Well done BJP. You are now a great moral force in India. Corruption was not enough qualification to get promted in BJP. Direct violence is an essential qualification now, as well.

I do hope if Modi comes in at the national level, the first thing he'll do is to get this man behind bars.

But let me be clear: if Modi does not CLEANSE BJP's INTERNAL GOONS, then I'll OPPOSE BJP and support Congress (assuming Sone Ki Chidiya Movement has not yet progressed into national limelight).

At least Rahul Gandhi is not a violent goonda.

From http://tehelka.com/how-varun-gandhi-silenced-the-system/

"all 88 witnesses in the cases have turned hostile. This is perhaps unprecedented in any criminal case in the world. Many of these witnesses have been caught on TEHELKA’s hidden cameras admitting they were coerced or bribed into changing their testimonies."

"though thousands had heard his speeches at the rallies and millions had watched it on television, on 4 May 2013, the Sessions Court of Pilibhit acquitted him of all the charges in these three cases, on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

"Varun did not like this and slapped Bharatveer. Varun’s supporters also started beating him. The villagers tried to stop them but Varun’s supporters had weapons and no one had to courage to stop Varun.”

Download (Word).

Congress is as strong a unit as one can possibly imagine. People prefer the comfort of a strong united party to an equally corrupt, but fragmented party.

And with the thousands of crores of rupees of black money that Congress has accumulated, it can "outgun" any opposition in more ways than one.

There is one way, of course: for a new mega-party to be created to mop up a significant chunk of the non-BJP/Congress vote (and in fact, cut into both of these as well): that is a party based on the RULE OF LAW and FIRM NEUTRALITY towards all religions; and a party that will promote liberty while ensuring a social minimum.

Please assemble at Ramlila Maidan on 4 June at 4 pm.

We'll then march to Jantar Mantar to conduct a public event in which eminent people will speak and demand TOTAL REFORMS.

[Event on Facebook]

THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT BUT TYRANNY

The Sone Ki Chidiya Federation proposes to hold a public rally on 4 June 2013 in Delhi to remember and mourn the Black Night of 4-5 June 2011 in which Delhi Police committed unprecedented atrocitities against innocent people who were peacefully fasting.

Rajbala became martyr to merciless police beatings. 

On 4 June 2011 Swami Ramdev had launched a fast unto death to oppose corruption in India. That night, Delhi Police committed some of the most heinous atrocities against the people of India. It was Jallianwala Bagh with lathis instead of bullets.

Swami Ramdev repeatedly asked to be arrested but the police did not do so. Instead the police kept beating the people in the dead of the night.

The police were clearly intent on killing Swami Ramdev. No amount of pleading with them, no amount of requesting that the participants be arrested, worked. All humanity was lost. The concept of rule of law was entirely ripped apart.

That night a woman – Rajbala – was so badly beaten, her back was shattered. She later died.

We protest tyranny. We protest the Black Night in Independent India's history.

The Sone Ki Chidiya Federation is holding a public rally on 4 June 2013 at 4 pm in Delhi to mourn the Black Night of 4-5 June 2011 in which Delhi Police committed unprecedented atrocitities against innocent people who were peacefully fasting.

THIS GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED TO PROVIDE SECURITY TO WOMEN

We will also protest the system of injustice in which women, particularly, are unsafe in India, and Police unable to protect them.

THIS GOVERNMENT IS PREVENTING CONTRUCTION OF THOUSANDS OF NEW HOUSES IN DELHI

In addition, we will oppose the artificial scarcity of housing created by bad policies of the government. This means prices of houses are at least more than double the price they would have been without such bad policies. The solution is to liberalise the allocation of land, get government out of its discretionary control on use of land, and increase floor area ratios (FAR) while increasing infrastructure spending on sanitation, roads and electricity.

THIS GOVERNMENT IS PREVENTING LABOUR FROM EARNING A LIVELIHOOD, AND BUSINESSES FROM INVESTING

Also, we will protest bad labour laws which have forced outsourcing to contract labour which is paid a quarter of the market rates (according to The Economist). The solution is to liberalise labour laws to minimise militant unionisation which has reduced job opportunities for unorganised labour and blocked companies – both Indian and international – from investing in India.

THIS GOVERNMENT IS PREVENTING FARMERS FROM RECEIVING DUE RETURNS FOR THEIR CROPS

We will also protest the low costs which farmers receive due to artificial controls imposed by the government in the trade and production of agricultural products.

Please confirm your participation here.

Please do yourself a favour. Widely share this. It will help to change India, one click at a time.

I hold the view, however, that all such efforts are going to fail for many fundamental reasons – one being that even if the politicians finally reform, the IAS – the world’s most third rate civil service – can never reform.

It needs to be built from scratch, else we are wasting our time entirely. It is not that the people in IAS are stupid. They are very smart. And that’s one more reason why the IAS can never deliver – under the current system design. When you place some very smart people and give them enormous power (and poor salaries) but NEVER hold them to account, then these people will do one or more of the following:

a) become fat parasites, whom nothing can budge; they will get mindless paperwork filled up and send tonnes of it to you, but it would be largely cooked up and meaningless;

b) become arrogant as hell (there is none in the whole world more arrogant than an average IAS officer), refusing to learn or improve;

c) become great chamchas of thoroughly corrupt political leaders with the goal of getting themselves a fat sinecure in the World Bank or various UN agencies (or as Governor/ambassador after retirement); or

d) become direct “players” (corrupt scoundrels) preparing for a political career by accumulating crores of rupees of corruptly sourced funds.

What do these people care for performance management system and related paperwork?

They don’t even care for empanelment as Joint/Additional secretaries. They are going to enjoy even greater perks in the states in which they live, and you can NEVER KICK THEM OUT. So why would they care?

There is a word in Hindi called ढीठ. That’s what most of these guys are. Simply incorrigible.

They are our SERVANTS but they act like our MASTERS.

But this is not their fault. It is the NATURAL CONSEQUENCE of the system in which we put them.

Put these people in a performing system like Singapore's and they'll produce the world's BEST results. Same people diferent system. That's what explains performance.

So below I’m extracting a few comments I made on a Linkedin group:

My basic contention is that the current Indian system's incentives are fundamentally defective and it will NEVER deliver any meaningful improvement in governance unless it is totally rebuilt from scratch. My focus is therefore on first principles reform.

I was looking at Singapore bureaucracy system yesterday and found that it follows world-best principles, even as we follow world-worst principles. http://sabhlokcity.com/2013/05/singapore-followed-arthashastra-india-abandoned-it-results-are-inevitable/

We are talking about systems. When we have a flawed system we will get SHABBY results. We must think about systems – then we'll find the answer. Current system can NEVER perform. No matter how much "shifting/reorieinting" you do.

To suggest that "There has been an overall deterioration in the moral fabric of society" is a load of rubbish.

The SAME Indians behave ethically elsewhere. That's because SYSTEMS are everything. Our systems are DESIGNED for corruption, as I've explained in my book, Breaking Free of Nehru (download from http://bfn.sabhlokcity.com/ ). Please don't blame Indians for their "moral" failures. Blame us, the policy designers.

[I received this suggestion:] "we need some means of changing the 19th century mindsets, and bringing new ideas to the Secretary level officials – since change will need to be fostered from that group".

The best way to change the Secretary's mind is to say: You can lose your job in ONE MINUTE (without notice) if you don't perform.

When all over the world the focus is on accountability of the bureaucracy, why do we pander to them by trying to "change their mindset"? I was in the IAS and knew many Secretaries. Worse, I know many IAS officers who are extremely senior now. They WILL NOT CHANGE. Their mindset is corrupted the moment they realise they can't be removed from their job.

I'm not saying people should do nothing within the current system. By all means work on these other ideas. Yes, you'll remain busy and you'll generate a lot of paperwork. But be aware that you'll NEVER change these people in this way.

[Question received:] "Does anybody have a concrete proposal on how this is to be done".

I provided a detailed transitional pathway in Breaking Free of Nehru, chapter 6. About 10 pages of details. Download: http://sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com/book1/BFN-fullbook.pdf . Please also read chapter 5 (I think) on bureaucracy that sets the context.

A summary of the transitional path is available in the draft Agenda for Change ( http://sonekichidiya.in/Documents/SKC-agendaforchange-draft.pdf ). We also had an extensive discussion for a few hours at the IIPA governance reforms conference on 13/14 April 2013 on the precise pathway. I've yet to consolidate the notes and issue the minutes of the conference.

Your considered feedback and questions will be useful. The more detailed the analysis, the better.

The key performance driver in the private sector is the employment contract. If you had an employee in your company whose job was 100 per cent assured and who short-circuited the official reporting lines and dabbled with politics and took "directions" from people outside your company (in the case of IAS, from politicians of all hues), please explain how any of your past experience in the private sector would apply.

We have to start with the employment contract of the civil services, not with establishing performance frameworks more suited to a jet plane than to a bullock cart. With an unruly bullock cart, where a bull runs helter skelter and is TOTALLY disobedient because it knows the master (ultimately the citizen) can't do any harm, there is a drastic limit to the performance the master can get.

The most arrogant and unruly (and incompetent) people in the world are IAS officers. How can you possibly expect them to perform by giving them more paperwork to deliver?

I haven't even mentioned the other side – that more than 90 per cent of the policies in India simply can't be delivered because they are undeliverable, being poorly designed. Even if you get the world's smartest bureaucrats (from Singapore) you can't do that.

I assure you that late Ashok Saikia (who was Vajpayee's favourite Joint Secretary) and I – when we ran the education department in Assam, were not less than the most honest/efficient bureaucrats you can possibly imagine. But our combined results were practically zero. We were totally stymied by the system.

Btw, I chanced upon an excellent comparative study of different country administrations. Seems to take a very sensible approach: http://www.dpmc.gov.au/consultation/aga_reform/docs/benchmarking_australian_government_KPMG.pdf

 I've tried to depict India's relative performance to Singapore's here: http://sabhlokcity.com/2013/05/indian-administrations-pathetic-performance-compared-with-singapores/

The country is totally sick of its non-performing and corrupt bureaucracy. If enough people offer [fundamental overhaul] as the key solution, there will be a lot of uptake of this suggestion.

Performance management systems will merely increase red tape, paperwork, and costs to be borne by taxpayers without any hope of improvement. Such "systems" will have no effect on anything on the ground.

This conclusion I make based on my deep knowledge of the inner functioning of the IAS and Indian bureaucracy. They will treat performance management as a big joke and laugh at it. Indeed, I know officers in the IAS who hold such a view and treat it with contempt.

Of course, the problem is not just performance, it is policy.

If you were to ask me, assuming the fundamental change doesn't take place first, I'd work out a reward system for those IAS officers who can design good policy. I'd get such a system endorsed by politicians and I'd throw a challenge at these people to come up with serious policy analysis that points out fundamental flaws. Those who identify the flaws, and also identify ways to remove the flaws, will be rewarded.

When we develop a culture of asking questions and giving honest advice in the IAS, we might then start talking about performance management.

Merely trying to transplant performance management systems that work well in the West into the Indian system won't work because there is an entirely different set of incentives at work, which rewards political "savvy" and/or corruption, not performance in the sense we mean it.

Why don't we challenge the civil servants of India to tell us why the policies they implement are fundamentally defective and can't work. They are smart people. If you reward them for plain-speaking, they will come up with good ideas.

Once that has happened, we can change the policies, then they will at least work better without any "performance management". Today, 90 per cent of the policies we have won't work no matter how smart the performance management system you introduce.

It is worth a read. In it I found a diagram that I believe represents everything I've been saying.

I've extrapolated India's system in this diagram, to show where it would stand if ANY rational survey of performance were undertaken.

Below, I've outlined the blueprint for reform that the Australian Government is implementing, based on the report cited above, to improve its admininstration. It is only about incremental improvement, so it doesn't deal with the fundamental reforms I've explained in Chapter 5 of BFN.

Some interesting areas are highlighted below in red, by me.

1. Delivering better services for citizens

1.1 Simplify Australian Government services for citizens

• Simplify and align Australian Government service delivery.
• Implement simplified citizen focused service delivery with automated and simplified business processes.

1.2 Develop better ways to deliver services through the community and private sectors

• Provide greater flexibility to respond to local circumstances in service delivery through the community and private sectors.
• Provide simplified funding arrangements.
• Develop integrated case coordination for citizens and their families with complex needs in particular locations.

1.3 Deliver services in closer partnership with State, Territory and local governments

• Partner with State, Territory and local governments to achieve better outcomes for citizens.
• Integrate delivery teams using employees from multiple Australian Government agencies in particular locations to enable more joined up delivery.
• Share more information between all levels of government.
• Make information accessible to citizens on services provided by all levels of government.

1.4 Reduce unnecessary business regulatory burden

• Extend the Standard Business Reporting (SBR) functionality, (due for release in July 2010),to ease the regulatory burden imposed by government on business.
• Minimise reporting and compliance requirements for business and remove unnecessary or poorly designed regulation.

2. Creating more open government

2.1 Enable citizens to collaborate with government in policy and service design

• Develop and implement new approaches to collaboration and consultation with citizens on policy and service delivery issues.
• Make public sector data available to the wider public in a manner consistent with privacy principles.

2.2 Conduct a citizen survey

• Conduct a survey of citizens’ views on their satisfaction with government programs, services and regulation to inform government business.
• These surveys desirably would be expanded to include all levels of government.

Provides strong leadership and strategic direction

3. Enhancing policy capability

3.1 Strengthen strategic policy

• Every Department to strengthen strategic policy and delivery capability.
• Establish a Strategic Policy Network and create a policy tool kit to assist the development of strategic policy capability across the APS.
• Establish cross-agency strategic policy project teams.

3.2 Build partnerships with academia, research institutions and the community and private sectors

• Reinvigorate and establish new relationships with academia and research institutions.
• Strengthen links with private sector experts.

3.3 Improve policy implementation

• Provide clear guidance and standards to agencies on policy implementation, particularly in the areas of regulation, program and project management.
• Increase every Department’s capacity to oversee implementation activities.
• Establish an APS -wide forum to share best practice in regulations.

4. Reinvigorating strategic leadership

4.1 Revise and embed the APS Values

• Revise the APS Values to a smaller set of core values that are meaningful, memorable and effective in driving change.
• Embed the revised values into the work of the APS through senior leadership and learning and development and performance management frameworks.

4.2 Articulate the roles and responsibilities of Secretaries

• Amend the Public Service Act 1999 to recognise the roles and responsibilities of Secretaries and the Public Service Commissioner.
• Strengthen the performance framework to assess individual and collective performance against the above roles and responsibilities.

4.3 Revise employment arrangements for Secretaries

• Revise the processes for appointing and terminating Secretaries
• Reinforce the terms of appointment for Secretaries to provide for a five year term.

4.4 Strengthen leadership across the APS

• Establish a new APS leadership group, the Secretaries Board.
• Create a senior leadership forum, the APS 200. Require leaders at all levels to act as role models and drive reforms in their agencies.

4.5 Improve talent management across the APS

• Introduce APS -wide talent management programs.
• Establish a Leadership Development Centre.

5. Introducing a new APSC to drive change and provide strategic planning

5.1 New APSC with responsibilities to lead the APS

• Reposition the APSC to deliver on broad reform goals and charge it with responsibility for leading and implementing proposed recommendations agreed by Government.
• Transfer responsibility for Australian Government policies for agreement-making, classification structures, APS remuneration arrangements, work level standards and workplace relations advice from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to the APSC.
• Revise the Public Service Act 1999 to reflect reforms to the APSC.

Contains a highly capable workforce

6. Clarifying and aligning employment conditions

6.1 Ensure employment bargaining arrangements support one APS

• Strengthen the Australian Government Employment Bargaining Framework to ensure that it supports one APS
• Identify areas where a further streamlining of existing APS bargaining arrangements would better support one APS.
• Examine the extent to which existing APS classification arrangements and work level standards continue to meet the needs of APS agencies and employees.
• Provide APS employees with appropriate career paths.

6.2 Assess the size and role of the SES

• Complete a review of the size, capability and work level standards for each level of the Senior Executive Service (SES), before any new net growth in the SES occurs.

7. Strengthening the workforce

7.1 Coordinate workforce planning

• Establish an APS -wide workforce planning framework.
• Develop a Human Capital Priority Plan that initially prioritises the reforms proposed in this Blueprint and over time will identify emerging systemic workforce issues.

7.2 Streamline recruitment and improve induction

• Develop best practice standards for recruitment that uphold the merit principle.
• Establish regular labour and demographic analyses in relation to APS employment.
• Coordinate initial graduate and trainee recruitment application processes.
• Utilise new recruitment processes, where appropriate, for SES Band 3 officers.
• Implement specific mechanisms to increase APS diversity.

7.3 Expand and strengthen learning and development

• Identify core service-wide development needs.
• Endorse a principle of annual professional development for all APS employees.
• Deliver core learning and development programs that are centrally procured.
• Evaluate a range of courses and negotiate the best rates for the APS.

7.4 Strengthen the performance framework

• Introduce a performance framework that fosters a high performance culture.
• Provide performance management training for all SES employees and managers.
• Develop common APS -wide guidelines for dealing with underperformance.

7.5 Encourage employees to expand their career experience

• Develop mobility mechanisms that encourage more APS employees to obtain diverse career experiences.
• Reinvigorate the mechanism for advertising of temporary non ongoing positions (for example, expressions of interest).
• Work with State, Territory and local governments to identify and address the barriers to jurisdictional mobility, including the recognition of State, Territory and local government public service entitlements and vice versa.

Operates efficiently at a consistently high standard

8. Ensuring agency agility, capability and effectiveness

8.1 Conduct agency capability reviews

• Conduct periodic external reviews of agencies’institutional capabilities, covering strategy, leadership, workforce capability, delivery and organisational effectiveness.

8.2 Introduce shared outcomes across portfolios

• Introduce shared cross portfolio outcomes in priority areas where more than one portfolio is responsible for achieving government outcomes.

8.3 Reduce internal red tape to promote agility

• Streamline administrative and legislative compliance in areas such as Financial Management and Corporate / Human Resources.
• Develop mechanisms that ensure red tape is minimised.

9. Improving agency efficiency

9.1 Review the measures of agency efficiency

• Review the current mechanisms used to drive agency efficiency.

9.2 Strengthen the governance framework

• Simplify governance structures for new and existing entities by consolidating the categories of entities that can be created.
• Amend the Governance Arrangements for Australian Government Bodies (Governance Guide) to ensure:
  • Clear governance arrangements for inter-jurisdictional entities;
  • APS employees are clear about their responsibilities when appointed to company boards; and
  • All new and existing agencies are fit-for-purpose.

9.3 Small agencies to improve the efficiency of their corporate functions

• All portfolio agencies should review the most efficient way to conduct their corporate functions.
• New small agencies should obtain their corporate services from a parent agency or shared service provider.

ensure Inclusive Development for all employable Indians in the 250,000 Panchayats by transparent & relevant Skill Development Programmes linked to regular evaluation & monitoring for their success

[Sanjeev: Will the government do this? How - what are the details of implementation? How can government which has entirely failed to date, suddenly do this?]

A Swadeshi movement like campaign is to be initiated wherever felt necessary so that we stop using MNC products of daily use like Tooth Paste, Soaps, Shampoos .. when our rich culture has better and cost effective alternatives

[Sanjeev: Social reformers are welcome to preach their message, but why should bureaucrats tell citizens: their masters, what to buy?]

ensure economic development at Panchayat by increasing the productivity of Employed and bring more Employable and currently unemployed or seasonally employed to Productive Employment mode

[Sanjeev: How?]

ensure that Education and especially at the formative age be properly imparted to everyone in the country

[Sanjeev: How?]

ensure proper healthcare to all Indians thru Wellness Programmes & Affordable medicines including Indian Forms of Medicine

[Sanjeev: How will wellness programmes run? How can medicines be made affordable? Subsidy? If so, where will money come from? ]

ensure protection of our Biodiversity & arrest Bio piracy by MNCs

[Sanjeev: How? Through the same forest department that has to date looted India, and the same environment protection agencies that have done the same?]

ensure minimum use of Chemical Fertilizers & Poisonous Pesticides for Agriculture and encourage safe & healthy Organic Practices for Sustainable Agriculture

[Sanjeev: Again: how?]

ensure proper protection of our Natural Resources and ensure full transparency in their handling

[Sanjeev: What is the meaning of "proper protection"? Needs explanation]

ensure to improve Food Production and Food Security for all by established Organic Agricultural Practices and exploiting the 127 agro climatic Zones and corresponding Indian Centric Crops

[Sanjeev: will the government do this? What's the proof that organic practice will ensure food security? And if it is good, why does farmer not use it?]

ensure ‘Energy/Electricity’ to all by exploiting Renewable Energy sources like Solar/Wind/ Hydro/ Biomass besides Thermal etc and reducing the Transmission & Commercial losses which today stand at a whopping 35%

[Sanjeev: Why should expensive energy sources be used if cheaper ones are available? And who will reduce transmission losses? The corrupt government system?]

ensure proper storage & handling of Food Stocks and encourage Food Processing to reduce the large wastage currently existing due to lack of Energy/Electricity

[Sanjeev: Who will do this? And how is going to be different to the corrupt practices of FCI?]

ensure proper water management and work out strategies to see that proper charging of surface & ground water happens and sweet water does not flow into seas as happening now

[Sanjeev: This sounds promising but needs detail. This is an area where government can step in - but radically new solutions will be needed]

ensure Judicial Reforms so that quick & fair legal recourse system so that people regain faith in the Judicial System

[Sanjeev: How?]

ensure police reforms so that police becomes more accountable to people

[Sanjeev: How?]

ensure media reforms so that irresponsible and paid news becomes punishable

[Sanjeev: This is a good idea. How will you prove in court that something is paid news?]

ensure that Corporate Governance is followed by Business Houses and Bribery/Corruption to be dealt with Iron Hand

[Sanjeev: Agreed, but first iron hand should start with corrupt Prime Minister. After all corrupt PMs and CMs are hanged, we can consider those who are forced by them to be corrupt.]

ensure transparency in all government departments by installing Information & Communication Technology supported models including CCTVs & SMS based Grievance Redress System

[Sanjeev: this is a promising idea. Please elaborate]

ensure bring back of stash money in foreign banks and use the same for Infrastructure & People development in the 250,000 Panchayats

[Sanjeev: How will black money come back?]

ensure protection & development of Girl Child/ Women thru a sustained mechanism of revival of our Value Systems coupled with Safety Measures

[Sanjeev: How will you revive values? What additional safety measures do you have in mind?]

ensure a firm but humane handling of all Insurgency activities in different parts of the country

[Sanjeev: Can you please explain what this means in practical terms?]

Corrigendum: I initially referred to LBSNAA s the plac ewhre this speech was given. It was given instead at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management on October 02, 2002. I've removed references to LBS and IAS from this version.

I think Mr Murthy has missed the most basic point, hence his sermon is irrelevant to India's future.

Thus he is entirely incorrect when he suggests: "The primary difference between the West and us is that, there, people have a much better societal orientation. They care more for the society than we do. Further, they generally sacrifice more for the society than us. Quality of life is enhanced because of this."

THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WEST AND INDIA. That is a message he needs to think deeply about. ALL HUMANS behave the same in response to incentives.

Mr Murthy merely needs to see the behaviour of Indians outside India to undertsand that he is TOTALLY wrong. He'll be surprised (he seems to travel abroad but not notice much) to find that Indians abroad neither litter not indulge in corruption.

It is SYSTEMS (through incentives) that create behaviour, not SERMONS.

I explained this at length at the Governance Reforms Conference held by IIPA on 13-14 April in which Gurcharan Das, Justice Tewatia and TN Chaturvedi attended.

Please see my slides at: http://sabhlokcity.com/2013/04/short-update-on-governance-reforms-conference-13-14-april/

I'm afraid, after listening to his sermon the [listener] will get even further confused than he already is. Indian "intellectuals" have so badly confused our young people that they are basically unfit to think systematically.

That is a great shame since our own Chanakya understood systems so well. In his Arthashastra Chanakya DOES NOT preach. Instead he teaches kings to establish systems and incentives to achieve ideal, moral outcomes in society.

I'm copying this to Mr Murthy with a request that he consider discussing this with me if he is interested in finding out why he is wrong. Most people in India, I have found, have shut their minds since their initial socialist indoctrination. But I'll continue to raise most basic issues that Indians refuse to understand.

Mr Murthy should realise that I don't talk from imagination. I worked in the IAS India, and work in the economic policy area of an Australian state government with AAA rating. We IMPLEMENT systems in Australia. That's why there is less corruption and littering in Australia. NOT because we make an assumption during policy making that Australians "care for the society". They DON'T. Not any more than the average Indian.

Regards
Sanjeev

The goal is clear: the reform of India's governance.

The principles are clear: life and liberty.

The process clear: a totally new SYSTEM of governance.

Thereafter the rest is merely a vehicle, a receptacle for action. Organisations are not the substantive story or goal. I am not attached to them in any way.

Someone mentioned to me that one should not form a party unless there is a credible structure associated with it. Of course, that should be the case. And, indeed that is the case: even now.

I don't intend to have SKC party used in any form or shape UNLESS it has a fully credible structure. Not interested in building a flimsy party with one or two MPs or MLAs. It should either win 100s of seats, or not participate in politics.

I have not budged one inch from the strategy I've been propounding: that we need to build a COMPREHENSIVE and CREDIBLE NATIONAL POLITICAL FORCE before we physically offer candidates to the people of India.

FTI's goals remains the same as before, of finding at least 500 active leaders on the ground before we start engaging with the people of India. I'm not in a rush to have people contest elections. When people contest, they must win. Or we must not contest.

But even if we were to find 500 outstanding leaders today, where are their grassroots connections going to come from? For that we'd need grassroots work at the constituency level, and strong connections with grassroots movements.

That is why SKC Federation has been agreed by people in April 2013 as a valid option to bring together all reform oriented organisations and people. Through SKC Federation we'll find outstanding leaders, and leaders will find connections with the grassroots.

But even assuming all of these people come together. What next? How will reform occur? We will necessarily need a political party.

Well, so we must build and keep a political party concept ready and available to use. It takes months of work to get a party established, even on paper. And that is why Sone Ki Chidiya Party is being created.

SKC Party is NOT expected to be activated. It may well be, but may not. We don't know how far India is ready for change. Do we have enough leaders? Do we have enough grassroots support?

If after five years, this party is not needed, it may be disbanded.

I never have any emotional attachments to the organisations I help create. These are tools, vehicles. Not the GOAL.

But we need to build the right tools and keep them ready, as well. And so I've requested anyone who wishes to be a founder member of SKC Party to indicate interest here. Please be very sure that you agree with the Sone Ki Chidiya vision before you indicate your interest. Even if this is merely a standby party, your belief system must be compatible with liberty.

The productivity and competitiveness of enterprises reflects decisions about how to organise production and deliver services, capacity to adopt new technology and customer relationships. This means that the Victorian Government’s influence on productivity is largely through the impact of its institutional frameworks and policies on business decisions.

Fostering competitive markets and exposing organisations to external disciplines to perform well is critical to enhancing productivity growth. In the public sector, where many services are delivered in non‑market environments characterised by restrictive and anti‑competitive practices, structures that promote competition and innovation can help drive efficiency and improve the diversity and quality of services available.

The Government is focusing on policies to ensure the delivery of productivity‑enhancing infrastructure that attracts private sector investment, planning regulation that is responsive to productive investment, a regulatory framework that is efficient and minimises the impact on business, and developing the skills and capabilities of the Victorian workforce to improve quality and efficiency