Author: Sanjay Mohan Johri

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Students’ dilemma: To go for job or higher studies?

by Sanjay Mohan Johri December 17, 2020 1 Comment

Students’ dilemma: To go for job or higher studies?


Sample this: Ten candidates and two vacancies against Program Executive Position in a National Channel. Five decided to back out knowing fully well that they were not fit to take a chance. Tension was visible on faces of the remaining five. A quick interview takes place with pointed questions in a quick five minute per candidate round and they were asked to wait for the result. Tension gripped their faces as they passed each day worrying who would be the lucky ones. Three days later, the two best were selected with a decent package and asked to join within 15 days. Most of these candidates, in their final year of graduation, were initially groping in dark whether they should pursue higher studies or go for an industry experience first before deciding take up Masters. Actually in the present day stiff competition and proper guidance these students are always under pressure from parents/ friends/ relatives/ teachers and students to land a good job and hence the confusion. I believe this pertinent question among present day youth is certainly a big question and what is important for them is to look at the financial condition of their parents and how crucial it is to take up a job to support the family or clear your education loan and don’t want to burden parents anymore. The confidence level of a student is also important. What a student has to assess is whether the type of job he/she is looking will let them prove their worth? The type of higher studies, he/she wants to pursue, is also important. He/she must think twice whether a particular job will give him a better future that he/she is aspiring for. If higher study is your immediate agenda then don’t think twice and go for it choosing the right course at the right institution. Identifying a good course abroad in a foreign institution is not a bad idea if you can afford the financial burden initially. Students can work in foreign land and easily manage the pocket money thus reducing the burden on parents. The journey is tough for the first year but there is no reason that you will not be able to settle in life with sheer grit and confidence. Higher education in India is no less expensive. But the quality of education and exposure you get outside is far better as compared to India. However, average students hold little chance as no employer will offer them any job because they are not running charity organizations. Personally speaking, brilliant students should be encouraged to pursue higher studies with full support from their parents. In my opinion it is better to weigh the pros and cons between choosing higher studies and going for a job and then decide judiciously based on one’s circumstances. Always remember persistence and hardwork never goes in vain.

 

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कोरोना भैया होम क्वारंटाइन किये गए !!!

by Sanjay Mohan Johri June 30, 2020 No Comments

कोरोना भैया होम क्वारंटाइन किये गए !!!

इस बार सपने में इंतज़ार लम्बा हो गया ! एक बार तो लगा कोरोना भैया कहीं नाराज़ तो नहीं हो गए ? अचानक मोबाइल पर नज़र पड़ी तो देखा एक अनजाने नंबर से मैसेज पड़ा था! समझ गया यह वहीँ हैं “और का हाल बा ! हम बाहर हैं , जरा वीडियो कॉल पर आ जाओ “!
वीडियो कॉल कनेक्ट होते ही हमने पूछा भैया कहां से बोल रहे हो ! बोले “आपात कालीन” बैठक के लिए हम सभी “कोरोना सीनियर्स” हेडक्वार्टर्स बुलाये गए हैं ! मन ही मन मैंने कहा ‘आपातकालीन बैठक’ और ‘सीनियर्स’ कुछ हजम नहीं हो रहा !
हमने पूछा यह ‘सीनियर’ कब से हो गए !
बोले हमारी उपलब्धता की छमाही समीक्षा की गयी थी और हम वह सब जो सबसे पहले कई देशो में चिन -पुन के मिशन पर जाकर घमासान मचा के आये , इस ख़ुशी में शाबाशी दी गई ! बड़ी पार्टी हुई ! जमके रात भर नाचे और हचक के गाला तर किया!
‘आपातकालीन’ इसलिए कि चिन -पुन बहुत ‘तनाव’ में हैं ! अब दबाब तो हर तरफ से है ही लेकिन “तुम लोगन ने कुछ ज्यादा ही चरस कर दिया है ! बोले ज्यादा हम नहीं जानते लेकिन चिन -पुन कह रहा था कि हमारे 56 एप्प बंद कर दिए ! प्रोजेक्ट रद्द कर दिये और व्यापार के नए नियम इतने सख्त कर दिए हैं कि नुक्सान बहुत होगा ! बैठक में बहुत तनाव में था !
मैंने कहा कब लौट रहे हो ! बोले हम ‘सीनियर’ हो गए मतलब , समस्या बढ़ गयी ! ‘क्या मतलब’, मैंने चौंक कर पूछा? बोले यह समझ लो छह महीने हमने काम तो धुआंधार किया लेकिन चिन -पुन कह रहा हमारी ‘सर्विसिंग’ होना जरूरी है ! सर्विसिंग , आप क्या कोई कार या दो-पहिया हो !
बोले इस तानाशाह की मानसिकता को कोई समझ ही नहीं सकता , खुराफाती दिमाग है !

मुझ जैसे हजारों कोरोना भैया को समझ लो एक ‘गुफा’ में डाल हम-सब “होम- क्वारंटाइन” किये गए है! मोबाइल और I-Pad हमारे पास है ताकि कम से कम अम्मा-बाबूजी और दोस्तों से बात कर मन लगा रहे और दीन -दुनिया की खबर मिलती रहे ! व्यवस्था चकाचक है बस समस्या यह है की सारी देखभाल का जिम्मा ‘चमगादड़ मैडम’ का है ! हमें कुछ ज्यादा अच्छी नहीं लगती क्योंकि जासूस ज्यादा है – वैज्ञानिक कम !
तो आप सबका कर क्या रहे हैं ! बोले बताया तो “सर्विसिंग” !
सबसे पहले हम सब को ‘लैब’ में डाल दिया ! बस सिरिंज से दिन भर खोंचते रहे ! सारा माल-मसाला निकाल कर टेस्ट करते रहे ! अगले दिन हम सबको ‘इंडोर वार्ड’ में भर्ती कर दिया गया ! जैसे तुम्हारे यहां मिलिट्री वालों की ट्रेनिंग होती है बस समझ लो वैसा ही है ! सुबह चार बजे से जो ‘वर्जिश’ शुरू होती है वो रात तक ही ख़तम होती है ! सभी प्रकार के ‘जंगली जानवरों’ का ‘जूस’ पिलाते हैं, ताकि ताकत आये !
हमने कहा क्या कहीं से आप लोग ‘कमजोरी’ महसूस कर रहे हो ! हमारे यहां तो 22,000 प्रतिदिन घुस रहे हो और बाकी देशों में भी कसर नहीं छोड़ रहे हो !! कमज़ोर कहां से हो !
भैया बोले यह टेस्टिंग हैं कि हमारे अंदर कितना दम है !
एक हफ्ते बाद घोषणा होगी कितने अभी भी दमदार है और कितनो का दम निकल गया ! ऐसे लोग देखो शायद रिटायर करें जाय ! बोले हम तो मना रहे हैं ‘रिटायरमेंट’ लेकर अम्मा-बाबूजी के पास हवेली चले जायें ! दरअसल दौरा करते करते -करते थक गए हैं ! कुछ न हो तो ‘ऑफिस-ड्यूटी’ ही दे दें ! हमने कहा ऑफिस में बैठकर क्या करोगे बोले वही “कण्ट्रोल रूम मॉनिटरिंग”! दरअसल कूल जॉब है 10 से 5 वाला !
कोरोना भैया आज की बात चीत में ‘सांसारिक’ ज्यादा थे ! ऐसा लगा कुटाई और दौड़ भाग के बाद काफी थक गए हैं ! अपने काम के प्रति रूचि भी कम हो रही है ! जब मैंने इस बारे में पूछा तो बोले देखो चिन -पिन और तुम्हारे ‘मित्रों’ के बीच में तना तानी काफी चल रही है ! ‘गलवान घाटी’ के बाद से हमारी स्थिति थोड़ी कमज़ोर पड़ गयी है ! तुम्हारे 20 जवान मरे तो हमारे 50 , चिन -पिन न माने तो इससे क्या होता है- “झूठा और मक्कार” !
तुम्हारे ‘मित्रों’ कल लेह-लद्दाख गए तो थे ! सैनिकों के बीच में खूब ‘हुंकार’ भरे हैं और बातों ही बातों में चिन – पुन को ‘ठोंके’ भी बहुत हैं ! दरअसल इन ‘चिन – पुन’ और ‘मित्रों’ का कोई भरोसा नहीं हैं ! “यह वह आदमिन हैं जो कहत कुछ और करत कुछ ! दरअसल दोनों पलटी मार हैं”!
कहने लगे वैसे तो सभी देश हमारा ‘ख़ात्मा’ करने में लगे हैं और सुना है तुम्हारे यहां कोई “वैक्सीन” भी तैयार होकर जल्दी ही इस्तेमाल की जाएगी ! अब दवा और वैक्सीन दोनों साथ-साथ दोगे तो असर तो होगा ही ! शरीर का कोई हिस्सा जा सकता है , लंगड़े- लूले होने से तो अच्छा है पहले ही रिटायर होकर चैन की जिंदगी जी लें !
हमने पूछ ही लिया “आपके परिवार में तो कई शुभ कार्य होने हैं तो क्या आप हवेली नहीं जाओगे ! आपने बताया था – तीन महीने बाद सार्स भैया की मंगनी है और आपकी Measles बहना के होने वाले है और आप मामा भी बनने वाले हैं !
बोले हमारे यहां परम्परा है वायरस रूपी बच्चे का नामकरण पहले कर दिया जाता है और नामकरण हो गया है ! मैंने कहा मतलब ! कुटिल मुस्कराहट के साथ बोले “G-4” ! मैंने कहा यह कोई नाम है , यह तो ‘कोड’ लगता है ! भाई बोले हम भी तो Covid -19 हैं ! हमने पुछा यह G-4 क्या है ! बोले ‘चमगादड़-महिला’ ने इसको ‘सुअर’ से खींचा है ! अब बस फिट-फाट करने में लगी है ! संतुष्ट होते ही Measles बहना में डाल कर जन्म कर देगी ! इसी प्रयोग के बारे में तो बताया था पिछले हफ्ते !
मैंने कहा मतलब Covid-19 के बाद G-4 ??
बोले अब जब लगभग साबित हो ही गया है की हमारे चिन-पुन वुहान में “जैविक हथियार” बना रहे हैं तो यह तो अब बड़े लोगों के बीच की बात है ! हमने कहा था कि हम वायरस तो बस कटपुतली हैं ! फिर कोई पैदा होगा और यहां से वहां नचाया जायेगा !
इससे पहले की बातें और बढ़ती भाई बोले अब थोड़े देर सो लेने दो !
सुबह होते ही कम्बख्तों की ठक -ठक शुरू हो जाती है !
सबसे पहले दौड़ाते हैं – देखते हैं दूसरों की सांस फुलाने वालों के फ़ेफ़डे खुद कितने मजबूत हैं !!

 

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Book Preview: ‘Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant’

by Sanjay Mohan Johri June 27, 2020 No Comments



Book Preview: ‘Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant’

To do or not do?
A Journalist by chance and an academician by choice, I made several lifelong friends during my professional journey. As a reporter, I mingled with a cross section of people from the society including many bureaucrats. Watching, interviewing and reporting the dynamics between the politicians and bureaucrats, I found very few who were able to stand their ground.
Once such bureaucrat, Anil Swarup, left a lasting impression and so when he told me about his second book “Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant”, which is being released through online platform on July 5, 2020, I naturally got excited. His first book “Not Just a Civil Servant”, which was released last year was a delightful read as it contained so many interesting anecdotes from his life and even those faced by bureaucrats in general.
A 1981 UP cadre IAS officer, Anil served his state for any years holding several key positions during which he faced several interesting situations that he promised to pen down after retiring. While his first book is already drawing rave reviews, Anil decided to bring out his second labour of love.
I remember him once telling me that civil servants are unsung heroes, a fact he elaborates in the book. An excerpt: ‘A civil servant is like the foundation of a grand building that never gets its due credit despite being the steel frame that holds the structure together. Unfortunately, the only time the common man gets to know about a civil servant is when things have gone wrong, while their good deeds like managing the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis, usually, fail to earn them the recognition that is due. But that is what the civil service is all about…. It is only on some of the rarest of rare occasions when officers like E Sreedharan and KPS Gill may get a chance to grab the limelight’.
Recounting his experiences he writes: “It will not be hyperbolic to state that the ‘good’ are struggling for recognition and a large number of them are fighting their battles against a much more organized set of ‘negativity mongers’. The best lack conviction and the worst are full of passionate intensity!’ The quintessential bureaucrat, if there is one, has been left no option but to change. They have been forced to attempt to come out of their cocoon. And I feel that they should change”.
Another excerpt reads: ‘There is no way they (civil servants) can afford to remain in the ‘ivory tower’; to remain just the silent foundation. They have to make their presence felt. The question is, how?’ He goes on to list some bright bureaucrats who ‘made things happen’ despite serious limitations. Some of them include: Sanjay Agrawal (transformed whichever sector he handled, the turn-round of the Uttar Pradesh Road Transport Corporation being the most significant one); Ajay Bhalla and Vivek Bhardwaj (put in place a transparent and non-reversible regime for coal block auctions); Sutirtha Bhattacharya (Former Chairman, Coal India Limited, whose efforts led to record production of coal in the country); and Ajay Seth, Naresh Gangwar, Nand Kumar, and Sandhya Rani (brought about a transformation in school education in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh respectively).
So what’s the key to encourage officers? An excerpt provides the answer: ‘The key is first to appreciate the good work that they are doing, understand how they are doing it and then try and replicate what they are doing. Civil servants frequently face various dilemmas. There are sacrifices involved and, on many occasions, the choice itself is difficult. And the jury on this is still out!
The book also deals with the issue of bureaucracy being questioned for their ‘credibility’ and goes on to point several institutes being run by them like: The Election Commission, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Union Public Service Commission and the Central Vigilance Commission that have come under the spotlight from time to time for toeing the line drawn by political masters.
Anil concedes, “It is extremely difficult to insulate institutions from political interference but it is possible to do so due to increasing use of technology and the consequent transparency. The political masters can be induced to make more informed decisions. They can be made aware of the implications of their decisions in a much more aware and transparent world.”
Well, it certainly has whetted my appetite and now looking forward to the release of ‘Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant’.
Congratulations in advance, my friend.
(Anil Swarup has served as Secretary, Ministry of Coal and Secretary, School Education, Government of India. He also served as the head of the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) set up in the Cabinet Secretariat. He is also the founder of ‘Nexus of Good’, which highlights the good work being done by civil servants.)

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Rural distress to impact economy: Survey

by Sanjay Mohan Johri May 30, 2020 No Comments

Rural distress to impact economy: Survey

with migrants making their way to villages, rural India, which has been the mainstay of the Indian economy, is now facing a double whammy—more mouths to feed and loss of livelihood. All this is bound to hit the preparedness for the upcoming kharif crop season that lasts from June to October, which is likely to affect the food production and supply chain in the long run.
Rural India accounts for two-thirds of the nation’s 1.3 billion people who account for 45% of the country’s gross domestic product. Back-to-back droughts and demonetization in 2016 had badly affected the rural economy and now migrants returning home with empty pockets because of job loss, are likely to add pressure on families.
According to one of the largest survey carried out to assess the impact of COVID 19 and the lockdown on the rural poor, it was found that majority of households have “very limited stocks of food” grown by them in the last Kharif or Rabi season. The rural households are today solely dependent on food supply through PDS. The survey covered 5100 households in 47 districts in 12 states of the Union and was carried out days after the lockdown.
It was jointly anchored by Transform Rural India Foundation, Delhi and Vikasanvesh Foundation, a development research centre based in Pune, Maharashtra and methodologically
supported by Sambodhi, a well know research firm in Lucknow. Participating NGOs were: Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), BAIF), Action for Social Advancement (ASA), SATHI-UP, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP),
Grameen Sahara.

The findings have raised alarm bells. While the months of peak food insecurity in most rain-fed regions are July and August, people are already experiencing food insecurity. They have begun consuming fewer items and eating fewer meals every day than similar periods in normal times, the survey points out.
The survey says “It is just a snapshot of the ‘Rural Stress’ when only 13% of migrants had returned home.” With reverse migration becoming rigorous after Indian Railways and the State Governments ensured that Shramik Specials and Roadways buses were pressed into service from different states to take them home, the real issues will surface then.
Indebtedness among rural poor is rising and nearly 30% of the respondents have already had to borrow from their kin or professional money lenders to meet subsistence costs.
There are early signs of acute distress, which are visible with all discretionary expenses on marriages or similar ceremonies are either put on hold or being cut down drastically. Their children are likely to be withdrawn from schools in 30% of the households. Households have begun depleting productive assets with many even selling even bullocks or milch animals. With only a sixth of the households reporting return of their migrant members, the workload on women has significantly increased from fetching water and fuel wood to cooking food. This drudgery shows no sign of abating.
Now, it remains to be seen whether the financial package announced by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, which focuses primarily on migrant workers with free food grain supply to all migrant laborers for next 2 months (Each worker to get 5 kgs of rice or wheat & 1 kg of chana), will bring some semblance to the rural economy. The finance minister had said eight crore migrants who do not have either central or state PDS card, will benefit from the free food grain scheme and Rs 3,500 crores will be spent on this.
As the country enters into Lockdown 4.0 and the reverse migration increasing steadily, the situation only seems to go from bad to worse, for now.

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The hullabaloo about lockdowns

by Sanjay Mohan Johri May 28, 2020 No Comments

The hullabaloo about lockdowns

Did the nationwide lockdowns since March 25, 2020 helped India curb the rapid spread of the dreaded Covid 19? This only time will tell, however, it is undeniable that at the time it seemed the best option to ensure people’s safety considering how the disease was wreaking havoc globally with even the most advanced nations staring in abyss as Coronavirus steadily decimated its victims.
But after almost three months of near global shutdown resulting in deeper economic crisis, governments have gradually started opening their economies. The government of India while observing lockdown 4.0 has also started easing restrictions to re-start economic activities and post May 31, it will take a fresh look at the strategy as there is no let up in Covid-19 crisis with cases continuing to spike menacingly figuring at 1.55 lakh and around 4,500 deaths in the country. India stands at number 10 among the wors May 28, 2020
Did the nationwide lockdowns since March 25, 2020 helped India curb the rapid spread of the dreaded Covid 19? This only time will tell, however, it is undeniable that at the time it seemed the best option to ensure people’s safety considering how the disease was wreaking havoc globally with even the most advanced nations staring in abyss as Coronavirus steadily decimated its victims.
But after almost three months of near global shutdown resulting in deeper economic crisis, governments have gradually started opening their economies. The government of India while observing lockdown 4.0 has also started easing restrictions to re-start economic activities and post May 31, it will take a fresh look at the strategy as there is no let up in Covid-19 crisis with cases continuing to spike menacingly
figuring at 1.55 lakh and around 4,500 deaths in the country. India stands at number 10 among the w
t Covid-hit nations.


The commercial hub Mumbai in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu being the worst have so far failed to check the spread and there are no signs of flattening the curve. Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have to be blamed for under preparation besides other reasons.
Top medical expert and AIIMS Director Dr R.K. Guleria says the peak will happen till June end but we are certainly better prepared to fight the pandemic with gradual improvement in the health infrastructural facilities.
The Government of India still claims “It is perhaps due to the restraint exercised by the citizens, guided by the cautious and meticulous approach that despite being the second most populous country, the contagion has been contained to a number that is significantly lower than in many other nations”. The lockdown that came into effect on March 25 has led to minimal incidence of the pandemic.
“Bearing in mind the slowing down of the rate at which the cases were doubling, the measures that have helped and are likely to strengthen our hands further in the fight against COVID-19 merit attention”, a top government official claims.
On a day former Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked the government that lockdown had been a failure, the Chief Economic Adviser Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian, in an interview to NDTV, strongly defended the lockdown saying “what if we hadn’t had the lockdown, we may have had about 70,000 deaths and lakhs of cases.”
Experts argue India with 1.4 billion population can not be equated with countries like Sweden with just over one crore population or South Korea with five crores plus where better healthcare infrastructure coupled with health protocols like hand hygiene, social distancing helped them cope up with the crisis in initial days. Developed countries across the world fought the pandemic with different strategies and even US, which tops the tally of Corona pandemic both in infection and deaths, completely failed to control it.
At a time when millions of people have been displaced, businesses shuttered, educational institutions closed, hotels and restaurants shut and job losses, the lockdown looked like a problem for country’s economy but keeping in mind the available health infrastructure the government perhaps had no option but to go for it to slow down the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the poor have been hit like never before and the states and Centre were caught napping with reversef in large numbers. Pandemic is being tackled on mathematical models, which show a peak and then flattening of the curve. India is yet to witness peak – till June end hence precautions were necessary and gradual restoration of the economic activities is the only way to tackle the dual crisis.
India’s overall ‘cluster-containment’ strategy has certainly done better to possible large scale spread but states like Kerala, Rajasthan, Oddisa and Uttar Pradesh, due to their better preparedness and strategy, proved as model states in the country. Kerala based on their SARS experience flattened the curve via the creation of a contagion route map while Odisha’s susceptibility to natural disaster gave it an advantage in crisis preparedness.
The communist run government was first to open the economic activity. Rajasthan’s Bhilwara containment strategy proved as a model for others while Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest populous state, prepared well with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath forming Team-11 of top bureaucrats who guided him well to face the challenge.
It is easy to criticize any strategy but Union Health Ministry has to be complimented for preparing a strategic approach taking into account different possible scenarios – travel-related cases, local transmission of COVID-19, large outbreaks amenable to containment, and widespread community transmission of COVID-19.
As lockdown restrictions eases, economic activities begin, domestic travel resumes in a calibrated manner and hotels, restaurants open up the only thing that can hopefully help minimize the Covid-19 spread is strict adherence to health protocols. Lockdowns or not, mask, gloves, sanitizers and social distancing are the only way to beat the virus.

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Lockdown conundrum

by Sanjay Mohan Johri May 15, 2020 No Comments



Lockdown Conundrum

Migrants brave scorching heat, battle hunger to reach home
They are informal workers and backbone of the big urban economy including real estate construction sites, delivery service, restaurants, hair-saloons, plumbers, automobile mechanics and daily wage labourers working in factories. However, ever since the nationwide lockdown, announced by PM Modi on March 25, these labourers have been at the receiving end. With no shelter and food, they prefer to walk to reach their villages.
Escaping poverty, many years ago they had left their villages in search of a job and preferred to live in squalid housing in congested urban areas in different states across the country, but the lockdowns made them refugees in their ‘adopted cities’ as workplaces were shut and the country came to a grinding halt.
If you switch on to your TV screens, you will see migrants carrying their paltry belongings, holding hands of their little children or carrying them on their shoulders and some even tagging their pet animals while braving the relentless summer heat—all in a bid to reach their villages. It’s a heart wrenching sight to see their hunger-stricken gaze full of fatigue. Yes this is the state of migrants whose continuous movement on the highways is a common picture.
“Do you think we have any option but to return home because ultimately during tough times only family comes to help and you get solace there, said Rajiv, a migrant, who was trekking from Nasik, while speaking to a TV Journalist. “At least I will get food and the comfort of family in my village home”, he said.
The Central Government’s move to respond to the plight of Indian migrant workers stranded abroad is a welcome step as hundreds of them are being brought back to the country in special flights but you can’t be so apathetic to the plight of migrant population at home.
“Wanting to go home in a crisis is natural. If Indian students, tourists, pilgrims stranded overseas want to return; so do labourers in big cities. They want to go home to their villages. We can’t be sending planes to bring home one lot, but leave the other to walk back home,” comments Shekhar Gupta, founder and editor of The Print.
Clearly, a lockdown to stave off a pandemic turned into a humanitarian crisis and perhaps both the respective state governments and Center appeared to have bungled in not anticipating this exodus.
A recent study published in Economic and Political Weekly said “The imposition of the lockdown as a mea­sure to contain the exponential progression of the COVID-19 pandemic has actually hit the unskilled and semi-skilled migrant labourer the most. In the last few weeks, we have all been witness to harrowing, nerve-wrenching and bone-chilling images of the exodus of these marginal and “invisible” drivers of the informal economy of urban India.”
The Hindi belt is the main source of migrants. According to the census, four states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh account for 50 percent of India’s total inter-state migrants. On the other side, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana house 50% of the country’s inter-state migrants.
These shares are much higher than the share of these states in India’s total population. Interestingly, Uttar Pradesh figures in both lists – while there are people who leave it in search of livelihoods, there are also those who head for UP in search of livelihood.
Delhi and Mumbai are widely considered migrant magnets and the Census figure bears that out. According to it, migrants from other states in Delhi and Mumbai numbered 9.9 million, or almost a third of the combined population of 29.2 million in these two metropolises.
The big question today is whether these unskilled and semi-skilled migrant labourers who are returning home today would go back to their respective work-places, as there are not too many options of earning livelihood in villages and they would always be under pressure to earn.
It also come as a big opportunity for the states, if they can hold back these migrants in their native districts by offering the kind of skilled and unskilled labor work where they can earn substantial money to run their families.
In Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath has embarked upon a mammoth exercise to bring back over one million migrants stranded in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Punjab, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Nearly 1000 state roadways buses were pressed into service in this massive exercise since March 25 as there has been no clarity on the extended lockdown entering into phase 4.0 beyond May 17. Till date around 3.50 lakh migrants have returned to the state. Several special trains have already started bringing back these migrants with state government setting up shelters and Quarantine Centers to house them.
Once back in their home state, the people who have no symptoms of Covid-19 will be held in quarantine in government facilities for a fortnight until it is deemed safe for them to return to their families.
Interestingly Yogi government is now formulating a policy to provide employment to some 20 lakh migrant workers. “A policy is being framed to provide jobs to 20 lakh migrant workers through labour reforms in their villages and towns. Directions have been given to officials to prepare data from quarantine centers regarding skills of workers. With jobs guaranteeing a minimum salary of Rs 15,000 and fixed working hours will provide much needed security to the migrant labourers”, says a top government official. He further said that with these slew of measures, the UP government hopes that these migrants would not return to big magnet cities and will prefer to stay back in their native state.

 

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Learn the art of living and surviving post-Covid-19

by Sanjay Mohan Johri May 8, 2020 No Comments




Learn the art of living and surviving post-Covid-19

Dr. Sanjay M Johri

May 8, 2020

The world will have to change and adapt in the Post Covid-19 situation where perhaps it would be a new norm of “Survival of the Quickest” and not the age-old Darwin theory of “Survival of the Fittest”.
One of the biggest changes would probably be in the work sphere wherein CEO’s would have to pull up their socks and transform the stereo-typed rigid working culture. You need not have employees on rolls but go for a ‘Gig Economy’ where you hire people on project basis thus doing cost cutting while retaining the best performers. The deadwood will have to go and even mediocre performers.
Unemployment is already at an all time low with over 100 million people at a risk of losing jobs in India. In fact heavy job cuts have started happening in every sector. At least 20 industries are worst hit where there is no revenue inflow globally. Some of the worst hit sectors are: retail, travel, automotive, hospitality, transportation, restaurants, luxury products, real estate and the Live Sports industry.
Online e-tailor giants like Amazon, Flipkart and other e-Commerce portals are badly hit while the multi-trillion dollar aviation industry is at its lowest ebb where the management is working overtime to change their comeback strategy.
Hospitality and tourism sector is also one of the worst hit as hotel occupancy rates have dropped drastically. Governments will come out with new guidelines for all these sectors keeping in mind the social distancing norms, which is the key to survive this pandemic and even beyond atleast till a vaccine is not developed.
The lockdowns have made people self-reliant and now who would be interested to go to shopping malls & multiplexes when people realize that it’s better to be back to basics where the concern primarily revolves around “Roti -Kapda-Makan”( Food, clothing & shelter). While family time of staying together increased, the expenses also dropped by 60-70 percent, a big relief for middle income householders. With online streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and many channels available on your home screen, families spent quality time together, which we never did or bother to do because of other professional/social commitments in the pre-Covid times.

 

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COVID WORLD : We’re not going back to normal!

by Sanjay Mohan Johri April 26, 2020 No Comments

COVID WORLD : We’re not going back to normal!

Let’s face it, albeit with a mask, that the ubiquitous Indian ‘namaste’, social distancing, and gloves is going to be the new world order both at work and social gatherings in the post Covid-19 world.We need to bring usher in a radical change in everything we do, how we work in offices, exercise in gyms, shop, educate our kids as well as take care of family members and manage our own health in the months to come. Whether the government announces further extension of the nationwide lockdown beyond May 3 or starts phase-wise lifting it, depending on the Covid situation only time will tell. However, one thing is for sure that sooner or later when the lockdown is lifted certain precautions like the use of face mask and social distancing are here to stay. Surely we need to upend our way of life in some ways forever. With practically every country trying to “flatten the curve”: and slow down the virus spread, no one expects life to be back to normal at least till we find a vaccine against Covid-19 in a couple of years. “This isn’t a temporary disruption. It’s the start of a completely different way of life”, says Dr. Soumya Swami Nathan, Chief Scientist Geneva WHO.However, will this disruption of many businesses and livelihoods be possible to manage? Can we really live in this new world order? Hopefully-yes, but with awkward compromises to retain some semblance of social life, while protecting our health.Maybe tomorrow we will find movie theaters taking out half their seats, meetings held in larger rooms with spaced-out chairs, gym conducting sessions in shifts with less members among others. While public carriers like the railways and aircrafts might also bring some changes in their seating arrangements. The world has changed many times. Remember how security at the airports changed after 9/11 and now this pandemic too has brought many changes again forcing us to follow a new social order. Business organizations will look for a new environment keeping in mind the “Work from Home” experiment, which can certainly bring down the cost and downsizing their employees while going for flexi working hours. Perhaps “Stay at Home” economic model of businesses will become a reality as remotely working brings some change in the work culture with better results. While those already employed will have to follow new routines; for youngsters though acquiring new skill sets with competency and efficiency will decide their chances of employability. Practically every country has learnt lessons and is going to invest heavy on improving the healthcare infrastructure in order to better face a pandemic-like situation in future. At the moment though, we will have to change our habits and lifestyle while adapting to an uncertain future.  As usual, however, the true cost of this upheaval will be borne by the poorest and weakest. In a country like India this is all the more apparent with the brunt will also be borne by those living in disease-prone areas.The education sector will perhaps be the last in the list of priority for the government to bring back the economy on track. Most of the schools, colleges and universities

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Can we go for Internet Fasting”?

by Sanjay Mohan Johri December 28, 2019 No Comments

Can we go for Internet Fasting”?

Fasting is always said to be a great thing to maintain good health as you give rest to your biological system. Even fasting during nine days of Navratra by Hindus or for a month long Ramzaan by Muslims though both because of religious belief provide a kind of detoxification to your body. Basically it is good to get away from your routine and do things differently. An idea just struck to me today “Can we go for Internet Fasting”? The way people in the country in general faced repeated “Internet shutdown” following CAA -NRC-NPR protest and deteriorating Law and Order situation literally nationwide during the last week forced the authorities shutdown the internet in most of the places. Srinagar we know is already witnessing Internet shutdown for past Six months with no sign of relief & perhaps longest ever in any of the country globally. It is however a different story that Internet shutdown has brought digitally linked online operations to a halt affecting business in terms of crores of rupees and making people harassed for their day to day work in Modi’s Digital India. Leave it to government to decide if it can find ways to delink digital services so that business to the tune of crores does not get affected. It is important to mention that nation wide protest in Hongkong did not have any internet shutdown after IT industry there reacted fiercely to any such suggestion from the government. “Any such restrictions, however slight originally, would start the end of the open internet of Hong Kong, and would immediately and permanently deter international businesses from positing their businesses and investments in Hong Kong,” Such restrictions, which would cost the society huge business opportunities and social costs, would not deter nor stop determined users from accessing their desired services. Are we looking to “ruin our economy, social fabrics and our core values of freedom and free flow of information,” a top politician there is stated to have warned the government. Let’s hope Indian Police authorities and government in general look into these considerations though “mindless working” should not see any change as they are least bothered about such a ban in Kashmir valley till date. No doubt it is a fact practically every Indian is today immersed in his/her smartphones while commuting, at the office, engrossed in e-mails, doing searches online or on Instagram . At home, they may even feel uneasy if they are not connected to the Internet. Surely the kind of addiction to Social Media we all have these days Internet Fasting could be an answer to shift to some productive work hoping there will be Internet Shutdown if not for longer duration then on the eve of Friday Prayers or may be two days since Indian Police believes Internet will help rioters cause Law & Order problem. The nation-wide uncertainty we are likely to witness in time to come , it is better we adapt to newer situation fast and observe two days Internet Fasting in a week. It is better we develop habit of overcoming with our addiction to Social Media and devote time to do something creative. For sure no one knows “Fridays-Saturdays” Internet shutdown becomes a reality as weekly market closure. I found more and more people getting increasingly worried about their addiction to the Internet and for them “Internet fasting” by deliberately spending time offline seems a better option. There have been instances when people who were hooked up to internet for 12 hours a day experimented with Internet Fast for almost a month. They made it a rule to check e-mails only twice a day, organized face to face interaction with the other people. Interestingly such people have found more time, could concentrate better, and had a general feeling of well-being. I met a senior colleague of myself who had been addictive to social media but decided to take a break. “I found engaging myself with friends in person and sharing our experiences was more enjoyable. “Unlike those bits of information on the Internet, real-life experiences make us fully engage all five senses, and because of that, we could learn something from those experiences,” “In addition, we can never be content with ourselves as long as we are dependent on the approval of others. I now feel I’ve regained the power to take control of my life—a life that had previously been dominated by the Internet.” he said. About 5.20 Lakh children are believed to suffer from Internet addiction in a South East Asian Country. As an experiment this summer, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry there plans to offer “Internet fasting camps,” where young people commune with nature. “Children with little real-life experience can easily harbor illusions that the online world is all there is,” Higuchi said. “I hope children have experiences in the real world that touch their hearts and discover that there are many other choices in the world besides the Internet.” Some companies in Japan have made Internet fasting part of their operations. The company which manufactures and sells household items, removed personal computers from individual workers’ desks in addition, it minimized e-mail communications and instead increased the number of face-to-face meetings

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Covid leaves journalists, media houses in the lurch

by Sanjay Mohan Johri December 28, 2019 No Comments



Covid leaves journalists, media houses in the lurch


Dr. Sanjay M Johri

Jun 10, 2020

Corona pandemic has come as a double whammy for the media industry. It has crippled the business model of print and electronic media thus affecting circulation, which in turn has led to widespread job loss. At least this is how the management is justifying the lay-offs, salary cuts and leave without pay for employees. 
However, experts believe 
that the big Daddies in the media are using the pandemic ‘as an opportune time for the media houses, which were waiting to trim the staff and remove deadwoods.’ Meanwhile, some of the journalists have accused that performance was never the criteria because there had not been a complaint against them and removal was sudden. “I am one who had raised voice along with others against management’s dictatorial attitude and was shunted out,’ a senior journalist said. 
You name a top media house and you will find from The Times Group, Hindustan Times Media Limited, the Indian Express Group, Business Standard Limited , New Indian Express and the Quintillion Media Private Limited, which runs the website The Quint to leading channels like Aaj Tak,; News Nation – the media persons either lost jobs or went in for heavy pay cuts. 
The Times of India in Kerala laid-off seven reporters (three in Thiruvananthapuram, two in Kozhikode and one each in Malappuram and Kannur respectively) and three desk editors. Ironically these employees were asked on a WhatsApp call by the HR and the Assistant Resident Editor to tender their resignations for personal reasons. The Times Group paywalled E Papers of all its English titles — The Times of India, The Economic Times and Mirror —on 15 May, 2020. The Economic Times cut jobs in Kochi, Chandigarh and Kolkata on 6 May. 
For journalists it is definitely a testing time as jobs are scarce, especially in the traditional print/electronic space, while for the media management it is equally turning to be a tipping point as they are putting their heads together to come up with a new business model that would help them survive. Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief and chairman, The Print, and a veteran journalist says “Big Daddies” are in trouble because of their dependence on advertisement. 
Explaining media economics through his YouTube Channel presentation Gupta further adds, ‘One should try and understand the business model as to how much these organizations depend on advertising.’ Look at the leader in the industry, The Times of India, which sells the most number of English newspapers in the world. Even after being the largest organization, its turnover is just over Rs 10,000 crore. In 2018, its profit was Rs 681 crore. This profit is minuscule compared to the market leaders in other industries. Even Havells, a fairly new electronics company, makes a larger profit than the The Times of India, and this has consequences. 
A newspaper like The Times of India has 48 pages in its metro editions like Delhi and Mumbai. The newspaper is sold for around Rs 5 and about 40 per cent is taken by distributors. The media organisation gets around Rs 2.40. Now, each page costs Rs 0.25 to print and printing 48 pages costs Rs 12. A very conservative cost of paying employees and news agencies etc is Rs 3. So if newspapers are produced at Rs 15, how are they sold at Rs 5 and how is profit still generated? The answer is ad revenue. 
Since Samir Jain of Times of India based the company’s business model on ad revenue, it has become the industry’s standard. His company became the market leader and everyone had to follow his model to survive. Newspapers are sold cheaper and cheaper, and revenue is earned from ads. The Hindu does not follow this model and has kept the newspaper price high, Gupta points out. 
The situation is equally bad for English TV news channels if not worse as most of them run in losses. They are either subsidized by Hindi channels or they are not run for profits but for some other reasons. News channels are very cheap, so they are even more dependent on ad revenue than newspapers. A channel subscription is Rs 2 or 3 a month, whereas a single newspaper costs more than that. 
Advertisers primarily use entertainment and sports channels to show their products/services and hence a very small chunk is left for news channels. Then distributors take a large share of the ad revenue. This leaves news channels small and unprofitable and they are hit very hard when businesses cut their advertising budget. 
So the question arises, who are running these channels and how they can sustain it? The answer is not so simple. Most media houses are gradually being managed by mining barons, real estate owners who either acquired a media property or diversified their business for political gains. Based on the ad revenue model when the economy is good, the flaw in it doesn’t show but when the downward spiral begins the structures start collapsing, Mr. Gupta points out. 
Speaking about the digital portals he said, “This industry is an even more extreme version of print newspapers and news channels. Here, the reader doesn’t pay anything at all. The organization is solely dependent on ads. Distributors like Facebook and Google take most of the ad revenue and a very small fraction is left for the organization. The model cannot work and companies who have adopted these will be most stressed at these times. This business model is broken.” 
Good articles have to be paid for and people in the West are realizing this. Even in India, The Hindu focuses on quality and doesn’t keep cutting their prices. In fact, Hindu has consistently raised the price of their newspaper and yet has done very well. 
So what’s the solution? Post-Covid, media houses will have to come up with a new revenue model that should be subscription based primarily in the digital space, which newspapers like Washington Post and New York Times have done way back and as a result are not facing the double whammy even though their circulation has declined during this pandemic.