What is renewal in JNNURM?

Rajeev Chandrasekhar – @rajeev_mp on Twitter – is an independent MP representing Bangalore Urban in the Rajya Sabha. He tweeted 4 times earlier today – 8 May 2012 . The first one was about being nominated to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development, and the rest three tweets were on his desire to improve the JNNURM program, with particular focus on renewal of the cities.

Intrigued as I was by this, I had to look up what exactly was the “renewal” part of JNNURM. So, my search took me to this link: http://jnnurm.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/PMSpeechOverviewE.pdf

The mission statement is:
The aim is to encourage reforms and fast track planned development of identified cities. Focus is to be on efficiency in urban infrastructure and service delivery mechanisms, community participation, and accountability of ULBs/ Parastatal agencies towards citizens.

Good, very good indeed. Renewal? Not mentioned here. So, the next part is the objectives of the mission. And they are:

(a) Focussed attention to integrated development of infrastructure services in cities covered under the Mission;.
(b) Establishment of linkages between asset-creation and asset-management through a slew of reforms for long-term project sustainability;.
(c) Ensuring adequate funds to meet the deficiencies in urban infrastructural services;.
(d) Planned development of identified cities including peri-urban areas, outgrowths and urban corridors leading to dispersed urbanisation;.
(e) Scale-up delivery of civic amenities and provision of utilities with emphasis on universal access to the urban poor;.
(f) Special focus on urban renewal programme for the old city areas to reduce congestion; and
(g) Provision of basic services to the urban poor including security of tenure at affordable prices, improved housing, water supply and sanitation, and ensuring delivery of other existing universal services of the government for education, health and social security.

The only place where renewal is mentioned in the 7 objectives is in the 6th one!  Hmmm…this was strange.  Why use the word in the name of the program, but find not much use for it in the details?  I went ahead in the document and read up the next part – the scope of the mission.  And it is:

The Mission shall comprise two Sub- Missions, namely:
(1) Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure and Governance: This will be administered by the Ministry of Urban Development through the Sub- Mission Directorate for Urban Infrastructure and Governance. The main thrust of the Sub-Mission will be on infrastructure projects relating to water supply and sanitation, sewerage, solid waste management, road network, urban transport and redevelopment of old city areas with a view to upgrading infrastructure therein, shifting industrial and commercial establishments to conforming areas, etc.

(2) Sub-Mission for Basic Services to the Urban Poor: This will be administered by the Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation through the Sub-Mission Directorate for Basic Services to the Urban Poor. The main thrust of the Sub-Mission will be on integrated development of slums through projects for providing shelter, basic services and other related civic amenities with a view to providing utilities to the urban poor.

Well, in the first sub-mission, the word redevelopment is used, perhaps in place of renewal with respect to what is called as old city areas.  In namma uru Bengaluru, perhaps Chikpet, Balepet and maybe even Charamajpet would qualify as “old city” areas.  Wonder if Malleswaram and Basavangudi would qualify for that even though they were populated at least 50 -60 years ago.

The visible aspects of JNNURM program, at least to me, over the last 5-6 years have been some sanitation projects, road network improvements (the roads are built to proper specifications for sure!) and lots and lots of new buses.

Back to my original query though.  Why use a word in the name of a program and then not find much use for it elsewhere?  Or am I missing something here and both missions do cover “renewal” of an existing city?  What is not clear to me is why there is a need for this program even after the city corporation collects taxes that they should be using to do exactly this?  The cynic  in me would wink twice and say look at the amount of money that can be siphoned off!!!  The believer in me would understand that tax evading is far more than tax collection, and hence the need for such a program!

Will wait to hear more from Rajeev Chanrasekhar.  And I have some more views on the second mission that I will share in another post.  Dear reader, what is your point of view on JNNURM – with or without the renewal?

Plea from a thirteen year old girl

Reblogged from my words, my world:

Dear citizens of my country and honorable President,

I am a 13 year old girl from G.B. Road New Delhi which is not-so-far from Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s house). I am writing this letter to let you know that I will be forced to join THE OLDEST PROFESSION in the world, in two weeks and I want someone to help me get a better life other than this one.

Read more… 458 more words

A lovely blog post that I would like to share...

No Greater Joy

Reblogged from Steve McCurry's Blog:

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There is no greater joy nor greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life. - Sr. Mary Rose McGeady

La Esperanza, Colombia

Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness. -Leo Tolstoy

Katmandu, Nepal  Shared joy is a double joy…

Read more… 285 more words

Jumping to Conclusions: How soon is too soon?

Me: (in as contrite a tone that I could muster) “Sorry madam”
She: (disdainfully) “Nimma sorry nu beda, nimma dudu beda! Hogri!” or “Dont need your sorry or your money! Get lost!”
Ouch! That hurt.

So, having read that conversational exchange , what conclusions have you jumped to, dear reader? Hopefully none. Some of you may have read Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink where he writes about how our mind tends to process partial information and how it is at times useful, and at other times, not so.  As my dear friend AC would say, “The human mind is wired to be this way. Overcoming this requires a lot of effort.” Not easy at all.

This happened a few years back.  I had gone to a shop nearby to get additional keys made for the front door of my home.  ”Computerised duplicate keys made here” was what they said. Job done, paid for, came home and tried to open the door with the new keys.  Surprise surprise…two of the three keys I got made did not work.  So much so for computer control. :/ Who wrote the #*@# software for that machine?  Not me!

The complementary key chain provided by the shop had a number on it.  I called and complained about the shoddy job done.  The person asked me to bring the keys back to the shop and said it can be fixed easily. Why not do the job right  the first time itself was my thought.

So, I went back, and despite my best attempt to get their attention to my problem, no one seemed to be interested.  This is not what I was expected after the phone call, so I lost my cool, and said a few harsh things to them.  Now, with other customers around, the store owner, a lady, possibly felt the need to control the damage being caused to their reputation.  She flatly denied that they had got any call from me just a few minutes before, and that I was, in effect, lying! Wonder what my blood pressure was at that point?  Luckily for both of us, an employee of the shop stepped in at this point and asked me for the number that I had called.  I thrust the key chain into his hand and asked him to read it for himself.  He did.

And said “Ah saar! Neevu namma VVPuram shop call madidira!” or “You have called our VV  Puram shop”.  So, here is what had happened.  The store near my home was new branch.  The key chain had the number of their older branch in another part of town.  I felt quite sheepish at having lost my cool, and consoled myself thinking “How the hell was I supposed to know?”.  In the meantime, a technician had done some more work on the keys, and even offered to come along with me to check out whether it worked or not.  So before leaving, I decided to apologise to the store owner, and …well, you know the rest.

So, dear reader, I hope you can find an answer to the question – how soon is too soon to jump to conclusions?  I did!  Not that I remembered.  But, more about that for later.

Do you have the energy?

The feet.  The ankles.  The knees.  They are aching.  They are not used to being subjected to carrying the heavy weight above (the rest of me) for so long.  It was meant to be a short ride.  Not so long.

It seemed like a long time ago, but in reality it was only 40 minutes back that I decided to walk it to the nearest bus stop, and take the bus to Jayanagar 4th Block complex.  I got a bus almost immediately.  I got a seat too. And then I gave it up.  At the very next stop an elderly gentleman also got into the bus, and I got up and offered my seat to him.  He thanked me, and sat down.  I moved closer to the door, anticipating that my journey would end in another 5 minutes on a traffic free Sunday evening.

That’s when Mr. Murphy decided to strike.  The bus got stuck in a gridlock. It took a good 15 minutes to break it up.  Traffic had built up by then, and we virtually crawled into the 4th Block bus stand. As I got done, the elderly gent also got up from his seat and asked with concern in his voice “Why did you give me your seat if you are getting down now?  I thought you were getting down at the next stop?” I shook his hand, smiled,  and walked away to my destination – a book shop.

Later, I am across this blog article – http://jimwoodsblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/tom-peters-physics-of-kindness-and_26.html – and it made me ask myself some questions:

Why did I do what I did? Courteousness? Would I have done the same if I knew that I would have to stand for 20 minutes? Was this an isolated act of kindness on my part?

The article makes one point that “it takes energy to propagate kindness”.  And that kindness does not propagate easily for this reason.  Perhaps I had rested well that afternoon to be kind to a stranger. Perhaps my children do not see that aspect in me, when I come back home late at night (tired? energy less?) and ask them about their school work!

To quote a Chinese Taoist philosopher: “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”

I was the recipient of an act of kindness myself from a stranger myself.  I was eating dinner one evening at what we Bangaloreans refer to as a standing joint – Prasiddhi – about 100 m away from home – and was finding it too spicy for my taste.  Those who have been to such places would know that there is a water cooler from which the guest is expected to take water in steel tumblers (lottas).  I had taken one, and already finished it.  Unknown to me, one of the workers had been observing me from across the counter.  He came out into the dining area, went to the water cooler, filled up water in a fresh tumbler, and brought it and kept it on my table. He then asked me “sugar beka saar?” and without waiting for my answer, went to the juice counter, and brought some in a small steel bowl. This guy, and the others typically work from 7 AM to 9 PM every day.  They stay on their feet most of the day. It was about 8 PM when this happened. Where did he find the energy to be so kind? He went back behind the counter.  I thanked him after I finished my meal. He seemed to be embarrassed by my thanks – did not want to draw attention to himself I suppose.

So, dear reader, have you been kind today?

No entry at the traffic lights

My niece travels by bus, and she shared this incident with me a few weeks back.

While getting back from work, she was seated in the front of the bus.  When the bus stopped at a signal in a queue behind other buses, she noticed an elderly man peering at the route number of a bus ahead of them.  He then requested the driver to open the door so that he could get down and move to the other bus.  She reckoned that it must be taking him closer to his destination than the bus that she was on.  After grumbling a bit, the driver did open the door and allowed the elderly man to alight from the bus.  Thereafter, the following conversation took  place in Kannada, but written in English here:

Driver to conductor: There he goes trying to get into that bus.  That driver will not open the door, you watch.

Conductor: Why?  What is the issue?

Driver: Arrey, he got fined just yesterday by the b#$8& checking squad fellows for stopping the bus before the bus stand, and allowing a lady to board the bus.

Conductor: Oh, OK, Yeah, in that case the old man will try to come back to our bus.

Driver: Yeah, let him come back.  I will not open the door then!

Conductor: Good good.  Yeah, why should you take a chance and get fined?  Also, it will teach him a lesson!  Trying to change buses at a signal.

The driver was right.  The driver of the bus ahead indeed did not open the door.  Dissapointed, the elderly man came back to my niece’s bus and requested from outside to the driver to open the door.  The driver acted busy talking to the conductor, as if not aware of this request. The signal lights turned green, and traffic began moving once again. To add insult to injury, once the bus started moving, though slowly, the driver opened the door and gestured the old man to board.  He did not.  He could not.  The bus moved on leaving the elderly man behind.

Are you disgusted by the attitude of the BMTC drivers and conductor?  Most of us would be.  As was my niece.  Was I?  Initially, a strong yes, but on reflection, I was not so strong about it.

Let me explain.  Someone in BMTC is sitting and writing some rules.  Like it or not, the driver and conductor are expected to follow it.  If they do not, they can expect to be fined.  So, if the rule says, passengers can alight anywhere, but board the bus only at the bus stop, both drivers were correct in not opening the door for the elderly man at the traffic lights.

What do you say?  What behaviour would you want to see as a passenger?  What if you were a passenger in a bus at a signal behind the bus of which the driver is happily picking up passengers instead of moving ahead?

SMS me the money

I got this message on my mobile 2 days back:

Look at the month of July. You have never seen this. This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This apparently happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags. So send this on to 6 friends and money will arrive in 5 days. Based on Chinese mythology the one who does not pass this one will have money troubles for the rest of the year. It wont cost you much for that 6 text messages.

Hmmm … Given that I did not heed the advise and forward it to 6 friends, I can surely look forward to money troubles for the rest of the year. Given that it is a Chinese mythology, it will not end on Dec 31 2011, but extend into 2012 too – possibly till the Chinese New Year date in Feb 2012?

Let us assume that the person who sent me the message must have sent it to at least 6 people. Many of the 6, sent it to another 6 who too possibly sent it on to another 6. You get the drift right? The way I see it, the only ones laughing their way to the bank are the mobile service operators. One message at a time.

This got me thinking. Why is it I chose not to forward it, while others did? Is it that they really believed that bags full of money would land at their doorstep, or perhaps into their bank accounts after 5 days? Why is it that some are believers, and others are not? The human brain – the way we are wired genetically – is the answer says my friend Akash.

One possible reason is that we humans see patterns where none exist.  I kept my promise of cycling in the morning, hence I got to see the movie free in the evening.  I prayed for my child, and thus she got good marks in the test. And so on … This is most likely not a conscious thinking process. So, I send a similar message last time, and got Rs. 1000/- back from my friend that I had given up on.  Maybe this time I will get Rs. 100000/-!

Second possible reason is how our brains have been wired over 10′s of thousands of years.  Imagine two of your ancestors going into the jungle with nothing more than just a wooden stick in hand.  They hear a noise coming from the bushes ahead.  One of them does not bother about it.  The other is more cautious and takes a step back.  Unfortunately, out comes a rather large and hungry lioness, and ancestor #1 becomes a meal quite soon.  Ancestor #2′s brain gets one more reinforcement of the message – “When you see a bush shake/or hear the sound of it, BE AWARE!  This in turn got passed down the generation, till such time as our more recent ancestors did not have to think twice about the flight response!

Let us now consider the opposite effect.  It was the wind shaking the bushes.  No lioness.  No ancestor as a meal.  Good.  One more reinforcement.  And passed down the ages too.  No need to flee.

How are these related to Money bags?  The pattern association makes us see pattern between sending the message and us getting money, even if none exist.  With the cost of sending the message being so neglible and with no negative effect visible – the brain says “What is the worst case here?  I do not get any money, but the best case is I get lots of it, why take a chance to miss out on it, when the cost of the SMS is so small” – that the forwarding option comes naturally to most of us.

What is interesting in the SMS is that it refers to Chinese mythology to support the forwarding.  Wonder how the ancient Chinese do the forwarding?  On stone tablets?  So easy, na?    Once they invented paper, they must have been copying the message onto bits of paper (costly as it must have been!) and distributing it to friends.  Or maybe they invented SMS centuries back, just that the rest of the world did not know about it!

Here’s wishing all believers bags full of money pretty soon, even if I am the one to bear all the hardship for the rest of the year!