Delhi Chalo!!

Finally I landed in Delhi on my posting to Postal Directorate. Though I was planning a stint in Delhi, I kept postponing it due to various reasons. But I never expected that the change will come suddenly. (Thanks to the new transfer policy else I might have postponed till my retirement).Though my initial reaction was disbelief and was thoroughly confused as to what to do, I decided to take this challenge on and get going.

But my family was delighted and eager to move to the new place.

The Delhi experience is though not new to me as I often keep visiting Delhi officially and even stay for weeks but it is new for my family. Just a week before I moved to Delhi with my family I happened to be in Delhi and this helped me to start making preparations like school admission etc. At that point of time I didn’t even have a house, though applied for it but not sure of getting it. But I had the compulsion of shifting my family as early as possible as I did not want to risk the studies of my younger daughter who is in class 11th.

Finally I planned to leave for Delhi on 13^th August. By that time I was lucky enough to get a house allotted in Delhi hence we had packed all household stuff, kept it ready to transport once the house is ready to occupy.

We encountered the first challenge when we prepared Teddy, our pet, for the flight journey. He was too small to be sent in the cargo but at the same time not sure whether he will be allowed to travel in the cabin with us. The airlines authorities said, that this can be confirmed only by the pilot, just 30 minutes before the flight .Hence we had to keep the fingers crossed. In case if he is denied to travel  with us the only alternative for us , is to send him in the cargo  which no owner of a pet  will be  comfortable with. In most of such cases the pet needs to be sedated or tranquilized  .To add to my distress  my daughters reminded me of an  recent incident reported in the newspaper  just a couple of days ago in which  two healthy pugs who boarded from Mumbai to Delhi, found dead while landed in Delhi. Nevertheless we have started familiarizing him daily in the carrier which I bought while bringing him from Delhi as baby (Luckily I have not disposed it off and this breed of pets doesn’t grow that fast to make the carrier unusable.

On the day of departure to Delhi we reached the airport well in advance and luckily after nearly two hours wait in the airport we got a clearance for Teddy to travel with us

                                           When are they Going to Release Me???

By then  he became very restless, nervous, compounded by four hour road journey and nearly 2 hour long waiting in the airport inside the carrier.

We had to take him out of the cage in the security area .By then he had become too excited, agitated and refused to get in to the cage again. As we had used little force he became so frightened and started crying. Once inside the aircraft he was almost uncontrollable, jumpy and started getting adequate attention from other passengers. I was clueless and really do not know what to do! I used my usual calming technique putting my fingers in to the carrier and calmed him down. I had already sacrificed my business class seat as pets are allowed only in the economy class and pushed to the last row of the flight.

As the flight started with deafening noise, even my comforting technique failed and   I couldn’t control him .The fellow passengers  started looking at me .As I exhausted  all possible techniques  to keep him  calm I took the risk and   opened  the cage and cuddled him. He might have felt safe though he was nervous and jumpy but slowly he was back to normal. I just helped him to lay down in the vacant seat next to me. He almost went to a deep sleep for nearly two hours with my hand comforting him.

I did not dare to take my hand off till the flight landed. By that time he had fans around asking me about his name, breed how old is he. The airhostess, must be a pet lover, even hugged him .As I was leaving the aircraft  I thanked the crew for their pet friendly attitude.

When we came out of airport I was totally relieved and I could see a sigh of relief on the face of my wife and daughter. I told my wife and daughter “I never had a journey like this and this chap made me mad. You know I didn’t even drink water in the flight”. My wife said “Next time lets us not carry him with us. Let’s tranquilize and put him in the cargo”.

                                                 Tranquilise  and Cargo Next time Oh My God!!!

My life in Delhi was made more comfortable thanks to my well-wishers. I spent a month in the Guest house before we moved to the house.

The general saying here in Delhi is that three things are very important the school, House and transport. Fortunately I could manage it. As my daughter was in Kendriya Vidyalaya and I wanted to continue there was no issue though I had to fight a little bit. The housing allotment is systematic and really wonderful system at least for those who have put in 20 Plus years of service. It has become totally online and transparent.

Now after spending nearly two months I feel it  is not that difficult  to manage as I imagined   and I’m confident of negotiating, except the “weather” factor which I have not experienced earlier. Right now  Happy Going and no regrets!

Being a responsible citizen

(Text of the Talk given at SDM INSTITUTE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT, MYSORE - 570 011 on 09-06-2011)

 At the outset my sincere thanks to the Organizer’s especially Prof.Govinda Sharma for extending this courtesy to me to come and talk to you on “Being responsible citizens”. I am happy to talk on the subject as I feel today “Being a responsible citizen “is more relevant and significant than ever .What I am going to do is to share my thoughts on the subject with you in the next 45 Minutes.

What does “being responsible” mean? Being responsible varies from individual to individual. You may feel it is a relative term. If you look at the Dictionary it may mean the following.

o   Being Accountable

o   Able to make moral or rational decisions on one's own and therefore answerable for one's behavior.

o   Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable.

If you scan the daily you can read many, many instances of Irresponsible acts and one really feel outrageous sometimes. Majority of us feel that way. Let’s take today’s headline of Mysore. Two wild elephants losing their way, entered in to the city. They made visit to college, shopping malls before they paralysed the normal life. Those who have seen the TV footage certainly would have watched the citizens, residents literally chasing the elephants on the street, terrorizing, throwing stones etc. What followed up was ransack of the tuskers and Poor Renukaswamy (ATM Watchman) was killed in front of many witnesses. Was it expected from the crowd? Is this not an act of irresponsible behavior of the crowd? Had the crowd stayed indoor or at least alerted other fellowmen one life could have been saved.

It is a different story that the event though was reported at 0630 Hrs. the trained staff came after nearly two hours.

Responsibility may mean so many other things but to me it means “Being Legally Right, Socially concerned, and Morally Correct”.

Certainly we cannot term any one or any act which is contrary to the rule or law. The law or rule may be your countries’, your organizations or your own .The law may be a well-defined one or matter of practice or custom. Some people may have their own set of rules. I have inherited a golden rule from my father-in-law who had learned from his father. The rule is that if you have to borrow money from someone (Better avoid as far as possible) and you can repay it in a month then ask for a 45 days to repay. You will definitely pay in 30 days but still have a margin of 15 days for any unforeseen. In this way you can never default and earn the displeasure of the gentleman who gave money to you.

Law abiding is golden. In our training centre we have a dress code for the trainees and they have to be in formal dress during the class .Yet during every session, at least half a dozen trainees have to be picked up for this lapse and reminded.

Yesterday newspapers carried news “PM Reminds MPS to declare Assets”. When there is a code of conduct and it warrants declaration of assets then why it has to be reminded.

World Health Organization has revealed in its first ever Global Status Report on Road Safety that more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world, including the more populous China. The statistics for India are chilling. At least 13 people die every hour in road accidents in the country. Why speeding, drinking-driving and low use of helmets, seat belts not following the rule.

Paying scant attention to law or rule has become a curse of the society today. You make any rule and implement, there will always be people who either break or does not follow. The amount of pressure behind you in the traffic signal to start the vehicle well before the green signal is simply irritating and at times if you can’t withstand the pressure you will be forced to violate the traffic rule.

If this attitude towards well established law, then not to speak of nicety and courtesies. Don’t you feel to remind of courtesy and nicety during deplaning from the first class cabin of the aero plane or while waiting for your turn in the ATM?
Long ago I was one among the thirty odd civil servants group that went to Japan. Not to talk of the attitude of Japanese towards punctuality, yet some of the members routinely turning up late put the rest of the members in embarrassment. And it was nice to watch the Japanese attitude towards punctuality.
I feel one should have the courage to follow the rule even though there is no compulsion. (Something like wait and crossing the traffic signal at odd hour say Middle of night and when there is no traffic.)

The second dimension of Responsibility is socially committed or concerned. One should be friendly, nice to the society. So much has been said in the media about Bill gates and Warren Buffet‘s involvement to the social cause. We all know Bill gates for his business brain, as Chairman of Microsoft and for his wealth. But the other face of Bill gates as Philanthropist and founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is really laudable. Can you imagine he had let all his fortune to go to the Charity leaving even their offspring to survive on their own?  Gates said of the decision that he and his wife made, "We want to give it back to society in the way that it will have the most positive impact?" Buffet too joining hand with Gates now perusing the Billionaires across the globe to donate their half of the net worth during their life time for social cause. These are the instances in a big way.

To give back to society  what we need is  a “BIG HEART” and not to be really rich or great wealth . All what we need isI will narrate an incident to highlight how a Big Heart makes the difference.

Sometime ago, when the ice-creams were not so expensive, a ten-year old boy went to Nirula’s ice-cream shop. While sitting at the table, he asked the waiter,

“How much does a Sundae cost?” Rs.40,”he replied. The boy took out his money from the pocket and began counting it.. “Well, how much does a simple ice-cream cost?".

There were other people waiting to be served, so the waiter began to get a little impatient.

“Rs. 30!" he replied abruptly. The boy counted his money again and said: “Please get me a simple ice-cream!" The waiter served him the ice-cream and his bill. The boy ate his ice-cream, paid his bill at the cash counter and left.

When the waiter went to clean the table he began to cry… for there, in the corner of the plate,

Was Rs 10 … his tip? The boy took a simple ice-cream instead of a Sundae so he could leave a tip for him.

Giving back to society need not be in the form of Money always.

I read this news in the newspaper two days back .This is a real incident happened on June 3^rd in Madurai. Hansika a popular actor had become a true heroine in real life as well. En route to her hotel, witnessed a man lying by the side of a road. He had met with a bike accident and was bleeding heavily but there was no one to help. Her driver also drove right on, but the actress made him turn the car back.One of the pedestrians was asked to telephone the nearest hospital. Hansika waited till the ambulance arrived on the scene. Her mother being a doctor went with the victim in the ambulance while Hansika followed them in her car.

Doctors treated the patient at once and only on being informed that his condition was stable, did Hansika leave. Her timely help saved the man’s life as he had already lost a lot of blood and would have surely died without medical aid.

Certainly this commendable act and goes to prove that how people act with at most responsibility and everyone hopes that Good and responsible citizens of this country would follow her example and help those in need.

Coming to morally correct all the time, the recent happenings reported in the press like scam, agitations for Lok Pal Bill are indications of how moral and ethical values have taken a beat in the recent past. We can say all these are our reaction to the awareness the RTI Act had created. One may be legally right but true to his or her conscience is equally important. No doubt it is subjective and can be interpreted according to one’s values standard but one has to be true to his heart.

Media is judging Tendulkar’s decision to claim deductions under Section 80 RR of I-T Act on the ground an `actor’. Tendulkar had claimed deduction of 2 Crore out of 5 crore income stating that he was an actor `.The conduct rule of a government servant will interpret my action of buying an  item for my home from a place where I did transactions for my office in my official capacity as morally not correct.

The best way to judge the moral standard is always “put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel it hurts you it will probably hurt the other person, too.”

The word Citizen covers everything. We as citizen play varieties of role. Take me .I  am a Son to my parents, father to my kids, husband, a son-in-law ,an employee to my organization, a speaker in front of you and so on. Being responsible does not confine to one or few roles . Will your parents be happy if you say “I will be very Good in my studies and get you a first class degree, but rest it is my way  “.Certainly not.

During my early part of the career I use to be so attached to my work (Not that I am not attached now) told my wife not to depend on me for her household needs. She once asked me what I will do if I need something urgently. I told “Do not disturb me and if you need anything get in touch with my Personal Assistant who will handle it “. One day my wife lost patience and asked “If I have to depend on your personal Assistant why did I marry you? It suddenly struck me that I am not a responsible husband and I it was an eye opener and learning for me.

Being a responsible citizen mean a lot more discipline, sacrifice and commitment. Difficult job Yes it is.But it brings more harmony, happiness and joy for everyone.

Well! These are some of my thoughts and Charity begins at Home. Responsibility before expected from elsewhere has to start from the individual. It is a great task and we may blame the society, our fellowmen for they are not responsible. But what we can do? Let’s take care of yourself. We ourselves may feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean but as Mother Teresa said “the ocean would be less because of that missing drop” if we don’t start doing today. We can set a good example by becoming more RESPONSIBLE.

I thank Mr Govinda Sharma and the SDM Management for giving this wonderful opportunity and I wish you all “Good Luck”

Post-office savings bank deposits likely to fetch 4% interest

 

A government committee has suggested raising interest rates on post-office savings bank deposits to 4 per cent, a suggestion that could benefit lakhs of small depositors.

The Committee on Small Savings also recommended linking returns on other small savings schemes with interest rates on government securities.

It has also suggested that Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) be withdrawn and annual investment limit for the popular Public Provident Fund (PPF) be raised to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 70,000 at present.

The committee recommended that interest rates for post-office savings deposits be raised to 4 per cent from 3.5 per cent at present, in line with the Reserve Bank's decision to hike rates on savings bank deposits.

Under the new formula, suggested by the committee headed by RBI Deputy Governor, Ms Shyamala Gopinath, small savings schemes would provide better returns to investors.

Interest rate for one-year deposit scheme would go up to 6.8 per cent from 6.25 per cent, while returns for the PPF would improve to 8.2 per cent from 8 per cent.

With regard to taxing returns on the small savings schemes, the committee said the issue should be considered by the government while firming up the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which seeks to replace the Income-Tax Act, 1961.

Noting that the small savings schemes are agent-driven, the committee suggested that the commission on them should be gradually reduced from 4 per cent to 1 per cent.

While recommending to raise the interest rate on savings deposits by 50 basis points to 4 per cent, the Committee said the government should introduce the system of calculation of interest rate on a daily basis on post-office schemes as is being done by banks.

It further suggested that the interest rates on various small saving instruments be benchmarked to the secondary market yields on Central Government securities of comparable maturities.

Taking a cue from Reddy and Rakesh Mohan committees, it said the administered interest rates on the schemes should neither be raised nor reduced by more than 100 basis points above or below the benchmark rate.

It recommended a positive spread of 25 basis points over the rates of government securities of similar maturities. The new rates should be notified by the government every year from April 1, 2012.

KYC norms

To prevent money laundering and generation of black money, the Committee recommended strict enforcement of the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms.

On investment ceilings for different small savings schemes, it said that the Government should retain them. In case of removal of ceilings, the Government may consider taxing the accruals on the schemes.

To improve the liquidity of the 5-year recurring deposit scheme, it said that the government may reduce the lock-in period to one year from three years with a penalty for premature withdrawal. The penalty could be one per cent less interest rate.

Source :http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/article2085397.ece?homepage=true

Value Payable Post Turns In to Electronic…

Value Payable Post is an important and popular traditional service from Department Of Posts (DoP). The value payable system is designed to meet the requirement of persons who wish to pay for articles sent to them at the time of receipt of the articles and also to meet the requirement of traders and others who wish to recover the value of articles supplied by them through the post office.

The trader or seller of a product who uses the VPP service and hands over the item to the Postal Department which in turn delivers it to the customer after collecting the value of the product specified by the supplier. The Money is sent back to the supplier through money order. 

Small and medium enterprises use this service extensively to sell and market their products. Readers Digest is one of such enterprise. With the induction of IT in to various operations this service also underwent transformation in the recent past.

In the traditional set up it is the post offices and the sellers were put in to inconvenience than the customer. The seller or sender of the item has to fill up money order forms for each item at the time of handing over to the P.O and later watch and account for all these money orders to ensure that he gets the money back out of his selling. The Post office too has to process   all these money orders and send back to the sender. One cannot imagine the cumbersome process and difficulty if the trader executes thousands and thousands of orders.

The DoP had launched rather refined the traditional service in Jan 2010 to bring cheers to the traders. Under the new method the traders who wish to avail the service should approach the Divisional Superintendent of Post offices in his locality and apply for the service. He will be allotted an ID and the nearest delivery post office will be the place where he can avail the service. He can then hand over the items and list of the customer who it should be delivered either in a hard copy or in a softcopy. The VPP articles will be booked and dispatched to its destination by the post offices. On booking an electronic message will also go the delivery post office. On receipt of the e-VPP article at the delivery post office it delivers and collects the value and accounts in the post office. This is a computerized process which is processed with already available electronic message and the payment sent back to the original office. In this way the booking office gets the payment details from all the offices of delivery of the item. The bill is consolidated and settled   to the trader according to the period specified by along with the details of customer to whom it was paid and value of item. The trader also gets value additions like Up to date online MIS of complete transactions, items delivered, pending etc.

It was made possible by tweaking the age old process with the technology already running in the post offices. The service is called e-VP now universally available in around 11800 computerized departmental post offices across the country if the post office has already complied with the Directions of the Postal Directorate. However the DoP has not withdrawn the conventional VPP service which is still available.

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