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Elections in India and UK

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Election fun fair

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a few months since the last general elections in India and Britain will have its general election exactly 1 year later in 2015. I thought it might be time to write a blog comparing elections in India and UK.

Elections in India are like anything else in India. Indian marriages, cricket matches and movies are all extravagant and very much part of people’s lives, so are elections in India.

Elections are won based on power, money, religion, caste and people. One can only wonder how much of that money can be saved and spent towards growth, development and eliminating poverty in India. Money is spent on rallies, meetings, posters and votes. Obviously rallies and meetings brings road blocks and inconvenience.

In a democratic country like India anything can happen. Parties can contest the elections without even naming their PM candidate. There is no agenda or plan set out before the start of their propaganda or even Election Day. Personal, direct attacks are common and have become part of our elections. There are no public debates as politicians are afraid of taking part and answering people’s questions.

Like the endless number of castes and cultures in India there are endless number of parties. This is actually the beauty of a democracy but obviously in India we overdo it to the point that we need a book the size of oxford dictionary to list all the parties. Contestants get party tickets mostly because of money or due to their power to woo people. This means special entry for cine actors, actresses, cricketers etc. because they have a large fan base who are potential voters. Unfortunately most of these people are disconnected from reality, lack understanding of governance, do not have any leadership skills and end up exploiting the very own people who had elected them. The sad part of this is a real hard working party member is denied the opportunity of contesting elections because of a celebrity. If a husband is not allowed to contest his wife contests, wins and rules the state. I guess we follow the old monarchical style rule in our democracy through dynasty politics.

On the other hand we are the 1st country in the world to have an electronic voting system. So it means to a certain extent booth capturing, and other malpractices in voting are minimal. The other good thing about elections in India is the Election commission of India which conducts elections. In the last few years thanks to Supreme Court they have got more powers and they conduct the elections efficiently and every citizen is given an opportunity to cast their vote irrespective of where they live. After all democracy is still alive in India.
Election victory is then celebrated with the Tax payer’s money through rallies, posters, ads etc.

Elections in the UK

Elections in the UK are a different ball game. There are 3 main parties here Labour, Conservatives and Liberal democrats. Now we have a 4th party emerging called UKIP.

Political parties announce their PM candidate well in advance and that person leads the propaganda. The PM candidate is the leader of their party and is usually chosen in a democratic way by their party. This happens in the American elections as well but their party leaders are chosen by the people themselves. The parties put out their plans and agenda well in advance and these are usually debated in the public domain. In the last elections the 3 big party leaders actually debated on national television 3 times before the actual elections. It’s something which is impossible in India as there is not even a PM candidate named before the election.

Elections in the UK are generally a quiet affair in comparison to the fun fair in India. Propaganda is usually done through door to door canvassing, promotion through media. Politicians put forward their plans and these are discussed in public domain, everything is evidenced based on stats, government figures. There are no rallies, no protests, no processions, no posters, no road blocks etc.

Parties are usually funded through donations, lot of the times business people make large donations to parties they support and is all in the public domain. Party tickets are generally given fairly. Politicians don’t change parties midway through elections and it’s very rare to see politicians change parties.
There are no big victory ceremonies or rallies to celebrate their victory.

So what’s the difference?

I guess in India we easily point fingers at the politicians but it’s the people who are responsible for it. They vote for the party which pays them to vote. People are short sighted, careless and irresponsible and treat elections like another festival. This can only be changed through education, proper governance, good leadership and stricter laws. That seems decades away, let’s hope for the best.

Road safety

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road safety

 

 

 

 

 

Road safety – Heard of that?
Road safety – have we heard of this term in India? I certainly haven’t but politicians have started talking about it now because 1 of them (a senior minister) died in a Road Traffic Accident (RTA). This is definitely a good sign as political will has a great impact in India.
WHO has estimated that more than 231027 people in India die of RTA’s every year. The stats are alarming
1. India accounts for 12% of the world’s total accident fatalities
2. A third of the people who are killed in RTA’s are under the age of 25
3. A third of the people who are killed are either 2 wheeler or 3 wheeler drivers or passengers.

The most interesting point to note here is that there is no actual recorded data for the number of accidents that happen on India’s roads. I think it’s no point talking about how unsafe are our roads and instead I want to focus on how to make our roads safer. I am writing this blog to highlight some of the road safety measures followed in different countries which can be used to formulate road safety rules in India.

Basic safety rules
Everybody should wear a seat belt – In the UK law if a passenger is found not wearing seat belt the driver is actually fined 50£, obviously this would mean the driver ensures that all the passengers are wearing seat belts.
Anybody driving or riding a 2 wheeler should wear helmets.
Children under a certain age and under a certain height should be seated in a child seat.
If it’s a 2 seater vehicle only 2 people are allowed and if it’s a 5 seater car only 5 people are allowed to ride in the vehicle.

Vehicle safety requirements
All vehicles should have insurance, tax paid.
All vehicles should undergo a very basic fitness test called MOT (Ministry of transport) test which will ascertain if the car is road safe. If the car fails the MOT then the required changes have to be made and presented again to pass the test. If you drive a car without a valid MOT you get a hefty fine.
All cars should have air bags fitted for the driver and passenger.
No honking ever. Think about the amount of noise pollution and the diseases it causes and what have we achieved by honking.
Make sure all your lights, indicators are working, if they are not and the police spots you, you have to pay a fine.
You are not allowed to drive with a high beam as this can be a major distraction to the driver in front of you and opposite to you. Always use low beam.

Driving license
The theory test which I took in India was a joke as the agent filled in all my answers and the practical test was driving for less than 50 m with 4 people sitting in the same car. As we all know most of them don’t even take the practical test but are able to get (buy) a driving license. This should change and should be the first point of addressing road safety.
In most of the countries it involves a 2 stage process of passing a theory test and a practical test.
The theory test is an online test which happens in a test centre.
The Practical test involves the candidate driving with the examiner on normal roads during normal hours for about 1 hour, you are also tested for your parking skills and manoeuvres. You are basically tested in real driving situations. The examiner marks the candidate based on the number of minor mistakes and major mistakes. If you have 1 major mistake you are failed and have to retake the test.
If you are a learned driver you should have an L plate displayed and should be driving accompanied by somebody who has held a license for atleast 3 years. People who have recently passed their test can display a P plate for a few months until they become more confident to drive.

Road signs
UK has 1 of the most effective and reliable system of road signs when compared to the rest of the countries. Clear road signs means more focus on driving and less chance of mistakes and accidents. So what are the basics which would ensure that we are safe on our roads? I am highlighting some of the most important ones which we need to have.
1. Speed limit – There is no guidelines about speed limits in India and there are no sign boards telling the speed limit. In the UK Speed limit is simplified depending upon the roads you are driving. For example if you are driving in a residential area with street lights it is automatically 30 mph unless otherwise displayed. The national speed limit is 70 mph for motorways (3 lanes) and dual carriage way (2 lanes). There are single carriage ways which have a speed limit of 60mph. These are standard speed limits for approx. 80% of the roads in UK.
2. There are different types of pedestrian crossings, display clearly which type of crossing it is.
3. If there is going to be work undertaken on any of the roads they are clearly displayed well in advance and the times the road will be closed etc. Most of the time work is done during the weekends or after office hours to make it convenient for the public.
4. Services and petrol stations are all situated in designated places and they are marked clearly with signs for exit etc.
5. Electronic sign board are present throughout the motorways and dual carriage ways which are used to notify congestion, accidents, change in speed limit, parking availability etc.
6. Roundabouts are 1 of the best creations and they work brilliantly. Signs are displayed when you are going to be approaching a roundabout and the exit destinations for that roundabout.
7. The obvious things on the display boards are places, attractions in that place and the distance to get there.

Infrastructure
This is 1 of the most important things which India needs for our ever growing population.
I want to mention about something called “Hard shoulder”. Hard shoulder is an extra lane in most of the motorways for access to emergency service vehicles and police. In the event of an accident the police or the ambulance can get to the accident spot without going through miles of traffic by using this lane and can get to the spot quickly. This is also a lane for people who have breakdown problems or any other emergency. It’s a serious offence for moving traffic to use this lane unless instructed by authorities. This basically ensures that lives are saved and traffic congestion is reduced.
Signals work 24/7 unlike in India which stops at some point during the night.
Cameras- Cameras are everywhere to monitor traffic movement but also to spot people breaking laws.
The big question I get asked is do we have pot holes in other countries, of course they do but they are very minimal and nothing compared to the pot holes sizes on Indian roads. Pot holes are reported and are immediately fixed, if you suffer damage due to pot holes the local council are accountable for it and you may be entitled for a compensation.
Computerise the whole process of getting a license, insurance, MOT, Tax and everything related to road safety, it will save a lot of money and time. It will also ensure that 1 breaking the law can be identified and punished rapidly.

Offences and penalties
Cameras are the eyes of the law. There are speed cameras which captures the registration plate if you break the speed limit and you get a speeding ticket for that. You also get three points on your license for every single offence. In the 1st 2 years if you get 6 points your license is revoked and you have to go through a new application process. After 2 years you are allowed up to 12 points before your license is revoked.
Anytime you break the law like not paying your tax, insurance or drive a car without MOT you have to pay fine. There are cameras everywhere which capture number plates and analyse this information, so human presence is not required and offenders will still be caught.

Audit
The government collects data about everything related road safety like accidents, death related to accidents, fines, penalties etc. This is a very useful tool when planning for road safety. For example if on a particular road there have been more accidents they analyse the reason for it and make changes like reducing the speed limit on that road or installing a speed camera.
Indian government and the state governments in India should start collecting data and use that to improve road safety.

Education
Education is the key to road safety. Road safety awareness should be promoted at home, schools, public places through media and various government programs and initiatives. This will definitely have a long term positive impact on road safety.

We really have a long way to go in terms of making our roads safer but it’s not too late to start. I want to finish by saying how a friend of mine compared driving in India to UK. In India people drive thinking that nobody follows the law as opposed to UK where people drive thinking that everybody will follow the law. I guess that’s something to think about!!

Reserve and rule?

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reserve and rule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reservation – a tool used to divide and rule or just divide?
Reservation is a system in India which was designed to eliminate social disparity based on one’s religion or caste. It is part of the Indian constitution which hails India to be a secular state.

In all societies and cultures there was always a division in people based on religion, sex, colour, profession, wealth and the list carries on. India in the Vedic ages was a land of Hindus and in the Hindu scriptures it has been stated that societies were divided into four groups based on their occupation. They were
• Brahmins – priests
• Kshatriyas- rulers
• Vaishyas- traders, merchants
• Shudras- servants for all the above.
Then there was another group called outcastes who are regarded as the modern day dalits. This is a system which is archaic and it probably worked in those ages but this system of dividing people prevailed even when the British came to India. The British used this to their advantage and established a strong and concrete system of dividing people based on their caste. They also included Muslims and Christians in this system of divided the people even further. Although the British exploited the divisions in the society to rule our country it was actually the upper caste people who executed this division in a systematic manner. The worst form of this division was untouchability which was abolished by Indian constitution in 1950 and the reservation policy was put in place to uplift the generation of people who were deprived of equality. This was done in a very noble sense to give a fair chance for the lower caste people against the dominant upper caste people. Although it has benefitted the lower caste people it has still widened the division in the society. If we look at in simple terms the policy of reservation actually promoted division by identifying each individual by their caste. The system was designed to reduce social disparity based on caste and make our country a land of equal opportunity but it actually divided people by giving them an identity based on their caste or religion. This was obviously a great tool for politicians who continued the divide and rule legacy left by the British and adapted it to a reserve and rule policy. The reservation policy like any other law or policy in India was never rewritten or audited and is still being used by politicians to gain votes. Although the advent of foreign companies into the Indian market has taken the topic out of our headlines it still remains in place and caste and religion have become deep rooted in our country.

Let’s look at a few examples to point out the downside of the system and the reasons why it widens the division in society
1. Reservation means a certain percentage of jobs or educational seats are reserved for a section of the society. So if a position is supposed to be filled in by a person from SC and if there is nobody available to fill that position, this remains vacant even though there are a lot of qualified people from other sections of the society.

2. A person from a backward caste benefits from the reservation system and progresses themselves in their social status. Ideally, reservation should not be applicable anymore to this person’s family as they have economically progressed and the objective of reducing social disparity has been achieved but the same reservation policy is applied to the second generation of that person which makes the system unfair. In the case of a 2nd generation benefiter this becomes an unfair playing ground for the upper caste person. I would probably agree with a lot of parents in the country who will find it difficult to justify to their kid that their friend who has got lesser qualifications than them, whose family is equally or sometimes more economically prosperous gets an unfair advantage over their kid when applying for university education or jobs. This example is applicable in in-house promotions where people who have benefitted from the reservation system are given unfair advantage again and again.

3. The reservation policy provides certain percentage of reservation for each section of the society but there is no such reservation for the upper caste people which means if 20% was reserved for open competition only 5% of them will be from the upper caste and this actually pushes the upper caste people downwards. I am convinced that this was not the intention of B.R Ambedkar when he wrote this policy.

4. Reservation does not start at school, it starts only when you are pursuing a college education and from then on into jobs and governance. This again provides an unfair advantage for somebody who is not competent.

5. A person from the upper caste does not mean that they have a higher social status which means an upper caste person from a low socio economic background does not have any support to progress.

6. In the name of reducing inequality quality suffers because the person who has secured 500th place lands a job when a guy who has got 50th rank cannot get it due to his caste. In essence a less qualified person is preferred when opposed to a more competent person. This is actually damaging for the economy in itself as these are people who are involved in policy making, governance and quality suffers.

This may also be a major reason for brain drain as all these people who have been denied opportunity, go abroad and build a successful life for themselves. It’s a pity to know that some of the best professionals from India are working abroad and those countries are benefitting from their knowledge and wisdom.

In essence reservation has divided people, deprived the best in our country an opportunity and has not achieved the objective set by B.R.Ambedkar instead promoted inequality in the society.

This brings us to the question “Do they have social disparity in other countries and how is it reduced?”
Let’s now take a quick look at the British system. Britain in itself is a multicultural country due to immigration and a lot of ethnic minorities living here. So how do they make sure that there is no discrimination in all walks of life? In the UK when somebody applies for a job or university education they are asked to fill in a separate form called equal opportunities monitoring form which is not available for the person who is assessing that individual thereby maintaining confidentiality and allowing an unbiased approach. In a lot of the institutions the assessor does not even get any personal info about the applicant until the shortlisting process is done. This information is collected separately and is accessed only by the HR department which is called an equal opportunities monitoring form. The equal opportunities form collects data on race, age, gender, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability etc. If you prefer not to disclose any of the above info you have a prefer not to say option for all the questions. This data is monitored by a separate department and if it suggests any form of discrimination actions should be taken to address it. So this acts as a safety net to prevent discrimination on any basis.
So how is social disparity dealt in Britain? Social disparity in Britain is addressed through a benefits system which provides support for people/families who are economically challenged. There is a whole range of benefits which you can get if you are unable to provide yourself like employment benefits, child benefit, housing benefit, disability benefit and so on. In this system people are means tested and provided support by the government to reduce social disparity.
In the education sector there is no discrimination as everybody gets the same opportunity to take up the education they want and it’s solely based on remit. Student get a student loan towards their tuition fees which they have to pay back when they have started earning. Parents are means tested and if they have a low income their kids are provided living support when they are in university. This is a really fair system where kids are provided equal opportunities to pursue education.
The key here is if you have a low income or a disability which is stopping you to earn better support will be provided irrespective of your gender, race, religion, age etc.
Obviously there are downsides to this system as well because people start exploiting the ambiguities and false fully claim benefits which is being addressed by the current government.

It is very clear that to reduce social disparity the support system should be a needs based system rather than a caste based system. So the following are some of the steps which can be taken to achieve that.
1. Devise a needs based system based benefits system which will provide income support for the poor and disabled. If this system is well planned it could be something like a loan to the individual and when they are able to support themselves they should repay it back to the system.
2. Provide equal education to all sections of society from primary school so that everybody has a level playing field.
3. Income based educational support which should be given as a loan to repay for people who cannot afford education etc irrespective of their caste, religion.
4. A separate equal opportunities monitoring policy which is not mandatory to complete should keep a check on discrimination.
The needs based system should be reviewed every 5 or 10 years atleast and changes applied according to that period. In doing so we can hope that social disparity can be reduced in a fairer way provide equal opportunity for everyone in our country.

Shame on you – Indian High commission in London

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Indian High commission

 

 

 

 

This is the story of my horrible experience with Indian High commission in London. I have prompted myself to write this blog due to an online petition on www.change.org  started by Arun Asokan from London. The title of this petition is “Stop treating Indians like Garbage”. Before I move on to my story I should say that I am 1 of the luckiest ones when I compare myself to the other horror stories we hear about Indian high commission London.

This happened in 2012 and I still have all the email conversations to support my blog. It all started with me applying for an OCI status on my British Passport. The information on the website was pretty lame and unclear but I did fill in all the paperwork and sent my application form and other documents required to the Indian High Commission. It is supposed to be a 2 stage process where you send your application form and some documents in the 1st stage and then when you have been awarded the OCI status you send your British passport to affix the visa in the 2nd stage.

1St Stage process or nightmare

Unfortunately this was not clear in the website and it’s a shame for a country which is the resource for the best IT professionals in the world to have such an ordinary website. I sent my British Passport along with the application form in the 1st stage process by mistake. I had also sent a self-addressed postage paid special delivery return envelope along with this. Ideally they should have automatically returned my passport (in the special delivery envelope provided) saying it was not required at this stage. I actually found out through my friends that I had made a mistake and thought they would send me the passport back. But this is Indian High commission for god sake, this doesn’t happen here. I waited for a couple of weeks to see if the passport comes back. It never turned up and for the next 2 weeks I called the high commission atleast 200 times at different times of the day but the calls were never answered. I had emailed the relevant department a few times, again with no response. I was left with no choice other than emailing the same complaint to every single email address (even those not relevant to my query) available on the High commission website. To my surprise there was a response from somebody within an hour. The email ended up with somebody called “minister coordination” and this person emailed it to the relevant person and asked them to respond and copy it to him. Eventually after a few emails my passport was sent back to me. Success!!! Got to hold your breath for what’s coming next.
2nd stage process, reliving the nightmare again

6 weeks later the OCI card and visa had been confirmed and I had to send the British passport for the 2nd stage process which I did. It usually takes 2 days to a week for the passport to come back as they just have to stick the issued visa in the passport and send it back to me. It was more than 2 weeks again and I had not received my passport. I did the same thing again, wrote emails to the relevant email address and called the relevant department with no response. Then I did the same thing again emailing everybody in the high commission and again the minister for coordination asked the relevant department to respond. The person responded saying that they haven’t received my passport although I have a signed proof from Royal mail that the high commission has received my post. So after a few frustrating emails and a plea request to speak to someone, a guy form the embassy called me and said that they did not receive any mail and I should contact Royal mail regarding this. He also advised me to cancel my British passport because of concerns of identity theft. Obviously Royal mail was going to say that we have a proof of delivery with as signature and they won’t be able to help me. I did raise a complaint with royal mail but I did not cancel my passport in the faint hope that it’s still there somewhere and I was right.
A week later I had a surprise mail from the Indian High commission with my passport and my OCI card. I was obviously delighted but at the same time angry and frustrated about the service. Eventually I queried this mystery and as usual after a few emails I managed to speak to the same guy who basically had no clue about this and from what I gather from him nobody in the office knows when the passport came, where it was for 3 weeks and when and who sent it back.

Although my story had a happy ending it could have been an expensive deal for me.
1. If I had cancelled my passport I would have had to reapply for a British passport which would have cost 85£ and a day off.
2. I had to reapply for the OCI card with the new British passport which would cost roughly 300£
3. I had booked my tickets to go to India hoping that I would have had my OCI card by then. I would have had to cancel my tickets and that would have cost me 1500£.

Lessons to Learn

Good job that I did not cancel my passport. What surprised me in this whole episode was the complete lack of duty of care and commitment from the Indian High commission. There is not even a complaints procedure but I still wrote a complaint to that poor minister coordination with no response. This happens in India all the time I guess that 1 should atleast learn from the country they are living in.

The Home office UK is the government department for immigration, counter terrorism, police, drugs policy and related research and services. This website is clearly labelled out with links to the UKBA website which deals with visa applications and their processing. There is a contact number on the UKBA website to answer people’s queries. If you are not satisfied with their service then you can follow a complaints procedure and make your complaint and if they don’t comply with that you can take your complaint to a tribunal. I guess this website was probably designed by an Indian IT guy or an Indian IT company. That would be a fitting irony.

Shame on the Indian High commission- London, learn and change.

What can Telangana learn from the Scottish referendum…

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Telengana- Scotland

 

 

 

 

 

Try typing Telangana on Google and one of the top suggestions you will find is “Telangana issue”. I guess at this point of time there is no surprise that Telangana is known for all the wrong reasons. The question is why Telangana is in such a mess?

 

Let’s look at the issue in simple terms. Andhra Pradesh(AP) is a state which was formed post independence. Even during that time there was reluctance for Telangana to join Andhra Pradesh. Telangana forms approximately 40% of AP and accounts for 75% of the state’s revenue with the majority coming from Hyderabad which is the capital city. There has been a feeling of exploitation being part of AP as Telangana generates almost three- fourths of the state revenue. This forms the core issue behind requests for a separate Telangana state.

 

The issue was present in 1956 when Telangana was merged with AP and continues even today. So after 5 decades of peace and violence the Indian Government decides to carve a new state called Telangana. The point to be noted in this is that the Indian central government decides to create a new state and not the people of AP or Telangana even.

 

This brings me to the question of democracy in India. What is democracy? Abraham Lincoln quoted “Democracy as the government of the people, by the people and for the people”. In actual fact most countries follow a representative democracy rather than a direct democracy where the elected members of the people makes decisions for them and India is also 1 of the countries with a representative democracy. So the Indian government which is the elected representative of the people decide to create a new state.

 

Now let’s look at the issue of Scotland. Scotland is part of the British Union which is based on a treaty in 1707 and Scotland has remained part of the union till date. Scotland also wants to become a separate nation mostly for economic reasons for several years. In 1997 Scotland formed its own parliament and got some powers of governance over Scotland which it could exercise independent of the UK parliament/government. The concept of home rule or an independent Scotland has been there for ages and the SNP won the elections in Scotland and vowed to hold a referendum on independence by 2010. Although this wasn’t possible due to political reasons, it won the elections again in 2011 and had promised the Scottish people a referendum by 2014 or 2015.

 

What’s a referendum? Referendum is a direct vote by all of the electorate in relation to a particular proposal. This is an example of a direct democratic exercise. In Scotland the Scottish people get to decide whether they want to be an independent country through the referendum vote which is set for the 18th of Sept 2014. So the proposal was introduced in March 2013 and it gives 18 months for various political parties to voice their views/opinions on it and then let people of Scotland vote on it.

 

The point that we need to be clear here is that UK also has a representative democracy (although Monarch is the head of state) but on major issues like Scotland they have a referendum. The conservatives have promised that if they are re-elected there will be a referendum on whether UK should be part of the EU.

 

Switzerland is another country where referendums are used and there was a recent referendum on limiting EU migrants. Although this vote has created more storm in the EU- Swiss relations it is another example of using referendum as a tool to make major policy decisions.

 

The question now is “Is India ready to have referendums on major policy decisions like the Telangana issue to reach a democratic and amicable solution?” Can the people of Telangana decide whether they want to be part of AP? Will they ever get a choice?

It starts here…

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It starts Here

 

 

 

Hi all,

This is the first post on my blogging website. So I would like to start by introducing myself a little bit and the purpose of this blogging site.

I am an Indian living in the UK for over 10 years now. I work and live in the UK and that forms the very essence of starting this blogging site. I have always appreciated the good things in both the countries and shaped myself taking those positive things from both the cultures. I think we are swift in learning fashion, movies, technology etc from the western world but what about administration, governance, infrastructure and other basic systems which makes Europe and America as the world’s developed countries. So my focus will be on India learning from the UK and other countries than the other way around.

India is 1 of the developing countries in the world which is growing at a rapid pace. Have we all heard this before? How long has India been a developing country? When I did my schooling 20 years before I was taught that India is a developing country and even today we are a developing country. So would it be better to set ourselves a target that by 2050 India will be a developed country.

That brings the question of why 2050? India at the moment is in a highly infuriated or volatile state, people are desperate for a change but with very little patience. The AAP effect has given hope to a lot of people and I am 1 amongst those people who has the hope that we will become a developed country 1 day. But change takes a lot of time and it has to be done systematically.

Aren’t we expecting too much too soon? Think about the AAP in general terms like getting a new job. When you are given a new job you get a probationary period where you are given a chance to settle down and prove yourself, add to that a place where there are no systems in place or an existing system which is reluctant to change it becomes really complicated and it will take a long time to bring about change.

So we need to be patient and I think for us to be a developed nation in 2050 we need not just a political change but also a cultural change. It will take 20 years at the least for this change and add another 15 years for the next generation to grow into that changed world. So by 2050 we can hope that India will be a developed nation.

In my next few posts I will be writing about various topics, some of them might be current issues and some longstanding issues in our country and try at my best to open up a discussion with the blog and give examples of good practice from the UK and any other country which has a better system.

I will try not to be political in my views and all the views expressed in the blog will be my personal views a lot of which will be based on research from the amazing World Wide Web

I want to finish this post by quoting Mr Mandela’s words who the world lost in 2013. “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion, People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate they can be taught to love, for love comes to the human heart more naturally than its opposite.”

Love all and have a happy peaceful week.

Happy reading