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Why Are Delhi’s Roads Flooded? – Some Solutions

Gaurav Sansanwal
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Why Are Delhi’s Roads Flooded? – Some Solutions

For a government that has spent crores in advertising the apparent appreciation of its Mohalla Clinics, by a few news agencies from the United States (US), this remark by the visiting US Secretary of State, on the state of Delhi’s water-logged roads, should ring a bell:

 “You guys deserve an award for being able to get here today. I don’t know if you came in boats or amphibious vehicles of some kind. But I salute you.”

Mr. Kerry was speaking at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). His motorcade was stuck in traffic for over two hours on Tuesday, and then again for over an hour, on Wednesday. Others- who happen to be our own citizens, did not have the luxury of outraging in front of a packed audience. Nearly all major, and minor roads of the city were severely flooded, leading to the break-down of vehicles, at various places. This has become a common occurrence during the ongoing monsoon season.

One would think that the rainfall must have been unprecedented, for such a situation to arise. But nothing can be farther from truth; for as of now, Delhi is still rain-deficit. So far in the season, from June 1 till August 30, the city has recorded 451 mm of rain, as against the normal average rainfall of 522.8 mm.[1] Torrential downpour like the one experienced yesterday is all but common in this season of shifting monsoon troughs. Handling this much of rain is a challenge that Indian cities are well aware of, given that Mumbai gets almost four times the average rainfall in Delhi, at 2,409 mm.

Who manages Delhi’s roads?

There are around 17 government agencies in Delhi, which are  involved in road, and drainage.[2] The five national highways in the city, for instance, fall under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). All roads more than 60 feet wide, are the responsibility of  the Public Works Department (PWD). In the unauthorised colonies and slums, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) is responsible. This leads to a case of overlapping jurisdiction. For example, a 20 km- long drain may fall under the jurisdiction of multiple agencies. This makes the task of fixing responsibility, difficult.

Solution: There is a need to transfer the management, and maintenance to a single authority, so that accountability can be fixed. The Delhi Chief Minister has done little to this end. While he fights everyone from the Lieutenant Governor to the Prime Minister on issues that politically matter to him, these kinds of issues are mostly absent from the discourse.

The difference between sewerage, and storm-water drains

While the sewerage system is used to carry liquid waste in closed pipelines (to treatment plants), the drainage system’s function is to carry rainwater in open drains, to Yamuna. According to Delhi Jal Board’s submission to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), only 55% of the city has a sewer connection. This means that the sewerage waste from the other 45 percent is dumped wherever possible, including the storm-water drains. Thus, sewer waste, and construction debris regularly enters the storm-water drains, further reducing their capacity to hold rainwater, which then leads to water-logging.

Solution: Around 1,750 unauthorised colonies lack a sewerage system. The promise of constructing sewers, is made before every election, by all political parties, but is soon forgotten. There is a need to escalate the construction. There is a further need to ensure that sewage is not dumped into the drains. A regular check of all sewers should be ensured, so that any such occurrence can be noted. The monitoring status should be clearly reflected online. A web-based application should be started, to ensure that citizens can blow the whistle, if need be.

Lack of funding by Government of Delhi

No specific mention was made in Delhi’s Budget, to the problem of water-logging, or drainage system. Only related mention was that of constructing sewerage in unauthorised colonies. No surprises there, for the politics of unauthorised colonies is an old ploy. A sum total of 300 crores was allotted for the same. Further, the budget of the entire Public Works Department is a mere 0.9%. And this includes all public works, including construction of new roads, flyovers, etc. Very little of this will be spent on maintenance, and redesign of storm-water drains. The NGT expert committee on the issue, argues that a massive funding of Rs 19,500 crore will be required, in order to fix the sewerage system itself, let alone the sum required for the drainage system. The IIT Delhi Professor who heads the panel argues that even if the government allocates Rs. 1,000 crore every year, the problem will end only in 20 years. Even so, by that time, there would be further cost escalation, and greater pressure, due to population growth. [3]

Solution: It will be a foolish mistake to believe that Delhi has sound public infrastructure. There is a need to augment the financial resources of the Public Works Department, or to transfer them to a new body that may be created, as proposed above. As for the sewerage system, clearly 300 crores is not enough. There is a need to raise money from the market, if government resources are limited. But first and foremost, there is a need to rationalise subsidies, and give up the policy of making Delhi a so-called ‘zero-tax’ city. The government needs to raise, and direct its resources, in a rational manner.

Government of Delhi’s neglect of the drainage system

A master plan for drainage, was to be prepared under the Delhi Master Plan of 2001. This has not been revised since 1981. Delhi’s population has grown tremendously. Weather patterns have changed too. Without a new plan, no improvement in policy is possible. A committee was setup for this purpose in 2005, but it did nothing until 2012. Work was then handed over to IIT Delhi. The committee is facing a data crunch. Delhi Government has provided only 80 percent of the data, and the work is hence, delayed.

Furthermore, Delhi’s drains are designed to cater to a maximum of only 25mm rain in an hour, whereas experts have suggested that the city needs drains, that can cater to a minimum of 62.5mm rain, during a 30-minute duration. [4]That Delhi’s sewerage system has not been designed for heavy rains is a fact that PWD Minister Satyendra Jain openly accepts, and yet does little to invest in their expansion. As per the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (2014), Delhi’s Flood Control Department has not conducted any topographical survey of Yamuna, since 2005. Without this data, dimensions for these drains cannot be planned. [5]

Solution: It is high time, the AAP government makes improving the drainage system, a priority. Most citizens will agree that traffic, and water-logging are one of Delhi’s biggest problems. Little has been done by our lawmakers to address the same. Believing that the Odd/Even rule was a policy in the direction, will be a mistake; for pollution was the driving factor, reduction in traffic was the unexpected outcome that they started boasting about. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has all the time in the world for ‘Modiji’, and drug abuse in Punjab, but none whatsoever for Delhi’s unique problems. Maybe this is because unlike the caste of Nitin Patel in Gujarat/religion of beef-eaters, etc., these issues are not a concern for him? Is it because considering the issues of ‘middle-class’, does not suit his politics? This has to change.

The blame game over de-siltation

The turf war is primarily between BJP’s Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and AAP-led Delhi Government. Recent media reports suggest that many large drains in the city including Najafgarh drain, Wazirpur Industrial Area-Azadpur Nallah, and Anand Parbat-Shastri Nagar-Sadar Bazar Nallah, are choked with garbage and silt. While MCD makes tall claims of having conducted de-siltation, what is also regularly seen is that the silt is often dumped in adjacent areas. It then makes its way back, during the next downpour. Besides, officials of Delhi Government have argued that a lot of silt has entered into the PWD drains, from the MCD ones- which are mostly low-stream.

Solution: Once again, the need of a unified authority to administer, and maintain drainage systems can be felt. The idea of better coordination between agencies is a farce. Till the time there are different agencies to look after maintenance, nothing will be change. The government can also look into the prospect of privatising the maintenance responsibility, and restricting its job to ensuring a strict vigil.

Reviving Delhi’s natural drains

Last year, a committee formed by NGT, surveyed the city using Delhi’s drainage map of 1976, and found 44 of its 201 natural drains, ‘missing’. Delhi had a network of storm-water drains, originating mainly from the Ridge, and feeding the Yamuna. Over time most of these have been turned into sewage drains. At many places, these natural drains have been filled up, to build shops, and parking lots. During the Commonwealth Games, for instance, portions of the South Delhi drain—called Kushak Nullah near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Sunehri Nullah near the CGO Complex—were covered to make parking lots for buses. [6]

Solution: There is a need to develop a detailed plan, to clear the unauthorised construction on these natural drains, and revitalize the area around them. These areas can be developed as tourism, and recreation points, in order to ensure that they are not ‘lost’ again. Such a step will go a long way in improving the drainage system.

[1] http://www.skymetweather.com/content/weather-news-and-analysis/monsoon-rains-drench-delhi-again-weather-goes-pleasant/

[2] http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/crores-go-down-the-drain-as-delhi-fails-to-fix-its-monsoon-mess/story-r0p7dN8D7I2eGs51hyOJ3N.html

[3] http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/almost-half-of-delhi-lacks-proper-drainage-system/story-gJEh13vpVQWQT8ZJbNCG2J.html

[4] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhis-drainage-desilting-and-flood-control-a-big-fraud-CAG/articleshow/37664866.cms

[5] http://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/no-topographical-survey-of-yamuna-from-2005-to-2011-cag/852751

[6] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3142441/Delhi-faces-widespread-waterlogging-construction-debris-block-vital-drains.html#ixzz4Ix3L4nJ3

PM’s photo in Jio ad – is Reliance guilty of unauthorized use of PM’s pic?

OpIndia Staff
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PM’s photo in Jio ad – is Reliance guilty of unauthorized use of PM’s pic?

This morning saw full page ads by Reliance where they dedicated their Jio 4G offering to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India dream. Full page ads were expected today as RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani had announced the launch of Jio digital services – an ambitious project by Reliance that they have been talking about for some years now – in an annual general meeting of the company yesterday, but the photo of Prime Minister raised curiosity and some eyebrows.

Quite unexpectedly, it was Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was among the first one to raise the issue. He got a chance to attack both Modi and Ambani, and he sent a series of tweets and retweets attacking them:


This was soon picked up by AAP followers and supporters, which included people working as journalists, who expressed outrage that the Prime Minister was “endorsing” product of a private company.


Questions were raised if the Prime Minister Modi had given permission to use his photograph in an ad by a private company. If yes, why was a private company favoured? If not, was it an unauthorized use of PM’s photo by a private company?

OpIndia.com got in touch with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to get a reaction, but the authorities refused to give an official statement claiming the issue was a contrived controversy created by some people and it did not merit an official response.

However, PMO officials confirmed that there was no question of Prime Minister endorsing a particular private company’s products or offering. “It is ridiculous to even think that,” an official said, who didn’t want to be quoted.

“Digital India, Swachch Bharat, Startup India, etc. all are pet dreams of the PM, and all government or private parties are welcome to take the message forward without misleading anyone,” the official added.

So it was a case of someone riding on popularity of another person to push one’s own brand. The same was earlier argued by many others on Twitter too, who tried to reason with the group claiming ‘PM endorses Reliance’ theory.


But is it legal? Can any action be taken against Reliance for using photograph of the Prime Minister in a private ad? Experts believe that Reliance could be safe from any legal action as their deeds may not be in contravention of any copyright laws or advertising guidelines.

“If you see clearly, the ad is not talking about any mobile product or plan, but it says it is a dedication to Prime Minister’s dream. There is no claim of PM endorsing the product. They haven’t even used the Digital India logo in the ad,” Ajita Patki, a Pune based lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property Rights said.

“It is similar to some health drink brand putting up huge poster of an Olympic medal winner congratulating them or dedicating their product to them. If you remember, many companies had used Sachin Tendulkar’s image under garb of giving him a farewell when he announced retirement from test cricket. Tendulkar was not brand ambassador of each of those companies, and I don’t think Tendulkar sued anyone for ‘unauthorized’ use of his image,” she explained.

So it appears that Reliance is practically safe in the latest case. And it’s good news for them given that only a couple of weeks back the government of India had slapped additional penalty of Rs. 2500 crore on them.

Why does AAP not follow the Constitution of India?

Guest Author
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Why does AAP not follow the Constitution of India?

Four days ago, while addressing the annual convocation of National Law school of India University of Bangalore, President Shri Pranab Mukherjee advised the student community to carefully study the Indian Constitution and understand the political system that we have adopted. He also emphasized that democratic institutions and procedures established under the supreme law of the land also need to be understood in proper perspective.

What was in the back of President’s mind when he said so? Was it only the student community he was addressing? Presumably not that community alone but also perhaps the Aam Admi Party whose leaders erroneously believe that Delhi-ites have given them massive mandate to govern the national capital the way they like. If they so believe, their notions are grossly misplaced. No doubt they have been chosen by the people with landslide majority but chosen for what purpose? Is it to rule and govern Delhi just as the ruling parties do in other States? No. They have not been chosen to replace the Central Government- appointee Administrator of the Union Territory but to assist, aid and advice him on behalf of the people. By winning election they do not become “hukamraans”. Rather they become the chosen few who are to aid and advice the Lt. Governors in Union Territories like Delhi and Pondicherry where people’s representation are associated with the administration of the Union Territories.

India is a federation consisting of two kinds of federating units viz. UTs and States. But there is a crystal clear difference between the governance system of States and those of Union Territories. In States, periodic elections are held and the leader of the majority party in the State Assembly becomes the Chief Minister or the Chief executive and its is he who actually governs and exercise all state powers.

On the other hand in the territories of the Union, as per the Constitution which “We the people of India…..have adopted, enacted and given to ourselves” it is the President (who is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Union Cabinet) who administers such territories. This job is performed by Rashtrapati Ji through an Administrator called the Lt. Governor.

Today, we have 7 Union Territories in all, Out of these, in 5 such territories there is no elected setup worth the name and the L.G. has the unbridled authority. It is only in 2 of such Territories viz. Pondicherry and Delhi that we have an elected Assembly. The people who thus get elected, do not govern but render aid and advice to the Administrator in administering the said territory.

In the backdrop of the observations made by the President at the Law University in Bangalore, Kejriwal- Sisodia & Co. must understand and appreciate in proper perspective their powers and limitations in a Union Territory set-up.

Kejriwal- Sisodia would recall that immediately after their swearing- in ceremony when they jointly made a courtesy call in Rashtrapati Bhawan, the President had presented to them a copy of the Indian Constitution which they proudly flaunted before the media. What was there to be proud of? Actually, as the defender and protector of the Indian Constitution, Rashtrapati Ji by presenting a copy of the Constitution gave them a dignified rebuff befitting his stature.The unread Constitution copy must be adorning the shelf of the Leaders who must read it. While Mr. Sisodia’s predicament being a non-graduate may be understandable, Mr. Kejriwal, being an Ex-IRS officer looking for future at National level must brush up his knowledge of the Indian Constitution.

Since its coming into power, the AAP Govt. and its functionaries have repeatedly mocked at the Constitution and its architect and brazenly flouted the Laws, rules and conventions. To quote only a few instances:

1. Constitutionally Delhi is a territory of the Union of India and hence only the Central Govt. has the authority to govern it. But AAP netas who have been elected to assist, aid and advice the administrator (LG) erroneously feel that they are “State Govt.”, which they are not.

2. Dr. Ambedkar had declared that there shall be only one Govt. in Delhi having exclusive power over India’s Capital. And there could however be a city administration at local level to function under the President (Centre). But AAP claims they are a parallel Govt. with equal powers vis-s-vis the centre.

3. Constitution makers made Delhi a UT and placed it as chapter 8 in the Constitution and states put in chapter 6. AAP disagrees and applies provisions of chapter 6(viz. States) and not of UTs (Chapter 8) leading to constant conflicts.

4. Constitution provides that India has 29 States and 7 UTs. As per AAP’s interpretation, India has 30 States and 6 UTs. Are they not making mockery of Constitution.

5. Dr. Ambedkar was a staunch opponent of statehood for Delhi. AAP insults founding father and Dalit icon by repeatedly demanding statehood- a demand rejected umpteen times.

6. Constitution says that Delhi being the Capital and Head Quarter of federal Govt., all proposed laws shall be passed by 4 stake holders viz. Delhi Govt., LG, Central Govt. and Assembly. But AAP sidelines the two and straightway passes Bills as done in other States thereby vitiating lawmaking and reducing it to a nullity. That precisely is the reason that 14 of their Bills are yet to receive the Presidential nod.

7. Constitution provides for 3 State organs each independent and supreme in its allotted sphere. kejriwal Govt. has obliterated the dividing line between Govt. and Assembly by wresting Legislature’s control through a pliable Caretaker and planting 21 Trozen horses in Assembly premises reducing it to a merely rubber stamp legitimizer of executive actions.

8. Constitution provides for 3 regular Assembly sessions in a year and special session in case of emergency. But Delhi Govt. summons special session, to hurl abuses at high functionaries and criticize other institutions.

9. Constitution lays down that disciplinary authority for All India Service Officers ( IAS, DANICS etc.) is the Union Govt. But Delhi Govt. suspends and punishes such officers at their whims by issuing invalid “farmaans” without bringing the matter to LG’s notice.

10. Constitution provides that any Constitutional amendment, even removing or inserting comma or full stop, can be done by parliament by a special majority of 2/3rd members which neither UPA had nor NDA has. Caring two hoots for Constitution CM often demands control over Police or Statehood from PM as if asking for his car key or pen.

11. Delhi Govt. has so much disrespect for Constitution that Assembly Committee takes decision to summon LG who constitutionally administers Delhi on behalf of President. The moot point is that if President advises LG to ignore summons and not to appear, will the Committee or Assembly proceed against Rashtrapati Ji?

–S.K.Sharma

(Writer is Constitutional expert and Former Secretary to Delhi Vidhan Sabha & Loksabha)

His Honesty Kejriwal flying around while Delhi crying for Basics!

Shwetank Bhushan
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His Honesty Kejriwal flying around while Delhi crying for Basics!

Hello Dilli,

I hope that you guys are enjoying the cheaper power and the power cuts for 2 to 6 hours a day. Kudos to you for seeing the change in politics by bearing all the pain for two summers tight-lipped. But there is more to come, and I am sure you will have the power and courage to see them through as well.

Ultimately, what matters is an ‘Honest Government’ after all. So what if there are some additional difficulties, pains, and tortures to the ‘Aam Aadmi?’

Earlier, in DESU days, the power failures, power cuts, and arbitrary billings were routine in Delhi, and you would know it better that Sheila Dixit made them a thing of past. Then ‘Honesty‘ happened to Delhi. Before the elections, His Honesty showed some 380 pages report and promised to send Sheila Dixit to jail. Somehow, that report seems to have got lost somewhere.

20 May 2013: “Delhi’s water being stolen by water tanker mafia. Both parties (Congress and BJP) have interest in Delhi’s illicit water business.” – His Honesty.

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28 July 2015: Four months in the Government , the AAP Government, that runs and ruins the Delhi Jal Board while the water Mafia settles with the new dispensation. Black marketing of water scales to a new high.

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There was “tanker-corruption” earlier, but at least the regularized colonies of Delhi used to get water in summers. But the Honest Government. exceeded all limits. The water situation in Delhi has gone from bad to worse. But Honesty demands a price to be paid, and Delhi friends are paying by living without water for a few weeks. Kudos!

Hilariously, while on one side, the Supreme Court slammed the Honest Government over acute water crisis saying that the water mafia was ruling Delhi for every drop, our National Chief Minister was advertising to send water to Latur, Maharashtra. Can’t believe? Watch HERE.

Those who wish to know more about the detailed nexus of the ‘Water Tanker Scam,’ may refer to this Detailed Report to know what.

But like the famous #OddEven, at least His Honesty is doing something. Let us see, what?

When the AAP Government came to power, in June 2015, they constituted a ‘Fact-finding Committee‘ to probe the irregularities in hiring some 385 stainless steel water tankers by the Delhi Jal Board in 2012, during Sheila Dikshit’s rule. The five-member committee was formed by Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra.

The report, submitted to His Honesty Shri Kejriwal in August 2015, indicted former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit of causing a loss of Rs 400 crore to the national exchequer in the process of awarding tenders for hiring water tankers. The documents showed murky details in the water tanker contracts and recommended a FIR against Congress leader Dikshit by the CBI and the ACB.

However, the ‘Honest AAP Government ‘ sat on the report for one full year. When news reports suggested that Sheila Dikshit could be Congress party’s poll in-charge in Punjab or its chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh,  AAP Government sent the report to the Prime Minister (only Kejriwal Sir or the God knows why) and Delhi’s lieutenant governor.

Next was a series of tweets and TV bytes in which Delhi’s water minister suggested: “the former Delhi chief minister should be behind bars.” They also claimed that the BJP was not keen to punish the guilty. Now you know, why the report was sent to the Prime Minister.

Reacting to the fact-finding report, BJP MLA, Vijendra Gupta said, “It is highly suspicious that why Arvind Kejriwal sat on the files for almost a year. We suspect some secret understanding between Sheila Dikshit and Kejriwal.”

The LG Najeeb Jung also forwarded the complaint filed with him by BJP leader Vijender Gupta to the ACB accusing Shri Kejriwal of “suppressing” the committee’s report into the tanker scam for 11 months. ACB filed an FIR on Delhi CM also along with former CM Sheila Dixit.

This is exactly what was His Honesty waiting for. He cried foul on top of the voice and blamed Mr. Modi. How Cute!!

Naturally, Sheila Dikshit questioned the timing of the probe saying, “The allegations are politically motivated. The AAP Government is raising the issue for their political interests. I would like to ask Delhi Chief Minister if he was so interested in weeding out corruption then why he was quiet for a year? He should have immediately terminated the contracts. Who stopped him from doing so? It was not my decision to procure the water tankers. It was a collective decision by a board comprising DJB CEO, engineers, municipal councilors and experts.”

While this blame-game tamasha is on, Delhi continues to suffer. AAP followers are consistently fed by the crooks who are hand in glove with these Mafias to keep them confused. Let them be informed that the MCD (under BJP) is only responsible for solid waste; the responsibility to manage drainage and sewerage belongs Delhi Jal Board, under the chairmanship of Kapil Mishra Sir of AAP.

Did you notice how just half an hour of rain brought Delhi to a complete halt? Will His Honesty tell us, which Modi, which LG, which MCD is stopping him from running the DJB and PWD efficiently and why has it utterly failed?

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You can live in a fancy sounding location in Delhi, but cannot prevent stinking sewage water seeping into your water supply. Imagine the plight! An epidemic is in the waiting. I hope before it reaches to that stage, better sense prevails. While the Dengue and the Chikungunya have reached almost on an epidemic scale, sewage flows out of the taps in Delhi, and His Honesty is busy abusing the center, eyeing other state elections at the cost of poor Delhi residents. A second reminder, Delhi Jal Board and Health Dept, both come under the AAP run Delhi Government, NOT not under Municipality.

This is the crux! You MUST verify yourself, who is “the authority responsible for planning, designing, and execution of water supply and wastewater management facilities within its jurisdiction in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Check Here!

Finally, on public pressure, the Dwarka MLA, Adarsh Sashtri confesses that the DJB has made Delhiites’ life hell. The bigger news is that he has not yet been sacked by His Honesty.

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I do understand, what were people thinking while voting for AAP and my sympathies for them. One is, of course, free to choose between ‘cheap’ and ‘reliable’ power! But when some of them tell the solid logic behind their choices, I feel like crying for them.

Can someone tell me how one can agree to pay Rs 15/unit for diesel generator power (generating fumes on both odd and even days) during the time of power cut, instead of a much lesser rate even without subsidies, all this in the lure of cheaper power? Here is one of such species of humans, and trust me, she is not the only.

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Then comes mood swings. Slow realization perhaps.

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And now finally, for those who are under the impression that, Delhi Domestic Electricity Tariff is a gift from Almighty, here is a quick comparative reference [rate before subsidy]. For complete Tariff details, check here: Domestic Electricity LT Tariff Slabs and Rates for all states in India in 2016. So, if Mr. A’s average consumption is 800 Units, and Mr. B’s average consumption is 2000 units, their electricity bills (calculated in the second table) in the three states would be:

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Electricity Bills in different states

Now look at the above numbers and also the never ending rant below and decide for self, ‘कौन हैं जो बिजली कंपनियों से मिले हुए हैं?’ (who after all is hand in glove with the Electricity supply companies?).

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Sometimes I laugh and cry at the same time. While I laugh at the irony of the situation, I cry because I laughed too much. The irony of the situation is, that while His Honesty is coughing and faffing on odd-even days, people in Delhi are crying for BASICS every day!

Credit: I thank Prakash Sharma for his insight that he shared through his tweets on the subject. He tweets at @India_Policy

Has the fight for Uttar Pradesh begun within BJP?

Gaurav
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Has the fight for Uttar Pradesh begun within BJP?

Uttar Pradesh, the “Hindi heartland”, the “cow-belt”, was once upon a time BJP’s bastion. Of late though, BJP had lost its foothold there, with the emergence of caste based parties like SP and BSP. This changed in 2014 when BJP racked up an unprecedented 70+ seats in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections, which powered NDA to a stunning majority. Hence, early surveys in Uttar Pradesh indicate that the 2017 state elections maybe the ticket for BJP’s revival.

The question of course is, who will line up to be the CM candidate in Uttar Pradesh. Two names which get commonly thrown around are Smriti Irani and Varun Gandhi. Irani has been the HRD minister and was “demoted” to the Textile Ministry, which could possibly be a blessing in disguise. She has adopted Amethi as her constituency, where she contested against Rahul Gandhi. She has always remained mum on her political ambitions in UP.

Varun Gandhi on the other hand is out of the news for some time now. Reports say he has been deliberately sidelined, yet some posters of “supporters” often portray him as the CM candidate for Uttar Pradesh. Compensating for his absence from news cycles in his mother Maneka, who is the Women and Child Development minister. Her ministry is fast becoming controversy’s favourite child.

The main issue dogging Maneka Gandhi’s ministry currently is her quixotic and draconian idea of policing social media for “trolling”. Further, her ministry’s dealings on social media aspects themselves seem very problematic.

Yesterday, Minister Maneka Gandhi tweeted from her official handle, an undated clarification on the social media handling of her ministry. The crux was: A selection committee had shortlisted an agency, but when the file reached her, she rejected the idea of hiring people from outside:


The puzzling part is, a letter dated 22nd September 2015, almost a year before, was already making the rounds on the internet, which clearly showed the WCD ministry hiring a social media agency for precisely this work!

Deleted letter

The letter completely contradicted the minister’s stance on the hiring of the agency, and within minutes of Maneka’s tweet, the letter was deleted from the official site.

As if that wasn’t enough, we go back to the idea of social media patrolling. It was revealed via RTI that the ministry had in fact hired 2 consultants for regulating social media trolling. Is it the job of this ministry to act as a cop on social media?

But the next bit of news is perhaps the most startling. We already revealed how the Textile Minister Irani was subjected to a farcical hit-job last week. The hit-job claimed that Irani had purchased items worth Rs 8 lacs from the Cottage Industry Corporation and had made her secretary charge the bill to the Government. This apparently led to a souring of relationship between the two. Luckily the truth was revealed when the Cottage Industry Corporation revealed that no such purchase had every taken place, hence the entire story was fabricated. HRD Ministry too issued swift clarifications.

In all this, the role of a few individuals is key:

Rajdeep Sardesai, first tweeted about this news (time-stamps suggest he tweeted this even before the media house published their story), without naming Irani. He later deleted it, but before he could delete it, self-declared “image-guru” Dilip Cherian quoted the same tweet attempting to fan the fire. This tweet was then quoted by an abusive and lying journalist, Swati Chaturvedi, where she claimed that “secretary in the ministry has asked for another posting”. Readers may note that this is the same journalist whom we had recently exposed for her lies, and who had then in revenge, attacked our co-founder and had demanded he be sacked by his employer.

How do these events have a relation? Rajdeep Sardesai has been often thrashed by Smriti Irani online, for his lies. Dilip Cherian is the co-founder of the social media agency “Perfect Relations” which, as per one letter was hired by Maneka Gandhi’s ministry, and as per another, was not hired. Chaturvedi is rumoured to be close to Maneka Gandhi and she has defended the ludicrous social media policing proposal vehemently.

What makes matters worse is a tweet series by Twitter User  which claims two things:

A. In May 2016, the Textile Ministry (then not under Smriti Irani) had signed an MoU with NDTV, which was “cancelled” after social media outrage.  claims this was never cancelled. The textile secretary is said to have sent a false compliance report to the PMO, and this was apparently noticed by the new minister Irani, who has now reported this to the PMO, which is livid.

B. Within days of the above report going to the PMO, the fake Rs 8 lakhs hit-job on Smriti Irani was published, and this was done, according to , at the behest of “a PR firm hired by another ministry”. As we mentioned above, the fake story claimed relations between the secretary and the minister had soured because of the Irani’s fault. This was further perpetuated by the likes of Chaturvedi.

Is there a thread emerging here? Individuals close to Women and Child Minister, from a PR firm which was hired by the ministry, allegedly spreading a fake story against another minister, which is completely untrue? And in all this, a secretary also gets a defence.

What could be the reason you ask? Read the introduction again. Smriti Irani and Varun Gandhi are two of the contenders for UP form BJP. Make of it what you want but this matter is just hotting up.

Two consultants hired by WCD Ministry to regulate online “trolling”. Is this their job?

rangats
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Two consultants hired by WCD Ministry to regulate online “trolling”. Is this their job?

Online harassment is taking a centre-stage due to Union minister Maneka Gandhi coming out with a hashtag #ImTrolledHelp to help (?) women being harassed online.

If somebody is being harassed online there are many ways to tackle it – if it is Facebook there are enough safeguards to report such harassment to Facebook and if it is Twitter there too exists lot of safeguards – to report abuse and action is taken within maximum of 7 days – both Facebook and Twitter deactivate the accounts and in both Facebook and Twitter there is also a option of blocking the said person.

The only time when some serious help maybe needed is when real crimes happen on social media. A threat to a person in real life counts as a crime. Logically this should extend to social media as well. But here the system fails. Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have no mechanisms to take action against people who threaten with a crime. They could suspend the account, but they can do nothing to ensure a crime doesn’t take place. Obviously, they are not expected to do so and here the law enforcement agencies step in. Unfortunately, the local police station also may not be of much help. Cops are often misogynistic, and to add to this, technologically illiterate. Explaining and convincing them about a threat on social media to a woman could be a herculean task.

THIS is exactly where WCD Ministry should have stepped in. Credible threats of violence, especially against women, need to be addressed as soon as possible. Any ministry is well within its rights to act against a crime or the possibility of occurrence of a crime. Instead, we see the WCD Minister going after something as vague as “trolling” which can cover an innocuous “ROFL” comment, to even the vilest of abuses.

The number of instances where action has been taken on online harassment of women are many – but  what union minister Maneka Gandhi did by introducing #ImTolledHelp is totally unwarranted – there are many issues on which she can concentrate instead of job of regulating online harassment of women .


The motive clearly seems to help her media friends who provoke all Right-Wing people and then cry victim . If Maneka Gandhi was serious, by this time many journalists should have faced the heat for their endless trolling and abusing Smriti Irani and @UnSubtleDesi. Till date no action has been taken against them.


The number of times Smriti Irani has been trolled is endless and till date we have not seen Maneka Gandhi take action on them:


The very fact that the minister’s initiative is welcomed by all journalists means it was done for them and intentions not seem to be genuine .

So I filed an RTI to find out how she proposes to keep a track of complaints and how many ministry officials are deputed for it and if there is a segregation of complaints – like Facebook / Twitter etc – this is the reply given –

RTI reply
RTI reply

Based on the reply I have filed an appeal to know the following facts –

  1. What are the names / address of these 2 consultants ?
  2. What is the basis of selection of these 2 consultants ?
  3. Was there a proper tender process followed to shortlist these consultants .

Once I get a reply will update it – I am sure it will be interesting and have also further filed a RTI to know the following facts –

“Since announcement of the special cell for dealing of online stalking and abuse of women, I wish to know totally how many complaints have been received as on date and I wish to know the breakup of the locations from where complaints were received and breakup of the medium from which it was received: like how many were from Facebook , how many from twitter and if any other online source. Also would like to know how many of these cases have been fit for further action. Also please let me know the actions taken on the cases you found fit for further pursuance.”

Once a reply comes for the subsequent query I have raised, I am sure many questions will be answered, whether #imTrolledHelp is a genuine effort on minister’s part or just an exercise to satisfy her friends in media.

If it is proven that this is just to help her friends in the media,  hope PM takes action against her not only for this nonsense but also on her stand on many other issues like opposing #Jallikattu in the name of animal rights

The sooner the better for country .

(This post was originally published here)

Twitter users come out in support of OpIndia co-founder as trolls target his personal life

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter users come out in support of OpIndia co-founder as trolls target his personal life

It is well known that those who call themselves “liberals” are the most intolerant bunch in India, but not only are they intolerant, they are vicious and they believe in total annihilation of people who dare to disagree with them, or worse, challenge their narrative.

They indulge in character assassination (physical assassination is usually outsourced to the left wing terrorists, who are not yet operative in urban India) and they try to hurt your personal life. They want to make lives of people hell, so that no one ever dares to disagree with them again.

This is what they tried to do earlier with Rahul Raj, one of the co-founders of OpIndia.com and who also runs a popular Facebook page called “Bhak Sala”.

The attack on Rahul was initiated and championed by an abusive Twitter user Swati Chaturvedi, who claims to be a journalist.


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We had earlier published a report how one of her journalistic reports was devoid of any facts and bordered on cheap rumor mongering.

Perhaps that fact-checking of her claims by us infuriated her. Since she didn’t have facts on her side, she decided to use slander and abuse as tools. In a series of tweets, which were nothing but targeted harassment, she claimed Rahul Raj of stalking her and being abusive.

If keeping track of her articles to do fact-checking is “stalking”, we at OpIndia.com will continue doing this not only to her, but to every journalist who wants to get away after claiming imaginary things. So far as being “abusive” is concerned, it’s ironical that it comes from Swati, who herself is abusive.

However, that doesn’t give anyone a license to abuse her. But the fact here was that she failed to produce a single tweet where Rahul Raj had used abusive language against her.

But as always, facts didn’t matter to Swati. She continued her tirade against Rahul Raj, and was later joined by a few journalists and trolls belonging to a couple of political parties, towards whom she is friendly.

Apart from slandering Rahul Raj’s character for being a stalker and abusive (without giving any proof), she tried to hurt Rahul’s professional life by complaining to the company with which Rahul is employed.

Her fanatical and senseless behavior was soon noticed by many Twitter users who decided to speak against this targeted harassment of Rahul Raj. Soon after hashtag #Support_Bhak_Sala was trending on Twitter. Following are some of the selected tweets people came up with to support Rahul Raj:

Hitjob on Smriti Irani: IndiaSamvad, Rajdeep, Congress spokesperson falter

OpIndia Staff
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Hitjob on Smriti Irani: IndiaSamvad, Rajdeep, Congress spokesperson falter

After being shifted from the high profile HRD Ministry to the low-key Textile Ministry, one was expecting that the hit-jobs on Smriti Irani would stop. But it wasn’t to be.

Fledgling media outlet IndiaSamvad has spread canards about Smriti Irani earlier as well. This time, it was once in the limelight again. In a report, IndiaSamvad claimed the following:

Smriti Irani went to inspect the cottage industry operated by the Textile Ministry. During the visit, Irani purchased some expensive sarees and an idol. The total bill of the shopping turned out to be approximately Rs 8 lakh.

Thereafter, the personal staff of Irani sent the bill to be paid to textile secretary Rashmi Verma. Sources told that Secretary of the ministry denied making the payment to the showroom located in the cottage industry. Verma said that the sarees were purchased for Irani’s personal use and the government will not pay for it.

This, the report claimed, led to a fight between Irani and the textile secretary. Of course all this was “source” based and most probably no confirmations were taken from any party. As usual, certain characters used this story to grind their own axes. Congress Spokesperson and someone who has always been feuding with the minister, Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted this:

The deleted "allegation"
The deleted “allegation”

If Congress spokespersons are at it, how can self-appointed AAP spokespersons be left behind? It must be remembered Rajdeep too was earlier publicly humiliated by Irani for misreporting.

 

Rajdeep's barb
Rajdeep’s barb

Abusive and lying journalist Swati Chaturvedi went one step ahead and claimed that the secretary in fact wanted to be transferred out of the ministry:


Unfortunately for the above, the Cottage Industry Association, from where the sarees and idol were purportedly bought, issued a swift clarification:

Clarification

It clearly stated that since the minister had not purchased any item, hence the question of bill payment itself did not arise. The Ministry of Textiles also echoed the same:


The Congress spokesperson accepted that she was mistaken. But no such acknowledgement was found on Rajdeep’s timeline. He just deleted his tweet as if he had never erred. Or was his account hacked? Like the time a mystery “hacker” hacked into his account and abused other users on social media?

So yet another media hitjob has been exposed. But will these stop? Will there be action? One thing is for sure, it appears the Government and BJP are now taking such slanderous lies seriously. Last week we saw the BJP issue a press release clearly denying an Indian Express story. Its a different matter that the daily brushed them off, but at least this is a change in stance. And in Smriti Irani’s case, one hears she might even sue. Let us see where this case ends up.

Gandhi family’s last stand : Priyanka Gandhi’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh

Mahesh Jagga
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Gandhi family’s last stand : Priyanka Gandhi’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh

Human mind is a funny piece of equipment. It forms associations where none exist. It comes across a news, an event, some happening and conjures up another, totally different incident from the deep recesses of memory and consciousness.

The intermittent news of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (I am taking no chances here, neither with feminists nor with Congressmen) leading the campaign for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh suddenly jogged my memory and reminded me of a movie I saw in 1987. Yes, 1987, full 29 years back and the movie was named ‘Ankush’.

Permit me to explain the movie, or more specifically, a sub plot from it.

Priyanka
Priyanka Gandhi

Ankush (1986, Nana Patekar starrer) depicted a young man Ravi (played by Arjun Chakraborty), educated (Engineer) but unemployed as he is unable to find a job suitable to his education and his sister who works and supports the family of three, including their mother. Despite their poverty, the family has spent lot of money on making the son an engineer, nurtured hopes that one day, he would get a job, earn handsomely and fulfill the aspirations of the family. But ironically, it is the less educated and less invested daughter who works, brings food the table and keeps the family going.

The hapless brother has strong patriarchal beliefs, does not want his sister to work, considering the big, bad world is full of louts and ruffians (he knows as he hobnobs with such kinds, daily), but the need to eat, live & survive keeps him quiet; disturbed, agitated but unable to do or say anything.

One day the sister declares her liaison with a rich co worker and in the ensuing argument, she shows the brother his place, as the most worthless, imbecile individual in the world, as the one who is living in his la la land.

In case you, dear reader, have already begun punching holes in the analogy, listing the aspects that don’t match between the two situations, kindly stop exercising your brains, there is more to come.

A dialogue that the sister (character name was Kamla) delivered was this, “If I don’t work, this family will wither away.”

Now, it may seem that the associations the mind forms on its own are not exactly illogical!

This piece is about two important suppositions on Priyanka’s entry into active politics. Firstly, Priyanka’s campaign is for the family and not the party, and second if she succeeds, the Congress would have lost, completely, irrevocably as a political party. And these two are interlinked.

Again, permit me to explain.

Firstly, It confirms the failure of Rahul Gandhi to establish himself as a leader, unable to overcome his inability to contextualise the political education & capital invested in him by the family; 12 years, 1000s of crores; that forces Priyanka to take the plunge & act as saviour, like the family in Ankush spent 5 years and thousands of rupees in making Ravi an engineer. Eventually, Ravi was unemployable because he won’t come down from his tower of knowledge, unable to use the education given to him and Rahul Gandhi too could not come down from his tower of royalty, unable to find the ability to contextualise the knowledge given to him, negating the investments made on him.

Secondly, the statement “Priyanka will campaign outside Amethi and Raibareli” reveals the story. Remember the phrase “Love me, love my dog” and “If you invite me to high tea, you must arrange for a bowl of milk for my cat too”? The campaign in other constituencies would be like the forced love for the dog or the bowl of milk for the cat. The family is the invitee here and the party is the pet.

Thirdly, if Priyanka fails to allure voters and win sufficient seats in UP, it would mean that the last section of the voters has come out of charms of dynasts roaming in their the specially bought khadi dresses, cruising in the dingy lanes of dirty towns their subjects live in, flashing their dimpled smiles thru the bullet proof glass and making motherhood statements on women empowerment & changing the system. It would mean that the family’s hold over the voter is finally over.

This hold is the only thing that Gandhis bring to the table. Party leaders & workers know & acknowledge that the family’s cluelessness in terms of party’s ideology, complete lack of communication on strategy or campaigns, total dependence on sycophants, an unstated but displayed discomfort with those who have independent, intellectual, thoughts or opinions, a stated reluctance to get their own hands soiled are real problem areas but most of them won’t speak their mind because of the belief that many voters in poor, backward and undeveloped constituencies like Amethi or Raibareli, still vote for them due to their surname and that is what fortifies family’s control over the party, like an ownership.

If this belief is shattered or even diluted, that would be the end for Gandhis, as far as ownership of Congress party is concerned and that would be a devastating for the family.

For Congress on the other hand, losing Uttar Pradesh won’t be much of a blow. Heaven is not going to fall if they don’t make a dent this time or in this state. They are a marginal player and for last few years they have learnt that maintaining status quo is also a kind of victory in these difficult times.

Many analysts use the phrase, “Congress would splinter if Gandhis leave it. But it would disappear if they continue.”

Reason for this is simple. Analysts believe that if Congress has to survive & thrive as a political party, it has to discover its ideology once again, create programs & policies based on that ideology, has to have a credible communication system to align its workers or stop using winks or frowns of the leader as communication tool, start looking up to voters instead of fawning on its leaders, give space to those having a different opinion or intellectual dispensation, become democratic etc.

All this essentially means that it has to come out of shadows of the dynasty.

Hence the supposition that if Priyanka succeeds, dynasty tightens the grip on the party and in the bargain, Congress loses, is kind of self fulfilling.

Or in other words, Priyanka is the last stand for the Gandhis.

BJP asks Indian Express to apologize for ‘false report’, newspaper says ‘go away’

OpIndia Staff
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BJP asks Indian Express to apologize for ‘false report’, newspaper says ‘go away’

In a press release dated 24th August, BJP accused The Indian Express of publishing untrue, unfounded and mischievous things in its report about a party meeting that was attended and addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The release was shared with the public earlier today on Twitter:


The newspaper report in question was titled “Nationalist are with us, let’s reach out to Dalits, Backwards: PM to Party” and it quoted PM Modi telling the party, “Rashtravadi toh hamare saath hain, humein Dalit aur pichchde ko saath lana hai,” (the nationalists are with us, we need to bring dalits and backwards to us).

The report said that the meeting was “closed-door”, though it attributed the aforementioned direct quote to PM as if its reporters were present inside.

The report further claimed that the event was focused on how BJP should win the next elections and stay in power in various states and in center.

However, it is not clear from BJP’s press release that which part among these is “untrue, unfounded, and mischievous”. Whether the quote attributed to the PM was fabricated or whether the entire report was imaginary is not clear, though the press release says “Newspaper has preferred fictions over facts to draw a desired conclusion.”

The press release also attacks The Indian Express for its earlier deeds when they gave the now notorious headline “And they hanged Yakub” after the Mumbai blasts accused was hanged following court orders. Not only that, the party accused the newspaper of “following the vacuous approach of the Congress & Co and Kejriwal & Co” in the press release.

It appears that the party was miffed with the headline given by the newspaper, because it suggests that PM takes the “nationalists” for granted. It further insinuates that Backwards or Dalits were not “nationalists” in Modi’s eyes.

But the newspaper denies it. It has updated the web version of the report and claimed that “There is no insinuation in the report that the Prime Minister drew a distinction between nationalists and Dalits and tribals.”

The newspaper didn’t issue any apology as was asked by the BJP. In fact, taking an aggressive tone, the newspaper further said that “As for the rest of the press statement attacking The Indian Express, this newspaper finds it unworthy of comment.”

Now this has put the ball back in BJP’s court.

If the quote attributed to the PM is entirely fabricated and if it can be proved through a video recording of the meeting that the PM never said so, it is a serious issue and the party has a right to take legal recourse against the newspaper for causing mischief and spreading enmity between communities. However, that will mean making details of a closed-door meeting public.

Could that be the reason that the newspaper has refused to apologize? Because they know that the party will be in a quandary over taking this case to a logical and legal conclusion?

Nonetheless, the aggressive response by The Indian Express means that it doesn’t care about the aggressive tone displayed by the ruling party in the press release, and it has asked them to go away and mind their own business. It remains to be seen what BJP will do now that the newspaper has refused to apologize.

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