments of terror and hold on to their positions for exploiting their country men. Such systems are bound to be dictatorial and there is no way that the people can expect some thing good from them.

Dictatorial governments composed of selfish and authoritarian people cannot be expected to  do any good to the common citizens. They use all kinds of tactics to control the citizens for getting benefits for them by extracting a portion of the toils of the citizens. That is understandable.

But when that happens in democracies, citizens have to do some introspection. After all, democracy is by the people, of the people and for the people !

Our democratic systems, of late, seem to run away from peoples' problems. They are made so complex that on one can get any worthwhile solutions from them. And who is making them complex? The irony is that the complexities are made by the elected representatives of the people themselves.

Suppose that you are entangled in a trap of strings. If you do not know how to come out of it by removing those looped up and knotted strings, you are likely to move here and there in panic making those strings to strangulate you to death. Our law makers seem to make the present day laws in this fashion. They seem to make laws that are going to strangulate them and others some time later. Every time when they try to untie a knot, the knot further tightens !

I have written this much as I watch the sorry state of affairs in this country where newer and newer laws make things more complicated.

Of late the government seems interested in making more and more autonomous controlling authorities in each an every field. It is the licensing raj in its latest avatar allowing the elected government to wash its hands if something worse happens. These autonomous controlling bodies would be responsible and not the government !

Latest in this series now is the National Pension Regulatory Authority. Its official name is Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). With the passing of the bill this body has become a statutory one. It has now some teeth to bite ! The only thing to be seen is how it is going to bite and how such bites give the pensioners the protection !

But unfortunately, the government (the people who form the government and those drafting the rules) have not possibly kept the interest of the people who are the pensioners or  the would-be pensioners. People who have retired from active work should have some income to live comfortably and that income should reach them at their convenience on a regular basis.

Wise people who are smart enough in financial matters know well how to save for the difficult years and use their saved funds wisely.

But a good majority of people do not have such a wisdom or the financial discipline to manage their own funds. So, many people even with good accumulated funds could lose their savings making them in great financial difficulties.

Pension schemes come to help in such a situation.

Let us imagine a situation like this: Suppose that you have saved 5 % of your monthly income in a recurring deposit of the bank with for the entire period of your active working life of say, 35 years at an interest rate of say 8.5 % per annum. Suppose that this 5 % of your monthly income is Rs.1000. So for 35 years or 420 months you will save at the rate of Rs.1000 per month making your total contribution Rs.420000. But you would be surprised to know that your total savings would come to over Rs 24 Lakhs at the end of 35 years.

Now if this corpus fund of 24 lakhs is invested at the same interest rate, it would be sufficient to give you a monthly return (or pension) of Rs.17000 without any interruption for the rest of your life. That means your pension is 17 times the monthly contribution you have made. Moreover, your corpus fund of 24 lakhs remains intact and can be handed over to your legal heirs !

You can still do this without the government help. Only problem here is your own temptations which may tempt you to break your recurring deposit and use that money for some emergencies that you think as more important than your future pensions.

Now had the government simply made a small change in the existing laws that allowed the banks to create such schemes it would have been possible. Already the Public Provident Fund and such other schemes exist. But the PPF does not have an annuity payout system attached to it. All you have to do is take out your corpus (accumulated fund) and deposit in a bank as a fixed deposit with monthly interest payout option. Here too, the problem is control of your temptation to withdraw the corpus fund.

Now if the government allows the banks to prevent your temptation (of withdrawal of the already saved fund or allowing any withdrawal other than the monthly payment of interests except return of the corpus fund to the legal heirs at the time of death of the depositor) and make some deposit schemes similar to this mode, it amounts to a simplified pension scheme. Remember, the government can instruct the banks to deposit all these collected savings in government bonds so that the government gets thousands of crores of rupees for running its business as well.

The above scheme has a guarantee attached to its just as we have the guarantee on the fixed deposits of the banks. As long as the banks run, there is no problem of our funds that are invested. Normally, the banks work for generations, unless the governments make foolish policies to ruin them or they allow them to be managed with out proper checks and balances. 

Now it is again possible for the government to give some income tax benefits for such bank run pension deposit schemes because they are long duration deposits. Moreover it is possible for creating bank run pension deposit schemes for all people irrespective of the number of years that they have for active work and also allow people to contribute to their pension funds in irregular frequencies as well. The idea is to create an individuals pension corpus fund which will allow annuity payments on a monthly basis to them once they achieve their universal retirement age of say 60 years. The annuities will be payable to them during their life time and there after to their spouses and after that the entire corpus fund is returnable to their legal heirs.

But the government has now come up with the creation of an authority which will do the supervision and regulation of various pension funds to be created by financial companies. And these financial companies will do the investment of the funds mostly in the share markets which allow the funds to be drained out without anybody ever realizing it. If that happens the investors can simply curse their bad luck !

In this context, I remember the bad fortune I faced when some two decades ago, the same people in the present government allowed the banks to come up with mutual fund related savings schemes to be offered by government owned banks. I had invested some hard earned money a scheme called IndraPrakash floated by Indian Bank. I remember this bank sending me my account details, pretty impressively through out the entire 7 year investment period only to be told in the last that they do not have the money to make the repayments. The money was gone ! The government did nothing ! So many financial scams happened there after in this country with thousands of people losing their hard earned money and savings.

When the government is yet to move forward with such a scheme for the people who save for their hard times is unimaginable. It is simply anti people when pension funds are allowed to be run with no guarantees of returns. And that too when there are options for guaranteed returns !

Only when those in power feel authoritarian just as in autocracies such situations can happen. In true democracies, the prime concern of those elected representatives and those who are paid servants should be to serve the people and to work for the benefit of the people.

They should never think of making rules and laws which are anti people ! They also have a responsibility to alleviate the fears and apprehensions of the people ! 

Inhuman Land Acquisition for POSCO STEEL in Odisha: Is There a Better Way ?

I felt very bad when I watched some TV news programs showing the flight and plight of the poor peasants of Odisha (formerly Orissa State) whose land the state government wants to forcefully occupy for leasing out to a Korean steel company POSCO for their proposed 12 Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant (ISP).

I watched news clippings showing the brutal way the Odisha Police acted on the helpless villagers including the women and the children who have been resisting the state administration to forcefully occupy their only means of existence and survival-their small pieces of land. The policemen who were being used for this purpose looked no different from the villagers, except that they were wearing the uniforms and had the weapons of torture. In all possibility some of them might have been acting against their own mothers, brothers or relatives helplessly obeying the orders of their bosses.

Just as the villagers were helpless, the policemen (and women) too were helpless! Perhaps those bureaucrats and administrators through whom the eviction orders were passed too were helpless in their own individual capacities!

Again all these for a company who boasts of high human values boldly in their website [just open the Indian website of POSCO which displays their mission, vision and core values. Had they honestly stood for these, perhaps such things would never have happened ! ]

And what necessitated all these inhuman acts?

POSCO responded to the state government’s call, agreeing for investment in the state, rich in mineral resources, to set up a big ISP. Accordingly a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the state government and the Korean steel company some time in 2005. The deal was going to be a boon for both sides.

Seven years passed and nothing happened. No steel plant so far came up.

The actual reason for this delay is said to be the dirty politics between the Central and the state governments. India is truly a federal country with various constitutional authorities fully free to work in the way think the best which usually end up contradictory to each other! Democracy here seems to be something which is directionless !

Now finally the Supreme Court came to the support of the state government by giving a verdict in favor of it to acquire land for the project the way they had planned for handing it over to the Koreans.

For setting up their steel plant, POSCO wanted about 4000 acres of land in one stretch and based on various considerations they have finally zeroed in to the land in some villages in the Lanjigarh Tehsil of Kalahandi District of Odisha State.

Out of which some 2500 acres of land belonged to the state government and the rest with the villagers. It may also be true that many landless or poor peasants might have been using some stretches of the government land for the past many years for seasonal cultivations of various crops as they find it lying vacant without any useful activity. Over the years these people might also have become wholly dependant on this land for their survival, though legally they have no right over those lands.

For acquiring the land- the villagers land-  the government has fixed a price of Rs.100,000/- approximately per acre of land [equivalent of about US$ 2000] as compensation for those who owned the small pieces of land.

Who owned the land and who possessed it illegally are all matters to be decided by the law.

India is a very peculiar country. There could be many countries like it in this world as far as peculiarities are concerned.

It is a country where the laws are truly blind. Blind to understand the feelings of helpless individuals who get trapped pathetically when laws get applied blindly! Both the law makers and the law executors seem to be proud of this fact. They are often proud to declare the blind nature of the laws for which they are the custodians and the executors.

Once the authorities decide to acquire lands of the people for the purpose of something that they had decided for general public interest, the ordinances are promulgated blindly.

It is the duty of the affected ones to find whether such ordinances have been issued by the authorities or not. The authorities are not responsible for telling each and every one affected. Their responsibility is over by publishing the order in some newspapers or in the government gazettes.

The affected land owners and landless land users, whether they know reading or writing or not, have to approach the authorities in the towns or cities or in some unknown location or hideouts (because it is not easy for anyone to locate a government office easily !). They have to prove the ownership of their lands that they have been using for decades!  They have to accept the compensation or no compensation as decided by the authorities and quit their homes and lands on which they have been existing so far.

Most likely some of them, even those of them who are legal owners of the land, may not get the compensation so easily in the near future, unless they complete all formalities. It is a lengthy legal procedure. Again remember, the law has no eyes and ears! Those occupied the government lands, no doubt will not get anything, eventhough they are all Indian citizens having the minuscule fractional power to elect their democratic governments.

Where do the poor villagers go? Even if they get their compensation money, that will not be sufficient for them to get another house or to set up their livelihood. But that is not the problem of the government or its executors. Because they all work for and with the blind inhuman laws! Don't ask them how these laws came. Most of them are bound to put the responsibility of all the ills of the laws on those Britishers who all perished centuries ago !

If the villagers have no shelter from the next day and they are going to be starved to death, that is their problem. If they refuse to obey the laws on account of their problems, the laws will not act immediately to solve their problems. But the laws will ruthlessly and swifly act if the dictat of the laws are opposed ! Because laws are indeed without ears and eyes (to hear the cries and the tears of the helpless citizens)!

Indian laws may be slow to act to provide relief to any one, but they are indeed quick to act against those who do not obey certain kind of laws. If those fellows, who have been ordered to get out, do not obey, they will be kicked out using brutal force! If they get killed, that would not be seen by the laws!

Only those not connected with the laws could weep and sympathize for them. They can  see their plight and hear their cries. But they too can only weep with them, nothing else! Because interfering while the law is acting is a much more serious offence ! The majority Indians have learnt this by experience. It is better to be far away from the laws and the law enforcers if you want to live peacefully !

When the process of the law and justice proceed blindly, no one with some clear common sense can think otherwise !

But I was just thinking, a wishful thought, knowing well that it is not going to make any difference.

I was thinking about this land acquisition affair of Odisha for POSCO.

Can it not be done in a better way? Is it such a big problem to do it in a better way ?

After all, the POSCO people have estimated their plant to cost US$ 12 billion. That is nearly Rs.60,000 Crores.

If 10 % of that cost is towards land acquisition (which is normally the case in the case of any green field industrial project) Rs.6000 Crore should be available for land acquisition. That amounts to a neat Rs 150,00,000 per acre of land [6000,00,00,000 / 4000].

But here the compensation decided to be paid to the villagers is just Rs.100,000/-. That means the villagers are paid just not even pea nuts. I have no idea, how much was paid to the state government for its 2500 odd acres of land !

Anyway these are wild guess from  a common man ! I am not considering those deals that happen behind the curtains !

Now, let us assume that the government and M/s POSCO had thought to do it adopting a humane approach instead of going for the blind law approach.

Let us assume that the 1500 acres of land the villagers have to part with belong to about 2000 families and M/s POSCO  are willing to spend  a lump sum of about Rs 1000,000 per each of the family affected in addition to money at Rs.100,000/- per acre of land as compensation.

POSCO could have easily planned a sector in their proposed steel plant township for accommodating all these 2000 families. This rehabilitation work could have been started in the government owned land first. By earmarking about 2000 sq.ft of land per family this would have needed a maximum of about 90 acres of land or just 2.25 % of the total land requirement. It is yet another matter that they could have even reduced this further by considering multi storied dwelling units.

The maximum cost for rehabilitation of the affected villagers this way could have been just Rs 215 Crores or a mere 0.35 % of their estimated project cost which included the costs for a decent rehabilitation of the villagers by providing them decent accommodations and giving compensation to their lands as per present market rates.

The state government and the company also could have thought of providing jobs to each of the affected family members in their proposed steel plant or making some other provision for ensuring their livelihood on a long term basis.

None of these provisions would have any adverse economic impact on the techno-economics of their proposed steel plant.

After all, if the government and the company do not think about their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) why should anyone need a steel plant?

Once the steel plant is established and towns develop around it, the cost of the land around it would sky rocket. The company and the governments would be the biggest benefactors. Besides the many thousand people from other parts of the state and the country.

But that should not exclude the poor residents of the area. Their rights should be protected and honored.

For that you need to interact with the people of the area in a civilized and humanely manner. You have to convince them of the benefits and show honestly that you would not cheat them and backtrack from your promises. You should not scare the people with your beaconed lights and your offical weapons.

If the laws of the country do not allow such a thing, not even God can save this country ! The people want their elected representatives to serve them and not to exploit them !

That was why they rallied behind those leaders of yester years to oppose the British rule.

That time it was rather easy. To get rid of the foreigners.

But now what do they do ?