Thread: India's Babu Raj

Rural Agricultural sector needs reforms.

This problem will multiply itself as more industrial growth will bring other better economic opportunities around certain areas, the migration within the nation will be massive and hard to manage.

No doubt Mr Singh is right: to provide poor Indians with halfway decent public services, the bureaucracy needs, root-and-branch, to be made accountable. But this will not happen soon. Indeed, one of the more hopeful changes will be organic.

The RTI is working, we need more transparency and accountability, that is it, rest of the BS about corrupt panchayats and reservation in IAS etc. etc. does not matter, most of the job the IAS chaps do can be done by anyone in possession of the most basic of human skills.
It is the people who will have to see these reforms through, time to this head on. Otherwise time stop Bit#hing.
magical schemes that will bring about transformation within the decade will not happen.
Hear the ringing bells socialist way will never ever work.

How ironic, just two Threads down we read;

the biggest surprise is the rise of the Indian rich — four of the top eight billionaires in the world are from India. Topping the ranks is steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, whose worth Forbes puts at $45 billion. Next up are the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, with $43 billion and $42 billion repsectively, largely from petrochemicals. Rounding out the list is KP Singh, the real-estate magnate, at $30 billion.

Maybe dear Mr Samphel could remind them of the realities of life

One main problem is that no motivation exists within the system for reform.
The corrupt politicians and the babus are quite happy with the grip they have on the funds of the govt.
So things continue in the same way.
Kuku i think you underestimate the IAS officers. Many are corrupt true but even so running such vast territories is not easy thing. The quality degradation from reservations is not to be underestimated.

Here is the deal, you need leadership skills to do these things, you can be a "never tell a lie", however that gets nothing done. And that can not be judged by answering "who wrote a book some 100 years ago".
The AS officers in my district were famous for the babu sahab attitude, they would not last 10 mins in the real world.
Reservations have not done anything to the quality of the people in the IAS services, our incapable parents generation which gave us this one mess of a socialist system did the damage.
There is a need to scrap this IAS system, too much talent is wasted in it.

The fault is both with the babus and system. IAS officers should never oversee welfare programs. They are already over burdened with 60 govt departments. Most of the dept heads are incompetent either because there is no incentive to perform or corruption, so the colletor can only do so much in a day and most work 16-18 hours a day.

So even the most enthusiastic officer will fizzle out in couple years.

And Quiet Flows the Ganges!

Originally Posted by Ray

And Quiet Flows the Ganges!

Nor forgetting that it's Milk, not water, flows in the Ganges

Originally Posted by dave lukins

Nor forgetting that it's Milk, not water, flows in the Ganges

With dead bodies floating like cherries

Originally Posted by Jay

With dead bodies floating like cherries

Inadequate cremation procedures result in partially burnt or unburnt corpses floating in the river.

As have gone for millennia, time and times will not change beliefs

Originally Posted by dave lukins

As have gone for millennia, time and times will not change beliefs

The ashes are the stuff that is consigned to the waters by the Hindus. The Ganges being the holy river is the best place as per their beliefs.

Half burnt bodies are not to be consigned. It is done by some, the poor, since they cannot afford the wood to completely burn the body.

Crematoriums are the answer, but then villages don't have the same!

Hats off to those brave people who can manage to bathe in the ganges.
Just seeing the dead bodies on tv is enough to make me queasy