Monday, October 1, 2012

A new role for the Highways Authority of India

When the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) was formed, India was still reeling from the ravages of colonial rule that had impoverished her, and left her with scarce resources and scant infrastructure. Thus, the then role of the NHAI was to deploy a portion India’s revenue collected by the Central Government to create roads for ushering in prosperity, connectivity and development. At a time when no individual possessed the wherewithal to invest in the infrastructure needs of the nation, the NHAI did what it could to meet its mandate.

The NHAI first created single lane highways, that very slowly evolved into double lane ones and right up until even the late Nineties, India hardly boasted of a decent highway, even by SAARC standards. The roads were created to connect every village and town, and as was the thinking back then, actually meandered around and passed through virtually each and every habitation before reaching its destination. Journeys were long, uncomfortable and perilous.

Fast forward to today. India has several corporate entities that can invest the humongous sums of money that is required for the development of the Highway infrastructure, and many of them have invested and built thousands of kilometers of four and six lane highways of very high quality, that run in the shortest distance between the main destinations, and towns along the way are served by connecting roads, rather than the highway itself meandering out of alignment. (In another article I had commented on the lawlessness that exists in these highways, but that is different story altogether). Thus, what one increasing sees nowadays, is that the NHAI need not be required to spend scarce national resources in the creation of highways, as private enterprise is more than willing and also well able to do this, and have delivered infrastructure of higher quality than what the NHAI was able to do for over 50 years. Perhaps, it is time for the NHAI to morph itself into a different kind of entity playing a slightly different kind of role.

The NHAI can concentrate on the creation of Highways in regions of the country where private enterprise is unwilling or unable to do so, like politically sensitive and security challenged areas. The rest of the Highway building should be entrusted to private enterprise, and the NHAI should play the role of an Administrator of the Highways, rather than the creator of them. My understanding of the role is elaborated below:

Consider this. I recently drove from Bangalore to Chennai, a journey of about 340 kilometers. During this very short journey, I had to stop, get into somewhat long queues of vehicles, and pay small sums of money at no less than 7 toll collection booths, each transaction consuming close to 5-8 minutes to complete. This added a needless 40 to 50 minutes to my journey time, and also contributed to unnecessary irritation and tension, as the toll collectors were generally uncaring about the contemporary requirement of journeys having to be safe, fast and tension free experiences. I do understand also that each stretch of the highway was built by a different investor and thus, each of them was legitimately entitled to revenues generated from the road users. What I am against however - is permitting each of them to repeatedly impede my progress by collecting small sums in payment, delaying me by insisting on exact change and other such inanities.

This is where a new role of the NHAI can be considered. The primary mandate of the NHAI shall remain as the creation and maintenance of Indian Highways, but, instead of directly getting out there and constructing them; I sincerely believe they should rather concentrate on the following:
  •       Contracting out the creation of Highways to the private sector wherever possible, and directly involve itself in the creation of only very critical or financially non-remunerative highways which are required in the national interest.
  •       Defining a contemporary Highway Driving Code and the setting up of a Highway Patrol to very strictly implement the same. This will include clearly defining which vehicles are permitted to use the Highway (banning those very slow moving 3-wheelers, and mini transport vehicles for a start), and for those that are permitted, which lane they are eligible to use, etc. Code of Conduct during an accident, etc.
  •       And finally, the main focus of this article - Collecting the Toll from the road users on behalf of the investors, and depending on how many vehicles use a particular stretch of road, set up a mechanism for making a payment to the concerned investor. Permit me to briefly explain the concept below.

I am not discussing about the existing Smart TAG or On Board Transponder Units. These are used by daily users of the Highways, and is an excellent solution for such users. While the investment in the infrastructure required is really quite high for the TAG system, I’m sure they have been found to be justified over some usage parameters, considering their popularity all over the world. My discussion is centered on improving the road usage experience of occasional Highway users, who have to today, stop and pay cash. My suggestion is that the whole process be made cashless at the Toll Booths. What if all occasional Highway users can buy a NHAI Pre-charged card, for a particular sum, let’s say Rs. 500.00, which can be made available at every store or shop that sells Mobile Telephony Recharge cards. Highway users should then be able to just insert the card into a slot and retrieve it after a few seconds of processing time, and then drive away, saving many precious minutes. Each time that the card is inserted, the following transactions can occur – deduction of the current Toll amount, updating of the Balance in the Card, capture of any other data from the card and also the display of Currency Balance information on the LED screens. In my reckoning, most of the required infrastructure already exists at every Toll Booth, and minimal additional equipment will be required to accept the payment made with the proposed NHAI Cards. If on occasion, the charge in the card is insufficient, the road user should have the option to revert to cash payment mode. If this method of payment is implemented, I’m certain that a large majority of the road users, particularly those who are not technology challenged will gladly adopt this.

The benefits of such a system of pre-collection are manifold. The road users will have a faster, more efficient and less stressful journey, while the NHAI will be the main beneficiary as it would be able to collect a very large sum of money upfront, and will be required to consolidate a weekly or monthly payment settlement to the investors based on the actual usage which will always be lesser than the face value collected for the card. Since the revenue collected is always larger than the payout, the NHAI will also develop a large and attractive financial float, which can be used for funding its highway expansion, technology upgrades, etc. Even the investors will stand to gain much by adopting this system of toll collection as their highway usage efficiency will dramatically increase, the safety of the road users will be hightened and they will also see the reduction of security concerns involved on the collection and handling of large sums of cash at remote locations. They will also be able to minimize the quantum of manpower required to man a toll plaza while increasing the efficiency of the transaction which will drastically increase their Nett Earnings per vehicle. The main benefit to all will be the minimization of leakage, which could occur due to underreporting of traffic by the Booth Collectors, collection of incorrect toll, and other such issues.

Some user friendly features in the Online Interactive Portal that will be necessary to manage customers will be very helpful, like perhaps getting a downloadable Statement of Account on a particular date, which will be useful for people who need to claim reimbursement of expenses. Also, one should be able to recharge the card using the portal by linking up with payment gateways of Credit Cards or Internet Banking. Unused currency in a card should also be refundable by direct Credit into ones’ Bank Account, etc. Needless to say, a portal such as this, which has the ability to garner literally millions of eyeballs, should also lend itself to lucrative advertisement opportunities. The possibilities are endless and very exciting! Soon, we may see one such card being used for many other transactions like Metro Rides, Bus Rides, Purchase of Fuel, and Payment of Fines for infractions caught by the Highway Patrol, etc., as the only issue would be to track the usage of the card and ensure that the correct entity receives the required amount as payment.

I wish and pray that the Management of NHAI will agree that my bullish enthusiasm for such as Card Based Payment system is well-placed and will start thinking along these lines and usher in a very early implementation. I will look forward to the day this happens.

Additional Reading:

Multiple Toll Collection receipts for a short 340 Km journey.

Friday, September 21, 2012

What on Earth are Single and Multi Brand Retail?

After a long and very hard fought intellectual, political and very personal battle, the Government of India has finally decided to permit international retailers to invest directly in the country. It has taken close on 10 years for this decision to come through, and sadly, despite this momentous event, it has still left the retail industry in utter confusion. I have always wondered why Retail in India had become the unfortunate victim of a completely unjustified political focus, for, what ought to have been a simple technical decision based on sound economics has unfortunately become an unexpected high decibel all-stakes-on-the-table battleground. The notifications over the past few months – Single Brand Retail earlier and the current one (please see link below) has laid out some very rudimentary guidelines permitting investments under two broad sub-divisions – Single Brand Retail and Multi Brand Retail, but the absence of clarity is quite disconcerting, due to which, no major retailer can be expected to be queuing up at the Ministry’s doors begging to be allowed in – not presently, anyway.

Single Brand Retailing is totally stuck due to a rule that mandates 30% local sourcing from launch of business, and even a cursory internet search on this subject throws up an equal number of stories that speculate that the rule will be diluted and an equal number that disdainfully insist that it will never happen. One is appalled that we as a nation have the gall to invite investment in this cloak and dagger manner and one is equally amazed that the world’s finest retailers are still taking us seriously! In my view, ‘Single Brand Retail’ is not even a genuine and cogent classification, and if it were to exist, this rule that defines the quantum of local sourcing must be introduced in a phased manner over a 5-year period in the least. While the silly season on this rule is not in a hurry to end anytime soon, some sense needs to prevail and the Government must not insist that the sourcing should be made only from SME’s, and should be extended to cover any Indian manufacturer. As the rule currently reads, an SME who is trained and developed to supply quality merchandise by a global retailer has to be dropped as soon as his turnover crosses USD 1.0 Million. The retailer, who spends a lot of time and effort in developing a reliable resource and enriched him in the bargain by sourcing from him, has to dump this supplier and search for a new one. So we are penalizing success now? Come On! Really?! What are we, some banana republic?

Multi Brand Retailing is in an even worse bind if that were possible. Apparently, this Government has been accused of policy paralysis for too long, and decided that it is best to promulgate a ‘paralyzed policy’ with a view to possibly taking some heat off its rear end! I am amazed as to how a national Government can make a rule that is not applicable by law all over the country automatically. This policy, which leaves the adoption of the rule or of dropping it to the States, is a very confusing and spineless one. Perhaps, a new retail entrant into the country will have a somewhat lesser cloud of confusion, as they can pick and choose to enter only those States that have adopted the new rules. While this is possible in theory, it is highly unlikely for a major retailer to invest in the country if he is not sure of how many states he can operate in and how many stores he can ultimately build. If one is not sure of one’s operational scale in the medium term, one is sure of nothing, and when one is unsure, how will the investment come in? On the other hand, for an international Multi Brand Retailer who is interested in buying into an existing Indian chain the situation is simply hilarious. For instance, Future Retail* will have to perhaps split into multiple business entities each registered in various State Capitals and the investor can own 51% of only those entities that are registered in States that have adopted the new rules. Even if this is done, what happens to the Brand name of the retail chains in question? You cannot have a 100% Future Group entity and a 49% Future Group entity both owning the same Brand Name, so something will have to give. Also, without the ownership of the Brand Name and the goodwill it carries, what would be the use of investing in that chain? This is an unmitigated disaster in the making, and the mess is largely due to unnecessary politics.

So, why has Indian Retail become so embroiled in politics? I really do not have the answer to that. It will take a more diligent student of Indian Politics and apparently even of Indian Retail than I to answer that one. I can say only this. Retail is a very ordinary, low-tech, basic but capital intensive (both fiscal and human) industry and it is only an implementation of globally tested best practices, intelligently adapted to the Indian market, together with the investment of virtually unlimited resources and promoters equity that will make retail work in India. Retail really is undeserving of the shrillness of the political debate it has attracted. The NDA Government, in 2004 had the opening up of this sector in their Manifesto, but chose to 'U turn' on it in 2009. The UPA Opposition in 2004, who was the shrillest opponent of FDI in Retail, is now the one who is saying it is the best panacea for the nation in 2012 and neither position is entirely true. Also now, the NDA opposition is willing to verily bring down the Government for this rule, despite it being promulgated at least 10 years too late, by their own reckoning. It is evident that both political alliances have been working only for their own short-term benefit than to formulate policy for the good of the industry for the long term. I think that Politicians are the Worlds’ small people with even smaller minds, but are those that possess the Worlds’ biggest egos. This has been proved true in the case of Retail in India. Will they ever change and see the big picture? Will the UPA Government ever have the sagacity to seek the NDA’s support for a slightly modified bill and pass it through Parliament and end this atrocious debate once and for all? Will the NDA show the required bipartisanship that would be required? Can they agree to share the credit (or the blame), as the case may be? My expectations from the current crop of political leadership are unfortunately abysmal.

Another aspect of the debate that has befuddled me no end is the seemingly senseless and unnatural segregation of Retail into ‘Single Brand’ and ‘Multi Brand Retail’. My reading is that this classification was conjured up by the UPA Government, to perhaps try and get some Retail investment into the country by the back door. Obviously, the ploy has not worked, and one has heard of only 3 so-called 'Single Brand Retailers' of repute having made a formal application at the time that this was written. Looking at the minefield that the rules of Multi Brand Retail will be, I do not expect any serious Retailer to put his money where his mouth is. Investment will come only when there is complete clarity. Even with a very restrictive 26% regime but a very clearly framed rule structure, investors would be tempted to go all the way, considering the innate attractiveness of the Indian market. With all the confusion hanging over our 51% and 100% regimes, I do not expect the investment flood gates to open anytime soon.

A more logical and sensible categorization of Retail would be one divided along the lines of ‘Food Retailing’ and ‘Non Food Retailing’ which would be more appropriate for the Indian scenario. State Governments must look at the Retail industry from this paradigm and formulate the rules as required of them by the Central Government. One can understand the political sensitivity of food retailing, but why are we having the Government clubbing all retail together? What are the risks in permitting retail of let us say, Books, Consumer Durables, Cosmetics, Jewelry and a host of other lifestyle goods and services by Multi-national Retailers? This artificial Clubbing together of all Retail is ham-handed and ill-conceived as it would surely be counterproductive - both to the politics of the issue and for the retail industry, and the nation as a whole. While one can understand the social context of Food Retail needing to be restricted to ensure that the political agenda is addressed, one firmly believes that Non-Food Retail should be simply removed from all unnecessary controls and allowed to propagate freely.

This kind of rational categorization will perhaps prevent State Governments from viewing retail with a jaundiced eye and ascribing the motives of the Devil himself to all the international Retailers. It is hilarious to hear some of the comments made on Walmart and Tesco during all the media sound-bites that our politicians love so much. Makes one believe that they are invading Huns or Vikings coming here to pillage and loot!


Perhaps when provided with this new perspective, even State Governments that are politically adversarial to the Central Government, but of otherwise progressive states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where modern retail struck its first roots, will be more inclined to notify their own versions of the Retail rules and perhaps choose to restrict Food Retail while permitting Non Food Retail to proliferate as that has no political minefields to be negotiated. For most International Retailers, the markets of these two States and Andhra Pradesh are seen to be the most attractive as modern Retail has been in practice here since 1996, due to which the customers are quite sophisticated and pre-accustomed to the USP of Modern Retail. Also, as they are progressive States, their denizens have higher purchasing power, and also enjoy a relatively politically stable and generally peaceful business oriented atmosphere. I wouldn’t be very surprised if many International Brands choose to postpone their entry into India until these crucial States notify their version of the rules. This would be particularly true for Karnataka, and it needs to look at this very closely and very seriously as many international retailers would be keen to be headquartered in Bangalore, considering the fact that it is the most preferred city for expat managers. Thus, if Karnataka chooses political exigency over sound policy and economics, they will stand to lose a huge opportunity in the form of being the repository for all the investment and being the beneficiary of the tax revenues accruing out of such business entities.
Business and politics aside, I for one, truly believe from the bottom of my heart that modern retail will genuinely and substantially benefit India, especially with the rules mandating a 50% quantum of investment in the setting up of Retail Backend Infrastructure. I draw attention to another article of mine, where I have written about the need for the betterment of the agricultural infrastructure, which I feel large retailers will be most willing to undertake. I do hope that someone out there is listening….


Note.
* The Retail Entity has been named only for illustration purposes and not with any other intent. The scenarios mentioned above would be true for all other Indian promoted retail chains too, many of which are on the edge of financial ruin and quite a few of them may be open to welcome an equity infusion at this point in time.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

In and around Nanjangud - A brief travelogue



I am a great admirer of the history, culture and architecture of Karnataka. Particularly when it came to Temple Architecture, the people of historical Karnataka were apparently as hospitable and were ready to embrace influences from their neighbors and other cultures as they are today. Thus, in the North of Karnataka one sees the influences and the architectural styles of the Deccan and the Andhra’s, temples in the South East is so much like North Tamil Nadu that it becomes difficult to tell them apart and Dakshina Kannada looks like an extension of Kerala.


The Heartland of Karnataka however was the modern districts of Hassan and Mysore, where either the influences were somehow limited or imbibed into the local ethos without smothering the culture. Karnataka’s most unique architectural spots are here – Belur, halebeedu, Somnathapura, and others. Inside this heartland of Karnataka is my personal favorite, Nanjangud – if not illogical, one would refer to it as the ‘heart of the heart of Karnataka’!


Mysore and Nanjangud have been blessed with incredible natural beauty, fertile soils, abundant water and benevolent rulers. Apparently, when a race of people have their stomachs full and live in tranquil and peaceable surroundings the mind tends to seek out the higher ideals and hence this place has become the repository of all that is essentially Karnataka – art, literature, drama, harikathe and architecture. This has resulted in Mysore District and particularly Nanjangud Taluk being filled to the brim with places of Historical / Archeological interest and several scenic spots. Most of these spots are just a short drive away (from 10 minutes to within an Hour) and every one of them is well worth the effort. Listed below are some of the important must-see locations.


Nanjangud, has its most famous place of worship called the Sreekanteshwara Devasthana. This is a somewhat rare Shaivaite temple, dedicated to Shiva in a region that seems to abound in Vaishnavaite or Vishnu Temples. This temple is located at the center of Nanjangud town, and a short walk from the Railway Station. The main entry has been recently made from the Bathing Ghats on the banks of the River Kapila, where one is expected to bathe and purify one’s soul before entering the temple.


The Sreekanteshwara Devasthana is about 1,000 years old and is believed to have been built by the Cholas. The entire structure is a very large and elaborately built temple complex with a large central courtyard in which the main temple is located. Small temples dedicated to Ganesha, Shardaamba, Satyanarayana and Anjaneya are located all along the route of a pilgrim visiting the main deity and that of his consort Parvathi. A temple visit is rounded of by visiting the ancient Navagraha temple, where each of the planetary positions are represented by beautifully and intricately carved statuettes. On the outside, temples dedicated to Nataraja and Nandi can be seen. This temple is believed to have one of the largest monolith Nandi statues in the state. No visit to this temple is complete without visiting the spot where Chandikeshwara (the ‘Stenographer’ to the Gods) is seated and making sure he knows that you have visited this temple and hence ‘eligible’ for your due brownie points. One is expected to clap or snap one’s fingers to catch the attention of Chandikeshwara, as he is apparently hard of hearing, so that he notices you and marks your attendance!


Nanjangud, is also famous for its Parashurama Skeshtra. This believed to be the spot where Parashurama is said to have rested after his battle with the Asuras. An ancient temple marks the spot and is held in much reverence by the local people.


Nanjangud, has another must-see for believers of the Hindu persuasion. An old Raghavendraswamy Matha, which is very popular amongst the Madhwas and said to be built around a swayambhu moorthi or a statue that was found to pre-exist in the likeness of Sri Raghavendraswamy. A window to the ancient way of life for the pious Brahmin can be seen here, as all the sacred rituals and traditions are zealously followed and maintained over the years.


Nanjangud, also has another ancient but not very famous temple, which is believed to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years old! Easily the oldest monument in the vicinity, and is dedicated to Lord Prasanna Nanjundeshwara and gives the town of Nanjangud its name. The locals say that this was the original site for the deity in the now famous Sreekanteshwara temple, and had to be abandoned over 1,000 years ago due to constant flooding of the site. Archeological excavations are being carried out at this site and recently, an ancient temple tank has been found and cleared of accumulated silt. Surely, this is a site that one cannot miss!


Hedatale, which is about 10km from Nanjangud and boasts of an incredibly beautiful temple, believed to be about 800 years old, built by the Hoyasalas. The Temple is called as Trikootachala Devasthana and has an unusual specialty of having three sanctums sanctorum in a single layout, dedicated to Venugopalaswamy, Lakshmikantaswamy, and Lakshminarashimaswamy.


The Main temple is very beautifully done with impeccable carvings. The idols are also carved with much love and dedication and abound in special effects like the eyes of the Lakshmi idol seem to follow the priest’s aarati flame and other such wonders. The Temple has a covered courtyard that is believed to have been added on more recently by a local Palegara (Chieftain) which seats each of his 16 daughters and their spouses in such a manner that the Palegara could see all the 16 couples, while his wife sitting beside him could see only her daughters as it was considered inappropriate for the Mother in Law to see her Sons in Law. The marked difference in the quality and the finish of the Temple and the Courtyard is very evident.


 Hemmaragala, a really ancient temple which is believed to be about 1,500 years old, and located at about 14Km from Nanjangud. This temple is built in the Chola style and most of the original structure and design has remained undisturbed to this day. The locals believe that this temple has the power to grant one their wishes. An interesting story is told about a Chola King who came here and prayed for a male heir and in due course, this King had a daughter. Apparently peeved at being ‘cheated’ by the Lord, he is believed to have brought the daughter to the temple and demanded justice - and in a miraculous move, the Lord changed the gender of the child. Thus, the King called the temple the Hucchu (insane) Venugopalaswamy in place of Santaana (heirs) Venugopalaswamy!


People from all over come and ask for favors and tie a lemon to the temple pillars, and come back for thanksgiving when their wish has been granted. It is interesting to note that this temple offers a Kondaya Rishi Danda Seve (prayer using the staff of Sage Kondaya) only on Saturday and Sunday, when the priest places the staff on your head and prays that your wishes be granted. Everyone I spoke to swear that this definitely works, and is a must for every believer. However, if one wants to enjoy the Temple for its historical treasures, the weekend can be avoided as very long queues of people seeking favors would be encountered.


Kalale, another ancient temple believed to be about 1,000 years old, again built by the Cholas. The temple is dedicated to Lakshmikantaswamy. The temple is at a distance of about 7Km from Nanjangud. Though the original temple must have been built in the style typical of the Cholas – flat roofs, Square plan columns, somewhat rough hewn and minimalist treatment in terms of carvings and architecture, it has suffered a series of renovations using poor quality modern materials and shoddy workmanship, which has resulted in most of the original look and feel being lost. The temple however is a repository of the Tamil Brahminical faith and consists of many small statues and carvings recording the contributions of this community.


Himavatha, this is a hill station temple, about 50Km from Nanjangud on the way to Bandipur and is famed for being located on a hill that is always misty or covered in Hima, hence the name. The temple is called Himavat Gopalaswamy and is believed to be over a thousand years old.


T Narasipura, or the town of Narasipura located at a distance of about 36Km boasts of a Sangama of three rivers and hence believed to be a very sacred place. The river Kapila, Kaveri and Gupta Gamini meet at the Spatika Sarovara. One can see the dark, still waters of the Kapila meeting with the white choppy waters of the Kaveri and becoming crystal clear at a point where even the rocks at the bottom of the river bed become visible. This is believed to be the point at which the mythical underground river Gupta Gamini joins the Sangama. As this is considered to be both a spiritual as well as a geographical wonder, a visit to this Sangama is an effort that is definitely rewarding.


On the banks of this Sangama, two famous temples, the Narashimaswamy Devastana and Agasteshwara Devastana each believed to be over 1500 years old can be visited.


Upon traveling a further 20Km from T Narasipura, one can visit the famous archeological site of Somnathapura. Here, ruins of temples built during the Hoysala reign can be found, equaling in beauty and execution the ruins at Beluru and Halebeedu.


Parvathi Betta, another hill temple located at about 30Km from Nanjangud, dedicated to Lord Sreenivasa can be found. This Sreenivasa temple is believed to be a close by alternative to the more famous one at Tirupathi. The temple is about 800 years old and like most temples boats of a miracle story. It is believed that a pious man who in advanced age wanted to get a darshana of the Tirupathi lord, but was unable to do so due to his infirm condition. He apparently prayed to the lord Sreenivasa and asked him for a solution, and the lord responded saying “Just turn left and look, I’m there”. The devotee is said to be turned left and walked, soon to discover this temple.


Finally, no visit to Nanjangud will be complete without learning a little about one of the most famous son of this land, the founder patriarch of Sadvaidashala, B. V. Pandit. His historical factory is located right in the middle of the town, and was established almost a hundred years ago, where all the Ayurvedic preparations are made exactly the way they are recommended to be made in the medical texts themselves.


The story of the founder reads like a veritable fairy tale – a man of incredible vision, clarity of thought, battling against poverty to start a small unit making medicines and cycling to Mysore every day to sell them, until one day, he had the brainwave to formulate and manufacture the famous and iconic product Nanjangud Hallina Pudi (tooth powder), which brought him much fame and renown. Do visit the Sadvaidashala factory and ask to have a guided tour of their facility. It is advised to ascertain before hand when would be the best time to visit.


Right next to the factory is the old and beautifully built house in which B. V. Pandit lived and ruled over a large family and vast business interests. The house is now abandoned and slowly falling to ruin, and surely it will be most appropriate if the same can be converted into a museum showcasing the life and times of this visionary. One hopes to be able to see portraits, photographs, films and the personal effects of this great personage located in the place where he lived a major portion of his life.

Friday, April 13, 2012

India needs a Nodal Agency to oversee Engineering Practice

A US $ 1.0 Tr. investment!
A rapidly developing country like India, has been investing and is going to continue to invest very heavily in the scaling up of our infrastructure, and is looking to make available upwards of US $ 1.0 Trillion in the coming years, which is equal to more than half of the nations’ current GDP value (Nominal, US $ 1.84 Tr. 2011). This is an exceedingly large sum of money which will have to be efficiently and intelligently allocated and spent with a conscience, requiring a very high standard of moral fiber, impeccable ethical conduct and the finest professional capabilities.
Who will spend this humongous amount of money?
Looking at the investment from the perspective of – as to who will actually plan for, and spend that huge sum of money, I have to say that one is a little disconcerted by what is currently the situation prevailing in the country. These funds will be spent by thousands of Engineers from varied fields – like Civil Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Highway Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Electronics Engineers, Telecommunication Engineers and Engineers of many other specializations working both within the Government Departments as well as in Private Enterprise involved in Infrastructure Projects. Judging from the recent past, and the news stories that seem to break with sordid regularity, this class of professional has not exactly covered him / herself in glory! I’m pretty certain that the Public Works Department (PWD) in any of the States in the country, without a doubt, will have innumerable instances of corruption and unethical practices on record. Similarly, the Departments handling projects of Power Generation and Distribution, Telecom Infrastructure and sadly even the holy grail of Engineering edifices – Space Exploration has recently been tainted by scandal. The nexus between the Technocrat – Bureaucrat – Politicians has ensured that the scale of the scandals is becoming ever larger and the chances of retribution slimmer by the day.
Almost all the decisions in these departments are taken by Engineers of various specializations, and incorrect decisions made with malafide intent calls for the harshest punishment including losing one license to practice. However, it is quite evident that nothing much except for a benign Departmental Slap-on-the-wrist is administered to these wayward professionals. In my view, India does not have the required legislation or the collective will to correct this malaise. Thus, speaking in broad generalization, the poor Human Development Index and the High Corruption Index of this Nation has been administered to and supervised by its Engineers. As I too, am an Engineer by qualification, this situation both infuriates and saddens me.
We as a Nation have been placing our trust in the hands of these professionals who have Embezzled the State, Performed to a Very Poor Professional Standard in terms of the Planning, Design and Execution, indulged in the Dereliction of Duty by allowing substandard quality of work to get approved, indulged in the Lowest of Ethical Behavior by supporting Illegal Mining and Deforestation, and finally even Putting a Spoke in the Wheels of Development of this Nation by consistently delivering Poor Quality Infrastructure. In a poor Nation like India, this constitutes Criminal Behavior to say the least. One only has to closely study the quality of more than 90% of the roads built in this country, to wholeheartedly agree with the above conclusion. Sure, there have been positives too, but these are few and far in between, and they too, will never be able to stand up to a Challenge Scrutiny, where it can be shown that every stage of the project from the Concept to the Inauguration was handled in a flawless professional manner and completed as per the agreed Time / Cost / Quality parameters. I will of course, be delighted to be proven wrong on this!
Engineers in India
While almost every other professional body, be it Architects, Lawyers, Chartered Accountants, Doctors or Company Secretaries are governed by the rules of their Councils which have been set up by acts of Parliament, and follow established Codes of Practice, Ethical Behavior, and is made aware of his or her Professional Responsibility towards the Nation, Engineers are governed by their conscience alone.
All other professionals are expected to toe the line of their Councils and failure to do so could result in the loss of Accreditation or the License to Practice their profession. Engineers have no such Damocles sword hanging over their head.
The malpractice of a lawyer, or a doctor or an auditor may adversely affect an individual or a small group, while malpractice by Engineers has affected a billion people and has kept India backward despite the untold Crores spent on development. Thus, this a body of professionals that desperately needs some supervision.
Why is it that such a critical profession, tasked with the very development of the Nation itself, is not governed by a Council or Nodal Body? Why are Engineers not required to take an Oath of Ethical Behavior and Professional Competence when they are spending the Nation’s wealth? Pertinent questions indeed, and for some reason, unasked often enough for the past 60 years of our existence.
Thus, there is enough evidence to back the statement that The Moral Fiber of our Engineers has been seen to be woefully weak. Now, what about standards of professional competence? Engineers in India, unlike those in very highly regulated nations like the US or some of the EU Nations, are expected to intelligently interpret the rules and codes to ensure that the design or specification meets all the stated purposes. In the US for instance, there is a detailed code of practice for almost every Engineering activity, from basic wiring specification for a home right up to a massive engineering project, and Engineers are required to largely conform to the relevant code. While here in India, Engineers are tasked with conjuring up solutions that are largely derived from First Principles, and are expected to intelligently meet the needs of the Client, Local Body, Federal Government, the Environment and Society at large. In such a scenario, how many Engineers have the sagacity of vision to see their work from the above overall perspective, is a question one is forced to ask, and also forced to answer with the response ‘woefully few’. Thus, the professional quality of a vast majority of our engineers also leaves a lot to be desired. Sadly, a majority of our best brains leave for greener pastures or saner work cultures abroad and choose not to repay their debt to the Nation.
Engineering Education in India
While Engineering education in India varies from the highly theoretical and analytical research approach of the IIT’s to the very basic of rote learning for the examinations at some of its far flung colleges, a vast majority of our Engineering Colleges and Technical Universities do manage to deliver a very sound quality of basic Engineering education. Thus, we have large numbers of properly qualified personnel, qualifying for degrees from hundreds of different Colleges and Universities, wherein the quality and capabilities of a good Student of Engineering is seen to be uniformly above average. Thus, it seems that quality of education is not the problem. What then? Once these thousands of technically qualified people enter the mainstream, they are literally let loose on the Nation with nary a control – that really is the problem. Engineers who are expected to perform an enlightened role in an environment vitiated by corruption for the past 60 years and not equipping them with the right perspective – that is the problem. Reasonably well qualified Engineers are swallowed up by a whirlpool of misconduct preexisting in the workplace – that is the problem.
What is required?
India urgently requires the Parliament to pass a law that sets up a Single Empowered Nodal Body or a Supervising Council to which every individual Engineer shall be asked to be a member of. Currently in the Council being planned, only Engineering Associations are planned to be drafted as members, which will not tackle the problem at hand in any satisfactory manner.
·         The Proposed Council shall draw up variously; a Charter, a Code of Conduct and a Role and Responsibilities Manifesto that an Engineer will be required to adhere to.
·         The Proposed Council shall periodically publish the list of Engineering Degrees that it recognizes and also define the Minimum Standards of Education in our Engineering Colleges and Technical Universities.
·         Every Engineer passing out with a recognized degree shall be asked to take an Oath wherein he or she will undertake to Perform his or her Duties to the highest level of Professional Competence and Scrutiny, and also Promise to Abhor Corrupt Practices of any kind, Promise to Protect the Environment, and ensure that all his or her Professional Decisions are always taken keeping the Interests of Society and the Nation paramount.
·         All members of the Proposed Council shall agree to a Charter of Disciplinary Action, where any proven misconduct shall result in the automatic loss of Membership of the Proposed Council. If the Proposed Council is conceived and created in the right sprit, then no employer will want to retain an Engineer who has been rusticated by his own Council. Loss of livelihood will be a serious threat and ensure that Engineers will always walk the straight and narrow path.
·         The Proposed Council shall of course be peopled by volunteers from the profession itself and shall have a Democratically Elected Leadership, who will perform duties related to Accreditation of Educational Institutions, Disciplinary Action, Peer Review and Administration of the Proposed Council itself. In my view, Democratic Leadership is critical for the Proposed Council to be taken seriously.
Conclusion
I look forward to the day when International Agencies monitoring corruption worldwide choose to place India close to the top of the list of countries where the Rule of Law applies and Corrupt Practices are shunned as a culture by its people. Several initiatives by Civil Society are currently being lobbied for, and the adoption of a strong Jan Lokpal Bill (Anti-Corruption Ombudsman) would be crucial to the improvement of our transparency ratings. Further to the Jan Lokpal, the above suggestion to bring all our Engineers under the control of a Proposed Council will further our goal to becoming a corruption-free society. I pray that the day is not too distant in the future.
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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Vodafone case – is retrospective promulgation of a new amendment to a law fair?



I must submit upfront that I am neither an expert in taxation nor I am I fully acquainted with all the facts and figures of the case, but write this purely as an Indian layperson observer who has (extensively) been exposed to the news reports of the case and also as a concerned Professional Corporate Citizen worried about the precedent such a move will set, and the consequent adverse impact on investment into our country. I will also readily agree that the Government is empowered to collect tax on various commercial transactions and even for one minute, I have no intention to entertain the thought that somehow the government is not entitled to garnering revenue from any and every legally sanctioned means. However, all such modes of generating revenue have to fall under the ambit of due legal process, and some very basic aspects of the Rule of Law and Principles of Natural Justice have to be served, in my view.
Consider this.
When two individuals enter into a transaction that involves the transfer of ownership of a Capital Asset for a particular financial consideration, and it is established that the seller has earned a profit from this transfer or has ‘accrued Capital Gains’, then he or she should be liable for the payment of Capital Gains Tax. Perfectly legal and completely tenable, as this is clearly sanctioned by law. One assumes that it is natural for the asset that changes ownership to be located in India of course, for Indian Tax Laws to have jurisdiction. Now, in as far as I was able to ascertain, as per the existing laws, it is the seller that needs to file his returns after making a provision for the Capital Gains Tax, and the buyer has no role at all to play in this. Also, with basic research, it did not become clear as to whether it is the responsibility of the buyer of the asset to withhold the Capital Gains Tax, and hence I am inclined to accept that in any event, the seller has the sole responsibility to fulfill his obligations to society as a Corporate Citizen by honestly paying up his taxes.
Now, in this case, Vodafone was the buyer who paid enormous sums of money to acquire a so-called attractive asset that they had very high hopes about, in a country that they were sure was a democracy that had all the Pillars of Democracy well entrenched. Like any company, I’m sure they would have commissioned meticulous research to determine what the asset would cost ‘on road’ as it were, and thus, would have made pretty accurate provisions for a war-chest to fund the acquisition. Typically, they would have included all known and expected expenses including the Equity, Legal Consultancy, Speed Money (sadly a critical component when doing business in India), taxes, travel costs, etc. as per the then, known laws of the land. Now that the money has been spent, where is the justification in springing a proverbial bunny out of the hat and demanding an additional US $ 2.3 Billion?
If that were not enough, what about all the other costs?
  • We see a protracted battle in the Courts costing each party several hundred Crores in litigation expenses – will the Government make good these expenses to Vodafone?
  • We now find the government saying that it will amend the law and make that amendment applicable with retrospective effect, much like a sulking, petulant child that says that the last goal does not count because the goal post was not defined by the tree and the lamppost but something else altogether.
  • We note with concern the shock being expressed by other Governments the world over saying that they expected better from India.
  • We also see with profound sadness that all multinational companies doing a double-take on their investment plans in India due to a hostile policy and taxation climate, what with the FDI in Retail imbroglio, the cancellation of 122 Telecom Licenses and now this.  
While it is true that some of these are only notional costs, think of the cost of a negative impression the world business community will have about India. I wonder what the cost of that would work out to.
In my opinion, the whole unfortunate incident should never have taken place and surely, this is the result of some silly over-smart bureaucrat somewhere saying something like ‘oh no, we forgot to collect from the seller, so why can we not ask the buyer to pay?’ The more I look at it, the more it just looks like a foolish and an ill-considered move with its intention seemingly to have been one of just bringing into play, the Governments’ awesome nuisance value. Perhaps they expected Vodafone to buckle and settle out of Court, is the strong impression one carries. Now, instead of waking up and smelling the coffee, the Government is covering itself with more muck and ignominy by promising new laws with retrospective promulgation like as though it is a game of Cops and Robbers amongst 8-year olds. The person or the team that cooked up this tax claim on Vodafone needs to be hauled up to judicial scrutiny by the appointment on an inquiry committee and dealt with in the harshest manner possible to dissuade other Zorro’s in the department from attempting such stunts in the future. A public apology to Vodafone and the corporate world at large will not be entirely out of place, for sure.
Since it was the other party in question, Hutchison Whampoa that apparently evaded the payment of Capital Gains Tax, would it not have been more appropriate for the Tax authorities to make the demand on them instead of Vodafone? Just because Vodafone was an entity based in India now, and Hutch was not, was it justifiable to haul Vodafone over the coals? The correct approach would have been – to file a case in a competent Hong Kong Court by the Government, seeking recovery of their legitimate dues. Sure, this may have got thrown out at the first instance or may have taken forever to conclude, but at least the Government would have been hunting with the correct party of hounds, instead of simply shooting the closest fox.
Finally, touching on the aspect of the amendments to the law – the Government is again well within its right to amend any law as long as it follows due process, but again common sense dictates that all amendments would be applicable from the day they are passed by Parliament and is incorporated in the Gazette. Not one single day prior to that. Entities entering into any agreement that comes under the purview of the above amendment would then have the opportunity to make a provision for the same in their war-chest or in their list of responsibilities and hence enter into an agreement with all parameters known and defined. This is a basic given in a democracy where the Principles of Natural Justice and the Rule of Law are expected to apply. If this is not ensured by our Government, it will be no different from some despotic dictator of some tin-pot banana republic. I hope to god that we will not be disappointed.
August 6, 2021.

I’m happy to note that after losing a slew of cases in arbitration all over the world and exposing India to ridicule with sovereign assets being tagged for attachment, the government has seen the folly of its ways, and has decided to scrap the controversial law. See clip attached. 


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Reopening the HAL Airport – Bengaluru.

I still remember the shrillness of the discussions about retaining the HAL Airport at Bengaluru when the new Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) was in the final stages of its preparation for launch. The argument then was that the closure of HAL Airport threw up a humanitarian problem that had been perhaps ignored by the Government when the Greenfield project was being negotiated, i.e. the issue of the accommodation of the KSTDC Taxi drivers who faced a bleak future and financial ruin. That problem however was solved, but many who were hoping for the retention of HAL Airport, particularly the IT Companies located in Bengaluru East were disappointed, as taking a flight from BIAL meant for them a two-hour commute through the heaviest of city traffic. The general public was however mollified by the promise of a modern, spanking and efficient airport.

Now that BIAL has been in operation for a couple of years and has been soundly criticized for being poorly conceived and under-provided for – in terms of its capacity, seemingly proved correct as it has been forced to go in for a doubling of the same several years before it had planned to. The airport, for some reason has only 8 Aerobridges which means that a vast majority of the flights have to use coaches for embarkation and dis-embarkation which in my view adds more than a wasteful half an hour to the process, while exposing passengers to the discomforts of the weather, needlessly contributing to atmospheric carbon and other inconvenience. Most modern airports aim to achieve close to 100% aerobridge arrivals and departures (except for servicing small turboprop aircraft one would guess), while BIAL has been left lagging far behind. The passenger traffic is expected to grow to 18 million in 2014, and judging from the current experience, this airport will definitely not be able to handle this explosion as the passenger facilities are too inadequate – the concourses, the food courts, the check in counters, the security counters and the emigration counters are all stretched, and doubling everything will still not be sufficient, and hence some radical solutions are necessary in my view.

I would like to list the following possible scenarios for discussion, and I hope that through this forum there will be some discussion and hopefully a couple of decision makers may agree with us and help in the resolution of some of the outstanding issues. One readily agrees that it is not practical to have two competing fully loaded airports, in the same city, as there would be untold confusion for travelers, as to which airport one needs to report to, in addition to the financial implications of reneging on the agreement with BIAL. However, with little effort, it is possible and desirable to reopen the HAL airport without hurting any party concerned for the following reasons:

§    India is going to see an explosion in Low Cost Carriers (LCC’s) in the near future, for both domestic and International routes. It would be quite unviable for such carriers to use a premium suburban airport as the cost of traveling to the city and vice versa by taxi would work out as much as the basic fare of some air tickets, making the home-to-home costs of the journey unattractive. Further, the landing fees, handling charges and parking bay charges etc. at a premium full-service airport would also work out quite expensive for an LCC, not to speak of the User Development fee and other levies the airport is forced to collect to garner revenue. Thus, if HAL airport can be used as an LCC terminal, there would be much value to be had. The infrastructure is practically ready-to-roll and major investments would not be required for this. It is an indicator that many emerging world cities have felt the need to do this and now, both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have exclusive LCC terminals, separate from their main airports.

§    Another useful justification for reopening the HAL airport is get the advantage of Cargo and Courier operators flying from there. Here again, cost being the most sensitive determinant, users would be able to book smaller cargo consignments at a lower cost within the city and only the very large consignments may find it viable to transfer the goods to BIAL. This would also mean that there would be less pressure on BIAL allowing them to offer better service levels for passenger traffic.

§    One understands that the authorities have planned a City Check-in facility for BIAL, from where one can check in their bags and catch a High Speed train / Coach to BIAL. Is it not possible to make a portion of the reopened airport the City Check in facility, and extend the high speed train link to start from HAL Airport? One understands that the train will take some years to build, but until then, the BMTC Volvo service can operate from there, with passengers just asked to undergo security check again at BIAL. As their bags are already checked in and all other formalities completed, this may not be too much of an inconvenience.

If the authorities can consider the above suggestions, many of the logistical and humanitarian issues would be adequately addressed. To cover for the issue of competing airports, the possible loss of revenue to BIAL and the dis-honoring of the terms of agreement between the Government and BIAL, it may be prudent for the government to lease out the HAL airport also to BIAL, and enter into a clean tripartite agreement wherein any revenue earned can be shared in an appropriate ratio between the Government, HAL and BIAL. Thus, HAL Airport can be operated as the BIAL-LCC Terminal.

HAL which is sitting on reasonably large passenger handling infrastructure will be able to put the same to use again and earn some revenue in the bargain. Though one speaks for BIAL, this arrangement would have many attractive benefits, not in the least the ability to plan the handling of LCC’s more cost effectively, an emergency landing facility, diversion of VIP flights, overwhelming ATC jurisdiction together with lower outlays for future capacity expansion at Devanahalli, amongst others. This way, HAL too would be provided with an opportunity to re-accrue some of its lost revenue and in the bargain, performing a big service to Bengaluru City.

The current capacity of BIAL plus the capacity that the reopened HAL Airport will offer and the addition of the capacity that is under construction at BIAL may all combine and suffice to serve the needs of Bengaluru for some 20 years comfortably. Something worth considering seriously, surely.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

India’s new Highways are lawless Banana Republics!


The Highways of yore
The people of India complacently accepted and put up with substandard highways for about 50 years since independence. The highways then used to consist of single and double lane undivided carriageways that were poorly planned, even more poorly executed and was intended to go through every little human habitation along the way when traveling from one major city to another. This meant that road journeys were invariably the last option that any sensible person would consider as they usually turned out to be perilous, long-winded and usually undertaken only during daylight hours, if at all. Obviously, private car owners preferred to stay off them, and the only demographic that really used the highways of yore were the truckers, and they completely ruled the roost there! The larger the truck, the more the driver could dictate the terms on which other highway users were allowed to use them.  An accident or a breakdown in the middle of nowhere usually meant several hours if not days of misery, constantly worrying about becoming a victim of a dacoity or other such life altering experiences.
Considering the fact that India then offered just some 3 or 4 options for cars and 2 options for 2-wheelers, private vehicle ownership was very slim and of those, the numbers willing to risk the perils of a highway journey were few. However, despite the then overwhelming majority of the occupants being truckers and fewer numbers of somewhat slow moving personal vehicles, the driving etiquette on the highways had evolved into a fine art (and art literally in instructions on the rear of all trucks). ‘Use Dippar at Night’, ‘Sound O.K. Horn’, ‘Overtake from Right’ were the popular refrains seen on all trucks, while ‘Power Break’ and ‘Mark I’, ‘Mark II’ and ‘Mark IV’ was all the private car owners had to be satisfied with. Taxi’s loved saying ‘Show Hand Signals’, but that was it. Of course, while it is really not relevant to this discussion, it is difficult to not mention the other messages truckers peppered us with like ‘We Two Ours One’, ‘Small family Happy Family’, ‘God is One’ amongst others spreading the social message of small families or profound theology!
Thus, for the sheer need of ensuring the safety of human life, it was back then necessary to observe some very basic driving rules to avoid being involved in a head-on collision, like driving in a single file, overtaking only when the road curves to the right, the flashing of headlights while doing so, switching on the right turn indicator for a short spell to inform the vehicle behind that it was safe to overtake you, dipping your High Beam while passing oncoming traffic and honking for every conceivable other reason. These had all become the hallmarks of a good highway driver, and anyone who was not aware of these rules of interaction were immediately identified just from the way they drove and dismissed off as ‘City Lubbers’ (by the genteel of course, the truckers preferred ‘Sister Violator’ in Punjabi) and were avoided like the plague on the highways as they were expected to invariably cause disasters on the road due to their untrained driving skills.
Despite all the above, in many ways, driving on the highways in those days was a much more pleasurable experience than driving on our new highways today, due to the strict and wholly voluntary adherence to the above code, unlike now. The number of fatalities on Indian Highways is depressingly the highest in the world despite our not being the most populous country or the country with the largest number of vehicles plying.
The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and the NS / EW Corridors
The NDA Government for the first time since independence recognized the value of a good highway network infrastructure and undertook a massive exercise of converting a few of the highways linking the four Metros into modern roadways. The roads were all divided, 4 laned or 6 laned, and built to a very good specification right from the sub-grade development to the final black-topping. Instead of winding their way through every town and village along the way, highways were straightened off and wherever they had to travel through towns, they now took the Arial route via countless elevated roads and flyovers. This has immeasurably improved the quality of the journey as the average speed has close to doubled when compared to earlier and travel times cut down drastically. For instance, driving from Bangalore to Chennai on the old highway used to take close to 8 hours, while now the same journey on the GQ road takes just 5 hours. Of course, the time taken to travel from your home to the highway has gone up manifold, meaning that you still take 8 hours or more for completing ‘home to home’ journeys, but that’s a different story altogether, isn’t it?! Fodder for another article? Perhaps!
So they’re faster, but are they safer?
Absolutely not! Due to the highways being divided, the chances of a head-on collision have diminished no doubt, but the highway user has to contend with many new devils.
With the Indian economy being on the ascendency and incomes constantly going up, there has been an explosion of new cars on the highways. From the grand choice of 4 vehicles, I understand that an Indian customer has an array of over 400 models, each available in 3 or more variants ending up in a mind boggling surfeit of choice. This has contributed a large number of modern, fast and safe cars to the highways, and millions of these are making daily road journeys crisscrossing the country. Unfortunately, this market change seems to have completely eluded the truck buyers and we still overwhelmingly see the same two World War II relics ruling the road. They are seemingly desperately slow, sluggish in response, unbelievably uncomfortable for the drivers and hence unsafe by the oodles for both the drivers and the other road users. This shocking disparity in the type of vehicles now sharing highway space is perhaps the root of the problem.
Another very unique Indian oddity is the way that the villagers have decided that the highway running outside their homes is just an extension of their living rooms. In the past too, roads were used to dry the harvested crop, and used for the transport of everything using animal carts that dictated the speed on that section of the highway. These days, perhaps due to a drastic increase in population, people seem to consider the highway as good living space, with families lounging, walking around in slow abandon, children playing and animals herded on it, pedestrians crossing anywhere they feel like, or even private vehicles parked there. In sections of a highway passing through villages and towns where there is no provision of a service lane, such abuses can occupy one lane of the highway for the length of the village and effectively impede the movement of traffic for that distance.
Further, as mentioned earlier, the trucks that ply on our highways seem to continue to be built on outmoded technologies and evidently under-powered in most cases. Truck drivers apparently have to struggle when their vehicles are fully loaded to make them move smartly, as the act of acceleration and maintenance of a constant speed is quite a challenge. Thus, if they stick to the left lane as they are required to, they will end up constantly having to brake for all the illegal occupants of the road and then repeatedly struggle to again pick up speed and maintain a constant rate of travel, which could throw their entire logistics schedule out of gear making them miss deadlines and run into unhappy clients. Thus, to save themselves the trouble of trying to coax these unyielding machines, they end up avoiding the left lane altogether and illegally stick permanently to the overtaking lane on the extreme right. The truckers being what they are behave in a very obstinate manner and refuse to vacate the overtaking lane despite any amount of honking and flashing of headlights from vehicles behind intending to overtake them. Thus, most dangerously, all other vehicles are forced to overtake these monsters from the left, leading to high levels of anxiety and threat perception while driving and overtaking.
The new highways are unsafe due to several other aspects too. Consider this. If one is driving on a divided highway at a comfortable speed, one should never be surprised if the bumper to bumper distance between the truck in front and your vehicle rapidly reduces for no apparent reason – most often, the truck just wants to make a right turn and brakes to cut speed, but more often than not, as his tail / brake lamps do not function, this is not evident to the vehicle behind. Another shocker is maneuvering around a curve, and suddenly finding a truck or tractor coming on the wrong half of the road towards you. This is experienced by most highway users during almost every journey as truckers and villagers do not want to drive the long way around a divided highway, and think that it is perfectly normal to want to reach an intersection by driving the wrong way for a shorter distance. Thus, it is evident that our highways are quite absurd and fraught with danger unlike expressways due to the presence of ‘At Grade Intersections’, where multi-axle vehicles are permitted to make U-turns and other such inanities. The highway authorities must wake up to the safety problems and urgently remove all intersections and adopt the Exit Lane / Elevated Intersections to replace all ‘at grade’ intersections at the earliest.
Add to this the problem of poorly maintained trucks often breaking down on the highways, and the drivers just leaving them where they have broken down – their contribution to ensuring the safety of the other road users largely consisting of breaking off a tree branch and sticking it into the back of the truck and the placement of small boulders around the broken down vehicle. The boulders are sometimes just left behind when the truck resumes its journey or gets towed due to the utter callousness of the truckers. One reads in the news about fast moving cars just crashing into the backs of stationery trucks illegally stopped / parked on the highways, killing young and promising people with depressing regularity.
Thus, looking at all the problems one encounters on our highways it is easy to conclude that the rules and etiquette of highway driving of the last century have deteriorated and the rule of law all but disappeared. In short, our highways are quickly turning into lawless enclaves like some sort of narrow strip banana republics! Urgent and sustained action is required to abate and reverse this trend and ensure that our highways don’t just look world class, but are indeed so in every manner.
What is the need of the hour?
Now that we have the Highways, we also have to ensure that people use them properly and safely. Of critical and urgent importance in the publishing of a Highway Driving Code, that will clearly spell out the rules that one will have to follow on the Highways, Safety Considerations, Good Highway Etiquette, Concern for the safety of other road users,  and the education of all concerned on the do’s and don’ts of driving on the highways. This needs to be made available extensively by permitting downloads from the net and printed booklets being distributed at every Toll Booth, Driving Schools, amongst others. Vehicles should also be classified depending on the permitted speed of travel into ‘Lane 1 only’, ‘Emergency Vehicle’ and ‘General’. Lane restriction stickers that publish this about the status of a vehicle needs to be introduced, and all vehicles restricted to lane 1 should compulsorily exhibit the sticker in a particular location. The rules have to be very strictly enforced, and any vehicles found to be in violation of any of the above needs to be fined heavily as a deterrent and more serious offenses / repeat offenses should entail the banning of such drivers from driving on the highways.
Safety and survival on the highways will improve drastically if the access to an accident spot by emergency vehicles is totally unrestricted, so that they can reach there within the so-called ‘Golden Hour’. All highways should have designated Emergency Lanes or Hard Shoulders that are never occupied by any other vehicle except those designated as eligible to do so. Other vehicles using and or blocking emergency lanes must be seized and the drivers made to face the full force of the law without fear or favor by the police.
It is being seen more often than not, that most of the highway drivers these days are not only lousy drivers, but also uncouth and cowardly to boot. We see a lot of rash and negligent driving and scant respect being shown to the other road users and courtesy an unexplored realm. In a majority of the cases when a vehicle is involved in an accident, the first impulse of an Indian driver would apparently be to abscond. I am sure that if drivers who cause these accidents stop and ensure that sufficient and speedy medical assistance is rendered, the number of highway related fatalities would drop drastically. Thus, all drivers must be educated on their responsibility towards accident victims by the issuance of a step by step procedure to be followed in case of being involved in an accident. In the event of non-compliance, extremely stringent action needs to be initiated for drivers involved in Hit & Run cases, to make running away from the scene of an accident a complete non-option. Will the registering a case of Attempted Murder be sufficient? I would think so. This is a non-bailable offense and should make every person think a hundred times before he or she absconds.
The ‘let us run’ philosophy perhaps is in vogue due to the perceived inconvenience that one believes that one would have to put up with by facing police investigations and the constant fear of having to bribe them for keeping one’s name and time in the clear. Evidently this impression is a hangover from colonial times and is probably accurate to a large extent, and hence the police will also need to be sensitized to appreciate and minimize inconvenience to persons who have stopped at an accident site and rendered assistance. Those drivers who are directly responsible for an accident, but who had taken all steps to conform to the rule book shall be incentivized by being asked to face a lesser charge, if possible. Third party drivers who render assistance should be complemented and receive a suitable reward or citation which can be recovered from the guilty hit-and-run driver. A strict and zero-tolerance implementation of the above rules should be insisted upon from the police, who also need to be well compensated to ensure that they are not readily susceptible to bribery.
Our highways require lots more Signage than existing, offering more guidance to the users. The highways shall also be laned as per international highway norms, and all guidelines strictly enforced. Our highways should ensure that all safety features like Truck Lay-bye docks, Emergency Parking Bays, Hard Shoulders, Exit Lanes and Merging Lanes are marked out and followed. The highways shall also be better monitored by the placement of more CCTV Cameras and Speed Measuring Devices to ensure that they are constantly under the supervision of the police who are not impeded by jurisdictional black-spots between two district police stations or other problems that currently obstruct them.
Perhaps the time is right for the introduction of a specialized Highway Police Force, which has complete and unrestricted jurisdictional hold over the highways and shall not be restricted by districts or sub-divisions and police stations. I suppose that jurisdiction shall have to be restricted to State borders as per the provisions of the Constitution, but as we are all part of the Indian Union, hot pursuit of drivers on the run should be permitted without any restrictions. Needless to say, this special police force, which is expected to perform the roles of both Traffic and Law & Order Police, would be part of the Armed Constabulary and hence the extensive training and sensitization of such a police force is crucial. Only the brightest and the best of cadets should be offered a place on the Highway Police force, and their hands need to be strengthened by the passing of any number of new laws and by-laws that permit the levy of steep and deterrent fines, license suspensions / cancellations, banning from highway driving, etc.
To conclude, I would like to reiterate that our Highways need to be made safe so that the unacceptably high accident rate is all but wiped out. Accidents, especially involving the death of young and contributing members of society is a huge loss to the nation, both in terms of the expense involved in the treatment, insurance payouts, investigation and prosecution, but also the perpetual loss of the dead persons’ contributions towards the exchequer in his or her lifetime. To improve the survival rate of accident victims, Emergency Assistance Call Points supported by Ambulance Stations and Police Outposts are of critical importance.
The Government should urgently justify the toll collected by making the highways places  of total and complete safety and of law abidance, and reverse the trend that is currently inexorably dragging us towards banana republic-ism.
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