Solutions to Change

Dear Minister, History reckons with you for the most number of Budgets presented in the world. You are an experienced craftsman presenting the budget in a mercurial way. Your experience in politics and administration are unparalleled and presents a unique opportunity for researchers and practitioners to delve on the language, intend and vision of your Budget Speeches. You have seen generation after generation  not only on the floor of the House but also the Political turbulences' since independence. As a Public Policy Student I have great admiration for your skill sets as a Minister and a Politician.  I am sure this letter may not surprise you on its content side. I wish to share my specific thoughts in certain areas on the upcoming budget of Kerala. These thoughts are based on my readings, interactions, observations and experience working with different clients over the years. I do not have to spend time on explaining Kerala Model of Developmen...

by D. Dhanuraj Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) in the news again! This time, many believe that KSRTC will be grounded like Kingfisher airlines. Media reports that it incurs a loss of 8 lakhs rupees every day. The reason they cite is that of the recent hike in the Diesel Price. It was told that KSRTC has to shell out more money compared to the domestic car users as they fall in another category. It looks like the policy of the Government is NOT to promote public transport but the private vehicles. In that case, I do not agree with the Government prescription for more Sales Tax on Diesel for KSRTC as it breaks the rules in the game and having a level playing field with the rest of the competitors in the sector. Rather, Government should have lessened the Sales Tax to facilitate and support the public transport. This incident shows that private transport and private vehicles are encouraged while the public transport is neglected. At the same time, I wonder wheth...

By Madhu.S and Nichu Willington* “Your Mobile number has won 750,000 Pounds FOR ongoing ICC World Cup T20 Award. To claim your prize, (Send your name, Address and Mobile#) Via Email :crkdraw@hotmail.com”. This tempting SMS has been received by millions of mobile users in India. However, there are no estimates on the number of people who got induced by such sham messages and lost money. Unfortunately, those who get cheated by these tempting SMS do not have much relief and are forced to repent. Many of them even do not report such incidents because of the shame, which has allowed the perpetrators, become habitual about faking people.  The people are always at the receiving end as the offenders or perpetrators often operate from outside and escape the clutches of the law. The only thing Government can think of is to give a Statutory Warning as in Cigarette packets “Please don’t attend or reply to frisky calls and SMS” being issued for each call and message !!  The te...