Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Tuesday 31 December 2013

Involve People

Dear Shashi,


Over the past few weeks , AAP succeeded in raising people's expectations

That was the easy part

Now , skillfully managing those expectations - without offending those who voted for you - is tricky !

Here is my suggestion

You may want to pass it onto Arvind

regards

hemen

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overwhelming   Demands   ?

You bet  !

Looking at the crowds shouting their demands outside Arvind Kejriwal's residence , you would think , people of Delhi have unlimited arrears of problems

Individuals and groups are trooping in from far and wide , demanding :

>  Better physical services ( Power / Water / Homes / Transport )

>  Jobs ( Permanency / Removal of Contract System / New jobs )

>  Reservations / Abolitions / Implementations / Resignations

>  Admissions / Legalizations / Transfers

>  Roll back of CNG Prices / Reduction of Vegetable prices

>  Security / Loans / Pensions


The list goes on and on

Only problem

Whereas demands are " Unlimited " ,  resources ( Manpower + Money + Systems ) are " Limited "  !

Hence Arvind will need to evolve a simple method to evaluate the " IMPORTANCE " and the " URGENCY " of these demands

He may want to devise an online form  or , like last time , print and distribute 50 lakh forms , which only need to be ticked , as in a multiple choice questionnaire

Then , on a scale of 1- 5 , invite people of Delhi to score each demand on the following criteria :

How does this problem affect  ?

>  Economic Status ( Rich / Middle Class / Poor )

>  Geographic Coverage ( Posh Area / Middle class locality / Slums )

>  Gender ( Male / Female / Both )

>  Age  ( Old people / Middle Age  /  Children )

>  Coverage  ( Entire population / Majority / One Community only )

>  Nature  (  Political / Social / Economic )

>  Character  ( Establish Equity / Reduce Disparity / Speed up Justice )

>  Scope  ( Job Creation / Health / Education / Corruption Removal )

>  Time Frame  ( Crisis Situation / Urgent / Can wait  )


Then display the demands in the descending order of " PERCENTILE  SCORES  " - so people get to know what will get attended to and when

For AAP , with its inclination for seeking people's opinion through " STRUCTURED STATISTICAL SURVEYS " , devising such a transparent and easily understood " PROCESS  " , cannot be a big deal

Incidentally , no individual problem / demand should be included in the survey

Carrying out such a pilot ,  " SOCIO - ECONOMIC - POLITICAL " experiment can take our democracy to the grass-root level and give the people a sense of participation in solving their own problems

At the same time , people will be made aware that ,

>    Resources are limited

>    All demands cannot be attended simultaneously

>    Injustice of past 15 years cannot be undone in the next 15 days


*    hemen   parekh   (   31  Dec  2013  /  Mumb

Monday 30 December 2013

A System based Solution


Dear  Shashi

I know , you must be flooded with complaints from people of Delhi

Here is my suggestion ( my today's blog ) towards a solution

regards

hemen


--------------------------------------------------------------------


A   System - based   Solution

DEAR  PEOPLE  OF  DELHI  :

Of course , you have a right to complain to your government and seek solutions to your problems

But then , 150 lakh people could each have a problem which , he / she wants solved " yesterday "  !

That would inundate your government , leading to a chaos , instead of satisfactory solutions  !

That is why Arvind said ,

Give us 10 days time to put in place , a system "

You could help him devise / implement  such a system

To begin with , submit your complaints in the following " Structured " manner ( - should be NEATLY handwritten ) :

-------------------------------------

COMPLAINT  FORM


>   Complainant Name

>   Age

>   Gender

>   Mobile No

>   Landline No

>   Email Id ( Optional )

>   Address

>   Nature of Complaint

>   To be attended by Dept ( your best guess )

>   Max no of days in which to attend ( be generous )

>   Date submitted ( date / month / year )

--------------------------------------------------------------

You may handover your complaint to ,

>    Government Secretariat

>    Arvind's Residence (  deposit in box kept outside  )

>    Nearest  AAP  office


You gave previous Congress Government , 15 years for solutions of your problems - with no solutions

Now give , at least 15 days to AAP government  !

Be reasonable  !   Be patient  !


DEAR  ARVIND  :


Here are a few suggestions for you,

>   Within 10 days , print and distribute such a Complaint Form , widely
      all over Delhi . Keep it simple  !

>    Make it downloadable from Delhi Government web site

>    Within 15 days , enable online submission of complaints on Govt web
      site . For each complaint , give comprehensive feedback . Make entire
      database searchable to any visitor , in a transparent manner

>   Within 30 days , start a Call - Center , where people can register their
      complaints over phone (  IVRS  ?  )

>   Within 45 days , launch Mobile App , "  Magic  Wand " , suggested by
      me , 2 days back 


*   hemen   parekh   (  30  Dec  2013  /  Mumbai  )


A Solution


A   System - based   Solution

DEAR  PEOPLE  OF  DELHI  :

Of course , you have a right to complain to your government and seek solutions to your problems

But then , 150 lakh people could each have a problem which , he / she wants solved " yesterday "  !

That would inundate your government , leading to a chaos , instead of satisfactory solutions  !

That is why Arvind said ,

"  Give us 10 days time to put in place , a system "

You could help him devise / implement  such a system

To begin with , submit your complaints in the following " Structured " manner ( - should be NEATLY handwritten ) :

-------------------------------------

COMPLAINT  FORM


>   Complainant Name

>   Age

>   Gender

>   Mobile No

>   Landline No

>   Email Id ( Optional )

>   Address

>   Nature of Complaint

>   To be attended by Dept ( your best guess )

>   Max no of days in which to attend ( be generous )

>   Date submitted ( date / month / year )

--------------------------------------------------------------

You may handover your complaint to ,

>    Government Secretariat

>    Arvind's Residence (  deposit in box kept outside  )

>    Nearest  AAP  office


You gave previous Congress Government , 15 years for solutions of your problems - with no solutions

Now give , at least 15 days to AAP government  !

Be reasonable  !   Be patient  !


DEAR  ARVIND  :

Here are a few suggestions for you,

>   Within 10 days , print and distribute such a Complaint Form , widely
      all over Delhi . Keep it simple  ! In Hindi as well  !

>    Make it downloadable from Delhi Government web site

>    Within 15 days , enable online submission of complaints on Govt web
      site . For each complaint , give comprehensive feedback . Make entire
      database searchable to any visitor , in a transparent manner

>   Within 30 days , start a Call - Center , where people can register their
      complaints over phone (  IVRS  ?  )

>   Within 45 days , launch Mobile App , "  Magic  Wand " , suggested by
      me , 2 days back 


*   hemen   parekh   (  30  Dec  2013  /  Mumbai  )


Sunday 29 December 2013

A Frog in Well


Dear  Shashi



Here is my today's blog

You may want to circulate it amongst your team



regards

hemen

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A   Frog   in   Well    ?

In Sanskrit , it is called , "  Koop  Mandook  "

A frog which cannot see the Sun rise ( - in Sanskrit , Arvind stands for Sun )

There is no other explanation for Nitin Gadkari to allege that a leading industrialist brokered a deal between AAP and Congress

There is no other explanation for Dr Harshvardhan to say ,

"   AAP will fail to deliver on its promises "

The leader of the opposition in Delhi Assembly ( who , in his post-swearing in speech , Arvind described as a " good man " ) , could not have dreamed that Arvind will motivate 50,000 Delhi-ites to chant ,

I will neither offer bribe , nor take bribe "

The good Doctor could not have realized that , after this slogan , Arvind need not worry about fulfilling AAP's poll promises

With this slogan , people of Delhi will themselves fulfill their own dreams  !

Even as experts ( - and some eminent non-experts ) , were debating till late in the night , how AAP will fail ,

>  Red beacons disappeared from official cars ( Magic Wand  ? )

>  Powerful bureaucrats were , unceremoniously shunted out

Do the feudal lords of Congress / BJP realize that , if AAP manages to cleanse the Delhi Administration of corruption , then people don't care if AAP fails to deliver on all of its other poll promises  ?

Most dangerous / unnerving thought  !

Most calamitous prophesy  !

Most certain obliteration  !

Nitinji ,

Remember that 26 year old dalit girl Rakhi Birla defeating a veteran Congress Minister in Delhi  ?

You would do well not to contest your 2014 Lok Sabha seat against Anjani Damania from Gadh Chiroli or Mumbai's Worli  !

People without homes , electricity , water , schools , toilets , hospitals etc , have sounded the death-knell of the corrupts  !

Can you hear it  ?

A new Sun has risen

The sooner you come out of your Mandook and see it , the better  !

Sonia / Rahul have seen it

That is why they want Adarsh Scam Report " re-considered "  !



*   hemen  parekh  (  29  Dec  2013  /  Mumbai  )   


Saturday 28 December 2013

RE: Server Down


Nitin,

As you observed , may be the problem lies with the Server

About a month back , Kailas installed a new hard-disk . Then this problem started

He may or may not know the solution

I would request you to talk to him and help him find a permanent solution

The server seems to be down , once again , since this morning  !

Can you pl re-start it  ?

hcp

From: Nitin Ruge [mailto:nitin.ruge@sentientsystems.net]
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2013 4:42 PM
To: Hemen Parekh
Cc: shuklendu.baji@sentientsystems.net; Kailas Patil
Subject: RE: Server Down

Dear Sir,

Currently we are not doing any changes on server. Whenever this problems occur we just restart the server. After restarting the server site is working.

Request you to ask Kailas to look into to this server issue.


Regards,

Nitin Ruge

From: Hemen Parekh [mailto:hcp@recruitguru.com]
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2013 11:39 AM
To: nitin.ruge@sentientsystems.net
Cc: shuklendu.baji@sentientsystems.net; Kailas Patil
Subject: Server Down

Nitin

I refer to our telecon , an hour back

Our site is down since morning

Pl attend

Of late , this happens almost every third day

hcp

Great Expectations


Dear  Shashi


Find below , my today's blog

Wishing all of you , best of luck - and lots of hard work , too !


regards

hemen


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Great   Expectations

People of Delhi have " Great Expectations " from AAP government


And people of India will be watching how well AAP delivers on those expectations before 2014 general elections


Will AAP manage to deliver on its promises  ?


Here is when great expectations turn into " Unreasonable Expectations "  !


TV anchors are asking this question to every single AAP leader - all the time


And , they are also asking this question to sundry BJP / Congress leaders as well


Asking persons who are taking vicarious pleasure in predicting that AAP will fail miserably


Other than a random AAP leader ( notably , Arvind Kejriwal himself ), no one is saying ,


"   Of course , AAP will fail to deliver on some of those promises - especially
    those promises which require a YES nod from Central Government


    Of course , AAP may have made some miscalculations


    Of course , AAP has no experience in running a government


    Of course , AAP will make some mistakes


    Of course , AAP has no solutions to ALL the problems of Delhi


    So what  ?


    In 2009 , didn't Congress promise to ,


    >  abolish poverty ( as it has been promising for past 66 years )  ?


    >  bring inflation under control within 100 days of coming to power ?

        -  and then repeating that promise , every 100 days ?

       -  and even forcing Planning Commission and the RBI governor to say
       the same thing at every quarterly review  ?  "


Obviously , the vanquished are in a tearing hurry to write an epitaph on AAP's tombstone  !


I am reminded of the vultures circling in the sky when they see an animal dying on the ground  !


Are you surprised that the political vultures are waiting for AAP government to die / fail  ?


Are TV anchors allowing these vultures to use their powerful media to bring about , a " Self - fulfilling Prophesy "  ?


Have we become an ant crawling on a M F Hussein painting , which cannot step back and see it in perspective , in all its glory ?


On midnight of 15th August 1947 , I walked with the crowds of people ( all of them Aam Aadmi ) , from Shivaji Park to Gateway of India , in Mumbai


It took me 12 hours to walk that distance


But I was lucky to have witnessed history in the making


And now , after a lapse of 66 years , I am lucky once again , to be witnessing , another glorious moment of history !


Let us celebrate the arrival of our second freedom - the Surajya


Let us celebrate the beginning of the end of Cancer of Corruption


Let us celebrate the re-birth of the Common Man - the Aam Aadmi



*   hemen   parekh   (  28   Dec   2013  /  Mumbai  ) 
   


Friday 27 December 2013

Magic Wand


Dear   Shashi,


Here is my today's blog

I have no doubt , you have members in your Team , who will take up this challenge

If you are focused  and  determined , no problem is unsolvable !


regards

hemen

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Magic  Wand  ?


Yesterday , Arvind Kejriwal said ,

"  We don't have a Magic Wand with which to cure the problems of the people "

DEAR  ARVIND ,

You don't have to search very far for such a wand  !

That could be the name of an Android app ( I Seek It Now > < U Solve It Now )

To be developed by Home Ministry of Delhi Government , for successful implementation of

DELIVERY  OF  SERVICES  ACT

Make the app freely downloadable from Google Play or from official web site of Delhi government

To activate , a citizen will log into the App , by entering :

>      Aadhar  Identification  Number

>      Delhi Electoral Roll Number

As soon as he does , his name will appear on the first screen of the App , which will read ,

“  I wish to send my complaint to the following department ( For
   Example )  :


    *   National Commission for Women

  • Garbage Clearance

  • Water Supply

  • Electricity Supply

  • Roads Repair

  • Rationing ( Food Distribution )

  • Police

  • Bus Transport

  • Railways

  • Post

  • Employment

  • Education

  • Irrigation

  • Building Permits

  • Revenue / Land Records

  • Anti Corruption

  • Other ……………………………………….etc
       (  List should not exceed 50  )

Touching name of any department name will open a SMS message box where the user will type out his complaint ( in a language of his choice )

There will be option to speak-out and record voice message , for illiterate users

Touching  SEND  button will transmit the complaint and within minutes, user will receive SMS reply giving,

  • Name of Officer responsible

  • Office Landline No

  • Mobile No of Officer

  • Email Id of Officer

  • Complaint No with date

  • Expected date of solving the complaint

Bingo  !

The Delhi Government official web site ( integrated with mobile App ) , will carry a tabulation of departments , arranged in the descending order of the no of complaints received / cleared / pending !

The Tabulation will also show , several performance matrices such as,

>  Max time / Ave time / Min time , for solving problem
>  Percentage Performance
>  Binomial Distribution Curve
>  Credit Points earned by the Department .........etc

This frugal innovation will bring in Good Governance to AAP government in Delhi

Arvind Kejriwal may want to request Nandan Nilekani / Sam Pitroda to help out . If they are too busy, his own Alma Mater , IIT-Kanpur would be glad to develop such an App within 15 days !



If AAP manages to successfully implement this in Delhi , it will succeed in convincing 760 million voters of India that ,

"  Where there is a Will , there is a Way

   Give AAP a chance to replicate this at All India level

*    hemen  parekh  (  27  Dec  2013 / Mumbai )



Server Down


Nitin

I refer to our telecon , an hour back

Our site is down since morning

Pl attend

Of late , this happens almost every third day

hcp

Thursday 26 December 2013

A castle in Sky


Dear Shashi,



Here is my today's blog

Does it make sense ?



regards

hemen

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A   Castle   in   Air   ?

When people talk about someone " building a castle in air " , it is said in a derogatory way

But dreamers know no other way  !

All of them build castles in air

And a few fortunate ( - and hardworking ) , even succeed in laying a foundation under that castle , at a later date  !

Modern day civil engineers have even demonstrated that one can build a sky-scraper , by building the top-most floor first and the foundation , very last  !

Being a dreamer , Arvind Kejriwal has , over the past few months , built just such a 18 story sky-scraper  , in the sky ( - remember his 18 point questionnaire to Congress  ?  )

When he gets sworn-in as Delhi Chief Minister on 28th , he must start laying a foundation below that sky-scraper

It will have to be a foundation of " Good Governance ", consisting of :

>  Committed colleagues ( not Ayaram - Gayaram  ! )

>  Non corrupt bureaucrats

>  Transparent processes

>  Timely delivery of services to Delhi citizens

>  "  Always Approachable " ministers ( no beacons / security / bungalows )

>   Periodic public scrutiny of Government's performance

>   Decentralized decision making  .............etc


I may have left out a few items

That is not important

What is very important is ,

In coming days  , will AAP leaders conduct themselves with such honesty / dignity / transparency / sense of purpose , that ,

>   42 opposition MLAs would find it  impossible to oppose the Vote of
     Confidence on 3rd Jan  ?

>   Congress / BJP will be forced to take action against their own corrupt
     leaders ( eg: Adarsh Scam )  ?

>   Some 1400 regional political parties ( as per Election Commission
     records ) may consider merging with AAP , in order to bring about
     a change in the political climate of India ( a viable 3rd front  ) ?


DEAR  ARVIND ,

>  Do not allow the past corruption crimes of Congress / BJP , to cloud
    your vision

>  Do not fritter away your energy in solving pea-nut problems

>  Enlarge your horizon beyond Delhi, to cover whole of India

>  Focus on 2014


*   hemen   parekh   (  26  Dec  2013  /  Mumbai  )