Friday, 10 July 2015

One Rank , None Pension


amitabh.kant@nic.in


Dear Amitabh ,


You may like my today's blog

Regards ,

hemen

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One   Rank  ,  N-One   Pension  (  ORNP  )


Yesterday , Bombay Municipal Corporation workers pulled down a thatched roof over the cart of a roadside hawker Ramji , selling tea / biscuits / vada-pav  , on a footpath outside my house


Background  :


>   Footpath is for pedestrians to walk on ; not for Ramji to sell tea !


>   Ramji did not have a " Hawking License "


>   As of today , some 30,000 + hawkers are " licensed " to hawk


>   Under pressure from High Courts , BMC is in the process of taking a
     " Census " of all hawkers in Mumbai , in order to legalize another
     90,000  hawkers , to be accommodated in specified hawking zones


>   It is my belief that Mumbai has over 300,000 hawkers now and that
     this figure is growing by 10,000 every year


>   Citizens of most residential localities do not want " Hawking Zones "
     in their localities  !


>   But almost all citizens continue to patronize nearby hawkers , whether
     licensed or not and whether in prescribed " Hawking Zones " or not  !


>   Hawkers need to ply their trade where people live - and therefore need
     to live where people live - not 20 Km away !


>   Illegal / Un-licensed hawkers are the main source of " Hafta " for the
     local policemen


>   So that demolished shed , will come up once again tomorrow morning !


>   Most hawkers in any given locality are under the " protection " of local
     Corporators , who give " advance notice " of impending demolition  !

  
>   If India as a whole , needs to create 12 million jobs every year , then
     most likely , Mumbai , with its population of 16 million people , needs to
     create at least 300,000 jobs per year !


>   But " Manufacturing Establishments " are leaving Mumbai , since it has
     become a " High Wage Island " , rendering products manufactured here
     un-competitive . Hence no blue collar jobs in Mumbai anymore !


>  As far as " Service Sector " is concerned , it is fast giving up its " Across
    the Counter " service nature and morphing into internet / mobile app
    based " New E-Com Economy " , needing few new hires  !


>  Apparently , the only " Economic Sector " that is creating new jobs and is
    " Self Renewing " is that of the " Self Employed " hawkers in Mumbai !

    I suppose it is the same story , in all metros

    It is also the economic sector which needs no more than a few thousands
    of Rupees to create one job , as against a requirement of Rs 5 lakhs in
    MSME sector and Rs 5 Crores in large organized sector  !


>  And , retired hawkers do not ask for any pension , despite having one
    rank , for their entire working lives  !


I foresee a not too distant day , when all footpaths everywhere , are taken over by the hawkers ( where these are not already taken over , that is ! )


For providing livelihood to a section of society ( viz: hawkers ) , another section of the society ( viz: pedestrians ) will need to put up with some inconvenience !


Unless some people ( who have jobs / incomes ) want their convenience to take precedence over the livelihood of Ramji and don't care that his 2 children starve to death !




In any case , in India , every single day , some 4,383 children ( under age of 5 ) die of starvation .


Another 2 , won't change the " Statistics " much  !


But , if the already employed have a better solution , let them propose it  !

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hemen   parekh
10  July  2015
B2BmessageBlaster



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