An Ordinary Citizens Election Manifesto

Posts

April 16, 2019

This is the sixth part in this series Improved Primary and Secondary Education all over India What is the current position? We have to begin this part by making an assumption that the market for talent is national and global. You may study some where and work somewhere else. Secondly the talent market is becoming extremely competitive. For any aspiring student, the quality of primary and secondary education is the foundation for entering this market. Based on this what is the situation today? We have several institutions managing primary and secondary education starting from central level, to state level. Each of them follow different standards for the school infrastructure, teaching and curriculum. So we hear that some students of higher classes are not able to solve basic subtraction problems! We are now having an education system which is fragmented, of different standards and quality, making it difficult for the students. Imagine student of a school joining a private univer

April 13, 2019

This is the fifth part in this series Improved Health Care for all Sections of Society What is the current position? Health Care cost in India is a significant cost for many families. This is in no way a reflection of the work being done by Doctors, Nurses and others. They are all working very hard and doing a great job. But just the fact that it is difficult to spend for many families. One reason for this is the higher dependence on private health care. The Governments role in primary, secondary and tertiary health care is very important. Especially in primary and secondary care. Even for basic health problems people tend to go to private health facilities and in most cases to hospitals and not just health centers. Even with this, there are huge crowds in famous hospitals and it is not easy to see a good doctor. What is the problem? There are just not enough good public health centers and hospitals to take care of the sick people. So they are forced to use private facilities

April 12, 2019

This is the fourth post in this series Manageable Temperature during summers What is the problem? 30 years ago, in the city in which I live now, the temperature during summer i.e. May used to be in the mid 30's. Now the temperature is almost touching mid 40's. This is a massive change. Summers are becoming unbearable. The reasons may be many, the most important being our neglect of nature and the environment. To enable Industrial and other developments like roads, airports, and also buildings etc. we have cut trees in large numbers. Second water bodies have been damaged in many places. I am sure there are other reasons for the increase in temperatures like increase in green house gases, loss of forest and jungle areas which used to absorb some of the heat etc. If we keep living like this in another 30 years the temperature may start touching higher of 50's making living almost difficult and unsustainable. This is a dangerous situation and more importantly this is the

April 11, 2019

This is the third post in this series on the Election Manifesto Good Quality Roads What is the current position? We have to acknowledge that there is a significant improvement in the quality of the highways in general. We must thank the government and its agencies for this significant improvement. Broadly there are three categories of roads Highways (National or State), Main Roads and Avenues and then Streets. The last two, in general, may be maintained by the Municipal/local bodies. Let us focus mainly on the City, Town level local body maintained roads. Once a road is laid or re laid, and then it may have pot holes or need repairs. This is where the problem arises. The key question why does a road have pot holes or need repairs? Quality of the road is the main challenge. Second even if there is a repair needed, the time it takes to repair may be quite long. During this time the citizens have a tough time in walking or driving and the resultant problems. Further because of

April 05, 2019

This is the second post in this series 2. Clean India - with no dirt/no solid waste anywhere What is the current position? At first most people do not segregate waste at home and hence collect and dump all the waste together. Second most houses just put the combined waste in some road corner either in dust bins or just outside in some street corner. This creates unhygienic environment, stink and also presents a poor display of our cities, towns and villages. So at first this is a citizen problem. Secondly in most cases this waste is collected by municipal authorities, transported in trucks or other vehicles and then dumped outside the city or town. This is also a costly affair. I have seen some people just dump waste paper, packets etc. on the road without any thought. So this is a very complex problem but the impact is that places seem dirty. So not a good position to be in. Plus this is not a sustainable way of storing, handling and disposing of waste. What do we want? C

April 04, 2019

An ordinary citizens election manifesto Lok Sabha elections are round the corner. We are seeing manifestos of all parties and evaluating them to help us decide whom to vote for. I have been thinking what is my wish list purely from an ordinary citizens perspective. This may not be all encompassing, but what I feel is important for a good living. So in a series of posts, which I will keep simple and short, I hope to present my expectations. 1. Good Quality Drinking Water at Home Water is a basic requirement of Living. What is the status today? Even after 72 years of a free India, I buy drinking water in plastic cans, which I store in a plastic container and use it for drinking. For other uses, I use bore water and/or well water, that is I am using the ground water. I am not sure of the quality of the water, I assume it is of good quality. The water I buy is certified so I assume it is good. The bore water I use, we check quality once in a while, it is not perfect but potab